Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
When we at GM discover an epidemic costly flaw in our cars (like
casting flaws in our cylinder heads that will cause the head to
eventually CRACK); and before we become aware of the problem, tens of
thousands of cars with the flaw have gone off the assembly line to
dealers:
We withold that information (sending out a service notice) for as long
as we can- so as to get as many of those cars affected, OVER the
warranty period. That way, we are not liable to cover the cost of the
repair or replacement and we are able to cut our loses!
Also: If a new car customer who has been taking his car to the dealer
for regular scheduled maintainance, CHANGES ADDRESS, and the dealer
fails to notify the company of the new address and because of this
dealer failure- we send out a service notice to the old address and
thus the notice never reaches the customer:
When the service notice is returned to us as "undeliverable"; we will
NOT make any attempt to reach the customer at his new address and
notify him of the service notice. We are not liable for our dealer's
failure to notify us of the customer's new address, nor will we take
any action against our dealer for this failure in an attempt to
compensate the customer,should he have been unaware of the notice and
suffers a costly repair bill after his warranty has run
out!
Anyone who doubts the above policy can contact (among many others):
Grand Rapids (Michigan) Saturn.
(That is; if anyone there has the knowledge of and COURAGE to verify
the above policy)
signed.
Michael Cohrman
misterf...@yahoo.com
Mike Marlow - 07 Jun 2006 19:51 GMT
> Also: If a new car customer who has been taking his car to the dealer
> for regular scheduled maintainance, CHANGES ADDRESS, and the dealer
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> suffers a costly repair bill after his warranty has run
> out!
Oh poor misterfact. He's a victim of today's widespread lack of personal
responsibility. He feels no snese of responsibility to notify GM, yet
expecting that GM may have need to reach him, expects that both GM and the
dealership should assume all obligations for locating his whereabouts.
Apparently misterfact has never heard of those change of address cards that
are *free* from the post office.
> (That is; if anyone there has the knowledge of and COURAGE to verify
> the above policy)
Courage? In capital letters? As if your bubble headed irresponsible
actions warrant a courageous act on anyone else's part. How about this - if
you had taken responsibility for your own affairs you wouldn't be making a
fool of yourself in a public forum now.

Signature
-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net
Mike Levy - 07 Jun 2006 21:58 GMT
>> Also: If a new car customer who has been taking his car to the dealer
>> for regular scheduled maintainance, CHANGES ADDRESS, and the dealer
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>Apparently misterfact has never heard of those change of address cards that
>are *free* from the post office.
Actually, there should be no need to notify GM OR the dealer of his
address change. Typically GM will use vehicle registration info as
the address of where to reach the owner. This info is more accurate
than relying on a dealer or consumer to update GM. This implies that
the vehicle is legally registered with a proper street address.
>> (That is; if anyone there has the knowledge of and COURAGE to verify
>> the above policy)
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>you had taken responsibility for your own affairs you wouldn't be making a
>fool of yourself in a public forum now.
Mike Marlow - 07 Jun 2006 23:15 GMT
> Actually, there should be no need to notify GM OR the dealer of his
> address change. Typically GM will use vehicle registration info as
> the address of where to reach the owner. This info is more accurate
> than relying on a dealer or consumer to update GM. This implies that
> the vehicle is legally registered with a proper street address.
Or that the owner took the time to change the address on his registration.

Signature
-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net
misterfact@yahoo.com - 09 Jun 2006 20:19 GMT
> <> >
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> No change of address card applies here. The dealer had our new address and sent us all sorts or promotional material about buying another piece of crap from them. Did they notify the company of ou new address (Which GM states IS their policy):
No! (Like I have to ntify GM of my new address TEN TIMES before they
get it right! yeh, sure!)
Mike Marlow - 10 Jun 2006 02:45 GMT
> > <> >
> >
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> >
> > No change of address card applies here. The dealer had our new address and sent us all sorts or promotional material about buying another piece of
crap from them. Did they notify the company of ou new address (Which GM
states IS their policy):
> No! (Like I have to ntify GM of my new address TEN TIMES before they
> get it right! yeh, sure!)
Al Bundy - 07 Jun 2006 23:46 GMT
> Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
>
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> Michael Cohrman
> misterf...@yahoo.com
There is a culture that exists with all the big three to deny a problem
exists until so far down the line that retaining good will is no longer
possible. Eventually, they may pay a bunch of policy claims or court
ordered repairs, but the customer is going to a competitor by then.
They did not used to care about it because it was like they were all
exchanging their underwear. But now there are options beyond the big
three, leaving them all without their shorts and exposed more and more.
C. E. White - 08 Jun 2006 00:27 GMT
And this differs from most manufactueres in what way? See Toyota Sludge and
Ball Joints. See Nissan transmissions. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Ed
> Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
>
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> Michael Cohrman
> misterf...@yahoo.com
Edwin Pawlowski - 08 Jun 2006 00:36 GMT
> Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> warranty period. That way, we are not liable to cover the cost of the
> repair or replacement and we are able to cut our loses!
This sounds like it was written by a high school student, not a business
executive. I don't doubt this sort of thing is done, but the "policy"
sounds very amateurish.
Al Bundy - 08 Jun 2006 00:56 GMT
> > Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
> >
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> executive. I don't doubt this sort of thing is done, but the "policy"
> sounds very amateurish.
I worked for both GM and Ford in this area years ago. It's not so much
a policy to defraud so to speak as much as the combined conflicts of
the various factions within the companies. Engineering won't admit to
an error. Design changes take forever to perfect and in the meantime,
production goes on. The financial side can't get approval to make
reimbursements. Nobody wants to officially recall anything lest the
press have a field day with it. So they end up with a program whereby
the noisiest, most litigious customers get something and the rest be
dammed.
HLS@nospam.nix - 08 Jun 2006 12:38 GMT
> I worked for both GM and Ford in this area years ago. It's not so much
> a policy to defraud so to speak as much as the combined conflicts of
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> the noisiest, most litigious customers get something and the rest be
> dammed.
This is a post that I can believe.
Al, can you tell me why it took so long for GM to stop brazing the body
panels below the rear windows?
Adam Corolla - 09 Jun 2006 23:22 GMT
>> I worked for both GM and Ford in this area years ago. It's not so much
>> a policy to defraud so to speak as much as the combined conflicts of
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> This is a post that I can believe.
Seconded. While the actions of a large corporation may seem evil or
designed to screw John Q. Public, the reality is that big corporations have
a really hard time dealing with defective products. Partly because it's not
usually the department who is responsible for the error that has to pay for
it. If the engineering department made an error it would be easier (not
easy, but easier) to get their department to pay than it would to get the PR
department to pay for it, though the PR department may end up footing the
bill. There are a lot of other reasons as well, and companies should have
very clear-cut policies for handling errors as quickly as possible to
minimize the damage to their brand name and thus their PR hit, but it's
obvious they don't.
Ok, I do know that sometimes executives do make unfair decisions designed to
save the company money by screwing some of their customers. I'm not saying
it doesn't happen. I'm only saying that incompetence is far more widespread
than evil intent.
Adam Corolla - 09 Jun 2006 22:59 GMT
>> Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
>>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> This sounds like it was written by a high school student, not a business
> executive.
It would have to be a high school student who got at best a D in English.
An average high school student could do better.