tinman said:
I wrote Laura, the Caddy rep on this forum. I will give her every opportunity to help Cadillac redeem themselves. If not then I will determine my course of action at that time. I guess I will contact the Caddy salesman as well as the owner of the dealership. I will do that tomorrow morning. This will give Cadillac 48 hours to communicate something (anything) to me as I have not heard from anyone but Laura since I took my car in.
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Judge, who, exactly, is Cadillac? Is it only the manufacturer in Detroit? It is the shareholders and bond owners and the UAW? Or is it the entire organization, from Danial Akerson (Chairman of the Board) to the lot attendant who drove my loaner from the back lot to me?
I own my own company. I have taken phone calls where a customer is unhappy with a certain project of which I had nothing to do with directly. Nonetheless, it is my fault and responsibility as well as the tradesman who did a poor installation or fabrication of the item. It is a collective, and in the case we are talking about it is the dealer's fault. He is one with the Cadillac crest on his door and his business cards, and he is the "First Line of Defense" so-to-speak.
Shoot 'em all, let God sort 'em out.
I would call the General Manager. I had to do that with my first warranty visit. Here is the story.
About a year ago (May 2012) I noticed that my seatbelt light would occasionally flash even though I was buckled. I had the car only 3 months and it had just under 4K miles on her. I finally called to set up an appointment, but I was leery as I knew that unless it happened consistently, they would just tell me they couldn't recreate it. I was scheduled to take the car in the Tuesday after Memorial Day.
The Thursday before I am driving to work and now the seat belt light is flashing consistently. I called the dealer and asked if I could swing by and let them see it first hand even though my appointment wasn't until Tuesday. They said to come over.
I get to the dealer, pull into the service bay and never got out as I had the SM come over and I showed him the flashing light and showed him that I was buckled. He nodded and said, "Got it, see you Tuesday".
Tuesday morning comes along and as I'm driving to the dealer the light is again flashing consistently. I pull in and show the porter (when he asked me what I was in for) and again I flagged him over and showed him the flashing light and the fact I was buckled. He again acknowledged it. They took all my information and proceeded to give me the filthy CTS loaner.
So later in the day I get a phone call and the following conversation takes place:
SM: we didn't see the light flashing. We hooked up the car to the computer and it didn't give us any codes.
He then proceeded to insult my intelligence by saying....
SM: you know... That light WILL flash if you don't wear your seatbelt.
Me: (incredulous that he just said that). It's not going to give you any codes because it's not indicating a malfunction. It thinks I'm not wearing my seatbelt. There has to be something wrong with the buckle or the wiring in the seat.
SM: I'm not sure what to tell you, the tech couldn't pull any codes
Me: can I talk to the tech?
SM: no he left for the day
Me: don't you remember seeing it flash when I showed it to you TWICE?!
SM: No answer
Me: (losing it now) Listen, this is my first domestic car after nearly 20 years of owning Japanese cars, we are not off to a good start here
SM: well I want to make it right, what can we do?
Me: find the problem and fix it
So he asked me if they could keep it another day to which I certainly agreed.
The next morning I just wasn't having a good feeling about this so I called the dealership and spoke to the GM. He is a friend of a friend and he was who I originally spoke to when I started entertaining buying the car. He assured me they would get to the bottom of it, even if they had to start replacing parts.
Later that afternoon I get another call from the SM and it goes like this...
SM: we must have put nearly 30 miles driving the car and we hooked it up to the computer and we didn't get any codes. There is nothing wrong with the car. Come pick it up.
Me: Again, it's not going to throw any codes!!! It's not indicating a malfunction!!!! It thinks the seatbelt isn't buckled. Don't you remember seeing it flash the two times I showed you?!
This is where he sent me off the deep end.
SM: to tell you the truth, I wasn't really paying attention as to whether you were buckled in.
I lost it now. The following is in CAPS because I was shouting and for those who know me, it takes a lot for me to lose it.
ME: I AM GOING TO PICK UP THAT FU****G CAR AND WHEN I GET THE SURVEY FROM CADILLAC I AM GOING TO ABSOLUTELY FU****G RAVAGE YOU ON IT.
(Silence)
I hang up and now call the GM.
GM: Hi G.... I have a bunch of techs working on it, but we still haven't gotten to the bottom of it.
Me: well your SM just called me to tell me that there isn't anything wrong and to pick up the car.
I then proceeded to tell him how he told me that he insulted me the first time telling me that the light will flash if I am not buckled and the second time when he said he never looked to confirm that I was buckled after I made a special trip to show him and the second time when I dropped it off.
Dead silence for a while and then...
GM: please do not pick up your car. We're going to fix this.
5 minutes later the GM calls me back
GM: Hey G.. I have a tech here, can you please explain what is happening?
Me: (exasperated) sure
Tech: hi, what seems to be the problem
Me: (gritting my teeth now) the seatbelt warning light flashes even though I am buckled. Occasionally I have noticed if I shift in my seat it might stop
Tech: Oh that helps, I wish I would have know that from the start
Me: well I wanted to speak with you, but the SM wouldn't let that happen.
They asked if they could keep the car overnight again.
The following day I get a call. Car is fixed. The culprit was a bad seatbelt buckle.
It would not have gotten resolved if I had not gotten the general manager involved.
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tinman said:
So, how 'bout them Bruins!
Go Blackhawks!!