- First Name
- Roger
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- Jul 19, 2020
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- Aurora, Co
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- 17 mustang gt, 3 Wrangler JLs
- Your Bronco Model
- Wildtrak
Thank you for posting this.It was not a post, it was in the Ford website for how the reservations worked when they started them up. While I am not versed in the way back finding of websites, I am sure someone is and will follow up. In the body of the texts and the FAQ, Ford very clearly stated that Reservations would be built in order received (aka timestamps), with limitations for minor logistics like shipping and parts availability. They further stated, unequivocally, that all reservations would be completed before dealer stock was made. Obviously people understood that was subject to the same minor logistics and parts availability for the one large line of reservationists. It was quite clear that they only way to get a Bronco in any sort of timely manner was to reserve as they would all be built before they were readily available at dealers lots. Either you reserve, or you wait. With this information people quite sensibly made reservations with dealers that gave them the best mix of convenience and price as, per Ford's explanation of the reservation program it did not matter where you ordered, you were in one big line (again, minor bumps in order aside)
A few months later, although Ford never let the reservation holders know, was just puzzled out from dealers and those in the know in this forum; Ford added allocations for the 2021, thus changing the rules unilaterally and without official notification to anyone but the dealers. Now you were no longer in a big line based on timestamp, but you were in one of 3200 or so lines at individual dealerships, your timestamp was only measured against those at that particular dealer. There was much grumbling, but because of the second core promise, that they would still finish yours before dealer stock, it was not too bad, all indications were that everyone would still get built before Summer 2022, even if some early reservations were filled after later ones depending on the dealer. In between these events, Ford started giving dealers VIP builds (about 3100 of them as I recall) to give to anyone who they liked, or would give them the most ADM, or for no reason at all. Then an undisclosed number of VIP builds to people that Ford likes better than you.
As to how Ford decided to allocate Bronco's in 2021....It was a secret formula that took (per dealers) the amount of reservations at each dealer into account as a factor. Seemed reasonable enough. Based on the totality of the information (primarily knowing that the particular dealer did not matter hugely as you were going to get a Bronco before they flooded the lots with them), people ordered with their preferred dealer. (and Ford touted that many times in their website, you go to choose your 'preferred dealer')
Roof delays, bad designs, shipping problems, all these things happen, people get it, they are frustrated but generally give Ford some slack.
Fast forward to Fall, 2021;
Time to reorder for 2022. The new allocation formula is unknown at this time, but how different can it be? The Ford reservation website has added (between last order time and this one) that your build time may be impacted by the number of trucks your dealer gets (allocations), but it still, big as life, says reservations will be built before dealer stock. Nobody here is stupid, they understand that some will be built as dealer stock, but they believe Ford and know that the only way to get Bronco is to keep that reservation. They reorder at their preferred dealer, just like last time.
After the order banks open, Ford changes to the new allocation system. It does NOT take into account the number of reservations at each dealer. Let that sink in... Ford does not consider the number of reservation holders at a dealer important enough to let it influence how many trucks that dealer gets.
People start to realized that some dealers will get all their reservations filled (larger dealers appear to have a significant edge) and then will be getting dealer stock filled, with all the tasty constrained items as time goes on, while the smaller dealers, Granger in particular, with something in excess of 1100 hard core Bronco fans who made the mistake of believing Ford's word, would have people waiting for four and five YEARS based on extrapolating the allocations given to date.
There is a huge uproar, Ford's response, through Levine is to tell people to give up the reservation and make a new order at a dealer who will get allocations or transfer the order to a dealer that will get allocations and he very snottily sneered via Twitter that Ford couldn't be expected to actually fulfill those promises to the reservation holders about timestamps because it wasn't fair to the dealers who sold more Ford's in the past (slightly paraphrased) First, the dealers won't tell you the allocations numbers, or how many folks are in time with what timestamp at that dealer, so you would have to jump in blind. Second, Ford has (near as we can tell from the threads here) not allowed any transfers of a converted reservation (an order), and giving up a reservation loses the price protections and any spot in line at a new dealer except at the end. Hardly what someone who has been in a line for over 500 days likes to contemplate.
Short verision;
So, Ford changes the rules after the reservation system generated 190K reservations (my, didn't they enjoy the free publicity though), then changed them again after ordering in March of last year (not so much the change was then, as the subtle legalese in the website), then after re-ordering time this Fall, changed the rules again, cutting out the converted reservation orders completely from their formula on where to send Bronco's. Mocking people for believing them in the first place, telling them to move orders (then not allowing them to do so), telling them to ditch the reservation and just reorder (again, most folks have been reserved and believed they were in a real line for 500 plus days). With the allocation formula as it stands now, some big dealers will have lots full of cars with MIC tops, lux packages, two door units, etc. by the end of the year while some people who reserved and followed the rules will, literally, wait four years to get serviced.
The above is why people are pissed, they don't like standing in line for 500 days and then having the line closed while Ford mocks them for being stupid enough to stand in it.
The Ford apologists never seem to get around to explaining why it is our fault for believing Ford instead of Ford's for changing the rules whenever it suits them (some call that lying and cheating).
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