A potentially sad holiday story had a happy ending. According to 12WHAM in Rochester, New York, 89-year old Anthony DePinto left home on December 17 and got lost. Anthony has dementia. He didn’t have a cell phone but thought that OnStar would be willing to help him and pressed the button. They weren’t, though. OnStar unhelpful to non-subscribers in emergencies?
A potentially sad holiday story had a happy ending. According to 12WHAM in Rochester, New York, 89-year old Anthony DePinto left home on December 17 and got lost. Anthony has dementia. He didn’t have a cell phone but thought that OnStar would be willing to help him and pressed the button. They weren’t, though. OnStar unhelpful to non-subscribers in emergencies?
Mr. DePinto’s son-in-law, Tom Michaels said that OnStar “told him there was nothing they could do because he didn’t have a subscription. They would not let him call home, they would not let him call in the emergency.”
I understand not finding Mr. DePinto the nearest coffee shop because he doesn’t pay for the service, but refusing him a call in an emergency?
His wife became concerned when he hadn’t returned after five hours. Mr. Michaels said it was common for Mr. DePinto to visit the local McDonald’s for lunch or to take a short drive for a change of scenery. However, he’s usually back in a short time.
Authorities began a statewide search and pictures of Mr. DePinto were posted “nearly everywhere.” He was eventually found – safe and sound – in Parma by Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies.
In good humor, Mr. DePinto replied to his wife’s comment that he was in Syracuse at one point by saying, “Gas prices are expensive there!”
Mr. Michaels said, “He just kept driving around lost until somebody finally found him! He knew enough to hit the OnStar button, which was good. But OnStar did not do anything for us. They could definitely make a 911 call. There is no excuse – it’s unacceptable.”
Mr. DePinto’s family would like to see OnStar make some changes. Mr. Michaels said, “A lot of people who are elderly go missing and it’s not a good ending.”
According to 12WHAM, an OnStar representative said that one of Mr. DePinto’s neighbors (an off-duty RPD officer) called OnStar to report Anthony’s disappearance. He provided OnStar with Mr. DePinto’s license plate number, missing persons report description and even the VIN to Mr. DePinto’s car. He was told, however, that OnStar couldn’t find the car because Mr. DePinto wasn’t a subscriber and hadn’t called the authorities.
OnStar told 13WHAM that they assumed Mr. DePinto’s neighbor called the police so they didn’t need to make a call.
Anthony DePinto and family had a happy ending and will likely have a happy holiday. However, this is not always the case when the elderly or those with dementia go missing.
As I said, had Mr. DePinto been looking for a restaurant, I can understand OnStar’s refusal to assist. However, this was an emergency situation. Certainly, allowing him to place an emergency call wouldn’t have cost the company that much and would certainly have earned them a great deal more in good will, perhaps even a new subscriber.
There are some vocal critics who insist that this is a “defective by design” system sold by GM and without proper standards set by NHTSA. I won’t go so far as to say that GM intended what one critic referred to as a “Pay or Die” system, but I do think that the issue bears some scrutiny.
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