Yeah, they're such a big help. But hey, you got your car!!!

 

lol well i did the same i wrote an email with a sob story like 2 weeks ago. i got a few emails in return and today i get an email saying my order is comfirmed to be schedualled next week. i call the dealer and the salesman says "HEY GREG I HEARD THE GOOD NEWS MY SALES MANAGER TOLD ME" im like yea lol im still a bit weirded out by the situation. so customer service helped me i donno what they did. i kinda emailed the C.S. president lol

 

tagged

 

Here is the response I got after emailing Customer Service:

From: Ford Division crcforddiv@customersupportctr.com
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:56:06 -0500
To: trausch@twcny.rr.com
Subject: Re: 2005 / Ford / Mustang New Vehicle Information


Dear Thomas,

Thank you for your message of 02/28/05 regarding your 2005 Ford Mustang.
We appreciate the time you have taken to write us regarding your new
vehicle.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Ford's number one goal is
to resolve your concern.

Thomas, there are a great number of variables that may affect production
scheduling and delivery. Option packages, special powertrain
combinations, as well as possible delivery delays of components supplied
from vendors are all factors to be considered when scheduling a
vehicle's assembly.

Other variables that may also affect the delivery date of your vehicle
include certification and quality inspections, and transportation of the
vehicle to the specified dealership. As such, it is not possible to
guarantee a specific delivery date.

The Sales Manager at your selling dealership is in the best position to
track your vehicle order. We recommend contacting the Sales Department
for further assistance in this matter. Additionally, while we are
unable to expedite delivery of your vehicle, we would be happy to
periodically consult the Vehicle Order Status Bank on your behalf to
apprise you of any updated information. However, in order to do this,
we will require certain details.

If you are able to provide a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the
vehicle you have ordered, this will be sufficient information to check
the present status of your order. If you have not been provided with a
VIN, please provide the dealership sales code, body style code and order
number. Your Sales Advisor at your selling dealership will be able to
advise you of these details.

Your satisfaction is valued. Our goal is for you to enjoy the many Ford
products and services in the years to come.

At Ford Motor Company, we consider the satisfaction of our customers as
one of our most important objectives. If you have any other inquiries
or concerns, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to
address them.

Thank you for contacting Ford Motor Company.

Sincerely,
Timekah
Ford Motor Company
Customer Relationship Center


I've since written 2 more emails and have received no response. :notnice:

 

outdoor: Do you have a story, or just "I ordered 12/7 and don't have my car"?

 

Grantsdale - really no story other than buying from a small town dealer with allocation problems. I'm first in line at the dealership, 11th in line for the zone. Regional Rep is giving allocations for my zone based on order dates. Hopefully not too much longer.

 

I got one of those same letters, but mine wanted additional information they had copied to the letter! It was like, did you read your own response letter?! I guess it's nice to see that Ford is still hiring staight from immigration! Don't worry about reading the letter or checking on my car, just send me a blanket response and go back to eating your yogurt and talking to Juanita from Mexico.

 

I am now waiting for my response from Ford...email them last Sunday.

 

Thats what I was wondering, thats why they won't do anything "special". You need some special circumstances before they will start making excpetions.

 

It would be nice to receive "special" treatment, but I don't expect that to happen. I just wanted to let them know I think the allocation process is flawed in a major way. I told my salesman I had emailed Ford and he said more people should do that to encourage them to change the system.

 

The allocation system is fine. The dealerships that sell the most cars get the most cars. How else would you have it work? You can't spread the cars evenly, and you can't ship as orders come in, because then there would be back ups all over.

Do you have a plan that works better?

 

Come on, they can't slip in 20 or 30 cars into the mix that are really old olders? Thats not going to throw a wrench into the allocation system.

 

I have a better idea. Ford needs to place customer orders above dealer stock cars. If they can't figure out a way to keep dealers from being dishonest and placing stock cars as custom orders, then they need to do a better job managing their dealers. It would not be hard to put a system in place to prevent this from happening, and then have appropriate deterrents in place. The allocation system is fine, but it should be used for determining dealer stock only.
Oh, and I don't want to hear this crap about how we're not Ford customer... you know, the dealer is Ford's customer and we're the dealer's customer arguement. We're buying a Ford product, and the product isn't just the car, it's the car and the service, both before and after the sale.

 

What do you mean, 20-30? You think they should put just some of the people on this board through because they are Mustang lovers? Can't do that. There are many, many more orders that are backed up just as much as the people on here. How would it be fair to them to push TMS members through and leave those other people who have been waiting just as long to wait even longer?

 

Sorry, but it isn't crap. The car is produced by Ford, yes. You are buying the Ford name on the car, yes. However, the car is sold by a dealership that bought it from Ford. The service is provided by a dealership as well, and again, it is independant from Ford. It doesn't matter if you agree or not, the simple fact is: that is the way it is.

Ford cannot place customer orders before dealer stock. To Ford, they are the same thing. When the orders get pulled to the dealership, Ford doesn't care who its for, just that its going to Dealership X. As far as Ford is concerned, the car is paid for either way. Most dealers will put customer orders before their stock, but that is a decision left to the dealer. Ford has no way to determine whether or not the order is customer or dealer stock. And they shouldn't have to. It isn't their concern. As I said, the car is paid for either way. If the problem is your dealer is getting in his stock orders before your customer order, you need to get him to change your priority.

Let me set up a scenario for you: Its the middle of Feb. The northern states are covered in snow, so there aren't many people in ordering Mustangs. Meanwhile, the southern states are enjoying the typical nice weather, and plenty of customer orders. It takes 8 or so weeks to deliver the car, NORMALLY. So by the time spring rolls around in the north, none of the dealerships have any cars on the lots, because they all went to customer orders in the south. Can't have that.

The allocation system in its current form is pretty much the best that can happen.

 

 

I'll give you that scenario has a point, but take my idea and break it up by zone and you begin to have a better system. The whole point is, Ford should not punish their end consumers who purchase from a small dealer. I would speculate that many people have cancelled their order to purchase another car, harming Ford as much as the local dealer. Heck even people on TMS have done this! The bad taste left in peoples mouths will discourage them from ordering future Ford products, I doubt I will...
As far as "The allocation system in its current form is pretty much the best that can happen." Let me quote Grantsdale when I say "Come on, I know people aren't that ignorat." Of course it can be improved. Any system that produces this many bad feelings for customers would not be acceptable in my book. Yes, it could be much worse, but I'd rather it be much better.

 

[quote=Grantsdale,March 17, 2005, 6:46 PM]
I thought that I knew how this worked. All things being equal (priority#, options ect)
the Retail order takes priority over stock. according to this write up, it does.
http://www.f150online.com/forums/arc.../127481-1.html