OnStar Guardian: Safety App Reviews

by Clv2012

Think I pay 30 a month for this, only have it for opening/starting car if I don’t have my keys, if my vehicle is stolen or to alert me if my work vehicle is being broken into
Every time they change OnStarGuardian or my phone updates it loses the password and becomes useless
I spent 20 minutes on the phone when we originally set this up to make sure I would be notified by text and call if anyone was breaking into my work vehicle- now OnStarGuardian has updated AGAIN and has lost my phone number
Have wasted 20 minutes trying to reset the password etc
Totally over this and think it is a waste of time and money

by Unhappy With ECONET

Onstar added OnStarGuardian to my plan, didn’t notify what it was and why the cost increased, just started charging for it. When I enquired about the additional cost I changed plans to a navigation plan and they can’t get half the crap to work in the Connected Services plan. About ready to say goodbye to onstar and go back to my phone. Terrible on customer support, paying $300+ a year for useless functions

Update-
Sounds like Onstar navigation with real time traffic only works on 2020 or newer vehicles.
Learned from Onstar tech that vehicles older than 2020 require a subscription from SiriusXM and an add on traffic subscription for the complete navigation feature that Onstar says they provide. I have a 2019 GM. Seems like some of the other advertised features don’t work and there’s no explanation or description of the steps to check if they work.

If the features don’t work with some vehicles-ONSTAR should disclose that information and explain why. They want you to be a dumb rock and just accept their vague plan with no explanation. So to get navigation to work properly some vehicles need Onstar and SirusXM, or a new 2020 radio, what a joke.
Most of the Onstar support doesn’t even know how their plans work and if the features are compatible with the vehicle.
So if you are paying for Onstar services on a vehicle older than 2020, you probably aren’t getting what you think you are getting.

Sounds like a good case for a class action lawsuit—I’m in.

by Patrick In NYC

My father purchased this service in advance of a long road trip and granted access to his location to his children so we can track his trip. In order to access OnStarGuardian interface, however, OnStarGuardian requires each “viewer” to grant access to our phone’s microphone, fitness data and location. The GM website for OnStarGuardian then makes clear that this data is being harvested and sold. This is entirely inappropriate and deceptive on GM’s part and I recommend using other services that are not predicated on invading the privacy of customers.

by AnnaMomm

I’ve gotten several emails from onstar touting this ‘guardian’ program - and after reading the description and reviews, I’m wondering why I would need this?! It has a location feature which I feel is the same as the find my iPhone/android and apparently doesn’t even work properly), the crash sensor is automatic with onstar already in my vehicle. Not to mention almost EVERY review speaks about it being a HUGE battery drain…
Why do I need OnStarGuardian again? So it can detect a crash (maybe) that me or a family member might be in in a vehicle w/o on-star? I’m not giving up on star- I love it, but why OnStarGuardian again?

by Astro1964

I added OnStarGuardian for my family for our trip to Maine. I wanted to make sure my daughter and her friends were safe while walking around and while on the beach. So far I have found that it doesn’t update location when walking or standing still. My daughter went to a friend’s house and it took 10 mins before it changed her location from our motel to the house. Then she left and went to get pizza and it didn’t update for another 10 mins and when it did update it showed her as being in the middle of the ocean. The pizza place is a 320 steps from the ocean. I know this because they have painted feet down the walkway, across the street and out to the beach. The steps are 2 1/2 feet apart and the ocean is another couple of hundred feet from where they end. It don’t think it should be showing her even further than that and out in the ocean. Very scary!

by MichaelDoug

I installed this to help keep an eye on my older parent — I shouldn’t have to enable all of those permissions on my phone! You don’t need to track me. Very uncool.

Update: your response was long winded and completely tone deaf. I am not looking to use this as an app to protect myself but to be able to watch over my older parent... stop forcing loved ones who don’t want your battery draining monitoring to opt in. There is ZERO reason why I cannot monitor and get alerts for my father who DOES opt in. Telling me that I have to give you these permissions when that isn’t my use case at all is seriously tone deaf to many people on here saying the same thing. Stop forcing us to give you our privacy when we don’t want to. Give us a warning in OnStarGuardian , sure; but don’t block us from seeing and protecting our parents.

by Jades Momma

OnStarGuardian itself never works for me. I’ve tried cancelling my plan through OnStarGuardian and at first it showed an address and credit card that weren’t even mine. I thought maybe it was a glitch. I’ve tried several other times to cancel through OnStarGuardian and it always says error and to try again later. I’ve done an online chat and two phone calls with onstar and they all say my account has been deleted and I shouldn’t receive anymore charges. Come January and I’m charged again. They also said they’d refund me for the last three months the last time I called. No refund as of now and OnStarGuardian still isn’t working for me. This has become a bigger hassle than it’s worth. I would not recommend.

by Jesus, Savior King

It’s 4:15am. I put in an online request for roadside assistance at 1:47am. Waited over an hour…no response. I called in and was told my request was sent, but it didn’t go all the way thru, so no one was dispatched to help me. I don’t know how that’s possible. She called back 3x over the next 2 hours to say that she was still trying to find somebody and no one was available. Both ladies I spoke to were very nice, but the service I received as a first time customer was very dissatisfying. I got no where in the 4 hours I was on the side of the road…alone. I’m still on the side of the road. Signing up for this was a last resort cause I thought it would help, but it didn’t. Will be cancelling ASAP.

by Onsuck

Signed up for trial and didn’t like OnStarGuardian . Canceled service before the trial ended, onstar charged my account called in customer service assured I would be refunded and account was canceled. Never received refund and was charged a second time the following month. Spent 3 hours on the phone with customer service hung up on after being on hold for an hour. Called back in they were unable to locate my account says that they can’t see the charges after I sent the copy of bank statements proving they charged me. Still can’t get refunded or verification that account is canceled. Absolutely horrible!!! Hours on the phone with no resolution STAY AWAY from OnStarGuardian!!!!

by Randomness3213355

I received the email from OnStar my service package would this new Guardian app where I can add my family, share locations with them and be protected in case of an emergency. Sounds great, right? After I downloaded and setup our family of four I started getting notifications for someone named ‘rielly’. No one in my family of 4 is named rielly, and I can see them all listed in OnStarGuardian . No extra people. Yet when Reilly’s battery gets low or the turn on and off permissions I kept getting a notification. So I called OnStar. They said they opened a ticket but there was absolutely no way whoever this Reilly person is could see my, or my family’s location. Fast forward a little over a week to today.. guardian app notification on my Lock Screen that Reilly has viewed my location! So now whoever this person is now knows WHERE I LIVE!!! Spent another hour on the phone with OnStar to get my account on the guardian app disabled completely and they still have no idea who this person is. Deleted all my family members and removed all location/microphone/tracking permissions. Made everyone else delete OnStarGuardian . Now at 1am, I get more notifications that Reilly’s phone is 7% and that “a family member has asked to view my location “. Yet everyone else in my house has completely deleted OnStarGuardian and I have turned off all permissions. This is awful - now I have to worry about someone stalking us. DON’T USE OnStarGuardian!!!!

by BSSLDY

So I am on star user guardian for the first time ever. Love all the features and safety it provides but with OnStarGuardian we are allowed to add family for location. Well I check on my daughter frequently… for two days it said she was down the street (when she was at work) and today it has her off the coast of Ecuador and she just left the house. We don’t live in Ecuador nor have we ever been. So I’m hoping the location gets better within OnStarGuardian , just in case she needs it in an emergency and she’s nowhere near the location. Just speaking as a concerned parent.

by Jkhjas

We have had OnStarGuardian for several years to keep track of each other, child safety, and elder safety. It never worked quite right giving false locations, randomly signing out members, and crashing. However, recently these issues have become far worse. It crashes regularly, fails to update locations for hours or days, signs people out repeatedly, and simply does not perform for the task it is intended for. Our phones are new, and OnStarGuardian is up to date. If this isn’t fixed and significant improvements are not made soon I will be forced to end this service in search of another that performs as intended.

by Blondie2550

I have been on the phone now for over a month with Onstar and Cadillac. My apps won’t work! They say I have an account, but won’t sync. Onstar was supposed to call me back with a third person to try and fix it and never did! I cancelled my husbands roadside assistance through our cell plan, because I was able to add him to my Onstar guardian family connect plan. Now he has no coverage because his app won’t work either! I’m paying for coverage but can’t use it! Frustrated.

by Bart E.M.

My brother gave me access to this because he’s an OnStar subscriber. I like the idea behind OnStarGuardian especially that I drive a lot but OnStarGuardian is draining the battery of my IPhone SE 2. Will probably only activate it when going on extra long trips and my phone is plugged in. Kind of disappointed because I drive all day for work and would love to know this is working in the background but for now I just can’t be bothered keeping my phone plugged in and unplugging every time I leave the car which is multiple times during a regular day.

by M-kamp

I enjoy the features of the Guardian app. I do not connected to my car through the instrument that plugs into the port. I only use the emergency features on my phone. But to that end, OnStarGuardian is a battery hog. It consistently stays at the top of my battery usage list and I noticed a marked difference in how long my battery lasts per day. Ultimately they had to uninstall OnStarGuardian because I didn’t care for the battery usage. But otherwise, a very functional app.

by DiddyM

I have only had OnStarGuardian a short amount of time but it has done wonders. I recently added my elderly mother to my family plan, as she has been known to get in accidents when driving. So far it has been tremendous and has helped with my peace of my mind when my mum goes out on drives as she will be able to contact the appropriate services quickly if an accident happens. For the price of $15 a month it is definitely worth it knowing that all of my loved ones are safe and that they have quick access to emergency services. I can understand how some people may be hesitant of purchasing this due to the price but I would 100% recommend OnStarGuardian to anyone the price is worth it! I have added my husband and children in my OnStar Guardian family plan too.

by Fastashell@

My wife was having problems with OnStarGuardian but it worked perfectly with my credentials. It also worked wonky with her credentials on my phone. The IT folks worked diligently and fixed the issue and both apps are working beautifully. My wife’s review is lilcle80. So please understand that issue is fixed and we love OnStarGuardian !!!!

by MusicalHigh

When I’m home I turn off the Location feature in OnStarGuardian to save my battery. I was getting frequent messages telling me to turn Location service back on, which was annoying. I put that in a review and the developer contacted me quickly. They asked me to uninstall OnStarGuardian and reinstall it to get the most current version. I did and that solved the problem. Now I can turn off Location tracking and I haven’t gotten any messages to turn it on. Thanks so much!

by VentrisJ

With my son turning 18 this year, we wanetd to get him a car for his birthday. A big factor for us when getting a car is my sons saftey. One thing that drew us to GMC is the OnStar Guardian app that you get with the car. With incredibly helpful servies such as mobile crash response, roadside assistance, emergency services and location services. The features that come with OnStarGuardian make me feel a lot more confident and comfortable with letting my son go off and drive on his own, as if in the case he gets in a crash or accident he will automatically get the assistance he needs through OnStarGuardian ! OnStarGuardian has offered a great deal of satefy and security for me and my husband with letting our kids go out on drives without us.

by G. Fayed

I was very hesitant to download OnStarGuardian at first due to the price of the OnStar Guardian app. However, I decided to give it a go because my children have just started driving and I am constantly concerned about their safety when driving about. I thought that with the features that OnStarGuardian offers it will be a beneficial service to purchase if it aids the safety of my children. OnStarGuardian has been brilliant so far and does everything that it says it would do! I am able to keep an eye out where my kids are when driving and it has been a huge relief. I definitely trust OnStarGuardian if any of them were to get in a crash or accident! I have no complaints so far and would recommend OnStarGuardian to any concerned parents.

by Melanieadams24

I will never ever get involved with OnStar again. I have called them twice to cancel. The first time I was told they cancelled it and they still tried taking it out of my acct 8 times!!! The second time, after telling them I wanted to cancel they hung up on me. This isn’t regarding the OnStar Guardian app necessarily, because OnStar hides behind the manufacture of your cars website then you can’t even leave them a bad review. This company has gone to crap!!!!!

by &2020anil

Not able to login on App, even after 20 min hold time.

by Listolicious805

Can’t even log in, says I need a code which I can’t get and it keeps reloading the password page and I can’t get out of it to even press for help. I don’t know why they got rid of my link and replaced it with this junk

by Lilcle80

OnStarGuardian works perfectly for my husband. BUT as for me it doesn’t show my location, it doest let me acess family, and i get an error trying to add my hisband to my family!! i wanted OnStarGuardian in case of emergency in someone else’s car. i think the idea for OnStarGuardian is great but for functionality F-. if the kinks are fixed however i would continue using but even the help department did not have a clue what was happening

by Bbeathea

Would love to have the opportunity to be a part of this testing community and provide more feed back it looks to be an amazing addition to the OnStar community!

by AffableMe

It’s like having a panic button in your pocket.

by DebbieSue1974

I really love OnStarGuardian! It gives me peace of mind with my children being able to have e Onstar safety with them at all times. We had a little issue with my sons android but the tech support for this is amazing. They were able to fix it and it works seamlessly. Definitely my favorite app