CarID Bait-N-Switch Scam

[jsphlynch]

Agree, if they deleted them form your trick via manufacture date. Etc. then what do you have to complain about? I asked about them and my dealer added them no charge, good for me, but if they won’t and it wasn’t included why do you feel owed? It’s an add on at that point, no?

I brought it up to my sales guy. He took a peak in a beds of a few other trucks and since only a couple had the middle tie-downs he concluded that it must be a "select model" thing. That evening is when I found the information (via this forum!) that it was a mid-year manufacturing change. Given how the dealership has treated me, I'm certain that if I had pushed it they would have given me the tie-downs, but goodwill goes both ways. I saw no reason to annoy these guys over ~$30 in parts, especially when I might need to ask favors of them in the future.

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[VAMike]

i have yet to use my two middle tie downs, and that must make some members here groan in anger

honestly, I use them more than the other 4

 

[t4thfavor]

I just ordered all of mine at the end of May (5/18 order, 5/27 pickup):

Hooks: $7.19/ea
Bolts: $5.10/ea

Total: $34.78 + tax.

It's crazy that the bolts were almost 50% more per tie-down than the hooks themselves.

The hooks are showing significantly more expensive right now though, $36.75/ea, but the bolts are the same price.

I am guessing it's actually a longer manufacturing pricess for the bolts than it is the actual squiggly piece of steel.

That said I have the best story that explains why something that was 6$ is now 26$.

We have a 2011 Edge Sport with the fance 22" forged aluminum wheels.

We live in Michigan where the roads thirst for Aluminum...

About 2-3 times I've had to change a tire because the wife had run into one of the hungriest potholes in the area, and cracked a wheel (Inside lip).

No problems, I check with Ford, for the 22" forged black on chrome wheel it's 500$. (Thats a no from Me Alex).

Detroit wheel and tire welds it up and trues the wheel for 90$. It's perfectly repaired, you can't even tell.

Second time was about 2 years later. I figure "Probably a good idea to swoop up some used ones just in case".

Check Ford again, because I couldn't remember what they cost, (I'd have paid the 500$ this time).

Fords price 2600$ per wheel (Still a no from Me Alex). About 6 months later for giggles, I check again, and they are 1500$ per wheel. I've never seen them back to 500 or lower since, and the used market is entirely dry.

So my "Guess" is that as they run down inventory on hand, the price rises until they get to a level where they have to order a big shipment from the manufacturer. The price hike is to allow people to buy them that really need them while not depleting their inventory that they use to screw insurance companies with.

At least that's what I took it as.

 

[t4thfavor]

the suppliers in my industry do the same.

tons of stock = cheap prices to move stock
no stock =high prices to retain stock.
you cant win unless the supply chain is flowing well.

TBH though, im not sure why there isnt a third party vendor pumping out aftermarket tie downs at this point.
i would pay for machined and anodozed versions in a heartbeat.

any home machinists with a mill going to take on this challenge?

I'll even consider taking my six old ones to the dealer at night and installing them as a surprise for a new owner.

I have a manual machine shop, and I can say a machined part like this would cost a shitload

It needs machining, and heat treat to be effective. I'd say you could probably do pretty well (stronger and cheaper) with some mild steel a torch and a hammer. Drill some holes, heat treat, and you're done.

 

[Michael Bailey]

A little back story for you. My 2020 Ranger Lariat only came with four bed tie-downs. Wanting to add another pair since the bed has provisions for it I went searching for the parts. I was astounded when I found them as being priced at $26 or more. Not really wanting to pay that much for them, especially when just a few short months ago they had been under $6.00 at the dealer. So I went a spelunking for them to find the best deal where I located them as advertised for $9.47 each. Still rather high for what they are, but hey, it's cheaper than $26+ right? So I ordered a pair of them and went about my day. A few days pass and I receive this email from CarID...

They claim that these tie-down bars, that are nothing more than a piece of bar stock with 4 bends and a couple holes in them should be a whopping $46.42 EACH!!! They actually wanted me to pay an additional $73.36 for these things. This is despite the fact that their website at the time and still at the time of posting has them clearly marked at $9.74!!!

https://www.carid.com/ford-oe/rear-tie-down-hook-mpn-kb3z21550a74a.html?singleid=2549880968

So I called in and spent close to 45 minutes on the phone with them attempting to get the phone rep to understand the concept of Bait-n-Switch as well as getting a supervisor or manager on the phone about the issue. The rep after placing me on the third lengthy hold claiming she spoke with a supervisor instead of escalating the call as I had requested no less than 5 times, stated that they looked into the available margin for these and would not be able to sell them at the clearly marked price. She then proceeded to ask me if I was willing to pay additional $52.45 as they are priced at $35.96 each. Not the $9.74 as marked OR the $46.42 that was stated in the email.. As far as I can tell they are simply pulling random dollar amounts out of their collective butts and hope that people will just say sure while they drool on themselves after expending the minuscule available mental faculties to determine if said item is worth the additional money.

Needless to say I told the rep what I though of that and where they could collectively stuff it and canceled the order as well as contesting the charge on my CC as well.

I guess I'll pull one of my other tie-down bars off and see if I can find something that matches the bolt hole distance at the local hardware store, Or make a pair of them out of some bar stock, a bench-vice, and a drill...

Seems these would be easy to make with either some 3/8" or 5/16" bar stock, right? You would probably rip out the side of the bed before you broke your new brackets.

 

[Toytec]

And today's buy it now price on ebay 90 bucks shipped!

 

[P. A. Schilke]

And today's buy it now price on ebay 90 bucks shipped!

Hi John,

Is this the gold plated optional tie down? Maybe time to go to the shop and make a few as I am getting low on Pacifico beer and could use a few $ for a beer run...

Good Grief!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

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