Your Views About Onstar And Their Great Directions

[BlackAv2002]

ok all you Jersey people will get a laugh outta this one if you know your way around N jersey. ? ?I was in the philly area for the labor day weekend. ? I bought my Av in NJ and it has to go back to the dealer for a service visit. ?So I say to myself ?"self ?lets go to n jersey tonight (monday) and stay over at a hotel" ?so I could bring the car in tuesday morning. ?

Well the last time I went to the dealer fom south jersey, I didnt take the NJ turnpike there I ended up going a really screwed up way that the dealership gave me directions. ?

So Im driving down north on the turnpike all the way from exit 4 ?and got to newark airport and couldnt remember what exit to get off onto. ?So I was thinking about ti when it hit me i said ?" self what would batman do if he was in the situation?" ?So I HIT THE BLUE BUTTON.........

now are you ready for this ? ?Im just passing newark airport ?heading north on the turnpike... ?I wanna find route 80 to get over to where I am going ?so I tell onstar that I know that I Can catch route 80 up ahead can they tell me an exit number that I need to use.

They tell me ?exit 50A ? ?NOW I said 50 A ? there is no 50A ? onstar tells me yes there is Im looking straight at it. ? ?I WANNA SEE THIS MAP. ?So anyway she tells me taht I am wrong and that I need to turn around ?( I Was at exit 16 by the time she figured out all this crap) and hit 15w to 280 to the garden state to get to route 80.

so the idiot that I was late last night I TURNED AROUND AND WENT TO 15W. ? when I hit ?rutgers U an area I know real well. ?I said Self ?ONSTAR IS COMPLETELY SCREWED UP ? and ?I am more screwed up for listening . ?all I wanted was to not have to keep looking for where I was going and wanted a simple exit number ?that I was heading to. ? I gave them all the info that they needed all they had to do was look ?THEY DIDNT HAVE TO USE TEHRE BRAIN AND figure out how to get there.


So I called back onstar and got a supervisor ?and asked them to find me EXIT 50A on the Turnpike ?when they told me there was none I asked then why did you just try to send me there and why did you send me all the way accross the state of NJ to get to her I Wanted to go which was about 6 miles ahead of me in the direction I was originally going ..... why did you turn me around cost me tolls and put mileage on my new Av? ?Onstar said they were terribly sorry. ?

I figured what the hell you have onstar for the first year I said it would be fun to upgrade to Directions and connections.........Ok here is the deal if you wanna travel by the directions that they give you most of the times.... for example if you want to get to philly from ?Long island NY and you want to travel the onstar 10 day route through MONTANA ? then get onstars directions and connections. But if you want to do it the right way. ?INVEST IN A MAP.


Now I know I ripped onstar pretty bad so Im gonna give you some good points about it. ?

1. IT is really cool when you are alone in the car and need to say hello to someone.

2. ?IT is really cool when you need to find out where your location is because you have no idea.

3. ?it is really cool when you can show all your friends that you car can talk just like that 80's tv show Knight Rider. ?

4. ?if you are of unstable mind onstar helps with your recreation of the role of Batman trying to save gothom city.


Other than that .... I dont kno.

what are others views on ONSTAR?

 

[jimlanthripe]

I live in LA and have had about a 60 % success rate with Onstar. I know the area pretty well but sometimes I need to find a specific address. Onstar 75 % of the time picks the worst ways to get to a place. One time instead of saying make a U-turn, they had me drive right for a 1/4 mile, then get on the freeway for a 1/4 mile, then exit and turn right for a 1/4 mile.

Sometimes the directions are wrong and I call again and get someone else and they tell me to get there a whole other way.

If I had a choice, I would rather have a gps roadmap system then Onstar.

 

[sunruh]

BlackAV2002, I can relate to your story. Onstar sent me on a wild goose chase looking for a hotel one night recently in Southern California. I thought I knew where I was going..I did but was going to verify. They sent me right instead of left and 45 minutes later..... The kids still think it's cool to talk to someone through the radio.

 

[ShapeShifter]

If I had a choice, I would rather have a gps roadmap system then Onstar.

Agreed. I have both, and while you could take away my OnStar, don't even think about taking away my Garmin GPS V...

The GPS may not always give you the absolute best directions, but it'll get you where you're going without taking you out of your way. And it'll stay with you and remind you as each turn is coming up! ?

Just my personal opinion, but instead of upgrading your OnStar service, put the money towards a GPS with map and auto routing abilities. Besides, it's another gadget you can install... ?

-- SS

 

[NYAVALANCHE]

"what are others views on ONSTAR? "

Its nice to know its there, but I wouldnt pull out of my driveway without my GPS.
I have only used the phone side of Onstar when my portable was out of range. Never called for directions. Thats why I have the GPS. Don't want anyone but a computer voice telling me where to go.

 

[ShapeShifter]

Thats why I have the GPS. Don't want anyone but a computer voice telling me where to go.

It's my wife who tells me where to go. My GPS only tells me how to get there!

-- SS

 

[NYAVALANCHE]

It's my wife who tells me where to go. My GPS only tells me how to get there! ?

-- SS

I couldn't agree with you more.....

 

[steelheadchaser]

Avalance, Big Red and myself were led a bit astray by OnStar looking for the malt shop in Eureka, CA while there for WW 2002. Luckily we ran into Jeff, who had GPS on board and we were able to follow him.(Thanks again Jeff!)

 

[Chasman]

We subscribed to the Directions service at Wild West when we knew that Steelheadchaser wouldn't be following us to keep us in the right direction. We used Onstar several times on the trip, but found that the operators were not familiar with whatever program they were using, and it took too long for them to give the proper directions, and my wife was quicker with the map.

It won't be something I'll subscribe to in the future. I'll spend the money on a mapping GPS instead. Which leads me to another search topic.

 

[zreeves]

chasman: i couldnt agree w/ you more.. i subscribed for the directions service and used it several times...usually by the time the operator figures out where i am, i miss my turn off by a couple of exits..

 

[Tiger]

I woke up late one night and didn't know where I was. There was a red light in the foggy distance. I realized I was in my 02 GMC 1500HD CrewCab after a head on collision. She (Onstar) told me exactly where I was (in the sticks), called the police to tell them, and talked to me until the ambulance got there. That's a great feature!

 

[BlackAv2002]

I woke up late one night and didn't know where I was. ?There was a red light in the foggy distance. ?I realized I was in my 02 GMC 1500HD CrewCab after a head on collision. ?She (Onstar) told me exactly where I was (in the sticks), called the police to tell them, and talked to me until the ambulance got there. ?That's a great feature!

Glad to see you are ok to post on this tread..... did this just happen...sorry to hear about the truck but what counts is you being ok to type

 

[cpacowboy]

Don't have OnStar in the AV, but do have it in our Suburban. We have used it very few times for actual directions, but have utilized quite a bit to find out what restaurants, hotels, etc. are in the immediate area.

It provides me with a great amount of "mind at ease" though knowing that if the wife and kids are out alone and they have an accident that the police, fire department and/or ambulance will be on the way. The $10 we pay per month is pretty cheap insurance I think. I would probably pay that much for the ulcer meds I would be taking if we did not have OnStar.

 

[Wiki]

One time I lost my AV in the parking lot and thought it would be cool to have On-Star find it for me. I called them and they said they would locate my AV and activate the horns and lights.

To make a long story short, I found my AV and drove it home. Then after getting in the house, getting in bed and nodding off, THE HORN GOES CRAZY and THE LIGHTS FLASH. I jump up and grab the remote turn it off. Only to have this happen again in 5 minutes. And again in another 5 minutes. I called them up and they asked me if I found my vehicle.

I think from the first call to them asking if I found my vehicle was about 1.5 hrs. GREAT JOB ONSTAR. Wake up my whole family and the neighborhood.

 

[BlackAv2002]

One time I lost my AV in the parking lot and thought it would be cool to have On-Star find it for me. ?I called them and they said they would locate my AV and activate the horns and lights. ?

To make a long story short, I found my AV and drove it home. ?Then after getting in the house, getting in bed and nodding off, THE HORN GOES CRAZY and THE LIGHTS FLASH. ?I jump up and grab the remote turn it off. ?Only to have this happen again in 5 minutes. ?And again in another 5 minutes. ?I called them up and they asked me if I found my vehicle. ?

I think from the first call to them asking if I found my vehicle was about 1.5 hrs. ?GREAT JOB ONSTAR. ?Wake up my whole family and the neighborhood.

That would make a great alarm clock in the morning

 

[AVALANCHE_JIM]

I was going to sell my SPIII and upgrade to onstar directions after the year. Im so glad you guys voice your honest opinion. Thank you guys good looking out. It seems onstar has not mastered this option yet

 

[AvaLance]

Did any of you guys that got wrong directions get a guy named Ramon?

Steelheadchaser know who's I am talking about

 

[RJLACK]

This is all interesting but were can Iget a gps to hook up. Can anyone steer me in the right direction. (someone not from on-star ) Send me an email - rjlack@swbell.net

 

[zreeves]

you know, this may be a shot in the dark, but the ramon guy sounds real familliar... I knew how to get to a destination but the traffic was backed up and decided to get around it. well he sent me to BFE and then back. so i followed my path back and went the long way

 

[steelheadchaser]

you know, this may be a shot in the dark, but the ramon guy sounds real familliar... I knew how to get to a destination but the traffic was backed up and decided to get around it. ?well he sent me to BFE and then back. so i followed my path back and went the long way

Wow, I thought I was the only one that ever ended up in BFE!