General Motors’ social media campaign to coax consumers to fix their recalled vehicles doesn’t appear to be getting the job done. With just about half of the 2.4 million vehicles recalled for an ignition switch defect having been fixed, the car manufacturer has turned to dangling money in front of consumers to get the potentially dangerous cars off the road.
The Los Angeles Times reports GM is now offering $25 gift cards to owners of recalled vehicles as a way to encourage them to visit dealers and have their defective parts replaced or repaired by the end of the year.
Officials with GM say only 1.3 million of the 2.4 million vehicles with defective ignition switches have been repaired since the recall initiative began back in April.
“There are several hundred thousand people who have taken no action whatsoever,” Ryndee Carney, GM’s manager of cross brand communication tells The Times. “They haven’t seen their dealers, even though they have been contacted by us repeatedly.”
The company began sending a letter about the gift card ploy last week to vehicle owners who have received recall notices but haven’t had their cars inspected.
The letters detail how owners can received their choice of $25 gift cards to Starbucks, Amazon, Walmart, Applebee’s, Red Robin, AMC Theatres or Bass Pro Shops.
Consumers qualify for the gift cards by having their vehicles repaired by December 1, then contacting the car company with a corresponding code. GM will then deliver the gift cards by U.S. mail within two to four weeks.
The new attempt to coax owners into repairing their recalled vehicles comes less than a month after GM began urging consumers to make the fixes by tracking them down via social media and home visits.
According to federal safety regulators it’s not unusual for consumers to ignore recall notices. In fact, the average completion rate one and a half years after a recall is announced is just 75%.
While that completion rate might be okay for less serious recalls, ignoring the GM ignition switch defect recall could lead to more fatalities.
So far, the ignition switch issue has been linked to hundreds of accidents and 30 deaths.
GM offering $25 gift cards to owners of recalled autos [The Los Angeles Times]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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