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Old 10-26-2012, 10:12 AM   #1
tnpartsguy
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Post GM changes "Goodwill" Policy.

From Everyday Hero to Zero-

GM has pulled the plug on taking care of everything. Now customers are expected to 'participate' in repair costs, as are dealerships.

Reasonable maintance is expected as well...

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Old 10-26-2012, 10:18 AM   #2
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Document ID: 2913391
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#11-00-89-005B: Clarification of Use - Dealer Empowerment Labor Operations and Customer Enthusiasm (U.S. Only) - (Oct 10, 2012)
Subject: Warranty Administration – Clarification of Use - Dealer Empowerment Labor Operations and Customer Enthusiasm (U.S. Only)



Models: 2013 and Prior GM Passenger Cars and Trucks



Attention: This service bulletin does not apply to ‘GM of Canada’ dealers. Dealers in Canada should continue to refer to the Goodwill section on the Warranty Administration Homepage in GM Global Connect for the most recent information and updates to the GM of Canada ‘Enable and Empower Project.’


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This bulletin is being revised to update bulletin content. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number 11-00-89-005A (Section 00 – General Information).
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The effective date of the requirements of this bulletin is October 17, 2012.

For some time now we have been working together to be even more focused on our customers and to put them first in everything that we do. During this time, we’ve challenged you, our dealer partners, to be assertive on behalf of our customers and make effective use of the policy and goodwill tools available so that customers are satisfied and remain loyal to their vehicle brand and your dealership.

Over the past several years, we have extended increased levels of empowerment to our dealers and our team members so that you can confidently do what is right to satisfy our mutual customers. And while this effort has been largely successful, the reality is that the strategic approach is not always consistent across different dealerships and different markets. In addition, with more and more of your employees engaged in doing what’s right for the customer, several of you have requested that we provide additional guidance to assist you in training them to make good quality decisions, on behalf of the customer, while expending resources in a cost effective manner.

It is those requests, and the desire to continually improve the customer experience that are the basis for this bulletin, in which we will be documenting guidelines to further assist you and your employees in developing a more consistent professional approach to resolving customer issues while spending resources in a judicious manner.

Organizational Terms

The following should clarify the terms used to describe various payment categories used to satisfy customer requests for assistance. These terms will be used throughout this bulletin.


Resource



Definition




Warranty


Vehicle repairs within the time and mileage limitations of the written warranty period that are a result of a covered defect in materials or workmanship.


• Example: Ignition lock cylinder is replaced during the 3 years/36,000 mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty.




Customer Enthusiasm


Vehicle repairs within the time and mileage limitations of the written warranty period that ARE NOT the result of a covered defect in materials or workmanship.


• Used in rare/unique circumstances.




• When submitting a transaction for repairs that are Customer Enthusiasm, be sure to select Customer Enthusiasm in the Job Card Transactions Detail section of GWM.


• Example: Repair of a front air deflector due to customer not realizing how low it is.




Policy


Vehicle repairs outside of the applicable time and mileage limitations of the written warranty period.


• Example: Wiper motor fails at 52,000 miles and GM pays for all or part of the repair cost.


• When submitting a transaction for repairs that are Policy, be sure to select Policy Flag in the Job Card Transactions Detail section of GWM.




Goodwill


Assistance expenditures made to satisfy the customer.


• The term “Goodwill” does not refer to a vehicle repair. Repair outside of Warranty is “Policy.”


• Goodwill is the term for the tools that are used to offset customer inconvenience or to offer additional protection and peace of mind. Details of the Goodwill tools are found later in this bulletin.


• Example: An Owner Loyalty Certificate (OLC) is offered to a customer who is in the market for a new vehicle due to continued out-of-warranty transmission issues.




Special Coverage


Extension of the warranty coverage of a specific vehicle component or system if an identified non-safety related failure occurs.


• The necessary repair under a Special Coverage will be performed only if the specified condition is present in the vehicle.




• Example: Extended coverage on the transmission shift cable for certain Saturn vehicles.



Customer Enthusiasm Repair-Non Warranty

A Customer Enthusiasm Repair is a repair performed within the warranty period when the product issue is not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty but the dealer/customer wants GM to cover the repair to ensure customer loyalty. In these instances, when the transaction is being submitted for reimbursement, the dealer should use the repairing labor operation and select the “Customer Enthusiasm-Non Warranty Repair” check-box.

Important: Do not select Customer Enthusiasm if the vehicle is beyond the terms of the applicable warranty – by definition post warranty repairs are Policy transactions. ALSO: All examples in this Bulletin assume certain facts. You should evaluate each customer’s situation on a case-by-case basis.

• Example 1: A customer comes into the dealership and states their keyless entry fob on their 2010 SRX with 24,000 miles was inadvertently lost by their college age son who was unfamiliar with the keyless start system. This is not a defect in material or workmanship and therefore is not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. However, based on the customer’s situation, previous repairs for other issues and to maintain customer satisfaction, it is determined that GM will cover 66% of the $150 cost to replace the transmitter and re-program the system. To do this, the transaction would be entered as a ZREG using the R4482 Remote Control Door Lock and Theft Deterrent Transmitter Replacement labor Operation, the Customer Enthusiasm-Non Warranty Repair box checked, the full amount of parts and labor input and the $50 Customer participation input into the Customer/Service Agent Participation field. The Complaint, Cause, and Correction fields must document the situation including the reason for the decision.


Important: The Complaint, Cause, and Correction fields must document the specific situation including the substantive reason, for the decision.

• Example 2: Customer’s vehicle has a cut in the rear seat back at 8,000 miles. This is not a clear defect in material or workmanship and therefore would not be a warranty repair. Based on the facts and circumstances and the customer’s history with the dealership, the service manager would like to fix the customers issue and submit this to GM for reimbursement even though it is a non-warrantable repair. The transaction would be entered as a ZREG using the rear seat back labor operation with the Customer Enthusiasm-Non Warranty Repair box checked. The Complaint, Cause, and Correction fields must document the situation including the substantive reasons for the decision.


Policy Guidelines

Earlier in 2012, General Motors introduced Policy Guidelines to document the boundaries of vehicle Policy repairs. Now that they have been in market, it has become clear that there is some confusion on how and when to use them. To simplify the process, GM is launching a revised set of guidelines that are documented below.

The Policy guidelines are being used to:

• Create a Policy strategy which drives increased service and sales retention.


• Develop consistent decision making practices / processes among Dealers, Field and CAC representatives.


• Document mandatory minimum customer / dealer participation amounts at varying time and mileage intervals once a decision to provide assistance has been made.


The Policy guidelines are NOT being used to:

• Discourage taking care of our customers.


• Impose a rigid “one size fits” all approach to issue resolution.


• Drive a particular decision – the guidelines are only to be used after a decision to assist has been made.


• Disregard facts or circumstances that make a particular customer’s situation unique.


When presented with a Customer situation that requires you to determine whether to perform a Policy repair your decision making process must treat each case as a unique set of circumstances and each customer’s situation must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Some things to consider in the decision making process includes the following:

• Confirm that the vehicle and issue are not subject to a Customer Policy Bulletin. If it is subject to the bulletin, please refer to the bulletin for proper handling. Customer Policy Bulletins will be released for certain issues that will give more detailed handling instructions.


• The customers expectations.


• Type of repair.


• Vehicle age and mileage.


• Overall condition and maintenance level of the vehicle.


• Customer loyalty to GM or to your dealership.


• Similar previous repairs performed under warranty.


• Current or previous damage from collision, abuse or misuse.


• Customer point in purchase cycle.


• Active Service contract.
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Old 10-26-2012, 10:20 AM   #3
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If you decide that some level of assistance is appropriate, you will need to do the following:

• Based upon the result of your review of the particular case, you will need to determine and agree with the customer / District Manager Aftersales (if required) to an appropriate level of GM assistance for repair. In addition to the concept of a declining level of GM support as the vehicle’s age and mileage increases there is a required minimum customer / dealer participation amount as outlined below.


• The mandatory minimum amount of customer / dealer participation must be documented in the “Customer/Service Agent Participation Amount” field as described in the next section. Please note that this is a minimum amount and that based upon the business case, a higher amount of customer / dealer participation may be warranted. The minimum amount will be the greater of the two amounts from the time and mileage tables below.


Important Mandatory Minimum Notes
• If the cost of repair under warranty rates is less than the indicated mandatory minimum amount then there will be no GM participation.


• As the majority of Policy repairs are isolated and unique, the mandatory minimum applies to each Policy labor operation on the job card.


• The mandatory minimum amount and any other customer or dealer participation MUST be documented in the Customer / Service Agent participation field of the Global Warranty system transaction (see section below).


Important: Failure to document the minimum amount in the Customer/Service Agent participation field may result in a charge back for the applicable amount.

• Document in the job card the substantive reasons and pertinent facts and circumstances supporting the assistance. The reasons supporting GM assistance should be abundantly clear to an objective third party reviewing the Job Card that has not been involved in the customer decision making process. Short general comments such as “good customer” or “out of warranty” are not sufficient - document your decision making process as well as the reasons for adjustment in some detail.


• Providing assistance on a vehicle that is beyond 8 years old should only be considered under rare circumstances. As an alternative for these and other circumstances where repair assistance is inappropriate, consider using one of the Goodwill tools that are described later in this bulletin.


*Then there are several tables as to what GM says should be considered. I'll be glad to forward the entire bulletin to anyone who wants it.
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Old 10-26-2012, 01:09 PM   #4
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I read through the entire bulletin and found it to be somewhat confusing but not necessarily out of line.

In fact, I was surprised at two of the examples GM used where the dealership was allowed to assist the customer: 1) Customer damages front air dam because they didn't realize how low it was. 2) Customer's college-aged son loses the key-less remote because he's not familiar with them.

For all the years I made policy decisions, I don't remember ever approving anything like that.

The part I was unclear on is whether the Dealership has to contact GM for each policy decision or whether their is a guideline in place?
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Old 10-27-2012, 04:57 PM   #5
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GM did a great thing when they empowered the dealers to make decisions. I remember when they said "it lowered their costs," "we will not punish decisions made by dealers," and "do what is right for GM, the customer, and the dealer."

It worked for the dealer and the customer but I guess not for GM. It was a proactive program and really did help the dealerships take care of the customer. We were told not to take advantage of thd program. If they did uncover an issue they would pay the claim and would warn us. Then they would review future occurences. We never had an issue with the factory. In fact, we were never told we entered any grey areas. I would think that most dealers used the programs properly. Up until today I used this program as an example of GM trying to do what is right.

Did they do it because they were cutting staff snd layers within GM? Were they stretching their staff over more roofs? Yes. But the process was still a huge success with the customer.
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Old 06-25-2013, 02:04 PM   #6
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Changed it again on June 3rd. No policy decisions on "cross line" vehicles unless it was sold as a used car by your store.
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Old 06-27-2013, 01:54 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jefo65 View Post
Changed it again on June 3rd. No policy decisions on "cross line" vehicles unless it was sold as a used car by your store.
Thanks for the update.

I wonder what logic GM is using for the recent change? While I'm glad GM made an exception for "cross-line" vehicles sold by the Dealership's Used Car Department, I don't see why they'd want to discriminate against "cross-line" customers who bought their vehicle somewhere else.

Is GM trying to force owners to stay within their brand when they get their vehicle serviced? If so, what's the benefit to GM and their Dealers?
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Old 06-28-2013, 08:15 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
Thanks for the update.

I wonder what logic GM is using for the recent change? While I'm glad GM made an exception for "cross-line" vehicles sold by the Dealership's Used Car Department, I don't see why they'd want to discriminate against "cross-line" customers who bought their vehicle somewhere else.

Is GM trying to force owners to stay within their brand when they get their vehicle serviced? If so, what's the benefit to GM and their Dealers?

If I had to guess it may be an effort to support single franchise dealers, GMC is most likely the biggest driving factor. Alot of GMC stores in our market used to run with the Pontiac line as well, then Pontiac went away...I'd have to imagine it will only hurt the GMC stores more now not being able to help out their Chevy, Buick, Cadillac customers that they've attracted to their stores with well deserved goodwill decisions. Maybe GM is trying to deliver the knock out blow to the GMC stores now,..time will tell.

Last edited by jefo65; 06-28-2013 at 09:18 AM.
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Old 06-28-2013, 02:42 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by jefo65 View Post
If I had to guess it may be an effort to support single franchise dealers, GMC is most likely the biggest driving factor. Alot of GMC stores in our market used to run with the Pontiac line as well, then Pontiac went away...I'd have to imagine it will only hurt the GMC stores more now not being able to help out their Chevy, Buick, Cadillac customers that they've attracted to their stores with well deserved goodwill decisions. Maybe GM is trying to deliver the knock out blow to the GMC stores now,..time will tell.
Interesting theory.

At first I was thinking it would be an advantage to the single line GMC dealers that customers with their brand would have to return to their dealership to be eligible for policy assistance. Then I read your comment about all of the cross-brand vehicles the GMC dealers could no longer do policy work on and agree it would be a negative overall.

Said another way, if you're a GMC dealer getting access to 100% of the GMC customers is a lot less valuable than losing access to all of the Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac customers.

It will be interesting to see what GM does with GMC. I'd be surprised to see GM kill off the brand because it would be expensive and it would also hurt a lot of dealers who have a Buick/GMC dual.
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Old 06-29-2013, 04:53 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
Thanks for the update.

I wonder what logic GM is using for the recent change? While I'm glad GM made an exception for "cross-line" vehicles sold by the Dealership's Used Car Department, I don't see why they'd want to discriminate against "cross-line" customers who bought their vehicle somewhere else.

Is GM trying to force owners to stay within their brand when they get their vehicle serviced? If so, what's the benefit to GM and their Dealers?
Cross line warranty issues are now a thing of the past. Olds- Saturn - Pontiac - Hummer now need any GM dealer to offer WARRANTY service for the brands THEY killed. It used to be a BIG DEAL. It is no more.

We are not a Cadillac franchise and service MANY Cadillacs under warranty. The primary concern of GM is to convenience the Cadillac customer. The nearest Cadillac franchise is about 35 miles from here. GM bends the rules all the time. They like to call it " Grey Areas ".

As for GMC.... it is near 100% identical to a Chevrolet truck except for a few trim items and subtle body differences. That has been the case for 40 years. Only the consumer has been hoodwinked into believing there is a QUALITY difference.

We received a NEW truck in ( a few years ago ) with the left front door molding having a Chevy Bowtie and the right front molding with a GMC logo.

The only difference between a Chevy & a GMC is the price. ( GMC offering the more expensive body panels and options ).

What is the point in having GMC and Chevrolet Trucks? There never was.... except from a SALES standpoint. Same book....different cover.

43+

Last edited by 43+; 06-29-2013 at 05:10 PM.
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Old 06-29-2013, 05:04 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
Interesting theory.
It will be interesting to see what GM does with GMC. I'd be surprised to see GM kill off the brand because it would be expensive and it would also hurt a lot of dealers who have a Buick/GMC dual.
GM could care less about the GMC/Buick dealers,...it was Buick and Pontiac on the chopping block a few years back,..the reason Pontiac was eliminated instead of Buick was the overseas (China) sales with the Buick line. USA sold 8 Pontiacs to 1 Buick I believe, but the sales numbers on the Buick driven by foreign sales saved Buicks hide...think about it,...if you were looking around during your daily commute, how many Pontiacs did you see compared to Buicks on American roads?..you honestly think GM gives a hill of beans about the USA dealers anymore?
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Old 07-01-2013, 11:08 AM   #12
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Maybe you guys can explain this one to me...I haven't been a dealer for 2.5 years now so obviously I'm not up on policy changes.

The driver's bottom seat cover on my $60g Duramax started cracking in the usual place at 30k miles. Dealer took pics, sent them to his rep for approval and got denied because it was normal wear and tear caused by not having assist steps. Take pickup back in, dealer takes pics of GM 6" oval steps that have been on the truck since day one and ordered with the pickup, tells the rep to check the build sheet. Comes back denied again, this time the rep claims..."He's a big guy, things are going to wear out quicker."(I'm 6'2" and 300lbs) So now I'm pissed and offended(not really, haha) and start in with the lovely non-english speaking folks at customer assistance. After a few weeks of getting passed around to numerous levels incompetency, I finally get them to agree to replace the seat cover. Take the pickup in get the seat cover replaced and they charge me $100 for customer participation. The Service Manager claims he was instructed by his rep to do this per goodwill policy. At this point I've had enough of the BS and wasted enough of the dealer's and my time on the problem I just express my disgust and pay up.

So, being the original owner under full bumper to bumper warranty why in the hell do I have to participate in a repair like this? We always charged customer participation for out of warranty goodwill, but not a vehicle still covered. Was the rep just being a prick, or is this really how it should have been handled?
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Old 07-01-2013, 12:02 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Lakeshow View Post
Maybe you guys can explain this one to me...I haven't been a dealer for 2.5 years now so obviously I'm not up on policy changes.

The driver's bottom seat cover on my $60g Duramax started cracking in the usual place at 30k miles. Dealer took pics, sent them to his rep for approval and got denied because it was normal wear and tear caused by not having assist steps. Take pickup back in, dealer takes pics of GM 6" oval steps that have been on the truck since day one and ordered with the pickup, tells the rep to check the build sheet. Comes back denied again, this time the rep claims..."He's a big guy, things are going to wear out quicker."(I'm 6'2" and 300lbs) So now I'm pissed and offended(not really, haha) and start in with the lovely non-english speaking folks at customer assistance. After a few weeks of getting passed around to numerous levels incompetency, I finally get them to agree to replace the seat cover. Take the pickup in get the seat cover replaced and they charge me $100 for customer participation. The Service Manager claims he was instructed by his rep to do this per goodwill policy. At this point I've had enough of the BS and wasted enough of the dealer's and my time on the problem I just express my disgust and pay up.

So, being the original owner under full bumper to bumper warranty why in the hell do I have to participate in a repair like this? We always charged customer participation for out of warranty goodwill, but not a vehicle still covered. Was the rep just being a prick, or is this really how it should have been handled?
If your still within the boundries of the factory 3/36 warranty, customer participation seems very odd. We're instructed by GM to go to Dealer aftersales empowerment portal they created and use their empowerment goodwill calculator for all out of warranty goodwill offerings.
According to GM's latest bulliten 04-08-50-006D, these are the items deemed non warranty

•Customer induced cuts (knife cuts, cut by customer tools, etc.)
•Paint stains (customer should have cleaned paint stains while paint was still wet)
•Coffee stains and other removable dirt
These should be cleaned as described in the Owner's Manual under Appearance Care. Also, refer to Corporate Bulletin Number 06-00-89-029A or later.
•Evidence of chemicals used for cleaning, other than those specified in the Owner's Manual
•Other chemical spills
•Minor and normal leather wrinkles as a result of use
•Other defects to the seat cover not detected during the pre-delivery inspection (PDI).

If yours was cracking and brought to my shop it would have received 100% warranty consideration (I'm saying that sight unseen from what you described)
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Old 07-01-2013, 12:12 PM   #14
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Thanks for the clarification, I think I got screwed by GM...again!

It was actually the vinyl side panel on the cover that cracked about 4" vertically. I know exactly when it happened, on a -30 degree day when I jumped in it started the split and continued to grow.

When we were a dealer we would take the split covers to the local upholstery shop and have the vinyl piece replaced with real leather for about $100 total. It saved warranty costs without ordering $500 seat covers, and avoided a repeat repair when the vinyl cracked the next winter. Like many things we fixed it the way it should have been built in the first place. Not sure which idiot at GM made the decision to put vinyl on a $60g+ pickup, but that's another story.

Thanks again for the info, glad to hear some dealers still take care of their customers. Now, I wonder if anyone at customer assistance is bored today..

Last edited by Lakeshow; 07-01-2013 at 12:19 PM.
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Old 07-02-2013, 12:09 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by jefo65 View Post
GM could care less about the GMC/Buick dealers,...it was Buick and Pontiac on the chopping block a few years back,..the reason Pontiac was eliminated instead of Buick was the overseas (China) sales with the Buick line. USA sold 8 Pontiacs to 1 Buick I believe, but the sales numbers on the Buick driven by foreign sales saved Buicks hide...think about it,...if you were looking around during your daily commute, how many Pontiacs did you see compared to Buicks on American roads?..you honestly think GM gives a hill of beans about the USA dealers anymore?
I'd like to think all of the OEMs care about their dealer network but I follow your point and agree that actions speak louder than words. GM has made a number of decisions lately that shows they don't place too much value on their dealer relations.

Concerning Buick and Pontiac, I totally agree that it was Buick's popularity in China that saved the brand. I remember that Bob Lutz wanted to save Pontiac as a niche brand but the Auto Task Force rejected the idea.

Pontiac was a great brand - I was sad to see it die.
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