***Important *** Changes coming to the NCM Buyers Tour.
 

***Important *** Changes coming to the NCM Buyers Tour.

Unfortunately as they say, “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”. Effective immediately the National Corvette Museum Buyers tour will announce a change to the number of participants to include only the buyer and one guest (two people total). This will be down from the three guests (four people total) that have been allowed to participate up to this point.

Anyone with an upcoming buyers tour currently scheduled (scheduled as of January 8th will be grandfathered in to the buyer and three guests). Any new buyer’s tours being scheduled as of Monday January 11th will be subject to the new restrictions.

Please, don’t blame the museum or the assembly plant as this is beyond their control. The fact of the matter is that guests accompanying the buyers and their inability to follow the very simple rules laid out for them are to blame. Several incidents during buyer’s tours recently have prompted these changes. Two recent occurrences of guests bringing cell phone cameras in to the plant and actually taking pictures while on the line and guests leaving the tour safety zone and plant walkway while on the tour which caused assembly workers to raise concerns. There have been others. Bottom line is that the tour guides have a very difficult task of enforcing the rules of the assembly plant while trying to make sure that the buyer and their guests have an informative, memorable visit to the museum. They are not however baby sitters and are being forced into this role and forced into a position of having to divert their attention from the buyer to the additional parties on the tour and in some cases repeatedly asking them to stop a particular behavior. This is simply not fair to the tour guide, and certainly not fair to the buyer.

Every person that enters that plant as a guest of the museum or of General Motors has been briefed on the rules, the restrictions and has watched a safety video explaining the do’s and don’ts of the tour and the operation of the plant. It is unfortunate that some are unable or unwilling to comply with these mandatory guidelines. These restrictions are a direct result of these failures.

Further, under the new guidelines if guests (buyers or those accompanying buyers) are unable or unwilling to follow these simple guidelines while on a tour, the tour will be stopped and the guests will be escorted out of the facility. There is a zero tolerance policy on these types of distractions.

Lastly, if you have an order number and you are on a buyer’s tour, that is the order that you will be following. Please don’t offer to look for other peoples cars. The tour guides will not be able to assist you in looking for someone else’s car. The assembly plant is a big place and dragging a tour guide all over the plant floor to see if a car is coming down the line isn’t fair to the guides. Their job is to ensure that you get to follow your car and believe me, that is difficult enough with the line speeds, the shutdowns and changes at the assembly plant.

The Corvette Assembly plant is just that, a working assembly plant and manufacturing facility. It is not an amusement park. It is one of the only automotive plants currently offering public tours on a regular schedule and it is only by their good graces that we have the privilege of having unprecedented access to the build process and the ability to follow an order through the line. The tours benefits the National Corvette Museum, General Motors, the assembly plant and the morale of the assembly plant workers but as soon as it begins to interfere with the main purpose of the assembly plant operations (which is to build Corvettes safely, on a schedule and with as close to zero defects as possible) they will be suspended indefinitely or cancelled all-together. This would be devastating to all parties concerned.

Additionally, the job of the delivery team for the National Corvette museum has been difficult enough without additional burden placed on them. Folks, if you didn’t pay for a buyer’s tour, please don’t contact the museum for delivery information and timing. This is your dealer’s job. The folks at the museum are incredible. They are incredibly helpful and they are always willing to go above and beyond the call to help owners with their Corvettes and their open orders. However, they have a job to do and they have a business to run and at the end of the day the dozens of requests that they receive from people (mostly due to forum recommendations) make their work much harder and their level of effort much greater. The delivery personnel will not be able to provide you with information about your upcoming order, don’t put them in the difficult position of having to tell you no. If you have a buyers tour coming up, Lori and Gary are there to help but if you elected not to take the museum delivery or the buyers tour then please show the folks at the museum some consideration and please don’t ask them for information that they can’t provide.

Too bad :( Some folks are just, well........

Sad that some morons take advantage of the hospitality. I believe it is the me generation and most are just out for "ME" only.
I do not blame the Museum or GM one bit, I see the "ME" folks every day. From the ones who text while driving to the ones who take unauthorized pictures.

So I guess bringing in a cooler full of beers to offer for the line workers is out of the question????

Somewhat GUILTY...
 

I am somewhat guilty of bothering the museum people about the Buyer's Tour... I was wanting to take the tour so I sent an email asking if it was possible to know the approximate date before paying for the tour. After I got to thinking about it I decided to just sign up & pay for the tour and not worry too much about the date -- things happen in life that have to be dealt with on the spur of the moment so having a 5-10 day notice of when my tour would be wasn't really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. :)

I also went ahead and bought the photo album. Who wouldn't want to take their own pictures? But since it's against the rules and I'd rather concentrate on the tour than taking pictures it's well worth it. I'm almost as excited about getting to watch my new Grand Sport screwed together as I am in getting to drive the thing! :yesnod:

I work in an industrial plant (paper mill) so I know first hand the safety aspects of visiting such a facility. As a visitor one must have total respect for the rules because they are there to keep you safe. The workers are trained to work with the equipment and have a lot of experience -- a person on a short tour won't have a clue what can happen. The best thing to do is exactly what you are told and stay in the designated areas.

As for "looking" for someone's car on the assembly line... I was seeing some posts on that in the past few days and thought it was a little bit much. If I had a friend and their car was on the line while I was there seeing mine I would have no problem saying I saw it if I happened by it at some point -- asking to track the car down is a whole different matter. Tracking it down would be asking WAY too much in my opinion. I paid for my tour and I'd rather let it be my main focus of attention. Maybe I'm an a**hole but that's just my opinion... I know people are excited about their new toy!


So I am patiently waiting for word on when my tour will be -- hopefully there will be no more trouble in the future so others can experience something cool when they order a new Corvette. I've had a few people question my sanity on 1) spending so much for a car and 2) going all the way to Kentucky to see the thing put together -- I haven't even mentioned the $500(!!!) photo album! :lol: They just don't understand! :crazy:

Thanks! :flag:

It is really sad...
 

that a couple of self-centered, immature, 'just have to push the limits' individual(s) have ruined enjoyable times for future owners. We didn't take the Buyer's Tour but did take Museum Delivery (just the trophy wife and I) and could not have been more pleased w/the entire deal. The assembly line personnel could not have been more accommodating, friendly and grateful that we purchased what they built.

It angers me that you self-centered knuckleheads responsible for this rule change have torpedoed a good thing for the many.

It would have been sweet justice if plant security confiscated your cell phones and flattened them w/a forklift.

The Deacon

I am one of the ones who asked someone to look for my car at the plant. I paid for the photo album but could not do the tour. You may be right that I asked too much. If I offended anyone or asked for too much from a fellow corvette lover...I appologize!

If I am ever asked to help another corvette guy/gal (like going to lay eyes on a car they want to buy, etc.) I will still do it. I guess I am just that way. Thankfully, there are still a few people in this world that will go out of thier way for someone else.

What a bummer and GM is right in clamping down on thishttp://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2..._thumright.gif

Why on earth was this not done when it was happening?!? I remember begin told very plainly and at multiple times before my regular plant tour that no cameras or cell phones were allowed.

Seems to me it would have made more sense to simply implement and apply this rule directly to the bad apples as it was happening, rather than change the rules for everyone else after the fact. No reason to punish the guilty when you can just punish everyone instead though, huh? :rolleyes:

Obviously that's just my opinion...I, too, am grateful for everything they do at the plant for us.

Tour
 

Boy that's a shame. You have some people who cannot follow simple rules that spoil it for the rest of us.

Every since I had met someone who had done museum delivery it was stuck in my mind. My wife and I both work in the field of education and asking to take a week off to go pick up a car was out of the question when I ordered my car. My wife added the museum delivery option on to the order as a Christmas gift for me. What a surprise !!!! She had to jump through a few hoops because when she called the dealer to add it the salesman said it could not be done after the car was ordered. She got in touch with General Motors and they referred her to Gary Cockriel at the museum. Gary told her to call the salesman and let him know that museum delivery can be added to any car that is not already on the truck for shipment.

Well it all worked out and we flew out on a Wednesday evening to pick up the car.

It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat. All of the staff at the museum were great to work with. Larry was our tour guide and did an excellent job. I was amazed by the factory tour and the number of workers who shook our hands and thanked us for buying a corvette.....It was a wonderful experience. I even got a birth certificate for the C6 that I had the opportunity to start for the first time on the line.....

Everyone who buys a new vette should try to participate in this program.....It's well worth the $490......My only regret was that I could not take advantage of the buyers tour...It would have been great to see my car being assembled. I could not afford the time to fly down, do the buyers tour, then fly home and fly back two weeks later for the delivery. All museum delivery vehicles go through a 2 week quality control inspection... (so I was told)

There is always the next time.......if they continue to make them....

wow paul that was some lecture. :leaving:

Pity, that there are usually a few inconsiderate people that either don't care about the rules, of think that the rules don't apply to them. It's an epidemic that has grown out of control on many levels.

As you stated it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. Sad that a few individuals have to ruin a good thing for a lot of people and can not follow some very simple, basic and very reasonable rules.

I just wanted to try to address some of the thoughts, comments and questions that have come up in response to this announcement.

First and foremost, thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts and support for the museum and for the assembly plant. This was a difficult decision to make and your understanding makes it a little easier for those involved.

When things like this happen on the line (camera phones, visitors wandering into someplace that they shouldn't be, etc.), it isn't always the guide that notices. Remember, the tour guide is there for the buyer and often will be engaged in a discussion or description about something that is taking place on the line with the buyer or one of the other guests. In some cases it has been a line worker that noticed the event and reported it, in which case it comes back around to the museum in the worst possible way. If it is the tour guide, the offender will be told that it isn't allowed. Also, these tours span multiple days and if it happens near the end of a tour, there is little that the guide can do as they no longer have any leverage.

Regarding making contact with Gary and Lori at the NCM, please, by all means do, if it is on a quest to decide on a buyers tour, museum delivery or buyers album. They want to help you make that decision and give you all the information that you need to make an informed decision as to what will be right for you and the probable timing for it all to happen. That is exactly what they are there for. It is just the fringe type requests for tracking orders and such by those that do not have a tour or delivery scheduled nor do they intend to.

Regarding "laying eyes" on a car for someone. Every one of us on this forum shares a bond. Both in our passion for the Corvette and for the most part a willingness to help other members and owners. I think it is great and try to do just that when the circumstances are within my control to do so. Please understand that the Corvette Assembly plant is 1,000,000 square feet under roof. Offering to look at someone's car for them is nice in theory but it could be literally miles of conveyor space away (I know, I've done it) and this puts a burden on the tour guide which takes him away from his planned route and schedule as he tries to determine where a car might be in the process and how best to gain access to it while there.

This is all about keeping the tours alive while making it safe and manageable for those that coordinate and administer the tours while still adding value for those that are taking the tour.

Paul :cheers:

Yeah... its a shame that it has come to this, thanks to a few "I'm cool, and I'm above the rules" kind of people. Their self-centered attitudes and inability act like adults and honor the agreement they made going in means lectures and stricter rules are unfortunately necessary.

Thanks for the info, Paul.

typical...:nonod:

It is ironic that something bad almost happened - again. I was scheduled to do my first Plant Tour on Friday, October 7, 2005. On Monday GM stopped the Buyers Tours. After some frantic phone calls and with the help of Gary Cockriel I was allowed to do the tour because it had been scheduled for several weeks. And fortunately the tours were resumed shortly thereafter.

Fast forward 4 years. I'm scheduled for the Buyers Tour next week and here we go again. The good news this time is that I will still be allowed to bring my 3 guests not just one.

Hey guys. Straighten up and play by the rules! Thank you GM for continuing the Buyers Tours.

Everybody is assuming that this third person on the tour is an adult. A typical group on a buyers tour would be the husband, wife and a son or daughter. (seven and up)

I was just wondering if the kids were the problem?

All of the cases that I cited (and am aware of) were adults.

It's a shame but no surprise to me that this happened...... It was just a matter of time....

I am really sorry I did not take the buyers tour when my car was built in March 08......

My 02 was built 9/11/2001. THAT would have been an interesting day to be there.....

it's usually the "once-only-this-is-my-big-chance!" people, and the other kind that we all know "I'M ENTITLED TO DO WHATEVER I WANT." YEAH, right....

I think the Museum should name names, guests, owners, who cares? Give us the addresses, too, so we can drive by and wave at them.

bunch of bums, if you ask me, even if you didn't. I've seen groups of 4 getting ready to go over to the Plant, all starry eyed and hardly believing what they're seeing at the Museum. It's really a shame that this number has to be cut in half to two people.

Here's an alternative: have everyone put up a deposit of $1K. or $2K. You break the rules, you lose the deposit. :rofl: Onhly way some people understand rules is to hit their wallet, and hard! Flame suit on.:D

:willy: When i entered the facility the security guard at the desk advised me of the no camers/picture taking rule, and the
tour guide reminds you of that before you go in, just hope GM dosn't 'clamp' this right out of existance if peeps can't follow the rules :mad:

The stuff I read on this forum never ceases to amaze me. How hard is it to follow a "no pictures" rule? And as for looking for someone else's car, let's say you found it, so what? What exactly does that do for anybody? Just another bunch of 2 year olds ruining it for everyone else.

Their rules are very clear. I was so happy to be there when I went, I wasn't about to screw it up.

Sadly, as seen everyday in our own lives, some peoples behavior just suck.

Perfectly fine with me. During the 15th anniversary my wife and I were in a group of Corvette owners. Some ahead of us drove us batty. On more than one occasion we had to tell them to keep their hands off the parts and stay on the line. It was not our place to police them, but it was getting really bad. Pretty bad when Corvette owners can't follow directions? One guest is sufficient and the new owner should be responsible for keeping the guest in line. There is no excuse for not following the "rules". Touring the plant is a priviledge not a right.

By the time I took my tour on Monday, the difference in demeanor had changed markedly since my buyers tour 3 weeks earlier. Workers and guides were very careful to adhere to, and make the rules crystal clear, not that they weren't before.

Both experiences are very worthwhile, and I would still do them again.

Probably because when you are dealing with people acting like spoiled teenagers, its easier to manage 10 rather than 20.

Also, from Talon's description, it sounds like most of the problems were not caused by the actual owners, but rather their Beavis and Butthead 'guest' entourage. If its just me and 1 guest on the tour, I can more easily make sure my 1 guest is behaving, but the more 'friends' I bring, the less control/influence I have.

I certainly understand the rules that apply to entering the line where someone could get hurt or interfere with production. However, I really think the no picture rule is a little silly. It's not like there is something super secret going on or that there is any need to worry about some sort of corporate espionage.

If they were were concerned about protecting any production secrets they would not allow visitors to enter the production area. Especially in todays technological world where it's cheap and easy to hide audio/video devices that would be impossible to discover unless they strip searched all the visitors.

However, if you sign up and pay for the tour you have to play by their rules and if you are not willing to then don't go.

Fine.. I'll just watch National Geographic Super Factory's and take as many cell phone pics of the TV as I want!


In all seriousness... 2 persons is plenty for a 2-seat car IMO.

I think the 'no pictures' rule is not so much about keeping secrets, but rather the raft of issues you open up if you *do* allow pictures. If you allow pics, then people will want to veer off the tour path to get 'better' vantage points, or hold up the tour while they compose their shot, or wait for the cars to move down the line, want the workers to pose by the car, etc etc.

The no picture rule is partly to protect the privacy of the employees and partly to protect the process and intellectual property. It is virtually impossible to get a photograph in the plant without capturing the image of some of the workers. Regarding your thoughts on Corporate espionage, you would be surprised what other companies would like to know about things that are done at the plant and further, on any given day at the plant there are prototypes and tests being conducted that involve products not yet in production. The simplest way to ensure that those items don't get captured is to require that no photographs get taken. The automotive manufacturing world is fiercely competitive and anything (no matter how insignificant you may think it to be) that gives one company a leg up over another. Everything including tools and fixtures to supplier information for parts is "worth having" for the one person that is looking for it to gain a competitive edge.

Paul,

Thanx for presenting this information in your typical clear, calm, thoughtful and professional manner. You, my friend, are a true credit to the Corvette Community. :flag:

I don't doubt any of what you say, but the no picture rule only prohibits those who want to take pictures for their own personal enjoyment from doing so. My point is that corporate spies will/do not use devices that will be in plain view for anyone to detect. Consequently, the only way to prevent the plant and it's inner workings from being photographed/videotaped is to not allow any visitors.

I do respect their right to set whatever rules they want. Like I said, if someone does not like the rules then they should not pay their money and take the tour unless they are willing to obey the rules.

It's a shame that a handfull of people can ruin such a good thing for so many. There is no excuse for these inconsiderates to violate the rules and start roaming around the plant looking for other Vettes, taking cell phone pics, and causing safety issues for the tour guides. During my museum delivery I was fully briefed on the do's and don'ts while in the assembly plant, and had no problem whatsoever with the rules. Actually, the rules helped me keep focused on the assembly line and all that was going on.

I would really be dissappointed to take the buyers tour sometime in the future and have to choose who from my family would not be able to go with me. That would be such a tough decision. :ack: But I understand the issues...

Let's hope the tours never get eliminated. That would be a tragedy.

Gene...:cheers:

What a shame that all of us C7, C8, and C9 buyers will be penalized due to a few rogue associates of C6 buyers. :willy:

Sad to hear :(

On my delivery we were asked to leave cameras and cell phones in the car they brought us over from the museum in.

:iagree:

Thank you so much, Paul. :yesnod:

:iagree::iagree:That goes double for me.

should have always been just 2 people
 

What is the big deal. 2 people is plenty to have walking around the plant. I did the tour in April 2008 and the guide and everyone that I spoke was terrific. I would never expected to bring anymore than one guest. Goodness..............

What a silly comment
 

What are you, some kind of Jamoke??

When I did my R8C delivery in 2007 our tour guide made everything very clear. We knew exactly what was expected of us and complied. No big deal, had a great time and learned allot. I m very sad that other friends and Corvette owners can't enjoy the experience with you. If four come with you to the NCM and plant tour three will be very disappointed now. What a shame it has come to this. :(

:iagree:

Me, too, even if I got off into the stratosphere a bit...:rofl:

Paul, well said and explained.

People please notice that the tour was NOT canceled only decreased from 4 max to 2 max per car buyer.

Also as a manufacturing exec with experience in a Float Glass Plant, Carbon Plant, and a Rubber Roll manufacturing operation, safety and control are paramount. NO amount of customer satisfaction supersedes those two guide lines.

I had toured the Corvette plant in the ninety's and it was an awesome experience. I would have loved to see my 2009 being built.

We need to express our appreciation to the people at the plant, GM and the museum for doing us the customer a favor that other owners just do not get.

The "big deal" would be for couples such as my wife and I. Our kids are as much Corvette fanatics as us. I agree...don't bring along beavis and butt-head on the tour. For some of us though, it would be a shame to tell our kids "no" to seeing Mom and Dad's new car built. Just my .02...I'm sure I'll be flamed for even letting my kids near the car! When you have two 2-seat cars and a mundane daily-driver...the kids understand real quickly what sports cars are about.

Technically, even employees and suppliers who visit the various tech centers and plants are not suppose to have picture taking devices, but its real hard to enforce now that all cell phones have cameras.