What a mess! Luckily we weren’t in imminent danger and didn’t experience some form of medical or other emergency – that would have been the end of us. We tried to determine our own GPS location from our mobile phones – more than a challenge I would say! The format of the GPS co-ordinates was strange to the assist people and we ended up trying to find a GPS converter on the internet. We were unable to provide an exact address and it took the assist guys another 2 hours to find us. Although they were efficient and immediately dispatched roadside assistance services, our ordeal was far from over. We Google’d our insurance company’s number and after about seven calls, we got through to the emergency call centre. Although we knew we had been subscribed to “roadside assistance” through either our insurance or a credit card or other account, our experience turned out to be a nightmare.įirstly, we didn’t have an idea of whom to call. The consumer’s critical reliance on our services is underscored by the experience of the founder of The Panic Button App, Deon Venter: “After being stuck next to road for 4 hours, the idea of a user friendly, GPS driven Panic Button came to us. Our overall aim is to provide you with a “Big Brother” to support you to the end, whatever your emergency. All our services are aimed at catering for any kind of emergency thinkable, from serious incidents like missing persons, accidents and medical problems, to more common emergencies like getting lost or locking your keys in your car.