Woman Gets Stuck In Rural California After Losing Cell Service While Driving An App-Powered Rental Car And The Company Tells Her To Sleep In The Car
At first glance, it seems like there’s no better time to live in than the 21st century and the convenience that this age of technology offers us. Just look at all the equipment we have at our disposal even at home. Washing machine, hairdryer, stove and oven, TV and computer. Whatever you wish for is usually there to make any task easier. Now take a moment to appreciate the technological miracle you’re most likely holding in your hand right this moment, reading this article and hoping it would finally get to the point (patience, my friend), and wonder what would happen if… suddenly you lost cell service! Well, this woman had to find that out the hard way.
While most of us probably take having cell service for granted, this woman will certainly not be doing that anymore
Image credits: kari_paul
After her accident when she got stuck in rural California in an app-powered rental car
Image credits: kari_paul
To make things worse, the company she rented her car from seemed to be of no help regarding the situation, as they proposed she simply sleep in her car
Image credits: kari_paul
However, she didn’t think that was a suitable option and had her car towed to the Airbnb she had booked for the night
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: kari_paul
People had various thoughts regarding Kari’s situation
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Image credits: pwthornton
Image credits: GordonAChaffin
Image credits: kari_paul
Image credits: pinkyracr
Image credits: CStrife89
Image credits: IdeaGov
Image credits: heinz_gies
Image credits: Ryu_Raccoon
Image credits: obleemusic
Now imagine hackers breaking into the gigcarshare network and disabling all cars regardless of where or at what speed they are driving. What would you do when you're on the highway doing 90 miles per hour and some hacker decides to turn off your car? A lot of people don't even have a clue of the devastatinging and even deadly effects that hackers can have on an on-line society.
And yet, we keep going further and further down this path, even knowing what all the issues are. If hackers don't get us, we'll be doomed anyway when machine overlords enslave us all.
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I dont get why they towed it back to a city. I would've called a cab and send the bill to the rental company?! They can come and get their not working pile of s**t by themselve..
Excellent idea! I hope she gets a full refund!!!
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I don't understand why so many people/companies rely on technology, when technology is so unreliable. Also, there are mountain lions in California, the hell am I sleeping in a car while it reboots!
Okay, as one who considers a remote start high tech, I gotta ask, why? Is starting a car so strenuous you need a smart phone or app?
This whole debacle has to do the the aforementioned rental car. Rather than being at a rental office, where they hand you keys, the cars are simply parked on the street, you are granted access to it through your phone.
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I didn't even know this kind of services existed. Ah app to start the car? Limited restart!? So what happens if you stop at a restaurant you hadn't planned? What's wrong with normal rental?!
My car uses a secure coded metal strip for access and run-control. It has demonstrated complete reliability for 26 straight years. Perhaps that information can be useful to someone in 'app development'
But that would mean people need access to a physical key. There's nothing wrong with unlocking a car with an app on a readily available phone. It just seems that the software had an issue (just like engines can have trouble) and in order for the digital mechanic or customer service employee to gain access he/she needs an internet connection or physical presence. Now in case of a broken key or engine trouble, the internet would not be an option, physical presence of a mechanic would presence be necessary. So. It's just a different kinda failure, but the solution to fixing it is better because of more options. But. When reception fails. This is where you're at.
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What was wrong with just using a good 'ol key to unlock/drive your car????
"Just spend the night in your car..." Dibs on the Hollywood horror movie rights.
As a software developer I have to ask: what an idiot wrote the software for it?
Some phones can use themselves as a hot spot. So if you weren't alone one could be the hotspot an the other the app to get a signal. Just something to consider in future.
The way I understand the situation, was that the car had internet access, the problem was the bandwidth, not enough throughput for the car to update.
Load More Replies... Now imagine hackers breaking into the gigcarshare network and disabling all cars regardless of where or at what speed they are driving. What would you do when you're on the highway doing 90 miles per hour and some hacker decides to turn off your car? A lot of people don't even have a clue of the devastatinging and even deadly effects that hackers can have on an on-line society.
And yet, we keep going further and further down this path, even knowing what all the issues are. If hackers don't get us, we'll be doomed anyway when machine overlords enslave us all.
Load More Replies... I dont get why they towed it back to a city. I would've called a cab and send the bill to the rental company?! They can come and get their not working pile of s**t by themselve..
Excellent idea! I hope she gets a full refund!!!
Load More Replies... I don't understand why so many people/companies rely on technology, when technology is so unreliable. Also, there are mountain lions in California, the hell am I sleeping in a car while it reboots!
Okay, as one who considers a remote start high tech, I gotta ask, why? Is starting a car so strenuous you need a smart phone or app?
This whole debacle has to do the the aforementioned rental car. Rather than being at a rental office, where they hand you keys, the cars are simply parked on the street, you are granted access to it through your phone.
Load More Replies... I didn't even know this kind of services existed. Ah app to start the car? Limited restart!? So what happens if you stop at a restaurant you hadn't planned? What's wrong with normal rental?!
My car uses a secure coded metal strip for access and run-control. It has demonstrated complete reliability for 26 straight years. Perhaps that information can be useful to someone in 'app development'
But that would mean people need access to a physical key. There's nothing wrong with unlocking a car with an app on a readily available phone. It just seems that the software had an issue (just like engines can have trouble) and in order for the digital mechanic or customer service employee to gain access he/she needs an internet connection or physical presence. Now in case of a broken key or engine trouble, the internet would not be an option, physical presence of a mechanic would presence be necessary. So. It's just a different kinda failure, but the solution to fixing it is better because of more options. But. When reception fails. This is where you're at.
Load More Replies... What was wrong with just using a good 'ol key to unlock/drive your car????
"Just spend the night in your car..." Dibs on the Hollywood horror movie rights.
As a software developer I have to ask: what an idiot wrote the software for it?
Some phones can use themselves as a hot spot. So if you weren't alone one could be the hotspot an the other the app to get a signal. Just something to consider in future.
The way I understand the situation, was that the car had internet access, the problem was the bandwidth, not enough throughput for the car to update.
Load More Replies... 
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