DETROIT — "Tell Fritz," a folksy-sounding Web site dedicated to putting General Motors President and CEO Fritz Henderson in closer touch with consumers, is expected to launch sometime next week. Henderson made the announcement about the Web site during a Friday press conference, underscoring that he intends to "review and respond to input every day."
"One of the new frontiers in the auto industry will be true customer service," Henderson said. "We're committed to responding to consumer market trends."
He added: "I am personally committed to being closer and more available to consumers than ever before."
Later, GM spokesperson Mary Henige told Inside Line that "Tell Fritz" is expected to be a feature on the GM Reinvention Web site. She said Henderson may also host up to two Web chats per week on the corporate GM FastLane blog and GM Reinvention. Henige said that Henderson intends to answer questions himself and not turn the responses over to underlings.
Henderson also said that he intends to "go on the road every month" to keep in further touch with consumers. "I'll be asking members of the management team to do the same," he said. "We need to listen to the questions, ideas and concerns of the people who matter most."
Unlike some GM executives, Henderson has been noteworthy for his accessibility, albeit on such corporately controlled sites as the GM FastLane blog.
Inside Line says: If you've got something on your mind about the Chevrolet Camaro or other concerns, "Tell Fritz" may be just the ticket. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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gmcrap4 says:
10:54 PM, 05/21/2011
I own a 2006 Torrent purchased new and have had nothing but trouble from day 1. I bitched to GM about this vehicle so much that they gave me an additional 3 year warranty on the vehicle. One of the things I bitched about was the high head gasket failure rate and GM claimed there is no history of it. I've been in the business for 30 years and I see the crap GM makes and their head gaskets and intake gaskets are total junk. I hit 40,000 miles on mine and guess what Mr. GM...My head gasket blew...This vehicle never overheated..it was maintained according to GM recommendations but blew out anyways...Just as I predicted it would since this was one of my bitches regarding problems with this piece of junk..But, no, GM still claims there is no issue with this problem..The dealership even admitted there were many complaints about head gaskets...An ex-GM master tech was ashamed of the issues with the head gaskets and the fact that GM didn't really care...I discussed this issue with GM and I was treated like shit by people who have no idea about the workings of the internal combustion engine..The job was going to cost about $1200.00...Nye GM in Oneida agreed to pay for the parts but I would be responsible for the labor...The parts are less than $200.00...Big friggin' deal...Nye did what they could..but GM didn't...I needed the vehicle and paid to have the work done on the car...40,000 miles and needs a head gasket...Unheard of!!! I have worked on cars in my shop with close to 200,000 miles on them and no issue at all with head gaskets...GM is making junk at the working mans expense and we are sick of it...I am spreading the word and will have my car lettered telling people to boycott GM vehicles and to think twice before purchasing a GM vehicle. I live in a small town but word spreads like wild fire through here and many will hear my word...I paid almost $30,000 for this piece of crap and GM could care less after the sale...This is a terrible thing to do to the public...You should be ashamed of yourselves...No wonder Asian vehicles are kicking your ass..I am so embarrassed to own a GM but cannot afford to get out of it...White collar against Blue collar...The war will never end...
techgm says:
01:22 PM, 11/15/2010
This is what i have to do because you can not fix your lemons. WWW.dontbuygm.com
If you would only fix your car & truck or build them right the first time, we would not have to go thought all off this.
pedro12 says:
06:05 AM, 10/22/2010
Dear Ftiz,
I am wrting to you about my 2003 LTZ Trailblazer. I had the fuel pump replaced,there was a recall for this. Currently my fuel level senor is not working correctly,showed low fuel level one day, when I had just filled the tank a day ago,then it was stuck in the full position. The feual tank will have to be dropped again to correct this problem. About 90% of one of my tranmission lines have rusted away. Only one of the two preset buttons,for the seat, mirror,radio& other personal settings,are currently working. The back lights on the drives side door, window & seat heater buttons are not working.
Only half of the rear window defroster works. Both front wheel bearingas have already been replaced. I was picking up my wife from work the truck would not re start,the key does not come out of the ignition switch if the vehical does not start. I had it towed to a repair shop,they said it was a dead battery, the shop could not find a reason why the battery suddenly went dead.They rechared& tested the battery & said the battery was okay. They coold not find any error codes that would indicate why the battery went dead.
This is on a vehicle that only has 75000 miles on it. I am diapointed in this product especailly for the price I paid for it, I would have expected a better product.
fussy says:
10:24 AM, 07/20/2010
Driven Caddys since 1964.
Professional Eng.
Drove a SRX and a Mercedes GLK.
The steering at highway speeds on the Glk was precise and effortless, the best I have experienced in years. (3 fingers on my left hand at 80 mph going through the twisties on a 4 lane and I could thread a needle.)
In contrast the SRX required 2 hands as my DTS does.
The steering was heavy and the slightest over pressure caused the vehicles to become twitchy and requires extreme care not to over compensate.
This behavior dosent show up in city driving but is very annoying on the highway at higher speeds and is very unrelaxing.
(My Avalanche is more relaxing to highway cruise than the DTS!!)
The Mercedes is incredebly better in the road feel department than the SRX. Infinity EX ,FX and Lexus and for that matter any vehicle that I have recently driven. (I am not talking about ultimate limit road holding but every day normal cruising.)
It is not rocket science to engineer effortless steering precision into your vehicles, it only takes desire. If the Germans can do it why cant you and the Japs? The Germans boast about their precise steering and on line tracking.
SUGESSTIONS
#1 Force your engineering and design staff to drive all significant competitor's vehicles on a regular basis.
2# Get rid of that artificial stiffinining of the steering as the speed increases. It has a non linear notchy feel that causes one to over correct at times and causes driver fatigue in the hand when making minor corrections to tracking error. My last 3 Caddys are OK around town but are not the greatest relaxing highway cruisers.
Good luck on reviving GM, I am on your side.
But for the first time in years I am going to defect and buy a Mercedes GLK as much as I hate foreign products.
I dont like having to use premium gas.
I dont like their high price service policies.
I dont like their arrogance.
But they drive so beautifuly it is a bit like being married to a beautiful bad tempered bitch that you put up with because she is good in bed.
phiggy says:
06:35 PM, 12/03/2009
We would DEARLY love to buy an American-brand car, but ... We own a Toyota Avalon and a Toyota Tacoma 2wd truck.
I owned a Chevy 1500 recently and had this experience: 1) The windshield wipers stopped working. I took it to the Chevy dealer and he said, "no problem, I know exactly what it is, we can fix it we have the parts in stock, $95 please" 2) We heard a grinding noise coming up the hill from nearby Yuba City. I thought, "Oh, crap, there goes the transmission." We took it to a tranny shop and they held if for 3 days. Turns out it was a tack weld that had come loose on the muffler shroud that was vibrating against the frame. It cost $50 for diagnosis and $100 for the weld. 3) The interior door handle on the driver's side broke off. I took it to the dealer in Auburn, CA. "No problem, we can fix it for $165 and we have the parts in stock. It happens all the time." I dumped the Chevy and bought the Tacoma.
I think you guys have your heads stuck somewhere where the sun never shines. Still, I would DEARLY love to buy an American mark. Do you have any notion of the difficulty it causes an ordinary customer when problems of the nature I've described occur? If I wasn't retired, if I was an ordinary shmuck with kids that would have to be picked up from Day Care, if my wife would have to take off early to drive me to the dealer and back, do you guys have any clue of what it means in terms of inconvenience to have an unreliable vehicle?
The person who mentioned Consumer Reports was trying to do you a favor. I'm trying to do that too.