Hollywood_North GT

I would submit that at this point it's not about the hassle, it's about the principle of the matter.

It's also about RESPECT. He's being dissed, and it's time to send Ford corporate a message.

hi5.0

You'd think loss of revenue and market share would be a sufficient message to Ford to change not only the products, but the way it handles its business. And yes, dealers have to be included in "the way forward" - which is starting to look like it may lead straight off a cliff.

Hollywood_North GT

I'm inclined to agree. The latest "Bold Moves" video installment sounds like Fields is just begrudgingly paying lip service to the quality issues - almost as though he thinks it's all in the customers' minds. He appears insincere to me, and that's a dangerous attitude for the President of the Americas to have.

This sort of obfuscation only confuses and postpones fixing fundamental quality problems. Saying it's happening in a video doesn't seem to jive with the facts on the ground...at least not so far, reading around this board.

And Fields says NOTHING about poor customer service - which goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on... You get my point. This thread is but one example on this site...and this site is but one small enthusiast community. I really don't think the public at large will be duped by clever marketing speeches. They'll only be convinced when they see that quality, reliability and service are up to par. And I don't see anything yet that's gonna convince them of that...yet. Sure, the Consumer Reports review of the Fusion was positive...but that's only a one year study. Let's see how the car does after three years; a much better indicator of ACTUAL quality and reliability.

SilverBacon

I can not believe what just happened

We called up our buy-back person's boss to figure out what was going on with the car today and were nice as can be to her. We began to calmly give her our 2 cents on how the process has been handled so far, but then the lady forgot to put us on hold first and put us on speaker phone, asked her office to listen "to this man who will be going off for 20 minutes," followed by the entire office in the background laughing. What type of customer service is that?! So rude!

How unbelievably rude, unprofessional, and disrespectful. Letters are being sent to Ford Corporate and we are seconds from finally getting the lawyer involved if there is one mistake on the paperwork sent over to our local dealer.

Ford's Dispute Resolution Department should be fired. At least the two people we have dealt with there have ruined my view's on Ford completely. It's more than the product at Ford, it's the whole company that needs to be looked at.

metroplex

The tests shown in the latest bold moves is nothing special (albeit it is kind of exciting to run them if you are the operator). Almost any reputable company that produces or outfits vehicles SHOULD be running tests on their vehicles. However, Ford's problem is in their lousy quality control. If the management, employees, and plants adopted genuine Total Quality Management or Total Quality Control, we wouldn't be seeing this cr*p out in the production cars.

For example, if the door on a Stang doesn't close properly, don't ignore the problem and ship it off to the next station. Toyota of Japan would have run things VERY differently, calling out engineers to assist in nixing the problem in the bud before it ever left that station. Quality at the source and TQM almost go hand in hand in meeting Six Sigma's "sub-2 defects per billion" requirement.

Hollywood_North GT

Finally.

Hollywood_North GT

Yeah, that video proves NOTHING. And I have a hard time believing that they can simulate years of real world conditions (including inclement weather, road salt, etc.) in a short span of time using a machine.

I see nothing to lead me to believe that Ford's production methodology and quality control has changed one iota.

I don't think the public has either.

hi5.0

check this out...

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=58015



what a wonderful discovery if it becomes a widespread "issue". Umm, this shouldn't even be happening in the first place.

Hollywood_North GT

I would submit you have a lot of disgruntled employees at Ford right now taking their frustrations out on the assembly line. Whether it's intentional neglect, carelessness...or whether it's because they are distracted due to stress is open for debate.

I hate saying this, but the next 24 months are probably a lousy time to buy any Ford product manufactured in the USA. Interesting, isn't it, how the Fusion - which is made in Mexico, sans the UAW - shows better initial quality than any product in Ford's history?



I'll let y'all debate the meaning of that.

SilverBacon

So, Ford's Dispute Resolution people reported us to the BBB for being difficult to deal with. Difficult to deal with?! How else are we supposed to act after so long, so many lies, and so much bull$hit?! Ughh...that is great customer service reporting your customers for being difficult to deal with when you're the one putting us on speakerphone and telling the office to listen to us say how we feel.

They told the BBB that they faxed the forms to our dealer on Thursday, which they did not. So, now the Dispute Resolution people are saying that the dealer and us are both lying to them. Wow...just wow. I am speechless at how they are dealing with this.

Letters have been sent to everyone on the Board of Directors and complaints have been made all across the company regarding how this process is going along. I have adjusted to the fact that I am not going to see this car until well after the new year. Ford is really doing a great job of angering me and turning me away from ever buying a Ford again.

metroplex

I would recommend talking to an attorney at this point. Since you have documented everything, provide this info to the attorney and have him/her draft up a formal letter on their office letterhead addressed to the complaint resolution folks at Ford, CC'd to BBB, dealership, yourself, Ford HQ (the big dogs!!) local news channel(s) with dates and times of all events that ****ed you off.

For example,

"On Dec 1 2006 at 1300 EST, SilverBacon spoke to Jane and was put on hold, but instead Jane did not mute the receiver and SilverBacon overhead Jane saying. "insert actual quote" which has caused severe emotional trauma and humiliation to my client in conjunction with the abysmal efforts made by Ford to settle this matter in a legal and timely fashion.
"

or something to that extent.

A lawyer may cost you some extra beans but when $20,000 is at stake, I think it is the right way to go about things. FoMoCo is big enough to not care about the little people but they do care about their pockets.

mrkabc

I don't like lawyers but SilverBacon I think it's time for one... IMHO you have been more than fair. YOU are the customer, YOU have been wronged, YOU have the right to vent your frustration (as long as you do it respectfully) to the chimpanzees at Ford customer service.

I have personally been the supervisor of someone who mistakenly thought the customer was on "hold" and proceeded to bad mouth them to the office. I made sure that customer service rep would NEVER do that again. There is NO reason to act like an a**, even if the customer is being unreasonable.

At this point I believe without an attorney they will continue to disrespect you and disregard your problem. Hate to see it get to this point but they sure as hell have earned it.

Oh yeah, and start taping your phone conversations with Ford. While it's not admissible in court, a tape of the person laughing at you on the phone will get TREMENDOUS mileage from the press.

Hollywood_North GT

Why are you still playing about with this?

It was time to start playing hardball days ago.

Sorry, but they're treating you like a chump because you're letting them.

Document EVERYTHING and get your butt to a lawyer ASAP!

SilverBacon

So...my dealer has filled up various voicemail boxes at Ford trying to get someone to call them back for the past few days. They now think that the department may be closed until after the New Year. So, we are stuck without the paperwork for even longer and the contract is set to expire.

We're ready for the lawyer to jump in once we get in contact again, so no worries about that if anything goes wrong.

Oh, and my Mustang is just sitting in the shop at the dealer now because we aren't dealing with it anymore. Today was just full of more problems, but in higher amounts than normal, so I said screw it, they can keep it.

I can't believe Ford Corp. would treat a dealer and a customer so badly. It's impressive at how bad this situation has gotten, but we are ready to play hardball when they come back from break. 2006 was us being nice, 2007 is not going to be a good year for these fools.

Hollywood_North GT

hi5.0

(time to) play ball!

sodaman

Just like stated before I would seriously be looking into the lemon law in your state. Also be speaking with a zone rep from ford. If these issues are not taken care of quickly and to your satisfaction demand another car. Speak with your zone rep about all of your problems. I am sure if you speak with the mgr of the dealership he can give you the contact info for your zone rep. They are usually very nice and will work with you. If you are within the lemon law. I would get another. good luck

vistablue mustang

You know my grandfather always told me that when you speak to someone be kind but strong. That is how I deal with people, with a-holes like this you have to let them know right off the bat your not messing around. If I were you I would have made the call to Ford's Dispute Resolution center from the lawyers office and been laughing at them ****ing their pants as I take down their names.

I feel really bad for you but unless your willing to get serious about this (which it seems you are) they will keep walking all over you. By the way I would consider writing a letter to the president/vice president of customer service at Ford, the latter of which can be found in this post. http://www.mustangforums.com/fb.asp?m=1441695 I wish you all the best and hope this gets worked out quickly for you now.

Scarpi

Sorry to hear about all your problems. I've had my 05 GT since June of 05 and NO problems at all. Glad to hear your getting a new one. I'm sure it will be fine. As for your girlfreind that seems to think the Japanese cars are better, tell her that most of them are made in America by Americans.

jglnaz

It really stinks that when you pay hard earned money for something that turns out bad, not from your doing, and you just get the runaround over and over again. I hope it ends soon and you get a car.

I remember back in the early 80's a friend of mine bought a brand new S-10 pickup with a v-6 and automatic. Turned out the transmission was a lemon and changed 3 times with new ones and the truck still vibrated at speeds above 45 and stuck in certain gears. It spent months in the shop and he could not get rid of it. I forget the details on why it was not considered a lemon by law, (if we even had a law dealing with it in CT back then?), and he never, and still to this day, bought a GM product again. He was treated like he did not know how to spell "gas" and they started to send him to other dealerships. He started missing work because the truck broke down all the time and he got beyond mad at that point.

You have a right to be mad. Think about how many hours this situation has taken from you and the stress it has brought. Maybe you should do a recording saying " I just want my new car" and call these honchos and play it over and over again while you eat lunch!!!!!!

Good Luck.