Quote:
Originally Posted by mwt18
I am confused. You have this thread where you offer to escalate warranty issues. From what I understand, the escalation process can only be initiated by a GM employee. So how is it that you can initiate the escalation procedure without being affiliated with GM?
In all honesty, I meant nothing personal by my comment. Hope you didn't take it that way.
[rant] I have very high regards for this site. It is well ran and well funded. This site pretty much sets the bar for similar sites, so the content in these technical forums should be accurate, imo. Instead, we have to put on a pair of waste-high waders before entering to get through all the misinformation and bs. [/rant] |
Don't be confused. I have explained it elsewhere, but maybe not in that escalation thread. I don't work for GM and have no affiliation with GM just as I stated. However, I do have friends at GM who care about customer support and want to see every customer as happy as possible. Early on I was having a discussion with them that some people weren't getting the level of service they felt they deserved. So they offered to escalate problems for me (and for us as a community). They do it because as I said (and despite what some forum members have ranted about) they really want to see every customer satisfied. I can't stress that enough. Just spend a few minutes and talk to some GM employees. PM a few people on here (Number 3, grunt, fbodfather, etc, etc). If you don't get the clear message that these people care, then you just don't get it at all.
Early on in that process I was sending everything up because I too wanted everyone to be happy. However, I realized that some people weren't being honest and truthful and it was leading to a lot of extra, unnecessary work for my friends at GM. So now when I get an escalation I try to put it through some "screening" if you will before I send it up. I don't want to cry wolf so much that the process doesn't work at all. That probably explains why at times I am a bit skeptical and questioning. I have had a taste of what happens in the background and I have seen those who abuse both the warranty process, the customer service process and GM in general. When you witness that first-hand, then you will understand.
Does that part make sense?
So now to your comments on mis-information on here. Welcome to the Internet. I can't speak for the mods so what I am about to say it my own personal opinion and may not be shared by anyone else. First of all, when I post information, I try to go directly to GM (web site, owner's manuals, my friends, etc) before I post information. I try to be as factual as I personally can. If I am not 100% sure, I usually state that. I definitely don't want to make anyone believe anything that isn't true. When I stated what I did above regarding the warranty as I said I pulled that directly from the GM warranty web site.
I will tell you, there are a lot of people out there who don't know what they are talking about, but state it as if they were 100% sure. That's both the great part and the bad part about the Internet and sites like this. If you spend a lot of time on here, you quickly realize who is who. Unfortunately, if you don't it is sometimes hard to tell. But as a community, how do you differentiate? And frankly, I have seen cases where there are people who think they are in the know so to speak, who also appear to be credible sources, but who in particular cases have bad or incomplete information. In those cases, there is almost nothing you can do.
Finally, a closing note on warranty. Unfortunately, it isn't always black and white. For example, just as I pasted below: Competitive driving
may affect the vehicle warranty. May affect. That doesn't say it will or it won't. It really depends on a number of factors. Your relationship with your dealer is very, very important in my opinion. I have said it numerous times on here. Don't buy from a place bcause it has the lowest price. Buy from them because you know them. You can trust them. Do you know your salesman's name? Do you know the general manager's name? The owner? The service manager? I know all those at my dealer. I go talk to them when I stop in. I send other customers to them and I give them information. Have a relationship with them. I also ask them before I do things to my car that might affect the warranty. In fact, on one occasion, I asked them to check with the regional support team to see what their opinion was before I did anything.
Now I get it that maybe in all cases that type of relationship isn't possible. My fallback opinion (and I get that it isn't always popular) is if you can't or don't want to pay to fix your car, then don't take the chance on doing anything that could remotely void or affect the warranty. And if you choose to do so, be responsible and man-up to what you did. Again, I get that there are cases where you mod-ed the engine and the door fell off and the dealer said you aren't under warranty. By all means, that should be escalated.
I hope all that makes sense. I didn't start out planning on making a giant post, but there was just a lot to say. And I don't want this to turn into a debate about what GM should and shouldn't fix. I just wanted to give you and others an insight into my thoughts. It's just my two cents...