1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Safety Connect Fiasco

Discussion in 'Prime Audio, Electronics, and Infotainment' started by ems2158, Jul 2, 2020.

  1. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2012
    221
    162
    0
    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    My three year free period of Safety Connect/Entune expired. It had worked ok for 3 years; my wife wanted to keep the service for the automatic accident response. I liked being able to check the charge status on the phone app. I tried to renew the service on-line. The app would not allow me to renew on-line, it insisted I call customer service.
    I talked to customer service. They took my payment information and claimed I was good to go but had to have their tech people do something.
    I tried the online app; no connection. I tried to press the SOS button. Now I getting a communication module failure message. This failure happened immediately after my call to customer service.
    After 4 calls to customer service, I'm told, "I have to take the car to the dealer."
    I think Toyota disabled the safety connect module and doesn't know how to reestablish the connection but I will not go to the dealer and pay diagnostics and maybe parts fees for something Toyota messed up.

    Anyone have any ideas what happened here?
     
  2. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Wow, interesting. The first wave of 3 year expiration for 2017 Advanced trim must have passed by now, but this is the first time I read about problem renewing the service. I hope this is not the new marketing ploy.

    I did not have Advanced trim on my previous 2017 PRIME. And for recently purchased 2020 PRIME LE, I opted out of the Safety Connect service.
     
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,768
    16,017
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Yeesh. I hope it isn't related to Entune 3.0. You'd think the old stuff will still be supported, at least for more than 3 years.
     
  4. Buzzhead

    Buzzhead Non-Interference w/ devel of pre-Warp civs

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2009
    145
    53
    0
    Location:
    Chelmsford, MA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I renewed with no problems. I'm still using the Toyota Entune app that I originally loaded on my Android. At some point (don't remember if it was before or after renewing) I had to download the Toyota app, but it doesn't seem to be needed .
     
    Tideland Prius likes this.
  5. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2012
    221
    162
    0
    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    To add injury to insult; I asked Toyota to refund the $80 for the Safety Connect one year subscription since they disabled my service and couldn't figure out how to reestablish the connection. They told me, "they would refund the $80 to my credit card in 2-3 days." Apparently, they don't know how to do that either. No refund on the credit card! I guess I'm going to be on the line with customer service for a few more hours.
    Really beginning to hate Toyota.
     
  6. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2017
    712
    1,048
    20
    Location:
    Boston, Massachusetts USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I went through the renewal process last month (although my 3-year term was not expiring until August) and although it was a time-consuming process on the phone, it seemed to be successful.

    For some reason, they could not just renew the contract but had to write a new contract with a new contract number. At least, they were able to extend through the August anniversary of the original contract.

    In the process, my Eco-Dashboard sheep went away and then re-appeared without their history. My "gold" status was reset to "bronze" and my statistics for the month of June were reset. (Hence, although we drove nearly 400 miles in June, the first 160 were "lost" and the BearMobile did not make it into the top 100 list for the month. :cry:)

    For a process which should be able to be done online (extend my service, here is my credit card number), this was a really clunky process which took a lot of telephone time and transfers between Toyota customer service reps to complete.
     
  7. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2012
    221
    162
    0
    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Be sure to check the SOS service. Press the button and see if you are getting a response.
    It was important for my wife to have the Safety Connect automatic response since she is hearing impaired. That service was disable after I called customer service to renew the Safety Connect contract and Toyota was unable to reconnect the service.
    You are correct, extending this service should not be a time consuming process and it certainly should not disable the service.
     
  8. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2017
    712
    1,048
    20
    Location:
    Boston, Massachusetts USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I was specifically instructed by the Toyota customer service rep to make a test call from the SOS Safety Connect button -- which I did while later that afternoon while sitting the parking lot of a shopping center several miles from my home. The Safety Connect call center answered promptly and accurately identified my location.

    Not sure what caused your problem. Assuming that your renewal was like mine, you probably got an entire new contract and account number. I'd be suspicious that your VIN or whatever ID Toyota uses to identify your Safety Connect radio did not get copied correctly to your new contract. It seems unlikely that Toyota could remotely damage the hardware or firmware in your Prime -- but if they got your information wrong, it may be that your new contract was never set up to recognize for your specific vehicle.
     
  9. wb9tyj

    wb9tyj 2017 Prius Prime Advanced

    Joined:
    May 20, 2004
    389
    94
    0
    Location:
    Indiana and Nevada
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    i've received numerous mailings about renewing safety connect...so i sent it in JUNE21,2020 for my 2017 Prime advanced...Still getting alerts about expiration and there is no transaction on the cc that was attached to it...i paid for the year...Now its July 15 and we are still screwing around with it...it expires in 5 days...One would think that a renewal process would be seemless and without complication...but to almost take a month?...Really?...It's totally unacceptable in this day and age...even after getting off phone with them, they never had my car in their system...thats funny, entunes/safety connect been working for 3 years now...so that excuse won't fly...totally incompetent!!
     
    Salamander_King likes this.
  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Yeah, I don't trust incompetent system to track my vehicle. I did not have the Safety Connect on my previous 2017 PRIME Premium, but starting 2020 model year all PRIME trims comes with the Safety Connect standard. When I got my 2020 PRIME LE, the first thing I did was disconnecting the Safety Connect service by opting out. I managed to accomplish this task all on-line, though the information given by Toyota was not very convoluted. After visiting several Toyota pages, I was able to send the "opt-out" change on my subscription. After this, the light on the SOS switch went OFF which was on when I purchased the car first. Now, I don't have to be bothered with it ever again. Done.
     
    #10 Salamander_King, Jul 15, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2020
  11. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2012
    221
    162
    0
    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Your experience sounds something like mine. I renewed before the expiration of the free service period; then my service terminated after the expiration date and Toyota was unable to reestablish the service. I eventually had to get my $80 refunded after 3 calls and 1,5 hours on the phone.

    From what I understand, this service is provided by a third party (Verizon?). The Safety Connect service works through the Data Communication Module DCM. This is something like a SIM card that interfaces with you car. I think the problem I've experience resulted from the DCM failing to register with the wireless service provider and no one had the technical expertise to correct the problem.

    I spent hours on the phone with customer service and finally gave up. Hope your experience is better.
     
  12. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2012
    221
    162
    0
    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    A month after my failed attempt to renew the Safety Connect subscription I get the following email from Toyota:

    If you intend to reactivate services, the Data Communication Module (DCM) in your vehicle is equipped with software that may require an update at this time. In order to maintain full functionality of your Safety Connect services, please contact your Toyota dealer to make an appointment to have the software update performed free of charge to you.

    Would have been helpful if someone at Toyota custome service mentioned this when I spent hours on the phone with them trying to get the Safety Connect service working when it expired.
     
    #12 ems2158, Aug 15, 2020
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2020