What happened to customer care and quality service?

[MountainGoat]

Friday and others have noted dealer tire rotation. To those that have someone other than themselves rotate their tires, suggest taking your truck's lug wrench to seen if it will fit over the lug nuts. Showing a significant lack of common sense, Ford has chosen to cover their wheel lug nuts with an Aluminum or soft metal cover. An impact wrench will quickly distort this soft metal to the point a socket or your lug wrench will not fit the lug nut. Just hope you don't have a flat and need to change a tire. What the hell are they thinking.

Yep another thing I had to "fix" on a brand new truck. At least I have black lugs to match my sport rims now.

I only took it to the dealer once for tire rotation, because that is a pain to do at home. BUT! the dealer only did front to back rotation. I figured they would do an X pattern. I can do front to back easily in my driveway. So even that I am doing myself now. And to the highfalutin folks in this thread, no I DO NOT have anything better to do with my time.

Sponsored

 

[kendive]

1. I recently (10 days ago) took my 2019 to the dealer for a 'routine' oil change and tire rotation, prior to a long weekend road trip with my wife. During the trip I noticed a slow rattle in the front end when turning left. I discovered the cover over the oil filter was not replaced correctly and the holes in the cover for the clips were torn open.
   • I bought the truck with 7000 miles on it. It now has about 64,000 miles. I have ALWAYS taken it to the dealer for service and have NEVER accessed the cover over the filter myself. So I KNOW a technician, at one time, pulled the cover off rather than removing the clips. And most recently neglected to replace the cover correctly.
2. The oil change prior to this one, my truck was returned to me with a LARGE scrape and dent on the driver's side of the truck. Needless to say I was P!$$ED. This resulted in the dealership footing the bill for body repair.

These were 2 incidents in a row where the dealership was negligent. I get it, times are tough, with post-pandemic and all, and finding good help is difficult. But come on! The pandemic excuse is not valid anymore. If a dealer wants to excel, right now is the time to increase revenue by providing over-the-top service. People would be lining up at the door. (Though I wouldn't be one of them.)

I shouldn't need to take precautionary measures to ensure everything is in good shape after service is performed.

As a matter of fact, at the last oil change I purposely told the service tech the issue I experienced the last time I came in and the body damage caused to my truck. I did this to try and get them to attend to the details. Well.... so much for that.

But alas..... my pre-paid oil changes are gone and I will be servicing the truck myself from now on. I'm not a service technician, but I KNOW I can provide a better quality result than what is out there right now.

Another reason I would not waist money on a ford ESP. I don't like going to the dealer unless I have too.

 

[RDJTX]

THIS!

you have got to find a place you can trust. I will not ever buy a car from anyone in Austin. The sales people around her just suck anymore. I will make the 3 hour drive to Abilene, dealer up there was awesome. But the quicklane that I go to has treated me and my vehicles very well. And have made good when they screw up which has been rare in the 20 years I have used them. Last time I had an apt with them I should have been in and out but they were running behind and the wait was like just over three hours And the new guy behind the counter didn’t tell me. I was peeved to say the least. when it was finally done he was going to charge me but on of the folks that knew me said she would get me and did a no charge on it.

another reason I always take it to the dealer for maintenance is that they have a record of everything done. So there is no doubt about it getting done and by who.

I've got a pretty good dealer and techs.
They may not be perfect, but they have done me right many times.

If you're unhappy with yours, there's avenues to take to make complaints.
R5G isn't one of them to get results, but it does give you an opportunity to vent and feel better

I do dealer maintenance 100%, not because I'm incapable, its just that I have better things to do with my time.

 

[9zero1790]

i hate to say it but sounds like typical ford dealer service these days. someone told me the bigger the dealer the worse the service will be. idk if that is true but i know it costs a lot to keep the big flashy places open. in this climate id guess cutting corners on staff from best to marginal is going on a lot.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Ha.

We all have dealer horror stories...

My latest is they dropped my entire set of skid plates to drain the oil and it took them ~40 minutes to get them back on. And that included me going out and walking them through the process... Ohh, and they failed to install 2 bolts that thread into speed clips, so I had to order a new set of those... ?

Yay dealerships.

I am missing 2 bolts on my ARB skids from my recent oil change. I had other issues and I left a bad review with Ford. The service manager called me but, because I have a job, I couldn't answer. I left him a voicemail and never heard back again. Ford asked if the dealer contacted me and I said 'yes, but they never followed up again'. I guess that was enough to settle the issue with Ford. Its getting harder and harder to justify having the dealer change the oil.



As for the OP's questions; COVID had a lot to do with it. I'm tired of blaming COVID as much as the next guy, but when you pay people more to sit at home than you do to work, it becomes a desire to maintain that lifestyle. Getting people back to work has been a difficult task. Also, the younger generation in the workforce views employment as a nuisance. And the employee (EE)/employer (ER) dynamic has changed. An ER can't hold an EE accountable anymore because the EE will just quit and find a new job. And because ERs are struggling to stay staffed, the EE doesn't really have a problem finding work. I worked for DIRECTV and they had to amend their attendance policy because people would call off work and, if they got in trouble for that, would *literally* (and I mean it in the correct use of the word) quit on the spot and look for a new job.


If you ask any manager, their most difficult task is getting and keeping EEs. The younger generation has no qualms about leaving a job if they think they've been slighted. I'm not old, I don't think, at 38 years old, but my work ethic is significantly different than those just a few years younger than I am.

I was at a Best Buy and a friend and the Best Buy Employee (BBE) had a disagreement. The BBE was being a punk and throwing some serious attitude at us. Things like:
Me: Can you pull out that GoPro so I can take a look at it?
BBE: It looks the same outside the case as it does inside the case. (He was not joking)

So my buddy, who is in his mid-40s at the time, says "wow, you're really looking to get punched" (yes, that was stupid, but any sane person would know it was attitude back, not a legitimate threat) and the BBE started shaking and called his manager over the walkie talkie to tell him that we were physically threatening him and he didn't need to feel unsafe at his job. We talked to the manager, after we sent BBE away and smoothed things over, but let the manager know that, if BBE was going to be a punk ass, then he was going to need to be able to take it in return. The Manager agreed with us but also said he couldn't actually do anything to discipline the BBE.

So... to summarize: COVID and paying people not to work, and a generation raised to believe that they are 'special' and above any semblance of real work.

Thank you for listening to my ramblings. I'm going to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn.

 

[Cmar]

Why do cats do that - ours does it too. Knowing cats, probably because they can.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

I am missing 2 bolts on my ARB skids from my recent oil change. I had other issues and I left a bad review with Ford. The service manager called me but, because I have a job, I couldn't answer. I left him a voicemail and never heard back again. Ford asked if the dealer contacted me and I said 'yes, but they never followed up again'. I guess that was enough to settle the issue with Ford. Its getting harder and harder to justify having the dealer change the oil.



As for the OP's questions; COVID had a lot to do with it. I'm tired of blaming COVID as much as the next guy, but when you pay people more to sit at home than you do to work, it becomes a desire to maintain that lifestyle. Getting people back to work has been a difficult task. Also, the younger generation in the workforce views employment as a nuisance. And the employee (EE)/employer (ER) dynamic has changed. An ER can't hold an EE accountable anymore because the EE will just quit and find a new job. And because ERs are struggling to stay staffed, the EE doesn't really have a problem finding work. I worked for DIRECTV and they had to amend their attendance policy because people would call off work and, if they got in trouble for that, would *literally* (and I mean it in the correct use of the word) quit on the spot and look for a new job.


If you ask any manager, their most difficult task is getting and keeping EEs. The younger generation has no qualms about leaving a job if they think they've been slighted. I'm not old, I don't think, at 38 years old, but my work ethic is significantly different than those just a few years younger than I am.

I was at a Best Buy and a friend and the Best Buy Employee (BBE) had a disagreement. The BBE was being a punk and throwing some serious attitude at us. Things like:
Me: Can you pull out that GoPro so I can take a look at it?
BBE: It looks the same outside the case as it does inside the case. (He was not joking)

So my buddy, who is in his mid-40s at the time, says "wow, you're really looking to get punched" (yes, that was stupid, but any sane person would know it was attitude back, not a legitimate threat) and the BBE started shaking and called his manager over the walkie talkie to tell him that we were physically threatening him and he didn't need to feel unsafe at his job. We talked to the manager, after we sent BBE away and smoothed things over, but let the manager know that, if BBE was going to be a punk ass, then he was going to need to be able to take it in return. The Manager agreed with us but also said he couldn't actually do anything to discipline the BBE.

So... to summarize: COVID and paying people not to work, and a generation raised to believe that they are 'special' and above any semblance of real work.

Thank you for listening to my ramblings. I'm going to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn.

I don't even bother complaining anymore.

Especially after the dealer in Florida broke some of the plastic on the cowl, put the passenger side door seal in backwards and broke clips off BOTH plastic door sills and Ford said "sorry you have to work with the dealer it happened at, you can't take it to another dealer even though the first dealer broke it and didn't tell you they did and than claimed they didn't break those parts of the truck that had 350 miles when you dropped it off for them to fix the water leaking in the passengers side footwell.... "

Needless to say, I am also fed up with dealers, and this was really only my 3rd visit to a Ford dealer since purchasing the truck.

The 2nd time was an autonation and at least they didn't break anything new on the truck... ?

 

[VAMike]

What the hell are they thinking.

That too many people give a shit that their new truck has shiny lug nuts.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Don’t get me started….

Couldn’t even trust a neighbourhood garage to change the oil in my Passat. So, yeah, where has it gone? ?‍

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Don’t get me started….

Couldn’t even trust a neighbourhood garage to change the oil in my Passat. So, yeah, where has it gone? ?‍

Seriously, they remove the skids, how do they get oil on the bottom of the skids?

I looked under mine and it's the same.

I really dislike dealers.

?

I need another drink. ?

 

[HippoTrucker]

Don’t get me started….

Couldn’t even trust a neighbourhood garage to change the oil in my Passat. So, yeah, where has it gone? ?‍

What in the ... They cut a hole in the skid to access the drain plug? I cannot even comprehend the level of stupidity to do something like that, it's way more work than doing it right!

 

[Waltztj]

Well I go to Bergery's Ford in Landsdale Pa and have had no issues at all. I bought the truck new from them and go there for all maintance.

 

[Canadian Ranger]

Yet more examples of why my ass will be in the driveway changing the oil in my truck at some point this weekend.

Supplies were purchased last week in anticipation of the event.

Doing it myself will ensure that it will be done correctly. Done with care. And the process will proceed with no, zero, zilch, goose egg, nada rush in an attempt to "slap it back together and move to the next job." Icing on the cake... the truck will be periodically praised (and possibly caressed ) with heart felt whispered sweet nothings throughout the process.

Edit: BTW, has anyone else ever noticed how much better your vehicle runs right after an oil change? Not just the Ranger, every machine. Hell even my mower. So smooth. Sounds so happy. And definitely more HP. Always makes me happy.

I've noticed the same, with everything too. Vehicle, mower, air compressor. Even when I changed the fluids in my transmission......and the transfer case, totally changed my Ranger's personality in 4H & 4L, and my mileage improved.
I guess everything has such tight tolerances these days that worn out/thinned out oil is noticeable.

 

[MarioCart]

If you ask any manager, their most difficult task is getting and keeping EEs. The younger generation has no qualms about leaving a job if they think they've been slighted. I'm not old, I don't think, at 38 years old, but my work ethic is significantly different than those just a few years younger than I am.

there is a lot of truth in this statement.
Up here in Canada, our guvment wants to bring in a standard basic income.
The younger generation reads that as "yay I don't have to work"

 

[Bullet]

UPDATE (from the original post):

For context; this is a LARGE Ford dealership in Iowa.

I returned to the dealer yesterday to personally let them know about the issue with tearing the shield covering the oil filter and leaving it hanging down after the most recent service.

The same service advisor was there, and she remembered me. She also remembered me telling her about the body damage to my truck the oil change prior.

She called over the service manager and I got to talk to her. It was kinda annoying as I got the impression she was just trying to smooth my feathers rather than listening to me. Anyhow... they were prepared to switch out the shield right there but didn't have one for the '19. She told me they'd order it and call me.

They took my truck back to look at it.

When they brought it back she said the tech used a 'zip-tie' to hold the shield up until they can replace the shield.

A 'zip-tie'....A ZIP-TIE!? ....seriously!? How could anybody working in a service department keep a straight face when telling a customer they used a zip-tie on your vehicle!?

The holes to receive the clips, though tore, were still functional enough to accept clips.

Before I left the dealer lot, I stopped and jumped out to take a look, the zip-tie wasn't holding $4!t. Driving over smooth RR tracks and the shield would fall on my tire. ?

What a bunch of amateurs.

So, I'm reeeeeally not to hip on letting my truck out of my sight to let them replace the shield. I KNOW they'll ****-up something else.

I'm gonna have them give me the part, give me the clips and I'll do it myself.

Sponsored