Nihl

So the only thing my dealer did, in regards to my customer service, was tell me I had to give him all outstanding ratings on the Ford feedback survey.

Well, considering I hardly did that and I turned it in last week, I have to wonder if the 8 phone calls since 5pm from him have been in reference to my less than fantastic reviews.

I was worried that they would share my feelings with the dealership and my dealer in a way where he would know it was me. I assumed that may be the case and assume that even more now.

He hasn't left a message yet but I don't think this is appropriate. If only he had tried this hard to contact me when I wanted to talk to him...

montreal ponies

Gotta be kidding me, 8 phone calls after he found out it was you that gave him negative feedback. That is so unprofessional. He should have at least left you a message asking to call him back.
Talk about " after the fact" customer service. Now you're getting some.

coffeejolts

Very unprofessional.

PTRocks

I would wait to hear him out, then report his actions up the food chain as you see fit.

db2797

I won't deal with a salesperson if I don't feel they are going to help me out to my satisfaction. I'll walk away even if I was planning on buying. I've done it many times in the past for both cars and even cell phones. If I don't feel the person knows what they are talking about, or don't seem to care about me, I'll just walk away.

Thankfully I was more than pleased with my salesperson. When I'd call and leave a message, he'd call me within literally minutes of me leaving a message. Not once did I find him difficult to get a hold of or get the info I needed. So I'm actually looking forward to the survey from Ford to give him his due credit.

Ltngdrvr

Next time he calls see what he has to say and if the feedback is why he is calling then tell him why you left the feedback you did and if he is smart he will change his ways.

You already have your car and can take it elsewhere if you need dealer service so you have nothing to fear from the dealer as far as reprisals.

Tyrrell-Ford P34

****...i'd be happy with A phone call from my dealer...i've only had 2 or 3 in 3 months...

ireallycare

I agree.

Hear him out first, because, technically, you are jumping to a conclusion right now. I'm not saying it isn't a reasonable one, however, it's an assumption nonetheless.

Maybe he has a delicious fruit basket for you and he's in a hurry to get to it to you before it spoils.

Nihl

You guys are quite right, and I am aware that he could be calling for another reason. But as he's left a message any time he's called and I didn't pick up before... well, ... I think I'll let the boyfriend pick up the phone if he keeps this up today.

As for why I purchased with him to begin with, I originally had a different sales guy. He gave me a great deal (1-200 above XPlan). This was back when I was ordering a 2010. So, this long ride of mine went from an ok dealer and a 2010, to this guy and a 2011. There was a bit of money involved since the MSRP was over 2k more for the year change, so if I wanted the car their price was what kept me there. And they acted like they knew that, the entire time. Several times he mentioned that He would have never sold me the car for this price... and so began our relationship.

Anyhow, I appreciate the comments here. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

I was really curious to hear from the dealer guys if it's that easy to tell which customer is which in the survey results, or if they are directly told. Though, since I doubt they have pushed many 2011s, that's the biggest give away.

PTRocks

Nihl, you should post a full size version of your avvie, along with its story.

David Young

I think Ford has the car sales people so scared. My salesman was very good to me and helped and answered every question i had. Weekly e-mails and a phone call here and there. After the delivery of my car, he told me i would be getting a 'Report Card' asking me how he did.

He asked me if there is anything he did that wasn't the best rating. I told him i would give him the best rating on everything. Ford has these people so worried about this 'Report Card'.

Karpro

If you mark it annoymous they wouldn't know but if not, they definately know. I check my CSI scores almost daily. Ford has an Employee Excellence program that is based on these scores, most pay plans in the dealership, including our receptionist, our tied into these scores. At my dealership these are a huge concern. Honestly, if I receive a survay that isn't all A's I will usually call the customer to find out why. If myself or the dealership is doing something wrong we certainly want to know so that we can correct it.

I expect to get a good survey but I believe that I earn it. If I haven't earned it then I won't expect it. I've made mistakes and known that it was going to hurt the survey, it happens but you work as hard as you can to prevent it.

What usually scares me is stuff like these delays. We as a dealer have absolutely no control over it but when the survey comes customers find it as a way to vent their frustration over waiting and it crushes the salesperson and the dealer for something that was the manufacturers fault.

bpmurr

Which is good because a lot of Ford dealers have a customer service experience that's still stuck in 1974.

Glenn

answer the phone!!

Flagstang

I have bought like 4 cars this year. Every single sales guy and dealer relations person told me all about the "report card". infact they told me more about the "report card" then the **** car.

They do know who gave them bad reviews. The lady in the office that did my paper work called me about a week after I did my survey online and said "well we are glad that you did the survey. EVEN THO IT WAS NOT WHAT WE WANTED TO HEAR."

Automagically

I too would answer and talk to the guy. No one is above you.


In the most professional manner, deliver the following:
If the salesperson is a ***** then let them know about their duchebaggary. If they legitimately want to know what they did wrong, again, educate them on said duchebaggary. If they won't listen, talk to the sales manager, if they don't listen, talk to the general manager, so on and so fourth.

If they want to treat you right, then thank them and let them know they can count on your business again. If they are not treating you with respect, let them know that you will not use their purchasing or services ever again and will be sure to tell all friends/family what has happened at said dealership.

Just my take on it I suppose.

BTW, this sounds like a GM dealership, no? I know it isn't but, one place I absolutely hate going, besides to Iraq, is to a GM dealership.

Nihl

Here was my additional notes section. The worst part was the Finance guy, which I made pretty clear and the rest of the survey had higher scores than the finance section.

The only time my dealer ever cared about what I thought was when he told me to give him all 5 stars, and if I didn't I should call him and he would do everything he could till he made me feel that way. What a weird way of putting it. I started bringing my father with me when I had to see them in person, which as you'll see was a few more times than I needed to to begin with. When he went with me the first time, to the finance meeting I mentioned below, he was more mad than I was. He said something like "When I buy a car I'm used to being treated great because I'm a customer... here... it's like I'm lucky they're even paying attention to me."

Oh, and when ordering my vehicle, the Ford 800 number got mad at and weirded out by my dealer, since they activated my warranty and considered my car sold a week before they even got it in the lot. The whole experience was so shady I hated dealing with them. I never blamed them for Ford delivering the vehicle late, but here's the stuff I did blame them for:

--------

Here's my 'Additional Notes' section:

Firstly, my original salesman I ordered the 2010 with must have been fired. And the process that ensued in ordering the 2011 (because Ford cancelled my Dec 28, 2009 2010 order) was horrible. So my first impressions were of a different sales man, and he gave me a great deal and got me to work with this dealership. After that though... I had to call Ford directly for any info about delivery or updates on my vehicle. I knew more about my car than the salesperson or the finance guy. The finance guy scheduled me for a financial meeting and when I got there they said there was nothing he could do at this point and I should wait till my car comes in. He phrased it "eh, when it comes in, if it comes in, these things you never know. Hell, you should call me to remind me to look up this stuff, I get busy and forget". Firstly, why schedule a meeting in the first place? Secondly, I thought I was a customer... Oh, and over the course of all this they checked my credit 3 times, over multiple months. Thanks for those hard pulls. Other than that, nobody called me with any updates until I made them look for the car, and I had none of my emails returned. The most annoying part was when I called after a few days, they'd always say 'oh yeah, I remember your email'. So they were reading them, they just didn't deem them response worthy.

Karpro

Then it sounds like they got the grading they deserved. My concern from the dealer side is that we don't get crucified for the things we can't control, like the delays. If I don't do MY job properly I desereve the bad grade but don't want to take the hit for the things that Ford did wrong.

fritzOSU03

If you don't mind me asking, do dealers get certain incentives for positive reviews versus negative reviews?

Karpro

No, not from Ford. But don't think they don't watch it closely and it wouldn't suprise me if it plays into which dealer gets an extra unit of allocation on a tough unit like a Raptor, etc.. Like I said earlier most pay plans in the dealerships are tied to your CSI scores. Ford does recognize individual dealers with things like the President's Award and individual sales, paerts and service employees with the Employee Excellence program.