Recently, however, one particular OnStar commercial struck me as disturbing, to say the least. Was it the nature of the accident? No. The dismay of the subscriber? Nope. The poor service offered? Not at all. It was actually something that had very little to do with OnStar at all.
Loosely based on memory of the dialogue, the commercial goes something like this:
Operator: This is Onstar, how may I help you?
Subscriber: Yes, hi! I've just been in an accident and both cars are damaged!
Operator: Are there any injuries?
Subscriber: Airbags were deployed and my child might be injured--he might be bleeding!
Operator: OK, maam--I have your location, and I'm contacting local police right now!
--commercial voiceover--
Police: Police department.
Operator: Yes, this is OnStar. One of our subscribers at (location) has been in an accident, and there is a child that is possibly injured.
Police: (with no urgency) What happened?
Operator: She was in an accident and airbags were deployed that may have injured her child.
--commercial voiceover--
Operator: Maam? I have local police on the line.
Subscriber: OK
Police: (no urgency) What happened?
Subscriber: I was in an accident--and I think my child has been injured by the airbag!
Police: (no urgency) OK. We'll get out there.
Operator: I'll stay on the phone with you until help arrives, maam.
Wow. Gee, Mr. policeman. Did I wake you? Don't let me burden you with a lousy accident with possible injuries. And God forbid you take the donuts out of your ears to hear what happened to this poor woman--or should the operator repeat the situation for a FOURTH time? I mean, seriously. OnStar has the location and the incident--the police should be on their way--no questions asked. What's the procedural reason for asking "what happened" from both parties, when all pertinent emergency information has been relayed? Busy day giving out parking tickets? Need to finish the riveting game of solitaire at the dispatch desk? For crying out loud.
And don't even try to say the officer in question might have been "making sure it wasn't a hoax." Please. This isn't a pay phone--it's a registered, paying user going through an intermediary to get emergency help. The chances of a prankster 1) having access to an active OnStar account and 2) actually being stupid enough to involve multiple operators with a prank call are near zero. Forget it. The long and short of it is that this officer came off sounding like a resentful, lazy and distracted person.
So whats the message of this particular OnStar commercial? "The people at OnStar will help you quickly and efficiently--but don't blame us for your dumbass local law enforcement!"
Something tells me that that might not have been be the intended goal of that advertisement.
