undecided1965

My suggestions (any of them would be acceptable)
1) Take deposits even for unannounced products, deposits are basically to hold a place on the list.
2) If you don't do #1 then allow for deposits to be made with more methods such a credit cards even if it's just for a temporary holds. For wire transfers, it's a hassle to run to the bank to do it especially in the winter when the weather could be bad.

MacMulkin

1. We're not going to take deposits for products that haven't been announced, only to have to go through the hassle of paperwork and cutting checks to return all of the deposits if GM decides to shelf the product or cancel it all together
2. There's ridiculous fees to using credit cards, and then people can turn around and reverse the charges without us knowing it

GOLD72

I certainly understand this position. I have ordered my 2011 ZR1 and 2019 Z06 vert from Tommy Jr so I am a past customer of MM. Assuming you still have the "customer of interest emails" by date, I had suggested the following procedure last summer rather than a single email blast to thousands. This procedure would reward those expressing the earliest interest in the car and would only be done obviously after GM has publicly announced the E-Ray and MM is ready to take whatever number of deposits for the allocations you might receive. And MM could progressively send out emails without being significantly held up for customer replies.

"I think the fair and best approach for MM to take would be to send out that email only to the first xx on the list to solicit further interest and deposits. Give it a few xx days and then send emails to the next xx on the list and so on. The first xx don't fall off the initial list but will likely fall further down the final list for customers with continued interest and have thus placed a deposit if their decision is delayed."

I would love to hear your thoughts about doing it this way assuming you still have the original contact dates from customers.

VER

Thank you, MacMulkin!

VER

That's not a "fair approach" lol they were clear there is no meaning in the order you get on the list.

GOLD72

We have had this argument before. It's just your opinion. I would rather hear from MM, not you.

VER

They just said they're doing an email blast.

St!ngray

Although is true GM has not made it official, it has done enough leaks to let everyone know the car is coming summer of 2023. Yes the list is nothing more than names, but at the time you called or email the salesperson said you are the xx (in my case #44).
I agree to have maybe 10 groups of 100 and give each group 24 hours to respond. Thats 10 days for MM to get some satisfaction to his customers.

GOLD72

And myself and others might like to hear MM’s thoughts on what I have suggested (and it’s a suggestion only) but you keep ignoring that my posts are suggestions only as an alternative procedure for MM to consider instead of an email blast to “thousands”.

GOLD72

Just seems like a more manageable process for both MM and those customers expressing interest previously so I would like to hear MM’s thoughts about it. VER seems to have a vested interest in shutting down any discussion. In full disclosure, I would guess I would be in the middle of the list having contacted Tommy Jr last spring which might be fairly late.

jjsaustin

I agree... MM has a history of listening to their customers and making the right decisions. Remember when they announced they were going to do away with all Courtesy Delivery because there was a number of dealerships that had some issues. Rather than throw the baby out with the bath water, they decided to reduce down their list to select dealerships for Courtesy Deliveries. I think people were very happy with that approach. Hopefully they can take a similar approach here and let people know ahead of time when they will start reaching out to groups of people (100 or whatever makes sense so it is not too onerous on MM) roughly based on when people expressed interest, give them a couple days to respond with a deposit. Based upon order of response within that group, they start building the Eray list in an orderly fashion.Then repeat and reach out to the next group of people.
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The lottery approach that Ciocca used seemed like it was a debacle with many unsatisfied people (unless you were lucky enough to get a low number under 500). People were mad at their banks for delayed wire transfers and other people mad that they were told that people who went to the dealership would be given priority and all sorts of other misinformation.

I think it is fair to say that more people were satisfied with the MM approach to the Z06 list then with the Ciocca approach.

VER

People are not suggesting things because they want to avoid a mess, realistically. They're suggesting things because they want to benefit themselves. MM seems to understand how to treat customers. Saying one thing and then doing another doesn't seem like a good move.

Option 1: Suddenly give meaning to the time interest was expressed, bother most potential customers that were under the impression interest is interest and the time getting on the list didn't matter
Option 2: Email blast, bother no one except a handful of early interest folks that are trying to benefit because they feel like they deserve to for some reason
Option 3: MM is smarter than all of us and finds a creative solution that (basically) all find a wise desicision

jjsaustin

Yeah you are right, since I don't recall them saying they were going to an email blast from the beginning and then suddenly change that without telling customers who may have been waiting for years (no this is not me), might be upsetting for some long time customers.

On the other hand, based on the fact they typically took deposits in the past and created an orderly list, that's what you would expect them to keep doing going forward.

GOLD72

Previous "lists of interest" in a potential new model that I have contacted my favored dealers over the past 17 years have never once required a deposit. I expect most dealers take the position that they don't want to receive and hold deposits for rumored new models until GM actually does a public reveal/announcement of such a new model. That certainly has not happened yet. That is the position that MM is taking right now and is completely understood and expected by myself. And I would be shocked if MM does not have a record of whom contacted them when. Regarding their current position of an email blast to everyone leaving them an email of interest, it seems to me that MM is going to get hundreds if not over a thousand responses with either wired bank to bank deposits or mailed certified cashier checks. MM has expressed a reluctance to accept credit card deposits due high fees. Good chance that there will be more deposits than GM allocations in that model year that they will receive for the E-Ray. Just seems way too chaotic a process and MM will probably be having to return the later deposits in some form or fashion. I am thinking no one will be happy about the process including MM unless you were late in expressing interest but struck gold by being able to respond faster than everyone else. Just does not sound like a reasonable process to me. And BTW, no other dealer "interested in a potential new model list" that I have been on has been done the way MM is expecting to execute. JMHO

GOLD72

Tommy Jr never said anything to me last March about an email blast to everyone on the "interested list". It was my full expectation to be contacted in chronological order as my past dealers have done.

SharkDiverZ06

It seems to me that the simple solution is to send out an email blast to everyone on the interest list asking for deposits by a certain deadline...Then once deposits are received, give priority based upon when folks got on the interest list, NOT by who "lucked out" by having their wire processed faster than others. This eliminates you having to make individual calls and also preserves folks place in line on the list.

vegasredz062

if its MSRP I would love to be on the list

msm859

I think they should send out the blast but give prior customers 1 or 2 days priority to send in their deposit. (I am Not a prior customer). This rewards loyalty. After that first come first serve.

C7Z51

Where do I signup for the email blast?

muncie21

Being this is America, the land of choices, I'm fine with whatever approach MM decides to take. If I don't agree with the approach, I'll go elsewhere. However, based on how MM handled my C8 purchase, I'm sure things will be fine.

For now, I'll wait patiently for the update from MM on how they intend to handle the E-ray orders.