The GM Field Service Engineer (FSE) Technician Recognition Awards (U.S.) celebrate the skill and dedication of dealership technicians who have recently worked with FSEs on challenging repairs.
Technicians at GM dealerships are selected for recognition based on a variety of factors, including their focus on safety, customer satisfaction, personal accountability, training achievements, diagnostic abilities and the level of repair documentation.
Each recognized technician receives a personalized Service Excellence magnetic plaque and an Excellence in Service Award certificate. (Fig. 8)
Fig. 8
3rd Quarter 2024 Technician Recognition Award Winners
Technician: Christopher McLaughlin
Dealership: Simons Rockwell GMC, Elmira, New York
FSE: Paul French
Service Excellence:
Chris is committed to providing the best service to customers and learning new skills. A 2024 HUMMER EV arrived at his dealership that required replacement of a RESS (high-voltage battery pack) to fix the vehicle. Chris is so dedicated to the GM customer that he came in during his vacation to assist the FSE with the repair. That’s what “Think Customer” and “It’s On Me” looks like.
Technician: Tony Costanzo
Dealership: Jon Hall Chevrolet, Daytona Beach, Florida
FSE: Andy Nelson
Service Excellence:
Tony is always positive and always greets everyone with a smile. Tony is a great example of “Think Customer”. He goes above the norm to make sure all concerns are taken seriously and properly diagnosed on every vehicle he works on. As the working shop foreman, he reduces repeat repairs and quality controls almost every vehicle that goes through the shop. He shares his positive attitude and skill set every day with old and young techs alike.
Recently, we worked on a 2023 Yukon XL Denali that had a very intermittent loss of tire pressure readings. Tony put forth the effort to take the concern seriously. We were able to verify the condition after a very long drive and were able to diagnose it down to EMI in a short time, but finding the cause was rather difficult. Tony eventually found a wireless charger installed in the very back of the vehicle that, at times, would interfere with the tire pressure messages to the RCDLR. Tony never gave up and demonstrated “It’s On Me” behavior.
Technician: Tim Polonco
Dealership: Watson Chevrolet, Tucson, Arizona
FSE: Mike Pritulsky
Service Excellence:
Tim has worked for Watson Chevrolet for 24 years and has been their shop foreman for 17 years. Tim is very knowledgeable, thorough, professional and strives to be the best he can in everything he does. Even though Tim was already well accomplished, he still strived for and recently attained his GM World Class status.
Recently, a 2022 Silverado 6.6L Duramax diesel had a “hoot, howl, soda bottle” type noise that was very intermittent and hard to replicate. After much trial and error, Tim found the noise would only occur for a few minutes at idle, or slightly off idle, after a cold engine start and only after the vehicle sat several hours in cold ambient temperatures (below 40°F, 4°C). He found if the vehicle was parked inside the shop or in the customer’s garage, the noise would not occur. Tim noted all the hyper-specific details of the scenario when the noise would occur and also provided a video of the noise. We isolated the noise down to the Q85 Cooling Fan Clutch. The clutch was replaced, which repaired the condition and prevented a vehicle repurchase. Tim definitely exhibits the “Think Customer” and “It’s On Me” GM behaviors.
Technician: David Stowell
Dealership: Gortsema Motors, Grangeville, Idaho
FSE: Brian Dilday
Service Excellence:
David is one of the most well-rounded bumper-to-bumper techs in Idaho. If GM manufactures it, he can fix it. David makes every customer his number one priority in all that he does. He never hesitates to reach out for assistance from the FSEs or TAC in order to fix the vehicle right the first time and also fix it faster. David has almost completed 100% of his GM training requirements, which is a feat in itself given his remote location in central Idaho.
After working with David for 3 years, he has consistently and successfully proven that he is dedicated to not only his high personal values, but also exhibits many of the GM behaviors for success. He can always be counted on to do the right thing no matter what. Not once has David put his own needs ahead of either the customer or GM. These qualities make him a great candidate to be recognized by Field Service (besides the fact that he is just a great guy to work with!).
Technician: Dave Giardnelli
Dealership: Liberty Chevrolet, Selma, California
FSE: Shane Collins
Service Excellence:
During a visit to Liberty Chevrolet, a State of Health (SOH) report that listed a few corrective actions along with a safety concern was brought up to Dave and the Service Manager. A short while later, during another visit to the dealership, Dave pulled me aside. He was upset at me for suggesting that the store needed improvements to be more Service Ready. As a new FSE, I wasn’t sure how to react and walked away with my tail between my legs, reeling from the interaction. Yet, I did find out the dealership did, in fact, correct all the issues mentioned in the SOH report.
Time went by, and when dispatched for another case at this dealership, Dave was the technician working on the vehicle. We worked together on a head scratcher that had Dave and TAC running in circles until I found a problem with the engine-to-body ground strap. Dave’s eyes lit up and he said, “you fixed it!” I had won Dave’s respect and, going forward, I knew I could count on Dave’s support and collaboration, which makes any TAC case half as hard to figure out. Dave also knew he could call me anytime for advice or suggestions on vehicles he was struggling with. One of my mentors told me that “this job is all about building relationships with your dealers.” I have found out how true that is.
Dave is now at the end of his career with GM and is headed to his idea of retirement by building micro-homes in Arizona. I looked at training records to see how long Dave had been a GM tech, but the records don’t go that far back. Dave told me he’s been doing this more than 50 years. Dave is the type of World Class Technician we all want at our dealerships, the grizzled veteran who saw the electrification of carburation and has handled one of everything. He will be sorely missed by his coworkers and me, his local FSE.
Technician: Nicholas Perales
Dealership: Gilroy Chevrolet, Gilroy, California
FSE: Navit Hill
Service Excellence:
Nick has always been great and easy to work with on multiple repairs. Recently, the neighboring Gilroy GMC store was bought by the owners of the Gilroy Chevrolet store and Nick was moved to lead the GMC shop, which had been struggling for quite some time with tools, training, technology, service and quality. The first time visiting the shop after Nick had been there a few days, it was immediately noticeable that the shop had been completely cleaned up. Trip and slip hazards were gone, parts were off the ground, the floor was clean, and everything looked organized. The technicians in that shop also had struggled to get TAC access for months. When Nick had not gotten access within a few days, he took the initiative to contact the help desk himself and got access for the other technicians. He also is leading the shop in improving the technician training levels and is delegating tasks to improve the other technicians’ scope of ability. Nick is an asset to that shop and is leading its service quality turnaround.
During this same time, Nick worked on a harsh shift condition on a 2021 Colorado that led to Bulletin #22-NA-246, which included checking transmission endplay and 4-5-6-7-8 Reverse clutch travel. Nick’s incredible attention to detail, and reaching out to Bill Alley at TAC for help to get the right reading, led to the discovery that not only are the SI steps difficult to interpret and follow, but also that the load gauge graduations start at 40 PSI, not actually 0. There is not any documentation of this anywhere, including in SI or any material shipped with the tool. All of this prompted a training video to be produced, which will be featured in an upcoming Emerging Issues seminar as well as, hopefully, additional documentation in Service Information.
Technician: Francisco Michel
Dealership: Bunnin Chevrolet, Fillmore, California
FSE: Wade Hanna
Service Excellence:
Francisco has one of the best attitudes ever seen. Despite working on some extremely difficult cases, Francisco always stays positive and has a smile on his face and a willingness in his heart to help. He maintains his training level at 100% in every category and is always eager to learn. His main goal is consistently fixing customers’ vehicles correctly and safely to get them back on the road.
His dedication was recently demonstrated during a case on a 2022 Colorado with a very high-pitched whistle noise while driving at highway speeds. Francisco took the time to understand the customer’s concern and exactly how and when the noise was present. Francisco followed all the correct steps in SI to try and identify the root cause. When reaching a stopping point, an FSE was assigned to the case and Francisco did not hesitate to go over all the items he had already covered and eliminated. He stayed positive through this whole repair and never once was he unwilling to help, remove components or put them back on. He was always there, elbows deep in the root cause analysis, and with a great attitude. The fix for the noise issue was finally found to be a very small pinhole in the firewall seam under the cowl on the driver’s side of the vehicle below the glass. His tenacity and willingness to do whatever it took to find the fix for the vehicle shows how much he cares. It was a true pleasure working with Francisco. Thank you, Francisco, for all your hard work and positive attitude.
– Thanks to Hank Poelman
