Ford do you care?

[ford4v429]

You're missing the point here. The dealer can do the exact same tracking that cyberdman is doing, so why aren't they providing the information to the customer? If Ford provides the info to the dealer then how is it Ford's fault that the customer isn't being updated?

 

Repeal the state franchise laws so you can order directly from Ford and maybe they can setup the type of tracking system being asked for. But until then find a dealer who's willing to give you the service you're paying them for.

 

the problem is, its Ford's name on the sign out front, and its Ford that gets the black eye when the dealer for some reason has to be a middleman... it shouldn't violate any 'laws' to give website access to track a VIN being built...

 

changing franchise laws so you could order direct would be great, but doubt we'll ever see it...

[tbart948]

IT is incredibly hard to find a dealer, with the dedication to customer support, and the trained staff able to provide the support to the customer. I recently have had to go through 5 dealers before I could find one that knew what they were doing and showed a willingness to provide the customer support I desired. If "QUALITY IS JOB 1" it should be started at the dealer level....

[akirby]

If "QUALITY IS JOB 1" it should be started at the dealer level....

 

Ford agrees but their hands are fairly well tied by state franchise laws. Dealers are independent businesses and Ford can't tell them how to run their business. Every time they try they get sued and the dealers win. It's just as frustrating for Ford but the law is the law and in most cases there is little that they can actually do to force dealers to provide better service.

[tbart948]

I hear you. Here is where the allocations to the dealers will improve the performance of the dealers. Good customer feedback(by percentage to allow for the different dealer sizes) =profitability stemming from increased sales due to having cars to sell. Without the cars they either get in line or go out of business.

[akirby]

I hear you. Here is where the allocations to the dealers will improve the performance of the dealers. Good customer feedback(by percentage to allow for the different dealer sizes) =profitability stemming from increased sales due to having cars to sell. Without the cars they either get in line or go out of business.

 

I think they already try to do that but they can't just say we're basing your allocation on customer service surveys. Ford tried to institute Blue Oval Certified program a few years ago where better dealers would get more holdback money. NC dealers sued and won and they had to scrap the program. They really need to get rid of the antiquated franchise laws but the dealers have big ties to lawmakers.

[tbart948]

When Ford reduced the number of dealers they created a group of dealers that are now feel privileged. Gone are the small town dealers who live in the same small towns with who they sale cars too. We lost 2 dealers, and both better dealers, than what remained. The small dealers that remained are now part of a dealer conglomerate (multiple dealers under one name) who just don't have the same sense of community. It may be more profitable for Ford, and the lone dealer, but not the same home-town dealer support to the customers!

[akirby]

Was that Ford's fault or were they just a victim of the economic collapse?

[tbart948]

I don't buy into the theory that getting rid of dealers was all about the economic collapse. The free market would take care of that on it's own. What they did was to eliminate competition within the ranks which in turn let's the dealerships get sloppy in their approach to their customer support. They know if people want a Ford, and don't want to travel long distances for purchases and service, that they will have to come back to them.

[Marginal Economist]

There are X amount of cars to be sold. By reducing the footprint of the dealer network, Ford increased the amount of throughput and profitability of the remaining dealers. This money can be reinvested into the business such as facility improvements. There is still plenty of competition as evidenced by current market share numbers.

 

 

[bcrisp]

What an interesting thread, chock full of good info. I had a similar experience with my '13 FFH. Ordered it through my local dealership on 27 Nov 2012, along with a '13 Explorer Ltd. I had previously sworn off American manufacturers with the welfare program they engaged in with U.S. tax dollars, so Ford got my attention because of their avoidance of welfare and with their compelling new products. I was informed that my Fusion Hybrid may take longer than the typical 6-8 weeks due to backlog. I was fine with that. The next I heard from my dealer was the last week in February: the Explorer was all washed-up and ready to go.

 

I took delivery of the Explorer on 2 March and advised my dealer they need to give customers a heads up on delivery to get logistics arranged, like prepping their trade-in (among other things). They explained that they had a new manager, who apparently wasn't trained on how to track orders, but they would take care of that. I asked about my Fusion and was informed of a build date of 25 March and expected delivery ~1 April. At the time (2 Mar Explorer acceptance date), I informed the dealer that the FFH I built on ford.com in November had been giving me an error for a while, indicating the configuration was no longer available and it was changed. There was no inidcation of what that change was. My salesman sort of shrugged so we didn't know what that was about.

 

I heard nothing of my Fusion order for quite some time, remained patient, but I found the FFH Forum and learned a great deal there. The Ginger Ale was initially delayed, then discontinued altogether. I then reviewed the inventory for my dealership on ford.com and found one FFH listed. I confirmed its presence by viewing the dealership's website. It was configured precisely the way I ordered mine, except it was black. It said "SPECIAL ORDER" on the window sticker and the order # matched [VIN: 3FA6P0LU5DR246882]. So I popped-in on the dealership the next day, 28 May. I thought they may know something by now since it had been six months. My salesman said what a coincidence, he had sent me an e-mail ten minutes prior to advise me the order got messed up and what did I want to do. That Fusion was indeed mine and had been sitting on their lot for about two months and they just realized it. He had no idea how that happened. We went to see the car and I asked how many times the staff had taken it to lunch during that time or test drives it may have been involved in. Sure enough, it had 37 miles on the odometer.

 

They have had no other FFHs in inventory so I had a choice of getting my down payment returned or do a DX. I had to remind him myself that it was too late for new orders on 13s. I had been looking at inventory throughout Virginia and hadn't seen Ginger Ales available, especially configured the way I ordered mine. Plus, they drive the vehicles on an exchange (vs. truck transport) and I'd have many hudreds of miles on it if one were to be found). Thus my choice was narrowed down to take my money back and start all over with another dealer, or forget it altogether. I made a reference to the TV show "Pimp My Ride" and asked him if I was supposed to get a kiss with this ... deal. I should think that if they had forgotten about a customer, it wouldn't be one that bought two vehicles on the same day.

 

They didn't offer anything up front to make it right but waited for me to indicate whether I still wanted to pursue this transaction. We eventually negoiated to give me a little more on my trade-in and I accepted the black Fusion. Mind you that the black paint (or any other) is not hideous by any means. It's actually quite nice but I was already trading in a black Camry that I'd had for five years. It's just that I ordered Ginger Ale because it was different and six months later it transformed into black without so much as consulting me on a replacement or notification. Then, of course, I was ignorant of the fact it had arrived and they'd been driving it for two months.

 

I know that Ford puts out commodities alerts (thanks Fusion Forum) where the discontinuance of ginger ale would have been announced. Clearly, my dealerhsip isn't monitoring. What I don't know is: 1. would the dealership have been contacted directly of the change on the order and 2. who selected the color on the change, especially without asking me. I shouldn't think these decisions are made without dealer/consumer input on orders.

 

I'm happy with my new FFH (except the occasional ticking noise; I need to check on that) but my wanting it so bad and waiting so long kept me from refusing delivery, which is what they deserve. I'm just not certain who's really culpable here: mostly the dealership, factory communication of changes, or a combination of both.

[akirby]

The dealer had to change the color - Ford won't do that on their own. All of the notices on changes, commodity issues, etc. go out to all the dealers. There is no excuse for your dealership not knowing about any of this and not telling you. None.

[bcrisp]

Thanks Kirby! That was my suspicion, as nothing else really seems plausible. Ford would have a major PR problem if they arbitrarily changed colors on orders without input. Incompetence at dealership F27505 is the logical conclusion. And I rewarded them with two new vehicle purchases the same day. Oh the pain.

[MikeyD]

Going off in a slightly different direction here, FORD doesn't seem to care to much of their new customers.....or those who want to become Ford owners.....I've been a GM guy for years and when I called Corporate and asked if there were any incentives or anything they could do they just acted dumb and were like well you'll have to check with your local dealer on what they have etc....

 

When you call GM for the same thing they actually transfer you to the Marketing dept. who will actually send you a mailer that is anywhere from $2k - $4k off a new vehicle ...trust me 3 years ago I received the $4k off. I was looking at getting the 2014 Ford Explorer but man the pricing I'm getting from GM is making it real tough.

[akirby]

Why would Ford want a customer who only wants to buy something cheap with a $4K discount?

[3FordFamily]

Going off in a slightly different direction here, FORD doesn't seem to care to much of their new customers.....or those who want to become Ford owners.....I've been a GM guy for years and when I called Corporate and asked if there were any incentives or anything they could do they just acted dumb and were like well you'll have to check with your local dealer on what they have etc....

 

When you call GM for the same thing they actually transfer you to the Marketing dept. who will actually send you a mailer that is anywhere from $2k - $4k off a new vehicle ...trust me 3 years ago I received the $4k off. I was looking at getting the 2014 Ford Explorer but man the pricing I'm getting from GM is making it real tough.

 

Those kinds of decisions might be why when you buy a Government Motors (GM) or Chrysler product, you're paying about 4k MORE for it because your taxes paid for their stupid decisions and the bailouts. Ultimately, you know who pays for that?

 

Additionally, if GM would make a car that people wanted as much as Ford does, they wouldn't have to sell cars for a loss like that. I agree with AKIRBY above, if you want a cheap POS keep buying GM. There's a reason they've needed bailouts.

 

And before anyone says "OH GM and Chrysler" paid off their debt --- no, they traded it for ownership interest and other non-cash assets in the company. If you owe me $100 dollars and I agree to control part of your business in turn for the 100 or have some other sort of asset liability -- that's not paying off the debt.

[Storm95]

It's hard to be patience when they treat their customers this way. I've broke this issue to Ford Corporate but it has not made a difference in my delivery. Did some investigating and found out that a truck just just 1 Vin number before mine and another truck built 5 days after mine has been delivered to the dealer while mine is on a train somewhere. Seems Ford's priority is to the dealers and not the customers who have bought trucks. Anyway that's how it appears to me, but I am dealing with a small dealership. Maybe that has something to do with it. Good luck.

[akirby]

Once it gets on the train it's up to the mercy of the train company as to when it gets delivered. They have to batch up the vehicles and train cars going to specific areas - they can't just send one train car by itself. There really isn't anything Ford (or any other mfr that uses trains) can do about that.

[Storm95]

 

It's hard to be patience when they treat their customers this way. I've broke this issue to Ford Corporate but it has not made a difference in my delivery. Did some investigating and found out that a truck just just 1 Vin number before mine and another truck built 5 days after mine has been delivered to the dealer while mine is on a train somewhere. Seems Ford's priority is to the dealers and not the customers who have bought trucks. Anyway that's how it appears to me, but I am dealing with a small dealership. Maybe that has something to do with it. Good luck.

Hey akirby, according to the Ford tracking system, my truck made it to the mixing yard before these other 2 mentioned in the above quote, yet the dealer allocated trucks were delivered first, before the CUSTOMER PURCHASED truck did, thus that is why I say FORD put the dealers first before the customer. C,mon man wouldn't you think that 2 trucks ordered the same day, going to the same dealer, having sequenced numbers 49791 and 49792 be delivered at the same time. Not weeks apart. Xplain that!!

[akirby]

There could be 27 different reasons depending on how the mixing yard works. Maybe your truck needed additional repairs or maybe it just got overlooked. Maybe they didn't like the way your truck looked.

It's a complicated process and Ford makes a reasonable effort to get sold vehicles to customers before the others but it doesn't always work that way.

[Storm95]

OooooKay. Did you say 27 different reasons. Well you mentioned 3, what's the other 24. LOL.

Sorry akirby, but I heard sooo many different excuses that instead of stressing, all I can do is smile and just laugh. What ever, sooner or later I'll get my truck.

 

Well.......I'm waiting. What's the other 24.

 

 

 

 

 

Joking!!!

[mustangchief]

Maybe it was just bad luck at the rail yard. Were the other sequence numbers the same type truck? If your truck was larger (4X4) they may have need to put a lower height car/truck on so tree branches wouldn't schwack it the whole way. Or you ordered a really awesome truck and the yard help wanted to hang on to it a bit to show off their buds. I have a Kona Blue LE coming sometime in the future, I kinda expect it to make its way slowly if it comes out in the first batch. Just as long as there isn't scratches and PB&J finger prints on it, I'll be happy just to get it.