Professor Wizard

WOW… I got quoted… … … … … twice even… … … although I didn’t bring up the BMW thing here yet! SWF… I don’t know that I was trying to convey what you said – I do find fault with much of your prior statements. I was trying to present an argument based on some assumed facts and known premise. I find huge faults in Fords business model, and in Managements market decision process. And I blame Ford management directly, for Fords failure in today’s market. It is surprising how such seers could be so blind in a bright light to the obvious! Mistakes were made – at both ends – people (or one person) tried to help… IF you step off of the path and into the puddle, you ARE going to get your shoes muddy! Kzinti has mud on his shoes right now and he is going to have to figure out how to get it off before Ford takes his shoes away for having mud on them. Another Company – Nortel – used that Distributor model up until recently. They still sell and service through distributors, but have realized the value of touching the end buyer and are struggling hard to try to implement communication processes for such. They are finding it is a very difficult thing to do after having ingrained in their culture NOT to touch the end user. Not to mention the Distributors aren’t too happy about that because they feel Nortel is circumventing them and selling direct. If Ford starts implementing communications direct with End Buyers, they will catch the same flack from the dealership that Nortel is from their distributors. Personally, I think Ford disparately needs to provide services to people who order cars! It is the one event where the dealer has little to no value in the process other then being the conduit through which the order must be placed, and the lien holder on the dollars until the car is passed to the customer. ((YES, the dealership has to PAY for the car you ordered WHEN they place the order!)). Personally, I think Ford should not reprimand Kzinti, outside of a serious discussion on what he did wrong and why he should not have done things the way he did and get a written agreement not to ever do such a thing again - - and then allow him to become involved in the development of a “Consumer Communications†project. But then… Ford, I don’t believe, cares much about what I personally think!

I will surely miss the K Man and what he did for us. Now that were “Here†in time… lets be realistic. Don’t hold your breath! This one is going to be lengthy! Although Kzinti was of a GREAT service to everyone, and we will sorely miss him. What he did was most likely without approval or permission of Corporate Management. Possibly without even without their knowledge. (You cannot assume because something is “common knowledge†that those who should know, will know!). I would think Ford has policies against the sharing of any information obtained through the Ford Proprietary Internal Network to the public. In sharing such information with us on the status of our cars, K Man violated several Corporate Policies I am sure. SWF made it quite obvious that the Union would have problems with it all. So our friend pretty much is going to have to fight this on his own as you can pretty much figure the union isn’t going to be of much help. I would venture to bet – that is why our buddy at ford was stifled. And now we just have to wait while he works though the system to find out the end result. I do want to point out something. WE are NOT Ford Customers… the Dealerships are Fords Customers, and we are the Dealerships Customers. In the eyes of Ford Executive Management – it is NOT “US†who buy the cars from Ford, it is the Dealerships that buy the cars from Ford – and we in turn buy the cars from the Dealerships. THAT is how the entire system is setup and designed. Ford could give a crap if we ever bought another Ford product as long as the dealerships continued to buy the cars. This is their model… Ford sells cars to dealerships, and the dealerships sell cars to us. Not a new model, in fact a very old and antiquated model, still used buy most American Corporations for the last couple hundred years. Customer Service that exists at Ford, is designed to serve the Dealerships.. NOT the End Buyers. Hence, when you call the Robot Lady to get your status – you have to pretend to be a dealership, especially if you talk to an “Agentâ€. If you tell the agent you are a buyer and have a car on order he/she will tell you they can’t help you and you are to call your dealership. In effect, there is NO Customer Service in place to help the end buyer. And there never will be as long as Ford’s model is to sell through distributorships. I would predict this: Kzinti will most likely be reprimanded for accessing Corporate Data and sharing it with us therefore breaking corporate policy. In light of the fact that he did so, without personal gain, but instead in an effort to help Ford customers, he will not be fired. But instead will most likely be moved to another position – possibly at another plant. The Union may fine him for breaching some obscure Union rules. Ford IT will take measures to prevent such information being shared with the public in the future. Then the entire matter will simply vanish as if it never happened. Ford will continue to move on, just as it has for the last hundred years. MSF will go on about his electrical work happily ever after now that the guy he doesn’t like is gone, only his team will be one less man – as you can bet if Ford moves Kzinti, they will not replace him. And Finally – because of Fords Business model – we end buyers will simply have to resort to the way things were done prior to Kzinti being around, and the world will continue to turn round and round. The End.