Is Ford Service really this bad?!

[HOSSMAN]

This is one of the poor qualities of the human race. We (humans) are very quick to complain about things, and rarely spend the time to say anything nice.
In general, the things you hear about any company that deals with the general public (Ford, Verizon, Comcast, your power company) are all negative, because we love hitting the keyboards when we are mad. Do people take the time to start a thread online and post about something good their power company did for them? rarely.

So before assuming Ford service is "the worst" because you only hear horror stories, remember you are only hearing one side of a much bigger story.

And P.S. The Ford ESP does have rental reimbursement if your car is in the shop for something warranty related.
If you did get a free-loaner from someplace in the past, it wasn't free.....you paid or it somewhere else along the way.

Sponsored

 

[flip]

Bitter? Not at all my friend, simply answering everyone as I said I would

Curious. In the last 3 years, has Ford somewhat or completely crushed any passion or love you have or had, for the job? Personally, this has been the most frustrating, demoralizing, light at the end of the tunnel extinguishing period I've had since I got into the business. It's not just one or two things either, it's everything. Just hope Bill gives Jim walking papers before the whole thing does an Oceangate Titan remix.

 

[CarGuy]

If you expect a 60k Ford to be perfect, dont ever buy a Mercedes, or even worse a Land Rover. Spend double the money get double the problems. At least youll get your loaner tho.

I currently own 4 Mercedes and the service is exceptional! MB treats you like a customer, whereas Ford considers you a burden.

 

[jacknifetoaswan]

I currently own 4 Mercedes and the service is exceptional! MB treats you like a customer, whereas Ford considers you a burden.

My wife has owned Mercedes, going back to 2010. With the exception of the dealer in Florida, the two we've dealt with in South Carolina (owned by the same mega group), and the one we dealt with in NJ were pretty awful. One SC dealer told her they wouldn't let her leave the facility with her leased GLK350 unless she paid $750 for a full brake change. When my coworker (whose son was one of the dealer service managers) called her son and told him about it, they comp'd the brake job. Nice, but not needed. The brakes were only about 18k old, and other than the famous C-series shuffle of the front brakes, they did not need anything other than some spirited driving to clean off the high spots on the rotors. They also told her that her current C300 was unsafe to drive because the tires were too worn, despite them having even wear and being well above the wear bars.

But, they had a deal going on tires that week, so...

Another time, she had a fault in the airbag module, and we were at the beach. The car wouldn't start, and when we called them (it was a weekday), they told us to leave the vehicle and find another way home, and they'd get it when they could. No estimate on time. No offer of a loaner, or even someone to come pick us up. This was a car that was less than two years old, at the time.

On the other hand, when we lived in Florida, some warranty work that was done left a pulley on the front of the engine a little funky. It shredded the drive belt. That dealership sent a tow immediately, and also had an employee drive out a loaner to the shopping center we happened to be waiting at.

This is one of the poor qualities of the human race. We (humans) are very quick to complain about things, and rarely spend the time to say anything nice.
In general, the things you hear about any company that deals with the general public (Ford, Verizon, Comcast, your power company) are all negative, because we love hitting the keyboards when we are mad. Do people take the time to start a thread online and post about something good their power company did for them? rarely.

So before assuming Ford service is "the worst" because you only hear horror stories, remember you are only hearing one side of a much bigger story.

And P.S. The Ford ESP does have rental reimbursement if your car is in the shop for something warranty related.
If you did get a free-loaner from someplace in the past, it wasn't free.....you paid or it somewhere else along the way.

Sure, but I think that experience is learned. Once we've dealt with enough bullshit from the same common group of people, we get frustrated. Personally, I am complaining about the wrongs that a certain Ford dealership did me. The funny thing is that if you were to read my first Yelp review of this dealership, it was overwhelmingly positive, because the sales experience was great. It's the subsequent service experiences that dragged it down, exponentially.

But sure, a bunch of people saying that they've also had issues with dealership service must only be oNe SiDe Of ThE sToRy.

JR

 

[HOSSMAN]

Curious. In the last 3 years, has Ford somewhat or completely crushed any passion or love you have or had, for the job? Personally, this has been the most frustrating, demoralizing, light at the end of the tunnel extinguishing period I've had since I got into the business. It's not just one or two things either, it's everything. Just hope Bill gives Jim walking papers before the whole thing does an Oceangate Titan remix.

It's definately been trying. I still tackle each day as positive as I can and realize that ...

#1. Most people want something for free or a discount
#2. They can yell, scream and throw tantrums, but they can't eat you.
#3. No matter how much you do for most, it isn't enough but as long as I know I've done your best I can sleep at night
#4. On the note of sleep...there is none lol
#5. No matter how much money you put up, next month the demand for more will be there.
#6. This is a thankless job, you have to know that going in.
#7. I dream of buying my sportfish and retiring in Costa Rica and changing my name to Tito and getting the hell outta here by 62...I have 15 years....if I last that long.

I could go on but....

The one or two thank you's I do get wipe out all that crap and keeps me going another day because there are some good people and awesome customers out there.

 

[flip]

It's definately been trying. I still tackle each day as positive as I can and realize that ...

#1. Most people want something for free or a discount
#2. They can yell, scream and throw tantrums, but they can't eat you.
#3. No matter how much you do for most, it isn't enough but as long as I know I've done your best I can sleep at night
#4. On the note of sleep...there is none lol
#5. No matter how much money you put up, next month the demand for more will be there.
#6. This is a thankless job, you have to know that going in.
#7. I dream of buying my sportfish and retiring in Costa Rica and changing my name to Tito and getting the hell outta here by 62...I have 15 years....if I last that long.

I could go on but....

The one or two thank you's I do get wipe out all that crap and keeps me going another day because there are some good people and awesome customers out there.

Amen.

 

[holdentx]

But sure, a bunch of people saying that they've also had issues with dealership service must only be oNe SiDe Of ThE sToRy.

JR

I'm not telling anyone that dealership service is the best, or you should be happy. But this is exactly what I meant earlier when I say we generally only hear from mad people when talking about a company that provides a service.
I'd challenge you to tell me some more details about the "bunch of people" you have heard from, and then tell me how that statistically stacks up with the 10,000+ people who have their Ford serviced each day across the country. I could use the same data and tell you that only a very small percentage of people have a bad experience.
(but I wouldn't do that because the data isn't trustworthy)

Just like any franchise, there are probably some that suck, and some that go above & beyond.
Just like on the sales side, there was a list of dealers who screw'd us over with mark-ups, and some who stuck to MSRP to make the customer happy.

 

[Cable Guy]

I had a check engine light come on briefly (I found an unplugged sensor and fixed it). When I called several dealerships the soonest I could get an appointment was August 8th a full month….

 

[Heavy_GD]

My first car 40+ years ago was a Ford but this is my first one since.

 

[Ft. Worth Rob]

While I’m not a fan, this whole thread is a great reason for Ford and other manufacturers to go all electric ASAP.

 

[Ducati1098]

While I’m not a fan, this whole thread is a great reason for Ford and other manufacturers to go all electric ASAP.

What does all electric have to do with dealership service?

 

[DetroitChris]

While I’m not a fan, this whole thread is a great reason for Ford and other manufacturers to go all electric ASAP.

Sounds like a great idea. Since they already can’t fix cars that they should already know how to repair you expect them to be able to service cars that they probably know absolutely nothing about. Excellent idea.

 

[Ft. Worth Rob]

Far fewer moving parts. That should translate to less technicians needed at dealers that apparently can’t be found or attracted to the business. Less parts to be back ordered.

 

[Ducati1098]

Far fewer moving parts. That should translate to less technicians needed at dealers that apparently can’t be found or attracted to the business. Less parts to be back ordered.

Fewer moving parts doesn’t equal less failures or less parts backordered. Look at the Ford electric vehicles out now. Mach-E and lightnings have just as many failures and backordered parts as any other vehicle. The only main difference is less mechanical failures and more electrical and software failures.

If anything, all electric will make it worse. Less qualified people will know how to fix them equaling even longer service wait times.

 

[JimmyG]

I know this isn't inline with the original topic, but I had awesome service today at Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor, MI.

They came and picked up my Bronco at 8:30. Drove it back to the shop, changed oil (6 qts), rotated tires, washed it and did the 1000 point inspection (joke). Then they dropped it back off at 11am today.

I had GREAT service and usually do with this dealer. I'm glad they don't suck like some of these places.

Sponsored