And in some ways, I want to shoot some of their customer service reps. A couple stories that are way too reminiscent of "Old GM."

1) I sold a customer an ordered GTO back in JANUARY...silver 6 speed with red leather. This car has been sitting at the dock in CA for over SIXTY DAYS, and will not move for another 6 weeks!! My customer is/was having a coronary because everyone he reached within GM couldn't care less that his car is already 2 months past due, and will not be in for another month and a half. What's the hold up you ask? Apparently a bad storm at sea caused several GTOs to rub together and scratch front and rear bumpers...his was one of them. Now, they COULD just ship new bumpers for this car quickly to CA, or could send the car out and let us put new ones on. But no, he gets the "we'll get to it when we get to it" speech from 2 different people our zone rep referred us to. Our zone rep says he can't do anything. So what did I end up doing on Saturday? The only thing I could do to save face...give the guy his non-refundable deposit back. We originally struck a deal for $500 over invoice. I told him if he waits for the car, when it comes in if he still wants it I will sell it to him for invoice to make amends for the bad taste in his mouth. He referred me a GP sale because he was so happy, and I made another sale. But now to this poor guy (who's a lifetime Ford owner BTW), I may lose the sale, lose $500 in profit and still make the sale, or who knows? But this guy is mad, and I can't blame him.

2) My boss' husband (bank job, not dealership job) is ready to lemon law his SECOND Silverado in a row. He bought one not more than 2 months ago. It couldn't tow his 9,000 lb combined Bobcat and trailer in Tow/Haul mode without revving to 5 grand and slam shifting HARD for each shift. GM admitted that wasn't right, and flew a tech out. Tech claims the owner overloaded the truck and messed something up, but he has no idea what. Truck is rated for 10,200, so the owner goes to a weigh station to prove his load weighed 9,000 lbs. GM says tough ****. Dealership buys back the truck themselves, and now it sits on their lot. Truck #2 now has a problem with the cab lights leaking. They leaked so badly the entire interior got hosed one morning. So now, the lights are fixed but the interior stinks. He wants GM to replace the headliner, drivers seat and carpet. GM says "too much $$, oh well." The man has a brand new Duramax 2500 HD, and GM says too bad because their lights leaked????

I love GM as much as anyone here, but I am really starting to get a little pissed off that people like this can get away with this crap. My GP will have over 60k on it when I bring it into the dealer this fall for my "cold morning only" syndrome my steering rack has...I've been told they'll cover it under warranty once they can diagnose it. I've got love for GM...

But for these 2 people???? I can only imagine how I'd feel...

 

Bummer.

 

That's the kind of crap that drives you nuts.

Just suck it up and make it right, GM.

 

Not too surprising. Sounds like you do a helluva job trying to keep people happy despite GM screwing them over though.

 

http://www.toyota.com/tundra/index.h...age_Tundra_img

 

You are kidding, right? Those things have more problems than the GM trucks And since when can one tow 9,000 lbs reliably? Not sure if you're kidding or not, but the Tundra is like going from bad to a whole, whole lot worse...

 

I do my best to not be an a**hole when selling cars. It seems to work for me. More people should try it

 

 

I'm not getting the point of this thread. (For that matter, why it's not in the lounge with other strange stuff). What's the point - GM has made some mistakes? Had some vehicles bought back, like every other maker around? Haggles happen when warranty fraud is suspected? So what? I guess it wouldn't make many headlines, the nearly perfect 1999 Formula I had... nor the countless other MILLIONs of satisfied GM customers...

Fact is - GM's quality (both product and service) has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years so I'm not sure what bearing the anecdotes in the first post of this thread have on the topic

 

I think its pretty clear what the point is. This board talks about future products and the future of GM. We keep hearing how "things are changing." The above shows the ship is still sinking in a way. Understand, I defend GM more than I have EVER downed it on this board. Anyone who's a regular here knows that. But I think the story still needs to be told. GM people READ THIS BOARD. How the hell else can I get the word out that crap like this still goes on? I want GM to have the best image in the public it can...it needs to. The above behavior is completely unacceptable, from any car manufacturer. For GM, its cancer.

I have never owned a GM lemon. I've owned 7 GM cars, and ALL have been fantastic cars. My family (and extended family) has been virtually GM only for 3 generations. I love GM. I live and breathe GM. But the older I get, the more I work for a dealer, the more utter CRAP I seem to find. How can I refer my own boss' husband to a Chevy (when he was a happy, life-long Dodge owner), and then have the man be treated this way. In the end, I look bad...all for a company I've loved since I could barely see over a fender.

If Buickman can rant and not be told to go to the lounge, why cant I???????????

 

Jason, while I have no knowledge of either case, I can say that the second one disturbs me greatly. If that is the case, we should be doing something.....take that back....we should have done something in the first place with the first truck.

As to the GTO case.

(and again, I have no idea of what has happened here, but from my experience in the field I'll give you my two cents....)

It sounds like there was a serious 'transportation claim' on some GTOS! Now....IF.....I was the guy making the call, no way would I release the car and let the dealer repair it..........for one very good reason. The car was 'tied down' for transport. To move some cars to where they impacted each other leads me to believe it's more than just some 'rubbed bumpers'......and again, I'm not the subject expert in this case......but it would seem to me that each vehicle needs to be completely gone over to ensure that there was no structural damage done......
(can you imagine how upset the customer would be if we went ahead and shipped his car....allowed you to fix the bumper........and then later on found out that the body was 'sprung?')

Further, because damage has occurred, there are federal laws as to what can and cannot be done.......

Again, make no mistake.........the last thing we need is for a customer to be waiting for a car or truck.......in this market, we need to move every car and truck off the lot....and keep the customer satisfied.......that's what it's all about.

 

I don't know Darth...I mean, its really hard. When I'm negotiating a sale, I go through this routine with this little voice in my head...

"OK Jason, don't be an a**hole. No really, I mean it. They might actually want to come back through the door again and see you. Now, don't charge them $899 for that Scotchguarding...or $799 for that $150 remote start Best Buy will install for you. Now remember...buy un-offensive ties with your commission check this week. We don't want to blind the old folks."

My apologies to Lew and the others here who sell, as there are many good salespeople...but I can't take it anymore. Every time I walk into a dealership, I feel like I'm being robbed. And try being 25 and have a salesperson actually take you seriously!!!!! I get blown off so much, it isn't even funny. I've helped many of my friends buy cars that I can't sell one to, and I can't believe how awful some dealers can be to younger people...

 

You do realize, my good sir, after several heated phone calls, you are the ONLY PERSON who could make a rational explanation for all that???? I sincerely appreciate that response...I will forward it to my sales manager and my customer. Thanks for taking the time to respond...I was hoping you'd see it and be able to shed some light.

And I know your family owns a Chevy dealership...my apologies if the above post about salespeople rubbed you the wrong way. Its 12:38 AM, and I'm tired

 

Red,
All I can say about the second case is that this is what the customer is telling me. I didn't sell the truck to my boss' husband (talk about a conflict of interest that would've been ), nor is it my dealership that bought Truck #1 back. But I know how buybacks are supposed to work, and this truck has NEVER left their lot, and is already out for resale. So, it appears the story on Truck #1 pans out...they really are eating that truck, which I am surprised to see a dealer do.

 

No offense taken, Jason......I understand your frustration......let me rephrase that.........I SHARE your frustration.

We can't afford to lose customers due to bad decisions.

We DO and WILL lose customers..........but we need to do whatever we can (within reason) to keep every one...........and make more!