I recently bought a car from a GM Motors dealer. At the time I bought the car I was told of about OnStar and how it works. I was told I got free phone service from OnStar for two months. After that I would have to buy the service if I wanted it.

With in two weeks of buying the car I was driving with my sister and talking about a family issue when my radio cut out and the word “phone” appeared were my radio station would appear and low and behold OnStar cut in on my private conversation and started to read me an advertisement. I could not believe it. I ended the call and called OnStar asking that the service be disconnected. I explained that breaking into my conversation was inexcusable. Plus, I see no need to pay OnStar for a third phone number when I am already paying for a home and a cell phone. Hands free calls are what bluetooth is for.

I was told during my call to OnStar that since the service was free I had to keep it. I was not happy and asked for a supervisor. I was then passed to Gladys who said she was the supervisor and that I had to keep the service for one year. After one year it would be canceled. I was just furious that GM and OnStar decided for me what I had to keep, free or not. I then asked what service was for a year and was told OnStar was in fact on it’s self. I had no idea OnStar was even on other than the phone service.

I called the dealer and asked that they turn off OnStar all together as I did not want it. The dealer could not do it. I had to call OnStar again, this time from the dealer. After explaining I was at the dealer’s office and would return the car if the service was not turned off, OnStar told me the “free service” was off, but OnStar it’s self cannot be turned off and they can continue to track the vehicle and pass on information about the car to GM. I was floored. I called GM and complained.

I asked the dealer to remove OnStar from the car. Unplug it, remove a fuse or rip it out. After weeks of delays I was finally told by the dealer it would cost me $1,000.00 to remove OnStar from the car.

I called GM and explained the problem again. I was told by GM that because of were they place the OnStar unit the dealer would have to spend a lot of time and effort removing the fuse.

I felt GM should cover this cost because no were does GM state that when you buy a GM vehicle you have to have the OnStar service, want it or not. GM refuses to pay to unplug or remove OnStar. The reason being is that OnStar is working and since there is no system problem, they will not remove it.

So if you buy a GM vehicle according to GM you give up all your rights to privacy so they can monitor the vehicle and keep the information for up to one year. I never agreed to this at anytime.

I really never cared or even thought about OnStar until they decided to break into my car and start to read me advertisements. Now that I know GM has decided it can do what ever it wants it has left me totally angry. The consumer not having any recourse is totally unfair.

This is not about “if I am doing nothing wrong why do I care” remarks people make. It’s about the simple fact GM has decided to activate something I do not want and will not deactivate it. It should not be up to GM to decide what I must have. It should be up to me. After all, I am the one making the car payments, not GM.

GM should have to disclose this information to anyone that purchases a GM vehicle. Then let the person decide if they want the vehicle enough to accept GM’s tracking them as a fair trade. I do not and advise anyone buying a GM vehicle to ask about OnStar before they buy.

Personally, I will never buy another GM or any other vehicle that come with such a devise. Yes, it can be a life saver, but that is not why GM forces you to keep it.

Next car is a Toyota, unless they start to pull this big brother act.