VW didn't track stolen car until GPS subscription was restored

It's a major concern when there's information which could potentially help save a life, but one has to jump over major hurdles to get it

Cops from Lake Country, Illinois, weren't able to find the location of a stolen Volkswagen car with a toddler inside, even after reaching out to Car-Net, a VW service, which allows its customers to track their cars.

According to reports, the reason was that the VW owner's Car-Net trial period had ended, and the representative asked for $150 to restart the GPS service to locate the car. The representative didn't budge on the payment, saying it was company policy, even after multiple pleas from the detective explaining the "extremely exigent circumstances", said Sheriff Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.

Reports later suggested that the detective was left with no option but to work out getting the credit card number, call the representative again and make the $150 payment, before reactivating the GPS location of the vehicle.

This whole ordeal took 30 minutes, by which time the toddler was already located, as well as the vehicle, all before the VW representative could provide any information, rendering the whole GPS activation worthless.

Soon after the incident, Volkswagen issued an official statement, calling the incident "a serious breach of the process". The statement went on to state that the company takes the safety of its customers very seriously and that they were addressing the situation with the parties involved.

Covelli stated that the Sheriff's office has worked with other car tracking services during emergencies. He added that the officer is typically asked to attest to the level of urgency and why certain records are needed. He went on to state that it's a major concern when there's information which could potentially help save a life, but one has to jump over major hurdles to get it, especially when time is of the essence.

Source: Chicago SunTimes