Last year I posted an editorial about how manufacturers who don’t stand behind their products will lose customers. Well, it appears that Cadillac might have learned this lesson. Over at GMInsideNews I learned of Don Hammonds’ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on Cadillac’s high customer service scores.

An especially encouraging excerpt from the article:

What’s Cadillac doing right?

Giving dealers lots of authority to get things done, and not being hidebound and rigid when it comes to pleasing customers, for one thing.

“What Business Week found were a lot of good comments from dealers talking about how they now have what they need the most: lots of latitude to do whatever it takes to please customers no matter what,” said Dave Caldwell, Cadillac communications manager. That even includes the ability to honor a warranty that has expired.

If this is truly occurring, then GM might yet turn the tide. It doesn’t matter much how long the warranty is. Car owners these days expect no major problems before 100,000 or even 120,000 miles. When major problems do occur out of warranty but prior to this point, a smart manufacturer steps up and picks up the tab. And without making the customer first jump through a series of hoops and get upset in the process.