A Chicago area woman was the victim of a recent carjacking in her own driveway.
The pregnant mother was struck by the vehicle as thieves fled in her VW Atlas, with her two-year-old child still buckled inside.
Police reportedly contacted Volkswagen in an attempt to utilize the vehicle’s ‘Car-Net’ service, which could remotely activate a GPS monitoring system to help them locate the Atlas.
Despite an explanation from law enforcement, the VW representative refused to enable the tracking because the free trial for this subscription-based service had expired.
In order to activate the service, a $150 fee would need to be paid. The family eventually made the payment, but police found the child on their own during the 30-minute Volkswagen ordeal.
The company called its rep’s actions a "serious breach of the process" and said it would offer customers five years of free Car-Net connected vehicle emergency services.
According to Motor Trend, the service includes “automatic crash notifications, emergency assistance, stolen vehicle locator and anti-theft alerts.”
VW’s SVP of customer experience Rachel Zaluzec said the company "must and will do better for everyone that trusts our brand and for the law enforcement officials tasked with protecting us.”
