Porsche subscription services are a joke

[bxwatso]

$26.49/mo. for unreliable service is a bit of a slap to the face. I kind of need route planning in the winter, but I will let the subscription go in the summer.
Also, for that much money, I should get Tesla plug and charge, I think. This subscription level, in other contexts, comes with regular feature upgrades.

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[SergeyIndy]

This is the first time I am hearing about Activation, so good to know since I will be facing this in a few months. Funny thing, went to a dealer yesterday to get my 2 recalls done as software updates (rear camera, 12v sensor) and asked my SA, what's the biggest problem you are dealing with every day and he said Connect. They keep building more cars and all of them need Connect. What a mess!!! I asked for a full year refund and I got it when I had issues a few years ago, so it is possible to get a refund.

 

[Taycan4S_UK]

My annual Connect service actually ended today. I got home and received a reminder that it had expired, and all services were removed. Last year I paid annually, but today the only option available was a monthly plan at £22.93. Went from “Activating” to being fully activated took about 10 minutes after payment (rolling Apple Pay)

 

[whitex]

UPDATE: I haven't had time to call Porsche during their business hours. However, a couple of hours ago I got a notification, it seems someone finally activated my subscription AND they changed the subscription start date to today. I confirmed that the app now shows subscription active and I can preheat the car. I am not sure whether it was proactively addressed by Porsche (that would be a nice surprise) or triggered by my email to support (never got a reply on that), or perhaps someone reads the forums here, or is the online subscription activation process a manual one and the queue was just that long?

 

[DerekS]

Sadly I think Porsche is very much a company that's out of its depth with modern car technology

This. I had a really fun conversation with a smart guy over the weekend about this.

What they are great at - making engines that perform - matters less and less when every EV is fast.
What they have left is handling dynamics, looks, and brand cachet.

They’ve always been bad at tech; I don’t think I’ve had a single PCM that worked 100% across 9 vehicles.

 

[whitex]

That will just be AI chat bots having a grand time on both sides wasting tokens.

That is the idea, perhaps it would motivate the company paying for those wasted tokens to improve their customer service. If customers is pissed enough to pay their own money to waste the company's money, the company is obviously doing something wrong - those same customers could be spending their money with the Company if they offered them something they want.

In this specific case, the simple solution is to activate immediately after receiving payment. There should be no human in the loop. What's Porsche's risk if someone used a stolen credit card, a few days of Connect service? If there is a problem pushing it to the car (connectivity or whatever), there should be an option in the PCM to force-refresh subscription information from the server, and there they could display issues such as "car out of cellular range", but if car has connectivity, it should just download latest activations on the spot. These can't be revolutionary out-of-box ideas folks.

 

[RAHRCR]

Porsche had absolutely no trouble taking my money for the monthly subscription…it was frictionless. The HUGE problem here is that they should not charge for an APP to connect to the car. My view is that the APP is part of the car. In the same way that the keys come with the car, the APP should too.

Porsche should show that they understood the assignment when it comes to EVs by stopping the practice of charging a monthly subscription.

rant over.

 

[bluehat24]

They’re clearly not ready for the Internet.

Porsche had absolutely no trouble taking my money for the monthly subscription…it was frictionless. The HUGE problem here is that they should not charge for an APP to connect to the car. My view is that the APP is part of the car. In the same way that the keys come with the car, the APP should too.

Porsche should show that they understood the assignment when it comes to EVs by stopping the practice of charging a monthly subscription.

rant over.

Can't agree more - basic functionality like state of charge hidden behind a subscription. every other manufacturer offers that as part of the car. Poor customer experience to say the least.

 

[Vision]

I let my service expire. It wasn't that great. I noticed I can do way more with my Tesla and there app. I'm not even charged for that. Why should Porsche charge us for a premium car?.

 

[bwherry]

Just wanted to 100% agree with @whitex and this thread overall. My Porsche Connect expired over the weekend and on Monday I reluctantly signed up for the $26.49/mo. subscription, mostly for Spotify. Today? New Spotify error. CarPlay also not working. I was also thinking of demanding daily $.88 refunds each time this stuff doesn't work...

This car continues to astound: driving experience (wonderful) and digital/infotainment (absolute dumpster fire).

 

[GreenHornet]

The problem with Germans is that their mentality does not work with software engineering and development They are great at alot of things, but software development is not one of them. And they are to stubborn to let someone else do it.

The PCM is on they Taycan is just a further "development" on the MiB 3 plattform and is now almost 8 years since that architecture was released.

I hoped that getting Rivian would help, but the missed that opportunity.

 

[feye]

Experiences like this is what makes me thing the company is so stuck in last century selling outdated status symbols, really not encouraging me to buy any more of their products.

You think only now??? I am waiting since Aug 2020.

 

[mpd79]

FWIW they killed the subs for J1.2+

I think expecting VW/Audi/Porsche to good at software is asking too much.

If you want great software, Tesla/Rivian. If you want good software, MB/BMW/Hyundai/Kia. If you want carplay that works most of the time, VW/Audi/Porsche.

 

[lonesomepine]

I find it hard to justify the $26.95/mo for this service (good support or not). Rivian offered pretty much the same service free for a couple of years and then started to charge for it for just about the same price.

Considering you have CarPlay/AA for so many useful apps (routing and otherwise), just seems hardly worth it for what little else you get. YMMV

 

[whitex]

I find it hard to justify the $26.95/mo for this service (good support or not). Rivian offered pretty much the same service free for a couple of years and then started to charge for it for just about the same price.

Considering you have CarPlay/AA for so many useful apps (routing and otherwise), just seems hardly worth it for what little else you get. YMMV

Primary usage for me is remote cabin pre-conditioning (defrost or re-cool the car before setting off), setting timers (related to pre-conditioning, also charging), and monitoring charging (e.g. was on a trip this past weekend, was AC charging at a hotel, car informed me charging stopped after a few minutes - tried a couple more times, ended up having to move to a different plug - without the app, I wouldn't find out till morning that the AC charging was unsuccessful, also useful when monitoring DC charging).

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