Toyota implies that customers can drive their cars until they are repaired. They also imply that if the customer has a problem, he or she should take it to a dealer. In short, Toyota is not confirming or denying that the cars can be driven.

I do not have any recommendation on this matter.

Adele

Other companies have the similar attitude of; “Prove there is something wrong with our product and we will take action.” These companies regularly “eat crow.” Each time this occurs they damage their reputation to the point that clients no longer believes them. This is true even when they have checked the problem out thoroughly and determined the problem was not their product’s problem. Yet, because of their damaged reputation they are now required to prove where the problem exists in Vendor “x”‘s product to save the sale and convince their client the problem was not in their product.

I found it humorous when the client agrees the problem is not in the product then applies pressure on sales and development organizations forcing them to work with Vendor “x” who had the problem and fix the problem. The original action of denying any problem exists detracts from the clients preception of quality, commitment to support, and most importantly trust. This action also impacts more sales, support, and development expense over a period of years. Client Relationships are built upon trust.

Toyota by their actions are impacting the their valued commodity of consumer trust. This tangible value will have it’s impact upon sales of the coming years.. It will be interesting to continue to follow their sales as compared to other manufacturers to determine if this translates into market share changes.

This “Prove it is my problem before I will take responsibility” attitude has to be eliminated in order for customer satisfaction to have a chance to succeed. I believe it is cheaper to be responsive to clients and investigate the possible problem. I would go further and state that development organizations would do well to have agreements with other vendors that produce inter-relating or component products to cooperatively investigate and resolve issues that impact the effiency of the combined product. These cross vendor agreements will reduce support costs and shorten problem resolution time for the growing number of complex problems clients are experiencing.

Rather than denial, acceptance of a possible problem is seen as an organization proactively pursuing resolution of any problem. These builds confidence and trust in their products rather than detracts from quality.