Problem with My.Cadillac.com

[Cadillac Jim]

Last week after I drove my CTS-V home from Texas I opened online accounts at OnStar.com and, using my OnStar logon creditials, My.Cadillac.com, which turns out to be the GM Owner Center, My.GM.com. While I was there, I found that they remembered my 1997 ETC from a long-ago use of the web site, and also entered my wife's Pointiac. I figured on deleting the 1997 ETC when the registration changed in a week or so, which, since some time has passed, is any day now.

The problem began when I tried to log on to My.Cadillac.com the next day. I consistently get a pop-up message

"Please enter a valid Username. Usernames must be a minimum of 6 characters, can't contain spaces or special characters, and must contain at least one alphanumeric character."

This is puzzling because my user name is just seven letters. I tried clicking on "Forget Username?" and, after a day, got an e-mail that did verify that I have the same username that I use successfully to log in to OnStar.com. Live chat gave me a phone number to call and after a day I got a call back asking for my e-mail address so that they could elevate the case. I haven't heard back from that yet.

Interestingly enough, GM offers apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, and their Android apps for OnStar and My.Cadillac.com work great. I used the Android app to watch my car while they were servicing it, and just when I noticed that the OLM had reverted to 100% and the tire pressure had come up, the Service Manager came and told me that my car was ready. I can use the app to schedule service next time (or the dealer web site).

The OnStar web site isn't recording the full diagnostic check of my CTS-V yet, so it doesn't display the information that I have on my Android app. This tells me that there may be issues with the OnStar web software on the server or interface level, and since I use OnStar credentials on my GM owner's site, this may be the root of my problems there.

I expect to hear from the GM problem resolution process soon and don't need further help in getting the problem resolved for me.

Is anyone else using the online OnStar and GM Owner Center? If so, is it working for you, or could this be temporary problem, like an Internet outage or downed server somewhere that doesn't affect most people?

[JimD]

....Live chat gave me a phone number to call and after a day I got a call back asking for my e-mail address so that they could elevate the case. I haven't heard back from that yet.

Do not hold your breath while waiting to receive a satisfactory response.

In my experience with my.gm.com, GM is wasting whatever resources they put into the system. The web interface is not easily navigated, it is slower than a 300 baud modem, and virtually non-responsive. The whole purpose of my.gm.com "appears" to be to frustrate non-OnStar subscribers as much as possible. And this owner has no use for OnStar.

Is anyone else using the online OnStar and GM Owner Center? If so, is it working for you....

Not an OnStar subscriber but I have been playing with the my.gm.com pages for far longer than I care to admit. And it does not work for me!

Did I mention "slow and non-responsive"?

[Cadillac Jim]

I was afraid that this was a chronic problem. Try the smart-phone apps, they work great.

You will understand if I differ regarding OnStar. I had a Gen I system with my 1997 ETC and loved it until the day that analog cell phone service was unhooked in most of suburban South Jersey. It took a year for it to die out almost completely. There may be some places where analog cell phones still work but I don't know of a carrier that will talk to you about enabling an analog phone.

There are three major things about OnStar that you can't get any other way: automatic notification and instant personal attention if the air bags deploy, the emergency button that gets the same people except that their call begins with "What is your emergency?" and their ability to read all your DTCs, which, if you have a 2006 or later, you can't do yourself without a good code reader. Unlike 911 on a cell phone, whoever answers has your location pinpointed when they pick up the call and need very little data from you to handle everything for you while you focus on pressing issues like getting out of the seat belts and air bags, seeing to others in the car and such. They call the ambulance or police or whoever needs to be called in or notified.

Then, there's the daily advantage of being able to push the OnStar button and get someone with a brain and a pulse that is trained to help you out in just about any situation, and will quickly transfer your call to someone with an in-depth specialty if necessary.

[JimD]

I was afraid that this was a chronic problem. Try the smart-phone apps, they work great.

For me, smart-phones fall in the same category as OnStar; not something I "need".

You will understand if I differ regarding OnStar.

I do.

[rockfangd]

I gave up with the GM owner center. I loved it to keep maintnance records on all 4 of my vehicles, until last year when they upgraded the site and I lost everything, and when I say everything I mean alot.

When I spoke over the phone on multiple occasions they kept telling me it would show up but it never did. I am still upset because any record I had is lost, but it is my fault for being stupid enough to rely on a site to hold my records. I bid you good luck but it is not easy to resolve any issues on the site and they will tell you anything to make you think it is good

[Cadillac Jim]

I just scan in my invoices, save the PDF files with the date beginning the file name, and keep them in folders by hear. I'm not likely to depend on The Cloud for remembering anything because any little glitch, like a credit card expiration or your ISP rejecting some e-mail messages, and you are toast.

[Cadillac Jim]

Well, it's over. The web site support solved my problem. I reset my passwords in both My.Cadillac.com and OnStar.com and all is well.

[rockfangd]

good to hear you got it figured out.

[Cadillac Jim]

good to hear you got it figured out.

Their tech support fixed the problem, not me. It was a bizarre issue that apparently involved opening a GM Owner Center account from an OnStar account through a linkage between them. This is actually recommended to achieve instant exchange of data on your car(s) between them. Something about my user name meshed in an obscure software bug, I think. They were in touch with me daily while working the problem.