Bulletin No.:

Service Bulletin

Date:

11-00-89-005N
April, 2019

WARRANTY ADMINISTRATION
Subject:

Updated - Dealer Empowerment Labor Operations and Customer Enthusiasm
(U.S. Only)

Models:

2019 and Prior GM Passenger Cars and Trucks

Attention: This Service Bulletin does not apply to ‘GM of Canada’ dealers.
This Bulletin has been revised to update the 3rd bullet under: The level of participation by
GM is to be determined by the following. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number
11-00-89-005M.

The effective date of the requirements of this bulletin is
June 15, 2018.
For some time now we have been working together to
put the customer at the center of everything that we do.
During this time, we’ve challenged you, our dealer
partners, to be assertive on behalf of our customers
and make effective use of the policy and goodwill tools
available so that customers are satisfied and remain
loyal to their vehicle brand and your dealership.
Over the past several years, we have extended
increased levels of empowerment to our dealers and
our team members so you can confidently do what is
right to satisfy our mutual customers. And while this
effort has been largely successful, the reality is that this

strategic approach is not always consistent across
different dealerships and different markets. In addition,
several of you have requested that we provide
additional guidance to assist you in making effective
decisions, on behalf of the customer, while expending
resources in a cost-effective manner.
It is those requests, and the desire to continually
improve the customer experience that are the basis for
this bulletin, in which we will be documenting a tool and
guidelines to further assist you and your employees in
developing a more consistent professional approach to
resolving customer issues while spending resources in
a judicious manner.

__________________________________________________________________

Organizational Terms
The following chart should clarify the terms used to
describe various payment categories used to satisfy
customer requests for assistance. These terms will be
used throughout this bulletin.
Resource

Definition

Warranty

Vehicle repairs within the time and mileage limitations of the applicable warranty coverage
that are a result of a covered defect in materials or workmanship.
• Example: Window Regulator is replaced during the applicable New Vehicle Limited
Warranty.

Customer Enthusiasm

Vehicle repairs within the time and mileage limitations of the applicable warranty coverage
that ARE NOT the result of a covered defect in materials or workmanship.
• Example: Repair of a front air deflector due to customer not realizing how low it is.

Policy

Vehicle repairs outside of the applicable time and mileage limitations of the applicable
warranty coverage.
• Example: Wiper motor fails at 52,000 miles and GM pays for all or part of the repair cost.

Copyright 2019 General Motors LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Page 2

April, 2019
Resource

Goodwill

Special Coverage

Bulletin No.: 11-00-89-005N
Definition

Assistance expenditures made to satisfy the customer.
• The term “Goodwill” does not refer to a vehicle repair. Repair outside of Warranty is
“Policy.”
• Goodwill is the term for the tools that are used to offset customer inconvenience or to
offer additional protection and peace of mind. Details of the Goodwill tools are found
later in this bulletin.
• Example: Customer has had to return to the dealership for a repeat connectivity
issue with OnStar and based on this customer’s unique situation, the service
manager deems it appropriate to offer an extension to the customer’s OnStar
subscription.
Extension of the warranty coverage of a specific vehicle component or system if an
identified non-safety related failure occurs.
• The necessary repair under a Special Coverage will be performed only if the Special
Coverage is noted in IVH under the applicable warranty section and the vehicle exhibits
the condition specified.
• Example: Extended coverage on the transmission shift cable for certain 3–5 wave plate
vehicles.

Goodwill
As an alternative to, or in rare cases in conjunction
with, paying for a portion of non-warranty repairs of the
subject vehicle, GM encourages the use of the
following tools to satisfy and retain the customer.
Access to the Goodwill tool request forms and
guidelines are available in the Dealer Aftersales
Empowerment App of the Service Department section
on GlobalConnect.
Important: Please note that some tools are not
available in certain states or for use in a stop sale or
recall situation, contact your District Manager of
Aftersales for further direction).
• OnStar® – Plan upgrades and extension, past
subscriber activation and Hands-Free Calling
Minutes options.
• Maintenance Letter – Letter issued to the
customer for $50 or $100 towards a one-time
service or maintenance visit.
• Component Coverage Letter (CCL) – Letter
issued extending coverage of a designated
vehicle component for a specific time frame.
• Sirius XM Subscription – An All Access based
subscription.
• Data Plans – Complimentary data package of
specific size and time duration downloaded into a
customer's vehicle equipped with 4G LTE
functionality.
• Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac
Protection Plan – A service contract covering
various vehicle components & systems and
issued for various time and mileage intervals &
deductibles.
• Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac Tire &
Wheel Protection Plan – A service contact to
repair or replace wheels and/or tires that are
damaged due to a covered road hazard.
• Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac Pre-Paid
Maintenance Plan – Pre-Paid Maintenance Plans
include oil changes, tire rotations and fluid
top-offs. Customers can use the number of

services offered in the Plan whenever they like
within the time and mileage parameters of
the plan.
GM may add additional tools in the future, please
consult the Dealer Aftersales Empowerment application
in GlobalConnect for additional details.
Note: Goodwill tools are not available for fleet
vehicles.

The following categories of Goodwill
Tools are to be processed via the
Global Warranty System
Specialized labor operations have been created for
specific non-repair/non-warranty situations to be
utilized by the dealer for goodwill purposes such as
resolving a customer inconvenience or dissatisfaction
with their vehicle or the service provided.
Note: If a vehicle is included in a recall situation,
DMA pre-approval is required.

Spontaneous Goodwill Maintenance (0600343)
Dealer provides complimentary goodwill maintenance,
consistent with GM recommendations contained in the
customer’s owner’s manual, when a customer was not
issued a maintenance letter or other tools. Labor
operation 0600343 should be used for this claim
submission. There is a $100 maximum for usage of the
labor operation. The transaction must be submitted with
the exact amount of the complimentary maintenance
input into the Net/Miscellaneous field. GM is not to be
charged more than what is customary.

Incidental Non-Warranty Expense (0600015)
Dealer agrees to reimburse a customer for reasonable
expenses incurred as a result of the service repair.
Examples are: hotel expenses, meal expenses,
flowers, or other appropriate expenses to compensate
the customer for inconvenience. There is a $500
maximum for retail usage and the transaction should be
submitted with the exact amount input into the Net/
Customer Reimbursement field using labor operation
0600015.

Bulletin No.: 11-00-89-005N

April, 2019

Vehicle Payment Expense (0600005)
Dealer, in unique circumstances, may determine it is
appropriate to reimburse the customer for a vehicle
payment for their GM vehicle experiencing service
issues. Labor operation 0600005 is only to be used for
this goodwill tool and a $1000 maximum for retail usage
exists for this operation. A transaction using this labor
operation should be submitted with the explanation of
the situation in the Complaint/Cause/Correction fields,
along with the exact dollar value of the monthly
payment (including method used to determine or
calculate the payment amount) and the check number
issued to the customer as reimbursement. The dealer
should input the exact amount of the transaction into
the Net/Customer Reimbursement field.
Important: These labor operations have specific
applications and any inappropriate use will result in
a credit reversal.

Customer Enthusiasm Repair-Non
Warranty
A Customer Enthusiasm Repair is a repair performed
with GM participation, within the warranty period, where
the product issue is NOT the result of a defect in
material or workmanship. This expense would normally
be customer responsibility and in this unique instance,
the dealer is requesting GM assist in the repair cost to
ensure customer loyalty. The transaction must be
submitted using the published repair operation with the
“Customer Enthusiasm-Non-Warrantable Repair”
indicator selected.
Note: These type of repairs are not covered by the
New Vehicle Limited Warranty, a 50% Customer
Participation is recommended.
•

Example: Customer’s vehicle has a cut in the rear
seat back at 8,000 miles. This is clearly not a
defect in material or workmanship and therefore
would not be a warranty repair. Based on the facts
and circumstances and the customer’s history
with the dealership, the service manager would
like to fix the customer's issue and submit this to
GM for reimbursement of 50 % even though it is a
non-warrantable repair. The transaction would be
entered as a ZREG using the rear seat back labor
operation with the Customer
Enthusiasm-Non-Warranty Repair box checked,
the full amount of parts and labor input and the
Customer participation amount input into the
Customer/Service Agent Participation field. The
Complaint, Cause, and Correction fields must
document the situation including the substantive
reasons for the decision.
When not to use: Customer Enthusiasm must never
be used in situations where there was a warranty
defect that caused the customer’s concern, repeat
repairs resulting from a warrantable failure,
assembly replacements instead of repair for
customer satisfaction, etc.

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•

Example of inappropriate use: Customer’s vehicle
has no reverse at 2,000 miles. 3-5R clutch
housing damaged. Transmission replaced versus
repaired due to low mileage. Even though the cost
comparison shows it is more cost effective to
repair the unit, it is being replaced for customer
satisfaction.
Important: All examples in this Bulletin assume certain
facts. You should evaluate each customer’s situation on
a case-by-case basis. Customer Enthusiasm is not to
be used for divisional/brand maintenance programs,
reimbursements, accessories, sales incentives, or
anything non-repair issues.

Policy Guidelines - Incorporating the
Policy Evaluation Tool
The guidelines are being used to:
• Create a Policy strategy which drives increased
service and sales retention.
• Develop consistent decision-making practices /
processes among dealers, field and Customer
Assistance Center (CAC) representatives.
• The guidelines and the Policy Evaluation Tool are
only to be used once a determination has been
made that a policy decision is appropriate for a
customer’s out-of-warranty repair or whenever the
customer has requested policy consideration for
an out-of-warranty repair, to determine the
applicable GM Participation amount for that repair.
The guidelines are NOT being used to:
• Discourage taking care of our customers.
• Impose a rigid “one size fits” all approach to issue
resolution.
• Disregard facts or circumstances that make a
particular customer’s situation unique.
The level of participation by GM is to be determined
by the following:
• The online Policy Evaluation Tool must be
executed by providing all the required information
and most importantly using the Total Repair Cost
at warranty rates on the form. The tool reviews the
customer's total GM engagement at a household
level to determine GM Participation level for the
Total Repair Cost provided.
• The participation amount is calculated using the
online Policy Evaluation Tool. The print version of
the tool must be attached to the hard copy of the
job card as well as the electronic claim
transaction.
• If there is an approved deviation to the GM
Participation amount noted on the policy tool form,
a copy of the DMA Pre-Approval form MUST be
attached to the hard copy of the job card as well
as the electronic claim transaction. This holds true
for every line on the job card that has been
adjusted to the amount noted on the policy tool

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•

April, 2019

form. In addition, Service Management must
explain the reason for adjustment on the hard
copy. Vague reasons such as “for customer
satisfaction”, “good customer”, etc. are not
sufficient.
If the component's coverage is not listed in the
Component Warranty Coverage field dropdown
list on the Policy Tool form, select either the
Bumper to Bumper or the Powertrain Coverage
option, whichever is most appropriate to the repair,
along with the time and mileage end dates of that
coverage to determine the starting level of
participation. You will need to use your judgment
to determine if this level of participation is
appropriate.

Important Notes:
When presented with a customer situation that requires
you to determine whether to perform a Policy repair,
your decision-making process must treat each case as
a unique set of circumstances and each customer’s
situation must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
As the majority of Policy repairs are isolated and
unique, the participation applies to each Policy labor
operation on the job card. The Customer and/or Service
Agent participation MUST be documented in the
Customer/Service Agent Participation field of the
Global Warranty Management (GWM) system
transaction. The service manager must authorize the
policy adjustment prior to initial transaction submission.
This authorization must be in the form of an
explanation, signature/initials, time, and date (reference
GM Service Policies & Procedures manual,
Article 3.2.13).
Document in the job card the substantive reasons and
pertinent facts and circumstances supporting the
assistance. The reasons supporting GM assistance
should be abundantly clear to an objective third party
reviewing the job card that has not been involved in the
customer decision-making process. Short general
comments such as “good customer” or “out of warranty”
are not sufficient. Document your decision-making
process as well as the reasons for adjustment in some
detail.
It is important to document the participation amount in
the Customer/Service Agent Participation field in GWM
when submitting the claim. Failure to document the
participation amount in the Customer/Service Agent
Participation field may result in a charge back for the
applicable amount. See below for Customer/Service
Agent participation amount transaction process details.

Customer/Service Agent Participation
Amount Transaction Processing
When the customer or the dealer agree to participate in
the cost of the repair, the transaction is to be submitted
in the following way:

Bulletin No.: 11-00-89-005N

Enter the labor, parts, net item as if GM was going to
cover the repair under warranty. Note, as per Article
2.2.2 of the GM Service Policies and Procedures
manual, When a customer/dealer participation amount
is involved, the entire repair must be calculated at
warranty rates and the customer/dealer participation
amount must be submitted in the Customer/Service
Agent Participation Amount field.”
Enter the Customer / Service Agent Participation
amount in the “Customer/Service Agent Participation
Amount” field as a positive number.
• The transaction will be reduced by this amount
and pay the dealer net (total less participation
amount) amount.
Example: A 5-year-old (750 days out of warranty)
Tahoe with 67,000 miles is in for an Upper Control
Arm repair. Based upon the results of the Policy
Evaluation Tool, the customer is satisfied with GM
participating at 50% of the repair cost. The dealer
submits for 4.4 hours of labor, $215.86 in parts and
$86.35 in parts markup for a total transaction
amount of $679.36. The dealer then inputs 339.68 in
the Customer/Service Agent Participation Amount
field. The dealer will receive $339.68 through the
GWM system.
This procedure will give full transparency to the amount
of participation, allow for verification that the dealer is
collecting the participation and will minimize
unnecessary transaction processing issues due to
miscalculations.
If the Online Policy Evaluation Tool is not available due
to a system issue, we are relying on our dealer service
management personnel to engage with the customer
and to make the best, balanced business decision
possible.
Supporting Factors:
• Loyal GM new vehicle customer and/or loyal
service customer (purchase of a protection plan,
number of vehicles purchased, level of service
business as shown in Service Workbench, etc.)
• Original owner
• Repeat repairs related to current vehicle issue
• Type of repair
• High incurred customer expense to repair “out of
warranty” issues
Limiting Factors:
• Purchased as a used vehicle (non-Certified)
• Well beyond vehicle or component’s warranty
expiration
• Cause is not normally covered by warranty
(misuse, abuse, neglect, accidental damage, lack
of maintenance)
• Customer does not appear to take good care of
the vehicle
• Expenses incurred due to damage from an
accident that insurance will not cover

Bulletin No.: 11-00-89-005N

April, 2019

Pre-Approval Process
When a policy repair requires pre-approval, the dealer
is required to contact their District Manager Aftersales
for approval utilizing the Pre-Approval request form that
is available in the Dealer Aftersales Empowerment App
in the Service Department section of GlobalConnect. If
you do not have the link, please contact your
dealership’s Partner Security Coordinator (PSC) to
obtain access.

Page 5

Vehicles with Aftermarket Service
Contracts
If a vehicle has an active service contract, all
transactions submitted outside of the terms of the new
vehicle warranty will require authorization to ensure
that the customer first uses the benefits of the service
contract they purchased. To request approval, the
dealer must document the current contract status
(expired, component not included, owner not party to
the contract, etc.). This information must be submitted
in the comments section and documented in the
vehicle’s service file.

GM bulletins are intended for use by professional technicians, NOT a "do-it-yourselfer". They are written to inform these
technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or to provide information that could assist in the proper
service of a vehicle. Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safety instructions, and know-how to do a
job properly and safely. If a condition is described, DO NOT assume that the bulletin applies to your vehicle, or that your
vehicle will have that condition. See your GM dealer for information on whether your vehicle may benefit from the
information.

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