LeapFrog

As noted in the RX and other forums the Lexus Enform Remote application has been out of service for a number of users - apparently the failure was triggered by some combination of an update to the Telematics back-end (or its user interface) and the update of the Lexus Enform Remote application for Android and iPhone.

After the forced update to the app occurred in mid-April my Enform Remote quit working. After a couple of weeks I finally got irritated enough to call Lexus Customer Service. A Tier I call-taker verified that my 3IS's VIN was subscribed to the service and that my account was in good standing. I noted the high cost of the service (now close to $300 a year); he apologized for the outage and I asked for a credit - he agreed and gave me three months. I thought that was fairly generous since the outage certainly was a short-term issue, right? The call-taker then passed me to a Tier II tech who couldn't do anything more than state that they knew they had a problem, that it would be resolved no later than the end of three business days from then, and ask me if "there was anything else they could help me with". I suggested that Lexus return to the "Lexus Customer Service" forum on Club Lexus - since hearing nothing from them can lead to more speculation on our part as to the depth of their problems.

Shortly after the end of the three business-day cure period I received the following email. Reading between the lines, this "amazing service" email does not bode well for a near-term fix to the issue.

Given the limited media coverage of this outage and the lack of a more formal communication from Lexus (e.g., an apology letter sent by snail mail) I must assume that either 1) not every Lexus Enform Remote user is affected or 2) there aren't that many Enform Remote users subscribed to this expensive service or 3) Lexus customers don't expect "amazing service" and put up with a poorly managed technology upgrade that - had it happened in another industry - could put almost any company out of business in a few days.

From: Lexus_Customer_Satisfaction@lexus.com [mailto:Lexus_Customer_Satisfaction@lexus.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2017
To: [redacted]
Subject: Lexus Enform

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for contacting Lexus Customer Satisfaction. We are dedicated to providing amazing service.

Our Technical Team has been made aware of your Lexus Enform issues and we are working diligently to resolve as fast as possible. A status update will be provided within 7-10 business days as further information becomes available. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have this concern resolved shortly.

If you require further assistance, please contact Lexus Customer Satisfaction at 1-800-255-3987, Monday through Friday, 5:00 am to 6:00 pm, or Saturday, 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, Pacific Time, or use the following link: http://bit.ly/ContactLexus

Sincerely,
Lexus Customer Satisfaction

Chipper44

Well said Leapfrog. I am having the same problems with a couple exceptions. Called customer service last night. After a long wait while the rep "investigated" I was told she found no account listed under my username/email or vin number, but not to fear, she had created a new account for me and gave me a "password " that surely get me access. I tried while on the phone, but got same wrong username/password notice. She told me they were having problems and to try again later or tomorrow which I did to no avail and now get the "your account is locked, due to too many attempts". Very frustrating. I'm sort of surprised more people aren't having the problem unless, as you say, nobody is using the app???

LeapFrog

So yesterday I took my 3IS in for routine service and stopped to chat with the local dealer's "technology guy". He knew all about the Enform Remote outage but said that new subscribers were being enrolled and that they worked OK. So we tried a number of things including deleting my VIN from my account and re-enrolling the VIN as a new vehicle. That got us the "One Year Complimentary Service" screen on the app but wouldn't let me "Continue" to confirm the start of the one-year subscription. After the service department was done with the vehicle the tech guy and I sat in the car for an hour and talked to an SOS call-taker and their supervisor. They tried a number of things and by the end of the hour we were just getting a blank screen and/or an error message such as "SSO Failure" or "500 Server Error". I gave up and went home.

Late yesterday I called Lexus Corporate and um, chewed them a new one. Given that it had been a month without service and that no one seemed to know what the heck they were doing - yet new car owners were able to use the service - I demanded that they just completely delete my VIN and Enform account from the system and that we start from scratch. I said I'd hold on while someone did that. About an hour later I was in touch with a knowledgeable tech out of California (I don't think he worked for Lexus, perhaps Telematics?). The tech discovered the root cause of the problem and was able to resolve it. So, for those of you who may have this issue here is what happened in my case:

1) When I purchased the car the dealer (tech guy) opened an Enform account using email address "A" and my VIN. It worked fine for two years.
2) Shortly later I signed up on the Lexus Drivers site (secure.drivers.lexus.com) for an account using login id "L", email address "B" and my VIN. Likewise, no problem accessing my service records or anything else.
3) When Lexus revised the Enform Remote app in mid-May one of the reasons for the mandatory upgrade was to give owners a 'single sign on' that could be used on all Lexus sites and subscriptions.
4) When the upgraded app was pushed out it stated that users could link an existing "Lexus Drivers" account to the Enform Remote account - which I did using login id "L". However, this login was associated with email address "B", not email address "A" as used for the Enform Remote account.
5) Upon initial login to the Enform Remote app there was no vehicle linked to my account. This has been the problem for the last four weeks.
6) The solution was for the California tech to delete my Enform email "A" and to replace it with my Lexus Driver's email "B" as the Enform account email address / login - something apparently only they can do.
7) Once this was done I got an authorization email, logged in to the Enform app using email address "B", entered the authorization code, and a few minutes later all the Enform Remote features worked.
8) Notably the Lexus Drivers site login is now broken (!) but I was told that is because they are having a system wide outage on that site. Yeah, tell me about it.

Now all I have to do is follow up to make sure that I get the three-month Enform service extension that I was first promised.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

IgorCh

Wrong post

Techseofor

The planned shutdown of antiquated 3G networks will affect the connected systems of dozens of vehicle models that hit the market anytime from 2010 to as recently as 2021, in some cases.