Volkswagen is describing the actions of its connected car platform, Car-Net, as a “serious breach of process” after a detective was forced to wait for 30 minutes, and to pay an activation fee to restart the service to help find a vehicle that had been stolen.
The owner of the vehicle had owned it long enough for the Car-Net trial period to expire, but Lake County Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli told the Chicago Sun Times that similar connected services will usually assist police if the situation is serious or time sensitive.
When the detective working on this case called Car-Net to ask for the GPS location of the vehicle in which a toddler had been abducted, though, a representative told them a $150 charge was required to restart the service.
Read: VW Updates Car-Net App Offering Remote Start, Other Connected Features
“The detective had to work out getting a credit card number and then call the representative back to pay the $150 and at that time the representative provided the GPS location of the vehicle,” said Covelli.
By that point, though, 30 minutes had passed, and the two-year-old child had been located. Fortunately, he was unscathed, but his mother was less fortunate.
The boy was taken after an apparent carjacking that occurred in front of his home. His mother, who is six months pregnant, was driving the boy and his sibling home. She got one of her children into the house, but as she came back out for the toddler, thieves in a stolen white BMW pushed her to the ground and took the SUV, driving over her, and breaking several bones.
The mother is reportedly in serious condition and has been taken to the hospital, where she is receiving treatment. Volkswagen has issued a statement acknowledging that the situation was mishandled and promising to address it.
“Volkswagen takes the safety and security of its customers very seriously. Our thoughts are with the victims and their family,” the automaker said in a statement. “We are addressing the situation with the parties involved.”
