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- Feb 21, 2020
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- Your Bronco Model
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@Drex, Amazing, articulate and professionally written, thank you!Your assertion (after editing out the not relative bits in your post above) is that you believe Ford was vindictive against Granger (as well as saying Granger, being a dealer, did not know the timeline would be so long, mitigating your assertion that they should have 'known better') for adding the October special when the Allocations were added. (and we can all stipulate the allocations were a surprise to everyone, especially the end consumer, so that Granger reacted to Ford's change in a predictable manner)
Now, and I am not trying to be facetious, just trying to gain a different perspective; From a non-dealer perspective, all dealers (and I will henceforth use Granger for ease of example) qualified to get exactly zero Bronco units for sale on their own for 2021. That is to say, the end consumer picked the dealer based on what Ford had stated in their written terms and conditions. Price, location, service, the color of the drapes, whatever they consider to be the best mix of terms, it makes no difference. The end user picked where the reservation went. This is not a case of dealerships putting in 1300 orders on their own, these were sold units that Ford had presented via written terms of the reservation system to be filled in order and before dealer stock. The dealers were not allowed to put in orders without a reservation and to my understanding, they could not refuse them. If that is the case, the argument for any dealer taking on 'too many' reservations evaporates. (again, this is from a non-dealer perspective)
Now, as we all know Ford added allocations and (after 2022 order banks opened) changed them to ignore reservations completely when setting the number of units a dealer gets.
Here is the thing; Ford never notified us that they were adding allocations, what the allocations did, or that they were suspending the all reservations filled before dealer stock after 2021MY. They quietly updated the terms and conditions on the reservation page to add cutesy phrases like "depending on how many your dealer gets" and "all 2021 models will be built before dealer stock" I don't know about you, but I have never felt the need to go back to a webpage to see if the terms and conditions changed after I bought and received a product. The reservation was completed when I ordered. That would be 3/11/21. At that point it was known (though outside research via this site) that there were allocations that took reservations into account to a small degree, there have to be a great many people who still believed Ford was building in order of timestamp. In any event... my reservation was completed, I fulfilled my obligations to Ford with the $100 payment (what they do with it is not my concern) and my personal information, the terms, even though I was never properly notified, I understood them to (accurately at the time) include my order being completed before appreciable dealer stock. (and the supply chain problems did not precipitate Fords decision to unilaterally change the terms.)
Now, after my reservation was completed when I ordered, Ford goes back and changes the all reservations before dealer stock to the moot point of all 2021 reservations before dealer stock. They have altered my paid for and completed reservation terms retroactively. The changed the reservation system to ignore the number of reservations at the respective dealers, thus completely destroying the basic premise of their reservation system (which was FIFO)
Not a bitch-fest here, just laying out the facts on what Ford has chosen to do. If it is unflattering to Ford, blame them, not the messengers.
My cardinal sin was to pick my preferred dealer who made the same mistake I did, they trusted Ford to be an ethical company that would stand behind their word and not hide behind the legalese fine print that allowed them to utterly destroy the reservation system, tweak by tweak.
Granger and their customers did not 'game' any system. It was without question the basic tenet of the touted reservation system that each reservation carried it's own allocation with the timestamp being the priority code. If Ford wanted to limit the terms of that reservation system to half a years production, they should have limited reservations to something less than double the best case production scenario seeing that they keep claiming that they expected a 70% conversion rate.
Ford set the terms, Dealerships and people reacted predictably and reasonably to them. Ford decided they did not like the results of the 'game' and upended the table with all the pieces on it. That is not anyone's fault but Ford.
That is the layman's view of the situation. Ford has no idea how many people will never even consider a Ford product in the future. Being felt manipulated and lied to by a company is not an awesome advertising campaign for future business.
While Ford may not 'be after' the little dealer, they are helping 'the big' dealer, so the effect on a zero sum, production limited, game is the same. Can't have one without the other. Again, from our perspective, Ford promised a clean and even game, level playing field for everyone, then changed it after the fact.
This last paragraph above really is the crux of it; Went from the final consumer picking the deal that worked best for them and not being penalized as it was in one big line (pre-allocations), nothing could be more fair to the final consumer, to Ford changing it up to favor Ford's preferred dealers and not even considering the people who made the reservations so long ago is offensive and disrespectful in the extreme.
Whether you agree or not with the near universal sentiment about the situation, Ford chose to do what they did and people feel they are righteously pissed off about it. For anyone, especially a dealer (who may or may not have benefited from what most everyone else sees as a betrayal) to come and opine that they should have known better to trust Ford or their dealer, or that their complaints are not true or valid is going to stroke up a lot of resentment and anger. Ford ignores our pain and complaints, why do you chose to do the same by blaming dealers and their customers that Ford threw under the bus? (by your admission, you believe Ford acted intentionally against Granger and, by extension, other small dealers instead of keeping the level playing field that people signed up for under the reservation system)
Sadly, I did not keep the even keel I had envisioned when starting this post, rest assured, it was not meant to be a personal attack against you. Dredging the situation up has angered up the blood, it is a wound that Ford keeps tearing open each and every day they go down the path they have chosen. Raw.
This is the damage that Ford is doing to its brand (and dealers such as yourself who seem to be decent folks), they do it every second of every day. They will do it with the Lightning, the Maverick, et al.
I truly wish you luck with them in the future. The damage to the ethical reputation of Ford is real and it will linger for a long time to come.
edit; spelling and a few verb tense changes.
It would be outstanding if everybody would send this to their favorite automotive website, magazine or news organization and ask them to write a story about Ford's END customer approach. It will be interesting to see when Ford starts pulling this crap on the F-150 Lighting and Maverick buyers.
I have not owned a Ford in over 20 years, if I do follow through with a Bronco purchase, it will be the last Ford I ever buy.
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