Ford Lost a Loyal Customer

I guess you could say Ford won the battle since I decided to not spend the next few months with legal action. They responded a few weeks late to the previous letter and have yet to respond to the most recent. Regardless of how they acted during the bailouts, I cannot support a company that shows no concern for customers and shareholders. I sold all my Ford stock and now have a Chevy. I should thank Ford I suppose, I have a truck with essentially the same capabilities, but it rides smoother, quieter, and is over 30% more efficient. I will continue to share more of Ford's ridiculous customer service that I experienced so all can see how they handle customer issues.

No News on the F450

Still no news on the F-450. I realized this weekend after reading a complaint from a Ford dealership regarding Ford's advertising of non-Ford collision centers, that perhaps dealerships also feel some of Ford Motor Company's poor customer service. So, I decided that I would give the dealership with the largest piece of history on the vehicle a chance to respond and potentially save some customer relationships.

The letter was delivered to the general manager today which included a cover letter with a brief history and the letter delivered to Ford. Time will tell if Ford or its dealerships will take ownership of the issues and stand by their products.

2011 Ford F450 Engine Surging Follow-up

I wanted to follow up with my Ford Super Duty engine surging. I was fortunate enough (sarcasm for those that do not know me) to have my truck at the dealership for over 30 days. Ford Motor Company regional customer service provided regular updates (weekly or more) for the first few weeks. After that, silence. Nothing from Arrow Ford of Abilene, no response from the customer service rep assigned to my case by Ford Motor Company. No response at all, not to multiple emails, not to phone calls and now not to my most recent letter.

After two weeks of silence, I finally received a call from Arrow Ford that they performed some tests, including 'wiggle tests' (which is a legitimate test) and it was no longer showing symptoms of the issue. That was the extent of the closure I received from Ford Motor Company aside from a phone survey to see how satisfied I was with my customer service experience (not very good I will say).

So, I had my truck picked up by family since I was out of the area as I cannot sit still for a month because my vehicle is not working and Ford factory trained technicians cannot figure it out. I was hopeful and made room in my schedule to go pick it up a couple weeks later. And not surprisingly, it was not fixed.

I wrote Ford a letter and asked that they respond within 15 days. It has been 21 now and silence (which is what Katie thought would happen). I'm done with this truck and simply want Ford to stand by their product and guarantee private party, good condition on a trade since they have not been able to identify the issue after two months of time and I cannot in good conscience sell a truck with an engine surging because of the safety hazards.

I'm hoping Ford will come around, but the clock is ticking towards seeking alternative actions available to protect consumers that I have been hoping to avoid.

I expect that I will provide frequent updates, in the mean time, here's what my truck likes to do when it's running, including when parking and stopped (imagine someone stepping on the gas when you are on the brake, that's what it is like). I have lots of videos since this issue started, but Ford dealerships seem to have trouble experiencing the issue that I have every time I drive this thing.

#fordprobs

I have been trying to remain patient with Ford Motor Company​ regarding my 2011 F-450. But, Ford's customer service is not making it easy.

Background: The truck started surging when idling back in February. The surging is random, sometimes in excess of 500 RPMs and occurs regardless of the position of the transmission (park, neutral, drive, reverse). That means when you're sitting at a stop light or idling into a parking spot, the truck jumps. Not exactly the safest experience I've had with any of my Ford Trucks​.

I have taken the truck multiple times to multiple dealerships (including Arrow Ford​ and Henderson Ford​.) The first 'diagnosis' was a fan clutch. So, after replacing it, no resolution. Continued worsening and the fan clutch actually went out a few months later. I believe this was mostly due to replacing a perfectly good fan clutch. Although, it is possible that the excessive stress from the engine surging could potentially cause it to fail.

So, after enough irritation and a failed attempt to contact Ford's online customer service request, I wrote a letter to the company in July. August I received a reply that Ford Motor Company would provide technical assistance to Arrow Ford​. So, I dropped it off September 5th. I received one update from the dealership the first week saying they had it in the system and would get to it later in the week. It's been silence from Arrow Ford since then.

I was getting routine updates from the Ford Regional Customer Representative assigned to my case. But, that stopped two weeks ago when I was told that the dealership believed they had an idea what it might be, but had to get it to replicate the symptoms. Now, after multiple voice mails, messages, and emails to both the dealership and the regional CS Rep, silence.

The best part of this is that Ford Motor Company's first response was that the dealerships are not associated with Ford, as they are franchises. This was the same response I heard a few years ago when I complained about another dealership's service department. Meanwhile, the manual says you should take it to Ford Factory Certified Technicians. And, the dealerships bear the Blue Oval and boast of their FORD FACTORY CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS.

If I don't receive response soon, I'll give Mark Fields (businessman)​ one last chance to save a customer. And to answer the obvious question, I dislike the other two competitors so much I've let it get to this point.

Here's one example...



#fordprobs