GM Tightens Its Belt
GM is reported to have lost over 8 and a half billion dollars last year. That's "b" with a capital "B", to say the least. Advertising budgets ($1.3 Billion for US ads alone) and health care ($1.9 Billion for prescription drugs) and pension costs ($17 Billion underfunded) are high on GM's list of money saving targets. But it won't stop there.
The effect of GM's cost cutting measures will be seen everywhere and it will hurt consumers who are stuck with GM-built lemons worst of all. These are the people that GM already owes something to, in order to help make up for having sold them a lemon car or truck. They are also the people that GM needs to keep as customers, now more than ever.
Most Lemon Laws say that if you've got a lemon then you can make the manufacturer buy it back and give you back all or nearly all your money. Now, however, with GM crying the Bankruptcy Blues, they are cutting corners everywhere they can and it looks like lemon car settlements is high on the list of vulnerable targets where GM thinks it can save money.
One of GM's pre-lawsuit settlement offices received "shut down" orders in Florida recently and the case load shifted to its Texas settlement office. For GM, that means company costs are skimped on in Florida. For consumers, that means an overload of work going on in Texas. The likely effect is that it will take longer to get a decent GM lemon car dispute settled.
Perhaps that is some bean-counter's idea of keeping the money in GM's pocket as long as they can. For consumers that ought to mean thinking twice before settling on a GM nameplate on the front of your next new car.
Still, the answer is the same now as it has always been. Those consumers who hang tough, and wait it out to get a fair settlement, those are the ones who usually get it. The ones who can't wait, no matter what the reason, are usually the ones who don't really get as fair (or good) a settlement in the long run. It's tough to put up with a lemon while going thru the negotiation process, but it's often more worthwhile, too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Known nationwide as a leading Lemon Law attorney, Ronald L. Burdge has represented literally thousands of consumers in "lemon" lawsuits and actively co-counsels and coaches other Consumer Law attorneys. From 2005 through 2018, attorney Ronald L. Burdge has been named as the only Lemon Law Ohio Super Lawyer by Law and Politics magazine and Thomson Reuters Corp., Professional Division. Burdge restricts his practice to Lemon Law and Consumer Law cases. The Ohio Super Lawyer results are published annually in the January issue of Cincinnati Magazine. Ronald L. Burdge was named Consumer Law Trial Lawyer of the Year 2004 by the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the nation's largest organization of consumer law private and government attorneys. "Your impact on the auto industry has been magnified many times over because of the trail you blazed for others," stated NACA's Executive Director, Will Ogburn. Burdge has represented thousands of consumers in Ohio, Kentucky and elsewhere since 1978 and is a frequent lecturer to national, state and local Bar Associations and Judicial organizations. Burdge is admitted to Ohio's state and federal courts, Kentucky's state courts, and Indiana's federal courts. Other court admissions are on a "pro hac" temporary, case by cases basis.