Post-purchase harassment

DAY

Over the past few months I have purchased a small Chevrolet Bolt EV which I am happy with. A very simple, efficient electric car, which will be the subject of our next issue of the Car Guide, broadcast on February 18 on TVA. I must point out that this is not the first Chevrolet vehicle that I have purchased, since I also purchased a “summer toy”, a Camaro. Two diametrically opposed vehicles, and which I appreciate for very different reasons.

To follow up on the purchase of a new vehicle, usually comes a survey. What is known in the jargon as a CSI (Custom Survey Index), which essentially allows the dealer and the seller to gain points, or lose them, vis-à-vis its constructor.

This survey, sent a few weeks after the acquisition, sometimes takes nearly thirty minutes to complete, time that I gladly allow since this industry is close to my heart. Now, if I had to take that long to answer questions after purchasing appliances, I'll be honest in telling you that it wouldn't happen. 

Since I own an iPhone and am also a Spotify subscriber, subscribing to Sirius XM satellite radio was not on my mind. An interesting product if you are very often in your vehicle and you have no parallel subscription on your mobile device, but which – in my case – would be totally useless to me. 

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When a Sirius XM representative contacted me by phone to offer me a package, I refused. During that same week, I would receive a postal letter and two emails, bragging to me about the subscription. Then, the following week, a second call, for the same reasons. After four weeks, a third call which, I admit, made me raise my voice.

Because obviously no one adds notes to the file. And then, this week, I received a fourth. Four calls, after only ten weeks of ownership, since the Bolt EV was delivered to me on November 23, 2022.

My regret to date is that I didn't keep all those letters sent by post, or even those promotional emails. Mind you, I could probably find them in the trash, but my conclusion is simple. Sirius XM is a runaway company that harasses anyone who buys new vehicles that can receive this service. I even said to myself that if I owned a collection agency, I would definitely recruit employees from Sirius XM. Because they have talent. Mind you, they still haven't convinced me.

This irritant is obviously not the fault of General Motors, although a commercial agreement is clearly present between the two entities. However, OnStar is different. The roadside assistance, navigation and tracking service, integrated into GM vehicles. Another service sold by subscription, whose costs can vary from $15 to $50 monthly, for things that are 90% integrated into your mobile phone… A technology that was once relevant and avant-garde, but which seems to me today as necessary as a bicycle lock on the door of a safe.  

Alas, OnStar employees are also very insistent. And in this case, they are employees of General Motors. A first courtesy call, then a second after a month. With a view to offering us the extension of the free plan for 30 days, which would also be free for an additional 60 days, on condition of giving a credit card number. Of course!

I admit it, I pressed the OnStar button on my car, leading me to customer service. At the other end of the line (in the figurative sense), the representative unpacked all his spiel to me. Again, many services, most of which can be performed by my mobile device. By the way, did you know that in the event of an accident, the iPhone can detect a sudden movement, a noise, and call the emergency services directly? This is one of the best selling points of OnStar, which clearly sees its subscriber list shrinking every day. If it were such an advantageous technology, don't you think that the other manufacturers would also offer an equivalent?

Consequently, here is my wish. That when taking possession of a new vehicle, we must authorize by signature a company to solicit us for this type of sale. Because even if the service at the dealership is impeccable and the satisfaction of the product is there, the customer satisfaction survey (CSI) to which I refer at the beginning of this article, can be tainted by the exaggeration of these companies. , who literally harass us.