To completely pan my FORD Dealership on here and wherever people might listen?

[Pavlovthecat]

They are lying sacks.

I thought I had recovered from my experiences with a dodgy builder. But no. Consistently come up against money grabbing bastards who take take take and leave us high and dry.

Which is why we used a Ford Dealership. Thought, oh no, we won't get treated like scum on their shoes. no no no no. We will be treated respect, yes have to pay for it but it will be worth it. We will use them to service the car we bought from them (secondhand), and at some point in the next couple of years, when ready to upgrade we will get another C-Max to replace this. Using this dealership.

But No. We were wrong. Badly wrong. After dragging out diagnosing various problems with our car for weeks and weeks and weeks and then, when it is finally out of warranty, pretend they never knew about the problem and BAM £400 bill for broken air conditioning.

This is the final, and biggest straw in a catalogue of problems with them since we took the car in almost 2 months ago.

They have lied, ignored, delberately avoiding communicating, left us carless for days and now we have a bill we cannot afford for a problem that was always there.

Fuckers.



I have vented. And if you wish me to name and shame them I bloody will. I am so so angry and unhappy.

'think pizza think pizza think pizza'

[caughtinanet]

Ford must have some kind of special training centre where they ensure that staff are useless, sexist and liars as I have had exactly the same issues with a Ford main dealer service department.

I am quite happy to be assertive in a customer service situation but trying to deal with the oafs who work in the dealership reduce me to tears when I rang their head office.

I vowed never to go back there and have had two cars since then, neither of them a Ford

Good luck and don't let them grind you down.

[cantpooinpeace]

I trump you Pav.....

Bought a 4 yr old Cmax with 32000 on the clock.

Cam belt went on it a few months after buying it. They moved all the goal posts so financially we were entitled to nothing. I had no car for over 3 months - during which I had a baby boy. When we eventually got it back it cost us 1700 quid and that was all parts - they didn't dare charge me for labour!

Head office told us to stop ringing as we wouldn't ever be put through to anyone other than the receptionists & told that they wouldnt respond to any letters either.

Our local dealership receptionists were clueless young girls who had no communications skills or intellectual ones for that matter. The whole process was so frustrating and upsetting. That was two years ago and we still have the car figuring it has a brand new engine and we've invested in it so may as well keep it. Since then there's been a few more problems but nothing as major as that.

If I hadn't been so busy and tired with a new baby and a 1 year old I might have taken it further but always wonder if that really ever pays off.

[BoffinMum]

I've had problems with Wests in Cambridge (Renault). Very lacking in customer service.

[feelingratheroverwhelmed]

I'm in the process of trying to take ours on at the moment, just need to dig the paperwork out from wherever we've hidden it! Took ours in for a service last week, and told them the headlight warning alarm had stopped working. We bought it secondhand last year (was 1yr old) and paid a small fortune so we have a warranty that lasts about 7 years. I had a phone call saying that the problem may be due to the car alarm that's been fitted - was there when we bought it, fitted by the last owner. It will cost about £300 just to find out if this is why we have the problem, and if it is, it's not covered by the warranty so we have to pay for the diagnostics and then to get it fixed. But, if they find out it's not because of this, then it's all covered.

I said that's riduculous. I bought a car from Ford with an alarm, not my problem, and spent a lot on a warranty. As DH pointed out, they could use this excuse for every electrical problem that comes up from now on making our warranty worthless. The bloke trying to explain in on the phone sounded stoned and kept calling me "dear" too. ARRRGGHH!

[Dipsyistipsy]

I agree with you that the way they have treated you is appalling but before you go in all guns blazing,have you checked what your warranty covers?My car had warranty and the air conditioning was not covered by the warranty,cant remember the ins and outs as it was three years ago.Good luck,hope you do get it sorted.

[Pavlovthecat]

the warranty does not cover:

i tiny part of the broken electric window - they will replace the whole thing for us if we pay £50!

The misted headlights which were on the advisory notes of MOT and we were told would be fixed as part of the agreement to purchase.

[Pavlovthecat]

shocking to hear this is a continuous problem with Ford dealerships. I am bothered that I ever thought I would be happy with Ford.

Shame as the car is not a bad car.

[Hassled]

Pavlov - I take it you've spotted the stickied thread in Active Convos ? That might be the place to get someone's attention.

[Dipsyistipsy]

I dont think it is just Ford,ds has been phoning round for a part for his Corsa and his experience reminded me of why I swore I would never have another Vauxhall.

[Pavlovthecat]

hassled oh yes I have been there and hesitated on posting. Mainly because it is for test drivers, and i don't want to upset MNHQ by posting like a missile. But, it would get Ford noticing right?!

[Pavlovthecat]

I was thinking actually.

When we bought it, it had a 'full service'. Does that not include checking the air con? The prob has been there for a while at least 1 month into owning it I noticed it so would have been there when we bought it.

I read that Ford are proud of their air con check during a service...

[Pavlovthecat]

anyway, I am off to bed.
Thank you for letting me vent.
And I am glad I am not being unreasonable! Or so the general consensus seems to be indicating

[Dipsyistipsy]

A quick google gave me www.ford.co.uk/BuyingandprotectingyourFord/Warranties/UsedCarWarranty/UsedCarExtendedWarranty so looks like air con is covered,I would go in all guns blazing.

[Cretaceous]

Good luck!

I just managed to get a refund from our local dealer. Only unfortunately instead of a refund, by mistake they debited my credit card again for the shoddy service...

[mascarpone]

Pavlov you have my sympathies. I am now on visit 7 to my Ford dealership to try to fix an electronics fault with my mondeo. We bought it less than a year ago second hand. It was less than a year old and still under warranty.

As far as I can tell the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. The dealership has no idea what the problem is and very little desire to actually sort it out. Part of me just wants to give up now but the other part of me wants to prove a point now.

[blackeyedsusan]

i wonder if it is the same ford dealership that promised something would be fixed... and they didn't... well stuff you, rip off a young person at the start of their car buying life... der... no repeat custom, 4 cars later!

tis a ford dealership situated undersome cliffs.

[griphook]

ford=
fix
or
repair
daily.

I had a ford took to a dealership for mot and service, next day exhust falls off. Take to nearest garage, had been rusted for months, should have failed MOT, look at paper work I got with the service ,and it had a list of things looked at during service and funnily enough it stopped being ticked about halfway through the list, they obvioulsy got bored and forgot to finish the job. It passed it's MOT and shouldn't have could have been very dangerous. Got money refunded and was told I should have been grateful as basically I got a free MOT, not to worry that I may have been driving around in a dangerous car.

utter shit.


The car was brand new when I go it, walked to work so hardly used it and when it was four years old, it stopped working and needed a new engine. Parts alone were quoted at £4000.00 and that was friend doing me a favour...Never again

[griphook]

maybe try your local paper, they might be shamed into fixing it

[RottenRow]

VW basingstoke have been exactly the same. Lied to us, not returned calls, unable to replicate faults that keep occurring. I'd never go back and they don't seem to give a shit.

[Pavlovthecat]

Well, I spoke to the 'manager' . This is how the conversatioj pretty much went:

'so T (name). Can you tell me exactly what is wrong with the car? The driver delivering this told us the air con has broken and we will have to pay £400 to fix it'

'ok, well, we are currently talking to the salesman M, to find out what kind of warranty situation we are in and find out what is going to be happening, you have been dealing with D about all this havent you?'

'no, I have been speaking to YOU, T. not D. I spoke to D yesterday to find out where our car was, that is all.

'right, well then I need to look for the paperwork'

'but what is wrong with it? what have you been doing to the car ALL DAY? nothing has been done that I can see? have you repaired anything? Is the air con broken?'

'mrs pavlov, at this moment we are talking to M. I can't tell you any more than that until we have spoken to M'

'but is the air con broken? what are you talking to M about? you were talking to him before about the misty front lights, now about the air con? I am confused'.

'I don't have any information to give you at the moment, as D has all the information.

'well, do I need to book the car back in for the air con and misty lights to be fixed?'

'look Mrs Pavlov, i am in the process of talking the the salesman'

'about what?!!! when will you have something to tell me?'

'when I have spoken to him I will call you back'

'when?'

'er...er....er'

'today? monday?

'Mrs Pavlov (cross) someone will call you back by dinner time monday (lie)'

'fine'

Get off the phone. 'ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH.

[Pavlovthecat]

blackeyedsusan, beneath a dry ski slope. yes, sounds like it.

The situation is, as far as I can is this:

a) they will tell me it is covered by warranty, but it was not spotted until after warranty and they cant find the letter I gave them with the list of faults before the warranty ran out, and now warranty has expired, so we must pay for fixing it £400. I DON'T THINK SO. The whole reason that I took the car in was due to the problems with what I thought was the air con.

b) as above, covered but out of date, so we could buy the extended warranty for £200 or whatever it will cost. NO. It is covered by warranty as above.

b) they will tell me it is not covered by the warranty as air con is not covered. Prior to the sale of the car, they completed a full service and MOT, which includes an air con check - which means that between us agreeing to buy the car and returning to buy the car (and possibly already before then) they knew this air con was broken and did not tell us. They sold me a faulty car dishonestly. So NO. we are not paying.

Whatever scenario they chuck at me. I am not paying. And they WILL be fixing it. It is a shambles. An absolute shambles.

Letter not done yet, but in the process of (ha, i sound like the manager!).

[Pavlovthecat]

AND. I really fucking needed the air con today and yesterday. More than the whole bloody summer.

They had to 'drain it' or something, which means it does not work at all, rather than badly.

[Travesty]

Really feel for you, Pavlov. I've had problems with dealerships in the past and since being charged £30 for a new headlamp bulb, I've never been back.

I'm lucky to have found a small, independent garage who don't charge for fitting and replacing bulbs as, in their words, "they only cost pence".

Don't give up!! I am rooting for you!!

[TeamMummRa]

Can I add Peugeot to your list of dealership twunts?
We bought an estate car, secondhand/pre-registered by the dealership (one year old, but now more than 100miles on the clock).
Driving to work one morning on a busy A-road, it suddenly lost all power and ground to a halt. Towed to dealers garage, fixed under warranty, something to do with the fuel line. Fine.

A month later, same things happens. Get fixed again, under warranty. We ask about any underlying issues, etc etc. Fobbed off by garage.

The next month it happens again. Only this time the car is just out of warranty (less than a week). All of a sudden Peugeot "discover" that is isn't a problem with the fuel line at all, it's the fuel injection system. And that will cost a lot of money.
We were seriously pissed off.

This is a dealership on the south coast. We shall never buy Peugeot again.
Ironically, we have an S-Max and our Ford dealership are lovely!

[Pavlovthecat]

lol, so the new position is.

DH had a conversation with the 'manager' something like this (para but close enough):

manager: 'i believe that we have now done everything you have asked' and DH said 'er, no! what about the headlights?' 'oh, right, let me look into that for you and get back to you'

DH: 'and what about the air con? what is wrong with that?'

'oh?! yes the air con, well that is out of warranty so nothing to do with us....as I was saying about the headlights I will....'

Completely and utterly bypassed the notion that it was screwed! SSeemed to hope we would just say, oh right ok. So,

DH: 'i dont think so, my wife told you several times during the period our warranty was valid there was a problem, and it has been ignored.

manager: 'your wife said there was a leak below the car and a hissing internally, that has nothing to do with the air con, i explained that to her'

DH: so, why did you test the air con on thursday and find a fault then? and then drain the fluid quickly and shut the air con off? we did not ask you to check it specifically, so you say, my wife just gave you a copy of the list of things she initially told you about'

Manager: er, er, well I am sure we can come to some compromise with this, we would be willing to consider paying a portion of the cost...'

So, there we have it. Wavering, without a letter being sent yet. And they fixed the electric window without further requests for the £50 they told us we were not covered for. Something dodge going on, and now I know the manager has screwed up we have them !