nmadole Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 (edited) UPDATE: My car has been in the shop for a total of 18 days. They supposidly have the headliner and all the trim pieces, but cannot locate the drivers side retaining bracket.... So my car continue's to sit .... 7 days till I get the lawyers involved... Edited July 25, 2013 by nmadole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridbear Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 UPDATE: My car has been in the shop for a total of 18 days. They supposidly have the headliner and all the trim pieces, but cannot locate the drivers side retaining bracket.... So my car continue's to sit .... 7 days till I get the lawyers involved... Nick, check out the "Customer Assistance" section in your Owner's Manual about issues. In the FFH manual this begins on page 226. It shows a 3 step process, 1) Service Advisor, 2) Dealership Service Manager, 3) Ford Customer Relationship Center. If you issues are still not resolved after these steps then you contact the BBB AUTO LINE Program which Ford uses for mediation/arbitration to resolve issues. From other experiences of owners who have had their Fusions replaced by Ford they've found Ford very willing to work with them to replace their vehicle without involving lawyers and Lemon Law claims because that costs Ford more money that working directly with the customer to replace their vehicle. I'd suggest you follow the steps in the OM before spending money on a lawyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 Good to know.. I would have checked my manual, but its in the glove box of my car which I don't have access to... at this point if we make it to 25 days I'm going to ask for a refund Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridbear Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Good to know.. I would have checked my manual, but its in the glove box of my car which I don't have access to... at this point if we make it to 25 days I'm going to ask for a refund You can find the OM online on the Ford Owner site when you login. Or if you can't get to that then PM me and I can send you the PDF copy so you can see the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucky919 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Good to know.. I would have checked my manual, but its in the glove box of my car which I don't have access to... at this point if we make it to 25 days I'm going to ask for a refund Not a hard number to come by: http://www.ford.com/help/contact/ First one on the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcats98 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Nick, check out the "Customer Assistance" section in your Owner's Manual about issues. In the FFH manual this begins on page 226. It shows a 3 step process, 1) Service Advisor, 2) Dealership Service Manager, 3) Ford Customer Relationship Center. If you issues are still not resolved after these steps then you contact the BBB AUTO LINE Program which Ford uses for mediation/arbitration to resolve issues. From other experiences of owners who have had their Fusions replaced by Ford they've found Ford very willing to work with them to replace their vehicle without involving lawyers and Lemon Law claims because that costs Ford more money that working directly with the customer to replace their vehicle. I'd suggest you follow the steps in the OM before spending money on a lawyer. If Ford has a specified process and its side stepped; its going to be more expensive and will reduce your "win" chances. Follow the step and DOCUMENT everything. I have a folder with all invoices and I keep an excel sheet with communication with the dealer. Date, time, who, basic conversation. Anything promised to me that I feel is important I make them put on a dealer header invoice. Lemon law is an option, but its not cheap and it is VERY time consuming. Its a consumer alternative but be aware its just not a 25 days and poof I get a new car. There is a LOT involved in the process and should be read up on as it varies state to state what your options are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 If Ford has a specified process and its side stepped; its going to be more expensive and will reduce your "win" chances. Follow the step and DOCUMENT everything. I have a folder with all invoices and I keep an excel sheet with communication with the dealer. Date, time, who, basic conversation. Anything promised to me that I feel is important I make them put on a dealer header invoice. Lemon law is an option, but its not cheap and it is VERY time consuming. Its a consumer alternative but be aware its just not a 25 days and poof I get a new car. There is a LOT involved in the process and should be read up on as it varies state to state what your options are. I have been following the steps... I have contacted my service rep, and the general manager of the dealership. They have contacted the ford corporate rep. I have kept records of everything. Lemon law representation in Michigan is free to the consumer; and specifically states that I do not have to accept Ford's Arbitration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcats98 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 I have been following the steps... I have contacted my service rep, and the general manager of the dealership. They have contacted the ford corporate rep. I have kept records of everything. Lemon law representation in Michigan is free to the consumer; and specifically states that I do not have to accept Ford's Arbitration. Sweet. Gives you a leg up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridbear Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 I have been following the steps... I have contacted my service rep, and the general manager of the dealership. They have contacted the ford corporate rep. I have kept records of everything. Lemon law representation in Michigan is free to the consumer; and specifically states that I do not have to accept Ford's Arbitration. I wonder though if you wouldn't get a better response from Ford showing some goodwill and doing their mediation instead of going through lemon law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT90SC Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I had my rear glass replaced due to defect and the headliner has to be pulled down for removal/installation of the glass. I count myself lucky that they didn't have these issues doing it. There was one wrinkle in a back corner after work was completed and I decided to live with it. Incompetent dealers and service technicians are the cause of much expense to Ford and time to owners. Uhhh no. Poor design,execution and an antiquated parts system are the biggest expense. The Fusion's A and B pillar trim panels are NON reuseable, per the WSM. The replacement headliners are a joke, as noted, usually trashed in transport, if not junk when boxed. Yep, it is all the dealers fault and the tech. Thank god that Ford cut the labor time down to less than half of the actual time needed to complete the repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 Uhhh no. Poor design,execution and an antiquated parts system are the biggest expense. The Fusion's A and B pillar trim panels are NON reuseable, per the WSM. The replacement headliners are a joke, as noted, usually trashed in transport, if not junk when boxed. Yep, it is all the dealers fault and the tech. Thank god that Ford cut the labor time down to less than half of the actual time needed to complete the repair. My biggest problem with the Ford Dealership is 1.) They never inspected the new headliner, before ripping out the old headliner (even though they already had one defective one already) 2.) They ripped out the headliner without all the replacment parts (not even ordered) - then proceded to order the wrong color trim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Got Black Betty back today .... and what do you know their is a crease in the headliner. I am about to rip the little hair I have left out..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 Better Picture of Crease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermans Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Try a hairdryer on low heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcats98 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Try a hairdryer on low heat. NO! Don't attempt to fix it in ANY manner or you will cripple your stance. That installation was known. It was to get you the *ahem* out of the shop and deal with you in another manner. Next step is a FACILITY manager. You are definitely getting run around by a fairly incompetent shop there. I really hope you have each instance of incorrectly order parts and so forth documented. Make sure you correctly detail the situation and make sure you make a phone call immediately asking for the biggest dog at the dealership for a personal inspection of this issue and ask what can be done to satisfy your issue. Bring copies (2, one for the manager and one for you to reference while discussing) of all your records of dealings. And being reasonable will be your friend. Asking for a new car wont be a reasonable request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridbear Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 NO! Don't attempt to fix it in ANY manner or you will cripple your stance. That installation was known. It was to get you the *ahem* out of the shop and deal with you in another manner. Next step is a FACILITY manager. You are definitely getting run around by a fairly incompetent shop there. I really hope you have each instance of incorrectly order parts and so forth documented. Make sure you correctly detail the situation and make sure you make a phone call immediately asking for the biggest dog at the dealership for a personal inspection of this issue and ask what can be done to satisfy your issue. Bring copies (2, one for the manager and one for you to reference while discussing) of all your records of dealings. And being reasonable will be your friend. Asking for a new car wont be a reasonable request. Bearcats is right. Take it back to the dealer and they should fix it. That's unacceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 1, 2013 Author Share Posted August 1, 2013 Bearcats is right. Take it back to the dealer and they should fix it. That's unacceptable. I am taking it back to the dealership after work tomorrow... they seem to think a heat gun will fix the headliner ... Upon cleaning the car I have discovered numerous other issues with trim and finishing work. For you viewing pleasure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinx8402 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Wow, that's just an incompetent dealership. You are not required to continue going to the dealer you bought it from. I would, if possible, seek out a new Ford Dealership for your maintenance/repair work. That is ridiculous, and giving Ford a bad reputation, when it is really the dealership that is awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcats98 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 He really needs to sit down with the big dog of the dealership and show these pictures in an easy to read format. Then take that same person to the car. Also if you do keep taking it to these bozos, you need to bring your secondary key and inspect the car PRIOR to even going to the service counter. I do that a lot as well. I poke over the car without a service writer hovering so I can really inspect the area of work. I have gone a couple times to the service counter at another brands dealership and said I think we need to talk.... For my big repair on my Fusion, they tore apart my entire console and upper dash to get at the necessary components. I was a nervous wreck anticipating something like nmadole is experiencing. You can't tell the tech was even in the car. No pry marks, no misaligned panels no scratches. Nothing. I was uber pleased and had hoped to get a service review request but never got one. I was going to write them up well as that kind of service is rare and I was grateful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 1, 2013 Author Share Posted August 1, 2013 Update: Went to the dealership today, they cannot fix the crease in the headliner ... this makes attempt 4 to fix the issue; and the 25th service day. My lawyer is reviewing my documentation and the Lemon Law in Michigan and I have advised the dealership I will be suspending further repair attempts until I receive direction from my legal console. I should have an analysis of my options tomorrow afternoon..... I am so sick of having a broken car and they still haven't even fixed the Fuel Module recall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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