GM Offers Gift Cards To 700K Affected By Ignition Recall
Just in time for Black Friday or Black Thanksgiving (for those heathens who really want Alex from Target to scan their cheap HDTV, instead of giving him the day off by voting with their wallets), General Motors will be giving their customers a $25 gift card if they bring in their vehicles affected by the February 2014 recall by December 1.
The Detroit News reports brochures about the gift card incentive began landing last week in the mailboxes of those who have yet to bring in their affected vehicle for a 30-minute part swap. Per GM representative Ryndee Carney, the promo went out to around 700,000 who haven’t ordered parts; those who did, but haven’t come in, weren’t eligible for the offer.
After said owners have their vehicles repaired, they will be given a code to redeem online for a $25 card from either Amazon, AMC, Applebee’s, Bass Pro Shops, Red Robin, Starbucks or Walmart, with delivery due between two to four weeks. Were all 700,000 to turn up, a total of $17.5 million would be given away in the promotion.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is on-board with the initiative, encouraging GM to do everything it can to repair those affected vehicles. A similar program was offered by Toyota in 2010 during its unintended acceleration recall drive, one that made a huge splash with response rates, according to vice president of corporate communications, Mike Michels.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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Is it just me or is this insulting. If it were me, I'd throw the whole thing back in the mail and say thanks but no thanks. Only after I showed how generous and understand GM was over social media (sarcasm intended). Sorry about your troubles with our cars, here's a nominal token gift to show we care.
GM should double down if the subject is willing to test drive a new GM.
"Sorry your ignition switch may kill you. Here's a gift card!" is marginally better than "Sorry your ignition switch may kill you. Come back and buy another one of our cars at a discount!"
And GM is still the sales leader in the USA. One can only surmise that the average GM buyer comes equipped with standard Corning expanding foam as the filler between its ears.