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GM to Customer Complaint of CUE Part I & II: Major Update

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#1 ·
GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

I have always wanted to own a Cadillac. I look at the Cadillac brand as the absolute pinnacle of what the General Motors company is able to manufacture. This is my third vehicle I have leased in the last 5 years, and I have continued to stay with the brand because I find their vehicles to provide that signature "ride" and luxury that one would expect.

In November of last year, as my 2010 SRX lease was about to expire, I already had my mind set on leasing a 2013 vehicle. I had done my research, and the thing I was more excited about than anything else was this new, revolutionary tech product called CUE. Being a huge gadget freak who needs to be the first to own everything new in tech, I wanted the new SRX solely for that CUE technology. In fact, when I went to the dealership and said I was interested in the 2013 SRX, the dealer talked endlessly about how fantastic the CUE system was. No doubt, dealers had been properly trained to make CUE the main focal point when trying to sell these vehicles.

I couldn't believe how fast my level of excitement sank as I plugged in my iPod and found that every time I selected a favorite song, it played another. The way CUE handled playlists was atrocious.

Then, I was amazed to discover that upon trying to make a phone call, shortly after entering the vehicle, that I kept getting "the device is still attempting to initialize" response from the CUE system.

Of course, now all of us know that the biggest problems the CUE system faces are all caused by some engineer's bright idea that none of the information from your phone or iPod should be permanently stored in its database. Every time you enter and leave the vehicle, the CUE system has to reindex itself and re-upload the same information over and over again. This is why you can't make a phone call in the first 5-10 minutes of your drive. This is why if you have an iPod with thousands upon thousands of songs, it can never upload it all fast enough for you to be able to play the song you want.

Who looked at this kind of functionality and thought it was workable? Even worse, how the hell did Cadillac green light these systems to be installed in their vehicles?


Before I get to the meat of this story, I have to give credit to the CUE team. Not only have reps participated on this forum, but I have their direct phone number and have been invited to call them anytime that I have concerns.

The problem is, as much assurance as we have received that they are looking to fix these issues, I don't think there has been a clear roadmap of what is going to be fixed in the update due this March (which was originally supposed to be due in January). If you look at the latest press release that GM has issued, you may think that a major fix is on the way -- and you would be right. But exactly what is being fixed? I see nothing about iPod incompatibility nor the fact that you can't make a phone call as soon as you get into the vehicle. I talk to a CUE rep on the phone and I am told that perhaps these problems can't be fixed without the addition of a hard drive, and another CUE rep talks about flash storage capability. In other words, the stories change pending on who you approach at CUE.

Still, I give the CUE team a huge amount of kudos. At least they are trying. I can't seem to say the same for GM Executives....


I decided to write a letter -- an actual typewritten letter that you put a stamp on -- to Daniel Akerson (Chief Executive Officer) and Robert Ferguson (GM VP of Cadillac). I questioned how the CUE system, with all its bugs, was ever approved for placement in their company's flagship line of vehicles. Not an unfair question to ask, given the fact that people who buy a Cadillac expect the very best from the brand. You just don't throw in some cool-looking dashboard entertainment system without making certain that people who pay good money for a product have to spend their initial months of ownership coming to a forum like this and complaining about how it doesn't work.

And you know what? I wasn't expecting that my letter would actually be read by Mr. Akerson or Mr. Ferguson. But I did expect that I would get some sort of professional, concerned response from the team that stands behind the Cadillac brand.

Well, the response did come in the form of a phone call. I hate to sit here and insult the people that are hired to deal with consumer complaints at Cadillac, but I felt as if I was dealing with someone who had no right to be in that position. The individual that called me seemed to be the kind of person I would talk to if I were calling the complaint line at my local Target store. I am certain the woman I spoke with was nice, but it was very apparent to me that she was uninformed, and was simply someone who was working in a call center so far beneath the Executive level.

After pouring out my heart in a letter about being unhappy with the CUE system and that Cadillac should be ashamed for putting it in their flagship brand, the response I got was, "There is nothing we can do for you." When I asked if my complaint had even reached the Executive level, the response was something like, "Well, your letter did reach the Executive offices." Really? And they had someone like you contact me to say "There is nothing we can do for you?"

Actually, after repeatedly voicing my disgust for the response, I was given some sort of compensation on service. It was a nice gesture that I would not have gotten without the objections I raised, but I am afraid the entire experience has left me somewhat "cold."


Listen, there may be some of you who think I am making too much of this in light of the fact that the CUE team is trying.

My continued frustration is that the answers to exactly what has been fixed and what has not, is still not clear. Now three months into the ownership of my SRX, I still can't make a phone call and I don't even use my iPod, because I can't.

Listen.....perhaps some of you can relate to what I am about to say....

One of the places I find the most solitude is in my Cadillac. As I drive to and from work, I immensely enjoy the ride beneath me. It is my time to relax, enjoy the drive, make a phone call or two, and enjoy the large collection of music I own on the vehicle's sound system. The most pleasurable part of my day is often the time I spend in my SRX.

But you know what? I can't listen to the music I want because the CUE system can't properly play music from iPods with large libraries. I can't make a business call without having to wait 5-10 minutes for the vehicle to initialize. This is not the kind of problems that customers who pay a premium for a vehicle like this should have to deal with. Furthermore, I would hope for more direct answers from the CUE team as to whether these problems will definitely be fixed. Lastly, the one thing you don't want to hear when you bring the complaint all the way to the top of the GM Executive chain is, "There is nothing we can do for you."
 
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#2 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

As I see it there are three viable options that you/we have. 1. wait and see what the "Big Fix" in March will do for our cars. Sell your car and take the loss. Take the time and money to start a class action law suit against GM and Cadillac. This particular problem is not like other "Lemon" problems because it is a lemon for everyone who owns a CUE car. I hate law suits and have never been a part of one so that is out for me. I like my SRX and will not sell it at a loss and except for the Yougo level CUE system I think it is a very well engineered car. That leaves me with the "Big Fix" option which I am not holding my breath over but hope it will correct some of the issues we all are experiencing. I am getting better at the voice thing but it is still cumbersome and frustrating to use. Like I said in another post I use my favorites bars more than any other icon on the screen and find it really clumsy to use the flip and flick method of searching. I always thought that computers were supposed to make things easier not more complicated. The designers of this system seem to have forgotten what the goal was for the system in the first place. On any late model car you can plug an Ipod/Ipad, USB device or SD card and play your media back or use your phone via blue tooth without a lot of trouble. What were they thinking? Did not one single engineer have a music device with over 1000 songs on it? Did he not ever attempt to play it? I'm sticking around and I like my car but I think CUE has a long way to go for the average person to embrace it and use it like his/her PC or laptop.
 
#3 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

This is my 2 cents... I have a 2013 XTS and have experienced many of the same issues that you have with your SRX and QUE. One of my previous vehicles was a 2009 CTS Premium. I had multiple issues with this vehicle. To make a long story short, because i was in a loaner more that i was in my vehicle for the first 6 months, I ended up 'Lemon Law'ing" the vehicle. I was so incensed with my original dealership, as I felt that while they had tried somewhat, they had not done all they could. So when it came time to select my replacement vehicle, i chose a 2010 SRX and a new dealer. This dealership "McKenney Cadillac in Charlotte NC) has gone out of their way (in fact i have purchased 2 additional vehicles from them). I have had my share of issues with the other vehicles, I assure you. They one constant is, that the dealership, and more specifically the service department, NEVER LET IT GET TO THE POINT THAT YOU ARE AT! While there is most likely nothing that can be done about CUE until the update arrives (and maybe even after that), i am confident that my dealer has my back. They will go out of their way to not let me get so pissed off that i am writing letters to the CEO of GM. Do not get me wring, I am sure your letter was brilliant ( I assume so from the details in your post), but it all comes down to how well your dealer takes care of these types of issues. Keep us posted on any response you get from GM. Keep fighting!
 
#4 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

They will go out of their way to not let me get so pissed off that i am writing letters to the CEO of GM
pkadenec,

I appreciate your advice as well as that of inspectorudy.

At this point, my frustrations extend far beyond that of just CUE. I cannot believe (or maybe I should in this day and age) that when I send typewritten first-class letters to the executives of a company like GM, the response I receive is in the form of what seems to be a third-tier call center staffed with uninformed high-school graduates.

At the very least, I had hoped that I would have gotten a call from someone who was clearly an Executive with the company, and who showed some sort of sympathy for the situation that CUE owners like myself are now dealing with.

Having already gone to the top and gotten the kind of response that I have, I don't think I am going to get anywhere complaining to the dealership. I don't quite know how to fight this yet, and I suppose I have to sit and wait until the CUE team issues an update first. I am just not particularly optimistic everything is going to be fixed as already, there aren't clear answers coming from their reps as to what will and won't be fixed in this next update.
 
#5 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

It seems to me that, in essence, CUE users are beta testing new software. It appears that real world use wasn't adequately tested prior to release. I feel that the CUE team will correct the problems with updates just like every other software manufacturer must do in order to keep current with everyones hardware. For me, I use a Windows Phone 8 and have not had music playback issues with CUE. I do have the requisite long delay for initialization required to make calls. My uneducated suggestion would be to allow us to upload phone, MP3 player, SD, USB stick data to a physical memory space in the CUE hardware. If we change something on those devices then have a method to invoke a re-sync at our discretion. That would eliminate this constant intialization that has to occur every time we start the vehicle. I keep a 32GB usb stick plugged in 24/7 and because of this indexing requirement it is hit or miss whether the stick will be recognized forcing me to open the cubby and remove and resinsert the stick to have it recogized by CUE. Right now I am anxiously awaiting the major update around the corner.
 
#6 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

It seems to me that, in essence, CUE users are beta testing new software. It appears that real world use wasn't adequately tested prior to release.
Nailed it. Unfortunately, consumers (especially luxury car buyers) do not enjoy the insult of being $60,000 guinea pigs/lab rats. Given what I have read, I am reconsidering my XTS purchase this year. The way NJRonbo has been treated is disgraceful and shameful, if not alarming, as a new Cadillac owner.
 
#8 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

I have a Galaxy Note II (Android)

However, I have about 500 contacts in the database which is probably the reason why it takes forever for me to make a call. CUE is too busy trying to reupload those contacts every time I enter the vehicle.
 
#11 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

I have a Galaxy Note II (Android)

However, I have about 500 contacts in the database which is probably the reason why it takes forever for me to make a call. CUE is too busy trying to reupload those contacts every time I enter the vehicle.
I bet it has to do with your contact count... I might have 100 contacts, which is probably why I am not having an issue...

Sorry man... I feel your pain with the iPod though...
 
#10 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

That's good to know, actually. I know my phone pairs immediately when starting the vehicle, but it continues to "initialize" for several minutes before I can place my first phone call. If I get out of the vehicle the process starts all over again from the beginning.
 
#12 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

Actually, I think I am going to have something further to report back here shortly. I am not done with this issue, and I think I have found a means of reaching someone who may be influential at Cadillac.
 
#13 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

Guess I should clarify what I meant when I said I had to wait to make a call. I can make a manual call immediately, however if I want to use the voice search for a contact on my phone to make the call I must wait for the initialization process to occur. Having a large number of contacts seems to be what causes the delay since CUE is trying to index them each and every time the phone pairs.
 
#15 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

NJRonbo, I would still not discount the pull that the dealers have with GM. Keep pushing them to engage their GM rep's. Just another front to keep the pressure on them to resolve the issues!
I absolutely will, I promise. Thank You.

First I need to see how this new development works out. I'll be back in touch shortly.
 
#16 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

Op,

What phone do you own? I have a galaxy note 2 with roughly 14gb of music and 150ish contacts and I am able to make phone calls and immediately play music from my phone. I also have an 8gb flash drive plugged in that I play music from instantly.

I have no issues with the cue and love it.

Also note the dealer gave me a car to take home over weekend prior to purchase. This car had major cue issues, where as my phone whereas my phone would not stay connected via Bluetooth.
 
#17 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

drsketch,

Hello!

I believe I have already addressed most of your questions in this thread already, but happy to reiterate....

I have a Galaxy Note 2 like yourself and a iPod Classic.

There's a reason why you probably can make phone calls immediately from your phone and play music without difficulty...

My phone has about 700 contacts. Most people don't have that many contacts on their device. Because of the large amount of contacts that exist, CUE needs to index all of them every time I enter the vehicle. That take a considerable amount of time.

Same with my iPod classic. An 8GB flash drive is nothing. Try a 160GB iPod with over 7,000 songs. Imagine how long it takes CUE to index that kind of information, and while it is doing so, most songs you select will play another instead.

It's all about the amount of data that CUE needs to absorb every time you enter the vehicle. Most people will never experience the issues I have unless their phone is saturated with contacts or their iPods have 4,000+ songs (and that is a rough estimate)
 
#18 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

150 to 700, where mine are instantly available and yours are not is a little hard to believe. I would believe there isa1minutedelay. Maybe your cue system is malfunctioning if you aren't exaggerating. I just checked and I have 162 contacts which are a mix of exchange and gmail contacts.

Also please don't take the the wrong way but carrying around 160gb of music is counterproductive. You couldn't listen to every song in that collection in a year of normal driving. I am a network engineer so very familiar with that data size and music.

Also keep in mind the iPod classic is only USB 2.0 which has a speed of 35mB/s which is the maximum. Most devices never operate at the prescribed spec. So even if you feel you need 160gb of music it is reasonable to expect some index time.

Lastly this car keeping a database of your music so that it was a one time sync deal would probably be more problematic than most people would enjoy.
 
#20 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

Also keep in mind the iPod classic is only USB 2.0 which has a speed of 35mB/s which is the maximum. Most devices never operate at the prescribed spec. So even if you feel you need 160gb of music it is reasonable to expect some index time.
You don't really believe that the ipod has to transfer the entire 160GB of mp3 data in order to index these songs, do you? All it needs to transfer for the index is a file listing and the id3 tags. 35mBps is way more than sufficient to stream the music, so what does that have to do with the speed of the indexing?
 
#19 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

Also please don't take the the wrong way but carrying around 160gb of music is counterproductive. You couldn't listen to every song in that collection in a year of normal driving.
That' not the point. The point of having 160GB of music is that you have your entire music collection at your disposal and can play any song you want at any time without having to keep changing out music.

I often drive with friends in the car. They can (and often do) say, "do you have this song" and in most cases, I do. It's amazing how much of the music I own on CD is now transferred and organized on my iPod. I no longer have the need to pull out a CD when I want to hear a song. Best of all, that selection of music is available to me when I travel. This is not just a device for the car, but the ability to carry my entire collection with me.

Also keep in mind the iPod classic is only USB 2.0 which has a speed of 35mB/s which is the maximum. Most devices never operate at the prescribed spec.
I understand that. Unfortunately, Apple has never upgraded their Classic iPod. But to say most devices never operate at the prescribed spec may be true, but not entirely applicable in this case. That iPod classic plays perfectly in all vehicles I have used it in prior to CUE. My 2008 CTS and 2010 SRX handled the large library of music without a hitch. When I business travel, and have to rent a vehicle, I ask for vehicles that have USB ports so I can plug in my iPod. No problems playing the amount of songs on the iPod.

CUE seems to be different. It's an entirely new animal that doesn't store music the way every device that came before it did. I am leaning towards CUE being the problem, not my iPod.

Lastly this car keeping a database of your music so that it was a one time sync deal would probably be more problematic than most people would enjoy.
Why? Actually it has worked for every Cadillac system prior to CUE. If CUE indexed and stored the music only once, there would be no delays for someone like myself.

I just checked and I have 162 contacts which are a mix of exchange and gmail contacts.
That's a normal size of contacts. I have three times that amount. So, mine is taking longer to index.

Maybe your cue system is malfunctioning if you aren't exaggerating.
I am actually hoping that is the case. And, trust me, I am going to have an update for everyone shortly as things are in motion to address this problem. If it is a defective unit I can easily have it replaced and problem is solved. However, based on some of the other comments in the CUE threads, as well as talking to the CUE team about how differently this technology works from others, I am not optimistic there is a defective unit at play here.

Thanks for your help.
 
#22 ·
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE: "There is Nothing We Can Do For You"

As NJRonbo has stated, having 160gb music is not because you will listen to all of it, it is to have your music library with you to select depending upon your mood. I also have a 160gb ipod classic, with over 8,000 songs on it, and experience the same problems as most others on this forum regarding indexing. I have also tried a 64GB iPod Touch thinking perhaps it was the hard drive of the classic causing slow indexing, but the same problem exists there as well. When you are getting in the car for a quick 10 minute drive, it is annoying to say the least you can't select a playlist until you have arrived at your destination. It doesn't happen all the time, but more frequently than it should. Also requiring me to reboot my ipod about every third time I start the car is not good.

I have noticed that when using the steering wheel control to select media device and music search instead of using the CUE screen, it is much faster in responsiveness so I have gotten used to using that method and actually find it more convenient now. I wonder if anyone else has compared the two and noticed the same thing.
 
#23 ·
I am hoping that the Moderators here on Cadillac Forums will allow a new thread to be created in addition to one that already exists here. I felt that it was important enough that this update should stand on its own as I believe (as you will discover reading forward) that it shines a more positive light on my prior complaint and thus giving GM the recognition it deserves.

I also have some very encouraging news to share all of you about CUE updates.....

...but first...


GM AND CUE RESPOND


As most of you are aware, I have been very open and aggressive about the problems I have been having with the CUE system since taking possession of my 2013 SRX last November. After approaching GM and getting a rather unsympathetic response from them, I felt the only option I had was to further press the CUE team for action and to escalate my voice of dissatisfaction on message boards like this one.

Last week I was contacted by a senior member of the CUE team who spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with me in attempt to find out why I was having problems using my phone and iPod on their system. At the end of the call, I was given an invitation to meet with their team at my local Cadillac dealership.

Yesterday morning, I met with Ara, Jeff and Stacy who are part of the Lead Connected Customer Specialist team of General Motors. Now, understand, these three individuals hopped on a plane and flew down to my local dealership for a one-on-one session with me. That's something that, one day later, I am still soaking in. In other words, I was rather stunned that this effort was made.

So, in an attempt to give all of you a mental picture of what our session was like, imagine 3 GM Executives packing themselves inside a parked 2013 SRX at a dealership lot with myself in the driver's seat. For the next 90 minutes the team watched as I took them through my daily interaction with the CUE system.

Fortunately, we were immediately able to replicate the problems that I was having. Starting with the phone, the team watched as upon getting in the vehicle and having CUE immediately pair my Galaxy Note II, that no phone call could be made. We repeatedly attempted to make a call using the voice recognition system, and it took a little over 4 minutes until that task could be accomplished. As I suspected, the fact that I have 700+ contacts that need to be indexed is the reason for this delay.

Next up, we tried to play music from my 160GB iPod classic. As I went into one of a dozen of my playlists and selected a song, another played instead. This attempt was repeated over again with the same results.

During this entire time, one of the members of the CUE team was busy taking notes as to what was occurring.

So, here is what was discovered.....

As CUE currently stands today, there is an indexing delay that will prevent phones with large contact lists from immediately being able to make a call using voice recognition. If I am correct, I believe the workaround offered for the moment is to attempt to scroll through any contacts that are initially indexed using the steering controls, or if you prefer, the CONTACTS tab on the CUE screen. This will only be a temporary inconvenience as an update is on the way to correct this problem. I will explain more in a moment.

As far as the iPod is concerned, it was interesting to see that, in our experiments, the problems playing music existed only in PLAYLISTS. The CUE team selected music using ARTISTS and the correct song played every time. Of course, this is not a solution for those of us that want to stick to a particular playlist during our daily drive and have the correct song play.

The problem, it seems, is bigger than CUE itself. The CUE team has been in contact with Apple prior to and since the complaints I have lodged. It was explained to me that the iPod Classic is several years old. This is true. It has not received a software update in quite some time. This is also true. In fact, I can't quite remember when the last time an update was ever offered for that device. What I do know is that for the last few years it has been rumored that Apple was going to discontinue their mammoth iPod. The fact they didn’t tells me that they realize there is still a large sect of the population that want to carry their entire music library with them.

So, as I continued my conversation with the CUE team, it was explained to me that they had been pressing Apple for software updates that would address the index issues with that device. Apple has not been very cooperative, which is not surprising given the fact that everything the company puts out is a closed proprietary system. As we sat in the vehicle discussing this, we watched the CUE screen, and a small animated sync icon that continued to endlessly turn. The CUE team sadly informed me that having this endless sync when my iPod was plugged in was not normal.

In the end, I was told that the 160GB iPod Classic would not be compatible with the CUE system in the way I needed it to be. Realize, the newer iPods and iPhones are fully compatible due to the fact that they have smaller drives and that Apple is consistently offering updates for them.

Having the CUE team personally explain their efforts in dealing with Apple on this issue has severely changed my viewpoint on where to place blame. It's obvious to me that CUE is trying to be innovative and move technology forward. If Apple is unwilling to bring their older devices up to these new standards then I can't possibly hold CUE accountable. Until (and if) Apple offers a software update for their 160GB iPod, I am just going to take less music with me in the vehicle using a 64GB iPod instead.


UPDATES TO CUE


I never asked permission to post the things I am going to tell all of you, but I believe that I can generalize many of the things that I was told. I would like to place a disclaimer that there is always the possibility that I may not properly translate the exact function of a new software addition and that further confirmations/corrections may follow from the members of the CUE team on this forum.

The big news, as some of you are already aware, is that CUE is about to offer a major update to their system. I can tell you that we are only a few short weeks away from it seeing it rolled out.

You will receive notification from General Motors when the update is available. You will need to take your vehicle to your dealer. I asked the CUE team how long it would take to apply the update at the dealership. I was told approximately 2 hours as the update affects not just the CUE system itself but everything that goes on within your entire dashboard.

I was very happy to hear that once the update is applied, drivers are going to immediately see some astonishing differences in the way that the system looks and performs.

I was assured that CUE will be far more responsive than it is now. Granted, I don't see any lag whatsoever, but to hear that interactive response times will be measurably improved was very encouraging to hear.

The problems with phone indexing have been addressed. I was elated to hear that CUE does have flash storage and that moving forward, indexing will be greatly approved. The CUE team was initially very concerned about having anyone's personal phone contacts stored on their system for the sake of security.

One of the major additions will be Siri and Android voice pass-through. There will also be the ability to have text messages read to you. I am not certain how that all works, and there was a lengthy conversation about concerns regarding this feature and in the interests of safe driving, how far the CUE team would want to implement it. I thoroughly side with everyone at GM that voice texting in the vehicle is far more dangerous than the controversy that exists with using bluetooth devices to talk while driving. Any texting feature that car companies introduce into their vehicles, in my opinion, will probably be limited in use.

One of the other enhancements mentioned to me is that the CUE voice assistant will noticeably be more "friendlier" when interacting with "her." In other words, enhancements are being made to speech functionality.

One of the big questions I had for the team came with an answer that I think all of you will be very happy to hear....

I was concerned that the 2013 SRX (and certainly the ATS before it) would have this new technology in it that would be outdated in the next generation of vehicles. In other words, would the CUE systems we have in our vehicles today be upgradeable to the features that will exist in the CUE systems in 2014 and 2015 vehicles? Surprisingly, the answer was "yes." With the exception of any newly introduced technology (such as a new bluetooth spec for instance), CUE is future-proofed. The team has made the current system powerful enough (with hardware inside that isn't even currently being put to use) to keep pace with any systems being offered in future years. While redesigns are always inevitable, at least current owners should be able to get the same software features as future owners will.

Interested in hearing the opinions of a CUE owner, the team asked what features I would like to see added to the system. The only one I could immediately think of was the ability to customize the wallpaper and buttons. The team told me that this feature actually existed in original versions, but was removed after they realized that the ability to upload pictures/custom wallpaper with different color backgrounds would most likely drown out the screen icons. This is something I absolutely understood. One suggestion that I would offer, moving forward, is for CUE to at least make available a large selection of "wallpaper friendly" backgrounds that owners could choose from. I think it's important that owners have the ability to jazz up their CUE screen with a selection of backgrounds that won't clash with the screen icons.


FINAL THOUGHTS


At the top of this post I mentioned that it was important that a separate thread exist to give recognition to GM for the efforts they made to resolve my issues.

I still cannot believe that three senior members of the CUE team took the time to come to my dealership to meet with me. It is not something that would obviously be done for everyone. The team realized the fact that I had logged quite an extensive amount of calls to their center. I am not even certain they knew about what was being posted here, as the Internet was never even mentioned. I believe that it was actually the letters I wrote to the CEO and VP of GM/CADILLAC that raised more concern than anything else.

In any event, I am extraordinarily grateful to GM and CUE for what they did. The team was extremely professional, and most of all, I could tell that they were very sincere in wanting to help me resolve my issues. In fact, most of the 90 minutes we spent together involved the team giving me tips on how to better interact with CUE. I finally learned how to rely on sorting through the steering wheel cluster (which I was apprehensive in doing) rather than reaching over to the CUE screen every time. In the end, I found that I kept my eyes on the road more using the dashboard cluster than using the screen to search for information. Of course, voice interaction is always the best way to go and the team gave me tips on how to better communicate and get the information I need from CUE.

I would say that I walked away with a much better appreciation for the CUE technology than I had prior.

I was never asked to to write a thing about the visit. What I am posting here was entirely my idea based on the experience that I had. I just wanted to share it with all of you, and, give a counter-point to some of the more negative things I had posted previously.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Re: GM to Customer Complaint of CUE Part II: Major Update (Please Read)

@ NJRombo
Appreciated your feed back and GM (CUE) interest/action taken.

As to: "In the end, I was told that the 160GB iPod Classic would not be compatible with the CUE system in the way I needed it to be. Realize, the newer iPods and iPhones are fully compatible due to the fact that they have smaller drives and that Apple is consistently offering updates for them." would your large music library perhaps fit on a 128 GB USB3 stick? That would also eliminate the "obsolete iPod Classic" problem, never mind Apple's unfortunate "closed proprietary system" issue - I have given my iPod Classic last year together which my older laptop (iTunes loaded) required to add/delete files on the iPod to a Cuban family, who have no way to purchase such. I just hated the lack of user control over that device. Also hate that when attaching my iPad to my PC. It's recognised but I can't look at anything on the iPad via my PC and only at a higher level via iTunes. Maybe I expect too much, like simply copy/move files from one device to the other or from one folder to another, etc. Of course I am a rather novice when it comes to Apple devices.

As to USB sticks, I believe there are even larger ones but not sure if they are available. As to 128 GB, I personally have one. Not sure though whether or not the USB port in CUE is USB3 or USB2 as while a USB3 device would work, if the port is USB2 the throughput would be at the USB2 speed. I had a long time ago ask that such specifications would be made available but so far I have not seen such. (similar issue as to SD ports).

Last but not least using a USB stick or SD card would require (at least presently) a conversion of your present playlists to one that CUE can read. The CUE manual only list the file types, but not the technical requirements for those files - see my Feb 17 post on your thread http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...e/282181-can-cue-play-itunes-music-files.html
I didn't outline my other test, with one of the ameneded playlist (prior to removing those 3 HEX characters) together with 2 other normal just exported m3U files, when after more than an hour that circle on CUE was still turning and I finally gave up for CUE to finish indexing. It probably just couldn't handle those M3U files. The rest is outlined in my write-up and via subsequent coments of different ways to generate playlists on USB/SD devices by others. Now it still works flawlessly as soon as CUE has fully booted, from the existing index on CUE, notwithstanding CUE is in the process of creating a new index, as Cody had explained to me.
 
#25 ·
NJRonbo,

Thank you very much for your detailed post regarding the meeting. I am very impressed with the CUE team for doing this. Sounds like GM is changing to become more user friendly. After reading your comment regarding their wanting to know what other features that they could add to the system, it seems sad to me that they are not aware of this forum. If they want new ideas and suggestions, there is a vast amount of just that information on this forum. If they would interact actively on forums such as this they could save a lot of plane fare. Thanks again.
 
#27 ·
After reading your comment regarding their wanting to know what other features that they could add to the system, it seems sad to me that they are not aware of this forum. If they want new ideas and suggestions, there is a vast amount of just that information on this forum. If they would interact actively on forums such as this they could save a lot of plane fare. Thanks again.
That's exactly why I'm on here. I'm one of the designers who works on CUE and I'm actively bringing up your suggestions with the team and making improvements!
 
#26 ·
All of you that desire to keep your larger music collections with you at all times, see the other thread I posted in. I put 160 GB music on a portable 1TB drive, it synced once and has been good to go since. Only MP3 and JPG files are on this drive, MP3 being the music, JPG being the album art.
 
#28 ·
would your large music library perhaps fit on a 128 GB USB3 stick? That would also eliminate the "obsolete iPod Classic" problem, never mind Apple's unfortunate "closed proprietary system" issue
All of you that desire to keep your larger music collections with you at all times, see the other thread I posted in. I put 160 GB music on a portable 1TB drive, it synced once and has been good to go since.
This is something I have been attempting to get straightened out as well.

I would LOVE to be able to put all my music on a Hard Drive or USB Stick.

I see the thread by DRSKETCH, but the method in which the music has been transferred and how it is set up is not clear.

I can tell you from experience, just hooking a 1TB hard drive to the CUE system last week, it was not able to read the iTunes music I have on there.

I will continue the questions in the other thread as not to disrupt this one.
 
#29 · (Edited)
NJRonbo,

Thank you for your detailed CUE write-up. One of the lessons I have learned being the owner of a 2010 SRX is NEVER buy a vehicle the first year the model is introduced. I only have 21K miles on my SRX and have quite the list of warranty repairs with some of them being repeats of previous "repairs". I knew when Cadillac introduced the CUE system that there was no way I would be purchasing a vehicle that had it within its first year. In fact, I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll ever own another Cadillac after my 2010 SRX experiences. I went to the dealership Friday because those chrome pieces on the mirrors are falling off again (3rd time!) and while I was there asked my service writer what his experience thus far had been regarding CUE. He just rolled his eyes and said that he had an XTS coming in that afternoon for a complete reflash of the CUE system that would take 2 hours. The red flags went off in my mind when I heard that.

Dr. Phil often says, "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior." I firmly believe that this is the case more often than not. Based on my experience with the 2010 SRX, I decided that CUE would be another GM fiasco turning customers into beta testers. It seems I have been right and Dr. Phil's statement is holding true.

I'm sorry for all your trials and troubles with CUE but thank you for posting so much info on here so that other discerning buyers can make a more informed decision. As for me, I think my one and only Cadillac has been somewhat disappointing such that I won't be buying another. My warranty is up in January 2014 and I plan on being out of this vehicle before it expires.
 
#30 ·
Though I have been critical of some elements of the CUE system, specifically indexing every time you start the car, now that I've had the car for about 6 weeks and I know how the CUE system works, I'm pretty happy with it. I traded in my 2003 DTS when I got the XTS so obviously a lot of new features on the XTS by comparison. I'm a techie and early adapter and really like what I see. People don't normally post on forums when they are happy, they post questions and problems. I have to say I'm pretty happy with the CUE system. I love that I can put my music collection of 2500 songs on an SD Card and play them all and see the artwork that each song has.( I wish it would show artwork in M4a files instead of only MP3 files.) Playlists are also a great convenience. It is the nature of modern technology to be improved over time as people use it. How many updates has Windows, Itunes or even my Blu-Ray Player had?

DIRECTV had similar growing pains a few years ago when they switched from the TIVO DVR software to their own in house software. Users were justifiably critical when the in house DIRECTV DVR came out. It wasn't very good. DIRECTV used the user forums at DBSTalk.com to interface with their fan base and over time they made hundreds of improvements so that they now have the best DVR user interface out there. GM and Cadillac are doing the same thing with this forum. I know CUE will continue to improve and look forward to the various enhancements.
 
#31 ·
I agree with you Jeff about this is an opportunity for GM to step up and listen to the users and try to fix the issues that we have found. If they do that then this could be a major break through in the automotive world. Codeman sounds like he is listening and only time will tell if the CUE team can follow through.
 
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