Ford's unfair and antiquated ordering system

[johndeerefarmer]

I ordered a 2013 F250 on Jan 18. After four weeks in the order processing stage, my salesman called his rep, who said that he would see what he could do. As of last Friday it was 5 weeks with no change in my order status.

This is my big problem with Ford and their ordering and allocation system. Because I choose to buy from my hometown dealer I am penalized by having to wait longer to get my truck built, whereas if I had of driven 60 miles to Dallas to a large dealership, my truck would have been built and delivered by now. I see the large dealers bragging on the forums of a 30 day turn around time. Heck, I will be lucky to get mine in 90 days. This is unfair to me the customer, as I am even having to wait while Ford is building trucks for the large dealership's inventory not just their customer's orders. Ford should not put "stock" orders in front of customer orders. Nor should the smaller dealerships be penalized for being smaller. All this does is forces a lot of customers to leave the small dealerships and buy from the larger ones. This is unfair to the smaller dealers. Seems that with this policy, Ford doesn't care whether the small town dealerships stay around or not.

Also the current incentives expire on April 1st and if they go down after that I will have lost money from having to wait.

As a comparison, I ordered a $105,000 tractor from my John Deere dealer. Deere does its orders first ordered in, is first built. Dealer size has nothing to do with it and their is no allocation. This puts the smaller dealerships on a level playing field with the larger ones that have multiple stores. Also rebates that are valid on the date the order is placed, stay valid until the unit is delivered.

As a farmer, I have specific needs for a truck so I can't just buy one off of the lot. I have no use for a Super Crew with four doors which is about what all dealers carry in stock these days.

I own stock in both Ford and Deere both individually and through mutual funds. I have owned Ford products exclusively since 1979 (5 trucks and 3 cars). The latest being my 2011 F150 and my Focus purchased last November. I am about as Ford blue as you can get but at the moment am just "blue in the face" from the frustration of over a month wait and I don't even have a scheduled "build" date yet.

I will seriously consider another brand next time. 5 weeks of waiting with not even a scheduled "build" date in unacceptable.

Dealer: F52507 Order No. D400

F250 4x2 Super Cab- Ruby Red Metallic

[theoldwizard]

This is my big problem with Ford and their ordering and allocation system. Because I choose to buy from my hometown dealer I am penalized by having to wait longer to get my truck built, whereas if I had of driven 60 miles to Dallas to a large dealership, my truck would have been built and delivered by now.

First, I don't think you can substantiate that claim.

 

Second, you are correct. The order and tracking system is antiquated, but I would be surprised it it were replaced. Updating it would not add to the bottom line.

[johndeerefarmer]

I can show you posts on other forums from both dealers and owners that have gotten their trucks in about a month. Some of the larger dealers (not only in Dallas) get on the forums and brag about how fast they can get you a truck- this is a slam against the small town dealers.

 

Allocation is a double edged sword. If I don't have the allocation and or inventory I cant' sell more vehicles. So if I can't sell more vehicles my allocation is never increased- thus I can't sell more vehicles.

 

Ford should be on the leading edge of technology. The ordering system should allow the customer to track their vehicle from the day it is ordered until the day it arrives at the dealership. The customer should not have to call Ford Customer Service, their dealer, or have to ask on one of these forums what the status of their vehicle is.

 

We are in the 21st century. People use their smartphones and computers for everything. In my small "one horse" town, I have a physical coming up next week. Early this week I got a text reminding me to come in to give blood for my cholesterol check. Then yesterday I got an email telling me that I had a secure message from the doctor's office. I logged into my account there and had the reminder about the actual physical. It would be no problem for Ford to do something similar.

 

If enough customers get these kinds of delays they will indeed change dealers and or brands. While driving 60 miles to buy a truck is no big deal, when it comes to service their better be a dealer close by. Unless Ford's plan is to have Quick Lane Centers in every town that can also do warranty work then they better get off of their duffs and support the small dealer.

[MTGilby]

The whole allocation system is bogus. If I have cash in hand and have a vehicle ordered the allocation should go out the window. Why should vehicles that just go sit on the lot have priority over sold vehicles.

[blwnsmoke]

Your dealer can lock in the rebates. If they lock them in, you will get that deal or if it gets better, you will get the better incentives.

[johndeerefarmer]

Thanks for that information.

[Marginal Economist]

Allocation is based on a variety of factors. The base process is "Turn and Earn". The quicker you can sell a vehicle, the more vehicles you earn. There is a formula based on sales and availability, but to get more you need to lower your day supply ( or increase your sales velocity) compared to others in your region.

 

Ford wholesales production in advance so that the plants can schedule and hit their production targets. In March, Ford is offering dealers production for April and/or May. Production weeks vary by plant, model changes, and other factors. Scheduling runs can vary from 3 to 8+ weeks (balance out). Allocation is given as a monthly number and then is broken out into a weekly balance to schedule. A dealer may get 10 Fusions with a 4 week production run, but have 3-0-5-2 as their build for the month.

 

Retail sweeps are run nationally once a month, and there is an attempt to give dealers allocation to cover all the retail orders. Individual regions may look at order banks more often.

 

Dealers will prioritize their order bank by assigning number to each order within a vehicle line. Retail orders are generally prioritized between 10-19. Stock orders usually range from 20-50. If a dealer priorited every order with a 20, he is essentially letting the system pick what will get built. Same scenario if every retail order got a 10. Order numbers do not matter outside of the dealership - a 15 at Dealer A may schedule before a 10 at dealer B.

 

For the original poster, if the dealer had any January production left, the dealer could assign his order to the open allocation. If he did not have allocation, he can wait for his next wholesale to get production, or to acquire allocation from another dealer (dealer trade or swap allocation). The retail sweep may or may not be effective - if the sweep was run on Jan 15 Ford would not have seen it. The Feb 15th sweep have picked it up if the order was coded as a retail and was still unscheduled.

 

30 days is not a realistic time frame for any vehicle order. My last Ford scheduled the same week I ordered and arrived in 7 weeks. Scheduling is at least 2 and normally 3 weeks in advance. Add in transportation time and 30 days doesn't pencil.

 

Plants need lead times based on commodities and parts - there are thousands of buildable combinations with hundreds of suppliers for each plant. Allocation ensures the plants are running and the workers have jobs.

[Marginal Economist]

I ordered a 2013 F250 on Jan 18. After four weeks in the order processing stage, my salesman called his rep, who said that he would see what he could do. As of last Friday it was 5 weeks with no change in my order status.

This is my big problem with Ford and their ordering and allocation system. Because I choose to buy from my hometown dealer I am penalized by having to wait longer to get my truck built, whereas if I had of driven 60 miles to Dallas to a large dealership, my truck would have been built and delivered by now. I see the large dealers bragging on the forums of a 30 day turn around time. Heck, I will be lucky to get mine in 90 days. This is unfair to me the customer, as I am even having to wait while Ford is building trucks for the large dealership's inventory not just their customer's orders. Ford should not put "stock" orders in front of customer orders. Nor should the smaller dealerships be penalized for being smaller. All this does is forces a lot of customers to leave the small dealerships and buy from the larger ones. This is unfair to the smaller dealers. Seems that with this policy, Ford doesn't care whether the small town dealerships stay around or not.

Also the current incentives expire on April 1st and if they go down after that I will have lost money from having to wait.

As a comparison, I ordered a $105,000 tractor from my John Deere dealer. Deere does its orders first ordered in, is first built. Dealer size has nothing to do with it and their is no allocation. This puts the smaller dealerships on a level playing field with the larger ones that have multiple stores. Also rebates that are valid on the date the order is placed, stay valid until the unit is delivered.

As a farmer, I have specific needs for a truck so I can't just buy one off of the lot. I have no use for a Super Crew with four doors which is about what all dealers carry in stock these days.

I own stock in both Ford and Deere both individually and through mutual funds. I have owned Ford products exclusively since 1979 (5 trucks and 3 cars). The latest being my 2011 F150 and my Focus purchased last November. I am about as Ford blue as you can get but at the moment am just "blue in the face" from the frustration of over a month wait and I don't even have a scheduled "build" date yet.

I will seriously consider another brand next time. 5 weeks of waiting with not even a scheduled "build" date in unacceptable.

Dealer: F52507 Order No. D400

F250 4x2 Super Cab- Ruby Red Metallic

Your truck is scheduled to be built on March 22.

[johndeerefarmer]

Your truck is scheduled to be built on March 22.

Thanks. My dealer finally had to get allocation from another dealer.

 

30 days sounds awfully fast to me and I wasn't expecting that but if you read around the other forums you will see that the "big" dealers are quoting 30 days from order to delivery. I expected two months but mine is going to probably be three.

 

Thanks again

[svtenthusiast]

The items that the OP posted is one of the reasons revolving around customer service that I am considering buying something other than a Ford after driving a Ford my entire life. Even a company like Dodge has a system where when your order is input, Dodge emails you thanking you for your order with a confirmation of your vehicle and options. Then at each status change of the vehicle, it emails you an update. There is no excuse for the dealer allocation issue on "sold" orders, penalizing small dealers and it's customers, and also no excuse this day and age to not have some sort of tracking system for cutomers on ordered vehicles. The thing is both these items are so screwed up with order delays, etc. it would begin to show cracks in their system.

 

johndeerefarmer, you hit the nail on the head and I couldn't agree with you more. Unitil they decide to change their customer service practices and business models, they will continue to lose loyal "bleed Ford blue" customers such as us. It's really a shame.

[Stanggt24]

I ordered a 13 f250 on feb. 17th from a large dealer and had a confirmation of the order being scheduled to be built week of 3/11/13 and within the same week status moved to day of 3/11/13. Also in a little over a week i received my vin number . Now see i was informed of this process that a larger dealer could get me a special order a lot quicker and for a lot less money so that was part of my going to large dealer to order . Don't get me wrong i like my local dealer very much and they have contacted me assuring me that they won't my service business if i have problems already. My latest update is eta of delivery in ma on 4/1/13 which is about 6 weeks but i was told from dealer it would be here in 4 weeks but we all know that 4 weeks is in a perfect world and we don't live there so im happy with 6 weeks oh and I ordered a crew cab with ultimate lariat package with almost every option offered , if u are going to spend the money that these trucks are going for you should get what you want. Thanks Rich

[mashford]

I ordered a 2013 Explorer Sport for my wife. Dealer is stating that the truck would be here this week. Today is exactly 6 weeks and no sign of the truck. When I call the dealer,they just quote the same info from the past 2-3 weeks. "Should be something the week of the11th". I would except in our modern world of information on demand, that dealers would have a better tracking system. Then again maybe it is not the lack of a system versus the lack of good customer service.

 

I heard from another dealership that if you ordered the DVD package then your truck would/could be delayed. Apparently the DVD system manufacture is behind hence truck orders with this feature are delayed.

[akirby]

The dealers do have a better tracking system - they're just not sharing the info with you. They may be short on allocation and they don't want you to know or there could be a material hold. All this info is known by the dealer.

[KS1]

It's a fault in the system then if the dealers can track better than the customers. The dealers have less incentive to provide good service since the sale's already made. In this day and age, why a customer cannot do their own tracking is beyond my comprehension.

[Marginal Economist]

It's a fault in the system then if the dealers can track better than the customers. The dealers have less incentive to provide good service since the sale's already made. In this day and age, why a customer cannot do their own tracking is beyond my comprehension.

 

What other items can you track accurately before you've paid for it? Cars aren't shipped Fed Ex. There are a couple more options and commodity restraints on an F150 than an iPod.

 

 

 

 

[Donaldo]

It's a fault in the system then if the dealers can track better than the customers. The dealers have less incentive to provide good service since the sale's already made. In this day and age, why a customer cannot do their own tracking is beyond my comprehension.

 

Isn't a sale not final until the customer takes delivery and signs the sale contract? I.e. putting down a deposit is not the same as a sale.

 

Do other manufacturers offer detailed online tracking of orders by customers? I know some mfgs will generally refuse to build to order at all, you take what Mother Factory builds for your area or buy something else.

[akirby]

Dodge does.

[KS1]

Isn't a sale not final until the customer takes delivery and signs the sale contract? I.e. putting down a deposit is not the same as a sale.

 

Do other manufacturers offer detailed online tracking of orders by customers? I know some mfgs will generally refuse to build to order at all, you take what Mother Factory builds for your area or buy something else.

I suppose I can see your point (and marginal's above). I would think though that a dealer would prefer a customer be able to track on their own, rather than bug the dealer all the time. I would also hope that Ford or any other manufacturer would see the benefit of a more transparent order process, but that may take more time.

[akirby]

I suppose I can see your point (and marginal's above). I would think though that a dealer would prefer a customer be able to track on their own, rather than bug the dealer all the time. I would also hope that Ford or any other manufacturer would see the benefit of a more transparent order process, but that may take more time.

 

A lot of dealers may not want the customer to know what's happening with their vehicle because they may have played games with the order or the priority or maybe the dealer doesn't have allocation. Or they may not want to look bad when the customer knows more than they do.

 

I'd like to see Ford do Retail Order Verification on all orders for all vehicles. Give ROVs the same priority (10) and build them in chronological order by date received without allocation restrictions. Give the customer a website to track the order by order number and vin and provide proactive notifications when status changes.

[shaggy314]

BMW does:

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20029122-48.html

[johndeerefarmer]

Your dealer can lock in the rebates. If they lock them in, you will get that deal or if it gets better, you will get the better incentives.

My salesman has been selling Ford's at this dealership for 32 years and he says that you cannot lock in rebates. So is this true or not? If so tell us how it works? Do you work for Ford or sell them?

[svtenthusiast]

My salesman has been selling Ford's at this dealership for 32 years and he says that you cannot lock in rebates. So is this true or not? If so tell us how it works? Do you work for Ford or sell them?

 

You have to be a "select" dealer to do this, which "select" is one of the standings the dealership has with Ford. I have bought several vehicles with locked in rebates that were better at the time of order than the time of delivery.

[Marginal Economist]

My salesman has been selling Ford's at this dealership for 32 years and he says that you cannot lock in rebates. So is this true or not? If so tell us how it works? Do you work for Ford or sell them?

There is an incentive protection program. Program 34220. Dealer can look it up in FMC Dealer. Not all rebates will qualify. There is no qualifier as to select vs contact dealers.

[johndeerefarmer]

There is an incentive protection program. Program 34220. Dealer can look it up in FMC Dealer. Not all rebates will qualify. There is no qualifier as to select vs contact dealers.

Thanks

[ford4v429]

A lot of dealers may not want the customer to know what's happening with their vehicle because they may have played games with the order or the priority or maybe the dealer doesn't have allocation. Or they may not want to look bad when the customer knows more than they do.

 

I'd like to see Ford do Retail Order Verification on all orders for all vehicles. Give ROVs the same priority (10) and build them in chronological order by date received without allocation restrictions. Give the customer a website to track the order by order number and vin and provide proactive notifications when status changes.

Great post- if ford would consider this simple/concise suggestion, all these threads would disappear, and customers would finally feel as if they were being treated properly, you know, like others treat real customers