Blackwing Order Tracking - 2022 Model Year

Well...shit...I tried deleting a couple posts out of the old order tracking thread and I apparently nuked the whole damn thread!

NOTE: the order tracking system is for U.S. based orders only. I can only view orders placed with dealers in the U.S.
NOTE: I will only track ONE order per member. If you have orders in at multiple dealers, pick one...

Blackwing Order Tracking System​

Blackwing Registry​

 

[Likuid]

When we started to run into supply chain issues at my company we started getting a lot of e-mails and calls from customer's wondering where their stuff was, what we decided to do was create a system that allowed the customer to clearly see the status of the product they ordered, stuff that was normally only known to us. So, where it was in the manufacturing/shipping process, rough expected ETA, and if there was an issue with the product production/shipping we also had a note system where customer's could see status notes as well that may have been specific to that batch order. This alleviated about 90% of the customer support we had to handle.

You will always have customer's that will hassle you no matter what you do, but most people are understanding of situations if you just clearly let them know what is going on. Its amazing how even the most hostile customer sometimes can be calmed down with a clear and honest explanation.

Even in the case of people whose car was manufactured before others being shipped now. An explanation, apology, and telling them that you are trying to fix it goes a long way.

Yes, its not all GMs fault, no doubt, but communicating better with customer's, especially those trying to give you $100k, is not a bad idea.

 

[Rob]

Um... That's kind of rediculous. Especially for what is supposed to be a LUXURY brand that is not offering it's customers a luxury experience.

Yes we understand supply constraints. But the fact that there appears to be no one that has accurate information shows that GMs logistics is a cluster.

It's well known in psychology that people can deal with bad news. It's no news that creates a problem.

"Hey hawgs911's dealer... car 302 is delayed because of XYZ reason but we have that 'part' arriving in 2 weeks and that car should be shipping out after it passes QC. Probably looking at end of June. If it pushes past that we let you know."

If they did that I'm sure there would be less 'petulant children.'

Absolutely. I'm not disputing the logistics issues. Psychologically, it may be time to rewrite the DSM because from personal experience....there's a growing number of people in society that can't deal with bad news any better than no news.

The information that dealers are giving customers is as accurate as they can get - right from the source's mouth. So at that point - you have a choice to make - either accept what the dealer is telling you and exercise PATIENCE (isn't that a novel idea....), or go fly to Detroit and knock on GM's front door demanding "the truth" and not the "fake news" that dealers are apparently giving customers.

Or, if you think the grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence, cancel your Blackwing order and go order an electric vehicle, or a foreign brand. If you don't like the information you're getting from the manufacturer, then pull your money and walk. Nothing gets the attention of a business like plummeting sales numbers and stock value.

BUT don't try and nail me to a cross because you don't like the information I'm giving you after I tell you it's what I'm getting from the source, and then go step-in thinking you can do my job better, when in fact, you just made my job more difficult.

Do I sound like a bitter prick? Absolutely. I'm a pretty easy going guy and can deal with a lot of shit, but after 2+ years of dealing with the public, my own patience has grown thin, and pretty soon - I'm going to walk away from the automotive industry and having to deal with "customers" entirely....there's no way in hell, I'm going to continue dealing with people's BS until I retire...

 

[rubberduck]

I can tell you from my industry perspective, aerospace DOD prime contractor, our customer, the US government, they don’t want to hear about supply chain issues, only what steps we are taking to meet schedule. Our schedules are even more aggressive than pre-Rona. Won’t get much sympathy from me. I put in more hours at my job last year than I ever have at my company. I’m honestly getting sick of everyone using the p-word to explain everything under the Sun that is going wrong. Suck it up buttercup, adapt, get creative, can-do attitude!

 

[RDATLTE]

You can remove me from the tracker @Rob! My car arrived at the dealer today! VIN 046311. Built February 8th. I think cars are really starting to roll out with the new shipping company that isn’t Jack Cooper

Congratulations!

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

When we started to run into supply chain issues at my company we started getting a lot of e-mails and calls from customer's wondering where their stuff was, what we decided to do was create a system that allowed the customer to clearly see the status of the product they ordered, stuff that was normally only known to us. So, where it was in the manufacturing/shipping process, rough expected ETA, and if there was an issue with the product production/shipping we also had a note system where customer's could see status notes as well that may have been specific to that batch order. This alleviated about 90% of the customer support we had to handle.

You will always have customer's that will hassle you no matter what you do, but most people are understanding of situations if you just clearly let them know what is going on. Its amazing how even the most hostile customer sometimes can be calmed down with a clear and honest explanation.

Even in the case of people whose car was manufactured before others being shipped now. An explanation, apology, and telling them that you are trying to fix it goes a long way.

Yes, its not all GMs fault, no doubt, but communicating better with customer's, especially those trying to give you $100k, is not a bad idea.

IMO this is the right take. I think most of us are sympathetic to the cluster happening up and down the supply chain. The delays are definitely not unique to GM.

However, if there were better, clearer or more consistent communication I bet most of this crazy customer behavior would be nipped in the bud.

Other manufacturers do have a web page you can visit to view your build status and even track the shipment - if I had a dollar for every instagram pic I've seen showing where in the Atlantic someone's BMW or Porsche is, I could afford an extra blackwing.

It's a hard and expensive problem to solve because it's not just the dealer, it's not just logistics, it's not just the factory, it's all of them together -- putting my "GM Executive" hat on, the hard ROI of spending a bunch of money for this isn't clear in terms of additional sales, reduced costs, etc.

 

[SIX 40]

Hey, my only beef is with the allocation process! Those of you that have MY '22 cars built should consider yourselves lucky.

 

[Throat Yogurt]

I think I can speak to this issue as I currently have BOTH a Blackwing and a Tesla on order. The ONLY difference between the two ordering processes (once you have an allocation) is that Tesla has an app and gives an EDD range right after you give a deposit. From reading the comments on the Tesla "waiting room" forums, that EDD is a guess at best and typically changes multiple times throughout the wait, and no other update, back story, explanation, or vitual hand holding is provided. You do get notified when you have a VIN, and that is the time to arrange financing. Dealers typically have no additional information either. Some people have waited as much as a year for their order of certain models, just like here.

So effectively the Tesla and Blackwing goat rodeos are the same, with Tesla providing slightly more warm and fuzzies because you can check your EDD in their app versus calling the dealer or coming here. But there is no guarantee that EDD is correct, and neither one is effectively getting you a car any sooner.

Personally I agree with @SIX 40 above in that my only beef is with the allocation process...it is one that benefits the dealership only and not the customer. Tesla has GM beat in that regard. I ordered my Tesla entirely online and didn't need to speak with a dealership at all, or call around haggling price, markup, etc.

 

[Kimkeys99]

You can remove me from the tracker @Rob! My car arrived at the dealer today! VIN 046311. Built February 8th. I think cars are really starting to roll out with the new shipping company that isn’t Jack Cooper

Congratulations!!! I am also in the Fort Worth area and my car has been moving around the DFW for 24 days counting today. I am hoping it comes in by Monday before my approval expires

 

[Cbrcr99]

in my case it’s not the lack of information from my dealer that drives me to reach out. It’s the information they have given me that makes no sense. My order was accepted and moved to 3000 status in October. On January 17th they reached out to me to tell me the car was on a truck in Chicago headed south and to secure financing. The car wasn’t even built until 1-27-22. We have had many interesting conversations since then.

So yeah having a car sitting for more than four months has caused me to want to know what’s going on.

 

[Motorin Mark]

Last but not least...contrary to what a lot of people want to believe...the customer is NOT always right.

Do I sound like a bitter prick? Absolutely. I'm a pretty easy going guy and can deal with a lot of shit, but after 2+ years of dealing with the public, my own patience has grown thin, and pretty soon - I'm going to walk away from the automotive industry and having to deal with "customers" entirely....there's no way in hell, I'm going to continue dealing with people's BS until I retire...

Right there with you Rob.......Only I am on the Honda Motorcycle/ATV/Side-by-Side equation side of things and it is exhausting dealing with our customers these days. You have my deepest appreciation for what you are putting up with on this forum let alone at work. I thank you for your tracker, it means a lot to me, at least I have some idea on my new Blackwing's time table and I am just patiently waiting for its arrival.

 

[sicoo]

Personally I agree with @SIX 40 above in that my only beef is with the allocation process...it is one that benefits the dealership only and not the customer.

I cannot agree with this more. Customers have zero clue where to place their bets with orders. If dealer A is going to get more allocations than dealer B than dealer C, a customer needs to essentially use forums like this to guesstimate where to place the order. This leads to one customer waiting a year and potentially never getting a car and another lucky SOB getting one in 2-3 months. It makes me strongly dislike the company, and I suspect that is not a good thing for a business that would like to make money on sales, service, support, repeat business, etc.

 

[dribs15]

TLDR: we are lucky to even be in the market to try and buy these cars... but if you can't wait (I'm at 9 and 1/2 months and counting on my 5BW), then that is ok if you have to move on and choose something else for whatever the reason. Yes, we are used to getting what we want when we shell out crazy amounts of money like this, but regardless of how things have always been/used to be... they just are not like that under the current conditions for whatever reason that may be and while we all need to vent from time to time (read my rant below because it's my time to vent)...pissing and moaning and blaming and shaming are not productive and if anything inflame emotions unnecessarily.

If the TLDR was that long, then I'd be scared about the length of what's below:
I own my own business with an outstanding local reputation that just celebrated 55 years May 1st (actually we haven't celebrated or even brought it up yet... simply because I haven't had the time and would prefer to do it right). We currently have around 40 employees... and for the first time ever we have been unable to perform (due to similar reasons that Rob stated above) to our highest standards. At times we simply have not been able to service our clients' needs and when we do it may not be to our own lofty standards that they have come to expect. (We are not failing as a business, but we are not performing as efficiently as typical for us and our growth has been more limited due to this)
We try to look after everybody, but recently it's come to the point where I've had to fire more clients due to treating my staff poorly, while also I've had clients leave me because we are unable to meet their expectations. It kills me on both ends...yet we just do not have enough hours in the day to talk to every client to explain to them everything that we are dealing with... and I'm not going to do that here, but can assure you that unless you are directly involved you just don't know what you don't know. (We do discuss being empathetic and giving them an idea of what's going on when able... but most of the time that leads to longer and longer time spent that becomes unproductive and without resolution... and then it's expected to be repeated with the same/different clients over and over)
We try to be 100% transparent with everybody (but the truth is I don't have a lot of solutions at the moment that would satisfy my clients... including ETD's of service/production that are acceptable to them). Instead I use my limited resources to try to proactively work towards getting back to the level of service and production that have defined us for the past 5+ decades.
What I can say is that it is all- consuming and affects my personal life and family and nights and mornings and weekends.
I and my staff are not perfect and there are always situations where you wish you had the benefit of hindsight, but right now I have to protect my staff with all my being unless I find/feel that they are being malicious, immoral, or illegal with respect to our business/clients... which is not the case. So yes at times when clients feel as though I'm choosing my people over them...they are correct.
I'll finish with 2 credo that I am currently espousing:
1. Just do your best and be ok with that because that's all you can do.
2. Let assholes be assholes, but don't be an asshole (yourself).

This is not personally directed at anybody on this site in particular, but I know a lot of business owners from various industries that are in the same boat right now (each one dealing with similar yet different 'constraints') and just because we don't have the answers it doesn't mean we are being complacent, not using/seeking available resources, not thinking outside the box. Also, personally my business is still productive and successful and many of our clients still tell us how impressed they are with how we are navigating the current environment... but the clients we can't help still eats away at us due to our caring/efforts especially when we are unsuccessful/not as high level as we are accustomed to.

And for all of those businesses not having issues and all of those customers that are getting what they want... good for you, I'm genuinely happy for you.

I think I need a drink and then a nap... oh wait I have to go in to work because I'm working the closing shift today.
<end rant>
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest...I plan on going back to having fun and busting chops while occasionally providing some hopefully useful info.

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

I cannot agree with this more. Customers have zero clue where to place their bets with orders. If dealer A is going to get more allocations than dealer B than dealer C, a customer needs to essentially use forums like this to guesstimate where to place the order. This leads to one customer waiting a year and potentially never getting a car and another lucky SOB getting one in 2-3 months. It makes me strongly dislike the company, and I suspect that is not a good thing for a business that would like to make money on sales, service, support, repeat business, etc.

It's always an issue with desirable cars, even before the supply chain screwups. I actually think GM with Blackwings is better than most. If they were to follow the Porsche model you would not be permitted to order a CT5 V blackwing unless you have previously purchased a Malibu, a Bolt, an XT4, regular CT5, and a couple of Escalades.

 

[1Evil55]

The biggest problem seems to be getting ignored. GM can't source trucks to come and pick up to deliver to the local stealerships. I can't imagine it would take that much work to set up a remote dealer next to the lot with multiple operators to release cars right there. I'd bet most here would be happy to go pick up there like the Vette guys can. Work it FIFO and keep the cars rolling.

 

[Likuid]

So effectively the Tesla and Blackwing goat rodeos are the same, with Tesla providing slightly more warm and fuzzies because you can check your EDD in their app versus calling the dealer or coming here. But there is no guarantee that EDD is correct, and neither one is effectively getting you a car any sooner.

I have never bought a a Tesla, I have to admit I am a bit shocked that they don't have better communication considering how they sell their cars and how much more "modern" they are.

 

[dribs15]

The biggest problem seems to be getting ignored. GM can't source trucks to come and pick up to deliver to the local stealerships. I can't imagine it would take that much work to set up a remote dealer next to the lot with multiple operators to release cars right there. I'd bet most here would be happy to go pick up there like the Vette guys can. Work it FIFO and keep the cars rolling.

Sometimes it's that easy, but unfortunately most times it isn't.

Love your thinking and similar thoughts have been stated numerous times prior here, but there are typically so many variables that need to be navigated through: costs vs benefits, time to set up vs time useful, red tape, licenses/permits, staffing for project and where are you stealing them from (robbing Peter to pay Paul?)... we could go on and on (including the time/costs to remove silly restrictive unproductive barriers that make a simple solution convoluted).

 

[diddy837]

The biggest problem seems to be getting ignored. GM can't source trucks to come and pick up to deliver to the local stealerships. I can't imagine it would take that much work to set up a remote dealer next to the lot with multiple operators to release cars right there. I'd bet most here would be happy to go pick up there like the Vette guys can. Work it FIFO and keep the cars rolling.

Not to get political, but it’s not GM’s fault for the lack of workers. A certain administration thinks it was ok to keep pumping money into the system and brainwash people to get paid double.

 

[1Evil55]

Not to get political, but it’s not GM’s fault for the lack of workers. A certain administration thinks it was ok to keep pumping money into the system and brainwash people to get paid double.

Yeah thats a much bigger problem then looking for an 18 wheeler to move a few cars. Hopefully this will be over in a couple more years..

 

[SIX 40]

My mistake was being stubborn wanting to purchase mine locally. I don't know why, I purchased my '18 V from out of state and it was such a simple process. I never even spoke to my salesman, I did the entire deal over text. I figured since I was first in line at my local dealer the car would have to get built, right? Not so much.

That, combined with the fact that my dealer got 2 allocations (one green one) and didn't offer one to me just burns me on the whole thing. Now I have to pay the inflated price for a '23 if I still want one. Can dealers decide if an allocation is going to be for a sold or stock unit when they receive them? @1StunnaV any input?

 

[hawgs911]

TLDR: we are lucky to even be in the market to try and buy these cars... but if you can't wait (I'm at 9 and 1/2 months and counting on my 5BW), then that is ok if you have to move on and choose something else for whatever the reason. Yes, we are used to getting what we want when we shell out crazy amounts of money like this, but regardless of how things have always been/used to be... they just are not like that under the current conditions for whatever reason that may be and while we all need to vent from time to time (read my rant below because it's my time to vent)...pissing and moaning and blaming and shaming are not productive and if anything inflame emotions unnecessarily.

If the TLDR was that long, then I'd be scared about the length of what's below:
I own my own business with an outstanding local reputation that just celebrated 55 years May 1st (actually we haven't celebrated or even brought it up yet... simply because I haven't had the time and would prefer to do it right). We currently have around 40 employees... and for the first time ever we have been unable to perform (due to similar reasons that Rob stated above) to our highest standards. At times we simply have not been able to service our clients' needs and when we do it may not be to our own lofty standards that they have come to expect. (We are not failing as a business, but we are not performing as efficiently as typical for us and our growth has been more limited due to this)
We try to look after everybody, but recently it's come to the point where I've had to fire more clients due to treating my staff poorly, while also I've had clients leave me because we are unable to meet their expectations. It kills me on both ends...yet we just do not have enough hours in the day to talk to every client to explain to them everything that we are dealing with... and I'm not going to do that here, but can assure you that unless you are directly involved you just don't know what you don't know. (We do discuss being empathetic and giving them an idea of what's going on when able... but most of the time that leads to longer and longer time spent that becomes unproductive and without resolution... and then it's expected to be repeated with the same/different clients over and over)
We try to be 100% transparent with everybody (but the truth is I don't have a lot of solutions at the moment that would satisfy my clients... including ETD's of service/production that are acceptable to them). Instead I use my limited resources to try to proactively work towards getting back to the level of service and production that have defined us for the past 5+ decades.
What I can say is that it is all- consuming and affects my personal life and family and nights and mornings and weekends.
I and my staff are not perfect and there are always situations where you wish you had the benefit of hindsight, but right now I have to protect my staff with all my being unless I find/feel that they are being malicious, immoral, or illegal with respect to our business/clients... which is not the case. So yes at times when clients feel as though I'm choosing my people over them...they are correct.
I'll finish with 2 credo that I am currently espousing:
1. Just do your best and be ok with that because that's all you can do.
2. Let assholes be assholes, but don't be an asshole (yourself).

This is not personally directed at anybody on this site in particular, but I know a lot of business owners from various industries that are in the same boat right now (each one dealing with similar yet different 'constraints') and just because we don't have the answers it doesn't mean we are being complacent, not using/seeking available resources, not thinking outside the box. Also, personally my business is still productive and successful and many of our clients still tell us how impressed they are with how we are navigating the current environment... but the clients we can't help still eats away at us due to our caring/efforts especially when we are unsuccessful/not as high level as we are accustomed to.

And for all of those businesses not having issues and all of those customers that are getting what they want... good for you, I'm genuinely happy for you.

I think I need a drink and then a nap... oh wait I have to go in to work because I'm working the closing shift today.
<end rant>
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest...I plan on going back to having fun and busting chops while occasionally providing some hopefully useful info.

Right... I assume GM is equivalent to a small business that has 40 employees. They by no means have the resources to devote full time headcount to helping with customer communications. That might mean the CEO gets $1 million less on his bonus this year