Gillespie Ford charges 10 grand in dealer hardship fees?!

[stonerdoom]

I’ll check and see what it is. I got a message from Mike Levine asking for my vehicle and dealer information, but he also said ‘negative reviews will make this harder to resolve’. Lol

I won't do anything to wreck the progress you've made here with this news because this is about you getting your truck. But him saying that pisses me off even more because that shows that he knows we have power. What a douche. (I'm never getting a Bronco now LOL)

Honor your rez holders, Ford. This isn't hard math. Honor. Your. Rez. Holders.

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[stonerdoom]

Last time I said anything similar to that I was chastised on here, but seriously it only takes one person to snap with everything going on in the world. Smh

I work in an ER. It's going to happen. I see it everyday. You have no idea. The current conditions are going to break many (if they haven't already) if there is not a reprieve soon.

 

[RedDawg]

I’ll check and see what it is. I got a message from Mike Levine asking for my vehicle and dealer information, but he also said ‘negative reviews will make this harder to resolve’. Lol

Just imagine how hard it will be if it goes viral in the Twitterverse.

 

[Chrome_Pony]

Last time I said anything similar to that I was chastised on here, but seriously it only takes one person to snap with everything going on in the world. Smh

Certainly not advocating for it, but if the past few years have shown anything, its that shitbaggery doesn't seem to have consequences anymore.

 

[RedDawg]

I’ll check and see what it is. I got a message from Mike Levine asking for my vehicle and dealer information, but he also said ‘negative reviews will make this harder to resolve’. Lol

Mike's job is public relations for Ford. He does not want the dealerships giving Ford bad press. It's his job. So he's going to tell us not to raise a stink, because it'll only make it harder to resolve.

It's easy to resolve: SELL US OUR RESERVATIONS AT MSRP....easy.

@Ford Motor Company knows the negative impact that when this bait and switch tactic, some of their dealers are using goes viral, they'll need to publicly address it.
Tweets, tagging everybody and their brother, will be more effective than Google or Yelp reviews. If there is enough noise on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Ford will have to address it.
And the dealers, news stations, and car web sites have Twitter accounts too

 

[kodiakisland]

I’ll check and see what it is. I got a message from Mike Levine asking for my vehicle and dealer information, but he also said ‘negative reviews will make this harder to resolve’. Lol

I’d remind him those negative reviews are a direct result of Ford allowing dealers to do this to reservation holders in the first place. This falls squarely on Ford. I can’t tell you how much I despise them because of the Bronco. It should not have happened this way.

Stop blaming the customer who placed an order in good faith more than a year ago. Ford needs to show some integrity and do something about this. It is well within their power to and should be painfully obvious it’s a systemic problem. Ford and Levine knows this is going on regularly and should not have to be called out every single time it happens.

 

[gryphon1231]

So I called my dealer this morning to let them know I received my window sticker, the blend date was on the fifth, so it should be showing up fairly soon. After a few horror stories I wanted to make sure there were no surprises. I was told that even though I’ve been waiting for a year and had a ‘locked in’ price, there may be ‘dealer hardship’ fees. Wtf?? Has anyone else dealt with this? Is there any recourse?

Ford dealership definition of "locked in"- an undetermined price we know you'll refuse to pay when your Bronco is finally ready so we can sell your Bronco to someone else with out a reservation at huge markup. Why, because Ford doesn't give a shit!

 

[CJW0314]

It was never turned into an actual rez with them. When I did it on day 2 officially, my default was Antioch/Kunes. I did that because we have a family friend there and he was like "I got you". Well, clearly my Dad's drinking buddy ain't that good of a friend because I was ignored with the first go around of orders so I bumped to Granger. Bill at Napleton said you need to do the official online rez to get your truck but at that point I just stood silent with them. Well, we know how well things are going at Granger (no fault of theirs) so in talking with Zach he said no hard feeling if you need to bump and Mr. Levine said switch if you don't like our policies and going back on our word.

My switch request was in November 2021...nada from Ford. No approval. During that time I re-visited all the Northern IL dealers and I am still on a course of antibiotics after that tour. Jesus Christ that sucked. Napleton would not commit to MSRP but the guy took 15 minutes to give me a straight answer. Only Arlington Ford said verbally they would do MSRP but they were really shifty about it.. I said will you sign a written sales agreement and the guy (who had 2 other "sales managers" sitting around me at this point- I felt like I was about to get whacked by the mob) and he was like your purchase slip is your agreement (yeah BS). And unfortunately (or fortunately) there were no Broncos on their lot to see if they were tacking on hardship fees. They denied any knowledge of allocations as all dealers I spoke to did. But alas, I never got the switch approved. I guess I ride and die with Granger. I am not mad at that because that shop is special but I am driving a 2004 Sport Trac that is about to take a shit and die. I need a new truck.

Just curious, did you ever go to Golf Mill Ford in Niles? I reserved through them, and have had nothing but great interactions in dealing with them. It’s been straight forward, no BS. I have purchased in the past from Kunes, Galespie and Napleton and understand your frustration at all three.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

I’ll check and see what it is. I got a message from Mike Levine asking for my vehicle and dealer information, but he also said ‘negative reviews will make this harder to resolve’. Lol

This good news. Hopefully he can help you.

 

[DaveH]

Dealerships are making record profits in 2021 by a huge margin. A hardship fee is complete BS.
https://www.autonews.com/retail/why-average-dealership-profits-are-setting-new-records

 

[DaveH]

I just

pinged Mike Levine and Farley on Twitter -

Tweets need to be public to have much effect.

 

[K0Y0TE1]

Certainly not advocating for it, but if the past few years have shown anything, its that shitbaggery doesn't seem to have consequences anymore.

Isn’t that the sad truth! It’s disappointing to see the rate at which we’re devolving into total shitshow..

 

[Blitzjb]

Tell them the media and attorney general loves these stories

 

[Vigor]

Certainly not advocating for it, but if the past few years have shown anything, its that shitbaggery doesn't seem to have consequences anymore.

I hear you. But also slightly disagree that there are no consequences. It seems cancel culture (apologies if thats triggering for some) has risen up as a tool to directly combat shitbaggery. Court of public opinion fueled by the power of the internet

 

[Cbiggs]

Unfortunately, that’s what I have from the new guy (the other guy handling the Broncos quit and this fine fellow took over), and it’s not signed because I took him at his word. When I left the dealer a few minutes ago, I was told verbally by the sales manager that there would be a ten grand markup, and if I didn’t like it to find another dealer.

Just refreshing the memories today that we‘re talking about a $10k ‘dealer hardship’ on top of the $35k MSRP.
‘locked in’ from the dealer via text is a meeting of the minds in my opinion. Others will disagree, OP but I’m happy to see that your story is still getting the attention it deserves.

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