I’m going to play devil’s advocate here: how is the guy on the phone supposed to know it really is the police on the other side and not just some guy trying to scam his way into a freebie?
You could say that companies should err on the side of caution, but then every potential customer could pull the same, and then how do you weed out the real ones from the fake ones?
You could argue the service should be free anyway, but then we’d be arguing a different point.
It's not like they don't know who owns the car. They should be able to check afterwards if it was a real emergency, and if it was faked, send the bill and maybe report them for impersonating a police officer.
In a normal business that is not a mega corporation you would just do it. You can just activate it for a limited period if you really feel suspicious, after two or three tries you will quickly spot the people trying to abuse the system.
Even if people could abuse the system for free aubsceiptions, I don’t agree with the fact that preventing people from getting free subscription is a higher priority than helping a mother getting her 2 years old back.
Won’t someone think of the billion-dollar megacorps‽ They may lose a few bucks saving kidnapped children on the off-chance some fakers pretend to be cops! GASP!
You’re acting as if this is some sort of widespread form of criminal activity and that it’s not already a crime to impersonate a cop or to commit wire fraud while committing a kidnapping. Because who gives a shit about any of that when a few bucks could be made?
how is the guy on the phone supposed to know it really is the police on the other side and not just some guy trying to scam his way into a freebie?
Cop only number or internal group to transfer to? Fax number to send a warrant with contact info so VW can call back and investigate if need be? Get the police department number, google to confirm they’re legit, and call back? Thats just off the top of my head.
If VW doesn’t have an option like that its poor design. If the guy didn’t know, poor training. One or both are gonna be resolved now that the spotlight is on them.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here: how is the guy on the phone supposed to know it really is the police on the other side and not just some guy trying to scam his way into a freebie?
At the individual level this is actually pretty simple. I work in IT and when I used to do security training the way we’d validate is with a known contact.
In this situation you get the contacting officers name and department, disconnect the call, call the non-emergency listed number for that department and ask for that officer by name.
There’s a lot of other failure point potential in this scenario but validating the person calling is actually law enforcement shouldn’t be one of them.
I hammered into my elderly parents that if they ever get a call/text from their “bank”, “tax department”, “insurance”, or literally anything - ask for a case number and hang up. Then call the number listed on the official website.
Now they’re telling everyone they know about it. Good on them.
Right? This wasn’t “No don’t take my data but also find my car” it was “Please for the love of god find my car my child is in there” followed with “Right for a modest fee of $150 ma’am we sure can”.
Has nothing to do with privacy. Maybe they ask a boilerplate “We have to ask but you do give us consent right” followed by a “What the fuck do you think fucking yes!”, but not asking for money. That’s not the time.
I’ve been riding motorcycles on and off for years. For the last 8ish months I’ve been riding one of those like city share electric moped/scooter things. It’s a cheap Chinese NIU brand. For the size and state of infrastructure in my current city (Tbilisi) it’s honestly the best way to get around.
I lived in Tokyo for years though. I would take a train network like that any day of the week.
Bikes. I enjoy being outside instead of being in a box. I can also usually take more scenic and pleasant routes than I could with public transport or a car.
Second place would be high-speed rail. It’s quite comfortable and you can read a book or just watch the landscapes go by at rapid speeds.
As a programmer, I will very mildly defend VW here. Not at all defending the payment structure (that’s shit and has no excuse other than rent seeking), but the person who had to tell the police they needed to pay likely didn’t have an override button. Something like this just isn’t an edge case that you often think of in development, so not having the option of getting that data out for free is reasonable if this is the first incident.
Not really. I’m not sure when it became auto makers responsibility to protect you from the world and car hijackings. The tech is primarily an ad on to protect you in crashes and shitty weather.
I don’t think they’re saying that no one thought of it, but he’s right as a programmer those edge cases are always pushed out, kicking the can down the road. That doesn’t mean VW isn’t liable - it’s their fault still - they should have been able to help. But we can understand how it happened.
They probably called some guy on the 24/7 help line making minimum wage who will get fired if he ever gave out a free service and probably gets dinged if a call gets escalated. Those processes probably don’t exist. They sure as hell will now.
I love trams, but in my city they’re often slower than busses. And we still have a ton of old rolling stock with no wheelchair access.
I always prefer trains, but I no longer live near trams or trains. Instead I’ve got four bus routes, two of which go on the freeway just after the stop near my place. I’ve made it to my destination in under 10 minutes on that bus, it would normally be 20-30 minutes on a good day though.
Airplanes. That’s the only mode of transport I’d use just for the fun of it. All other modes of transportations are just tools and I like they exist, but I don’t “really like” them by themselves.
I like to see all the technical aspects of it, but the actual transportation part is so bad for me. And not to speak of the emissions it creates. I nlw try to avoid planes, trains are nearly as interesting and much more pleasant for everyone.
Everything. It’s sitting in a chair flying through the air. What’s not to like? I don’t think trains really compare. Like you can’t even look out the window and watch the control surfaces.
Sure, there is delays and all the other people which are quite annoying, but that’s also true for trains.
Like you can’t even look out the window and watch the control surfaces.
That I totally understand!
But planes (at least in economy) have very little space and you don’t have a real table to work/chill/play on. It’s loud, space is generally very limited and you can’t bring a lot of your own food. Also it is much darker than with large train windows.
I came thinking I would say airplanes as well, though I know it’s likely an unpopular answer in this part of web.
Growing up fairly privileged, I got to fly a lot and always looked forward to it as a situation where no one can get mad at me for spending the whole time watching movies, playing games or reading books. Some of that childhood joy stuck with me, and I still look forward to a chance to sit back and read or zone out to music without any nagging work obligations (I refuse to purchase in air wifi).
So big agree, for transport I “really like,” it’s gotta be airplanes.
For more mundane day to day stuff, I do love basically anything on rails. Not having to think about maneuvering around other vehicles, just sitting and chilling, not even worrying about traffic delays. As long as you’re able to avoid the worst of rush hour packed trains, it’s just the best. If only every city could figure out their rail systems…
I got to fly a lot and always looked forward to it as a situation where no one can get mad at me for spending the whole time watching movies, playing games or reading books. Some of that childhood joy stuck with me, and I still look forward to a chance to sit back and read or zone out to music without any nagging work obligations
Pretty much the same reasons I like traveling on trains. The reasons why I don’t like plane traveling nearly as much (kind of hate it TBH) is the whole airport bureaucracy and security theater you need to go through just to get on the plane. And the incredibly cramped seats (though maybe not a factor for you, if you were privileged enough not to fly Economy).
Yeah, I’ll admit, getting to fly business frequently as a child probably gave me an unrealistic view of what flying would be like for myself later in life. But except for one flight I randomly got bumped, I’ve only done economy my whole adult life and still can’t help but be in a good mood thinking about a flight.
I do agree about the airport hassles, having to go through easily two hours of bureaucracy and waiting before even getting on a plane is kinda crazy, guess I’ve just come to accept it to the point I don’t really think about it too much. I’m just looking forward to the plane, and maybe finding a little nook to wait in before the flight starts boarding where my brain can already start transitioning to “nothing’s stopping you from just shutting off” mode. Airplane mode also means I’m not getting any work texts or messages while I’m in the air, which has definitely happened on trains.
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