Re: Stringer Pushing through bottom of Boat?
I am completely aware of the games that some customers play in regard to false claims. I also understand what companies go through in this regard because I have been a senior manager in a few of them. That said, there is a mentality that is becoming more and more prevalent in American business these days, and it is very disturbing.
Many years ago, I sold cars for a major manufacturer/dealer. I sold a custom van to a very nice couple who spent a considerable amount of money on it. Immediately after the purchase of this brand new vehicle, they noticed a repetative tendency for the vehicle to pull hard to one side during braking. They reported the problem to me and I had them bring it in to be checked by our service department, who verified the problem but couldn't correct it. Not long after, the wife was very nearly in a rollover accident because she had to brake hard to avoid someone else who did something dumb. I later found out that this very problem had been known by the manufacturer for some time and they had not issued a recall on it. Instead, they talked and talked and talked about the problem instead of taking immediate action to a very serious problem.
At this same dealership, I sold a pickup truck to a woman who reported other brake problems with her new vehicle. She too brought the vehicle in for service with no definitive discovery of the nature of the problem. She was killed in the truck a couple of months later, reportedly due to a brake failure.
In the first case, the vehicle's manufacturer refused to simply replace the van or refund the purchase price. Instead, they drew the discussions out for so long that the buyers finally accepted the only offer that was made to them - to buy the next year's model at retail price, minus a steep devaluation of the previous vehicle as a used van. This couple took a huge hit financially because the deal put them "upside down" (owing more to the bank than the trade-in value) on the first van.
I'm not sure what happened on the second case because I was very quickly pushed aside in any discussions of it and I left he dealership not long after that, partially because the whole thing disgusted me. I do believe, however, that the family of the woman successfully sued both the manufacturer and the dealership.
Would Tahoe do such things? I don't know. Once again, maybe yes and maybe no. That said, since the sales organization and the manufacturer are owned by the same parent company, there simply is no independence between the two. If they both have the highest moral standards, this will eventually work out, If not, there is going to be a problem.
So, the next thing on the list is, why worry about the time factor? Because it is called "temporizing" and it is a tactic which involves hoping the problem will go away or blaming it on something/someone else. It is also a huge red flag to just about anyone that trouble is brewing. Simply put, when the people who should be reacting to something aren't, until the injured party insists on action, it is natural (and not unfair) for that injured party not to trust them. Furthermore, when someone pays $25,000 or so for a product, they don't expect to have to sit around for months, unable to use that product. We are not talking about a Wally World pool raft here but, rather, a very substantial investment.
In business, you live and die by your reputation and I would say that, thus far, Tahoe has not protected its own interests very well. I don't think this boat owner expected this problem to be dealt with overnight but he does deserve to be given a reasonable time table for resolution that is adhered to, or at least nearly so. Positive response and communication are the keys to good customer relations. Lack of communication and a "I'll get to it when I get to it" attitude result in predictable reaction, and that is what is going on here.
