“I can’t recall” is the language we’ve traditionally heard from reluctant witnesses when asked a question they really don’t want to answer.
But these days it seems to relate more and more to auto manufacturers. GM is embroiled in controversy regarding faulty ignition switches that resulted in at least 13 deaths since 2001, but didn’t trigger a recall until this year. Toyota recently agreed to pay a $1.2B fine relating to how it handled the recall of more than 10 million cars in 2009 for unintended acceleration.
GM has now recalled 2.5 million cars related to the faulty ignition switch. This week Toyota recalled over 6 million vehicles globally for what it says are problems that have not caused any fatalities. Yet.
This is not about bad parts. It’s about trust and credibility. We trust auto manufacturers to make products that are safe, and we expect them to let us know in a timely fashion when they uncover problems that can hurt us.
The GM and Toyota recalls will be costly, but this will be dwarfed by the long-term damage to their brand and image.
What do you do when you find a problem that could significantly impact customers? “I can’t recall” is not the right answer.
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