JScullin Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 My friend bought a new car in February and gave my name to the dealer. Ford is supposed to send you $100 if they refer you which she did. Haven't seen anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 My friend bought a new car in February and gave my name to the dealer. Ford is supposed to send you $100 if they refer you which she did. Haven't seen anything. That's not from Ford, it's from the dealer. Call the dealer and see what's up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Why do people continually confuse Ford with dealerships? Just because the sign says Ford that doesn't mean the dealer is Ford. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Why do people continually confuse Ford with dealerships? Just because the sign says Ford that doesn't mean the dealer is Ford. Like it or not, that's how people think and Ford needs to remember that when interacting with customers. To the customer, there is no difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 To the uninformed customer, there is no difference. FTFY. All customers should be informed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 FTFY. All customers should be informed. Certainly they should know, but if all customers knew everything, these forums would be pretty empty. Ford needs to act on the assumption that the customer does not know the difference and move forward from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Certainly they should know, but if all customers knew everything, these forums would be pretty empty. Ford needs to act on the assumption that the customer does not know the difference and move forward from there. What can they possibly do beyond what they're already doing? Franchise laws have their hands pretty much tied when it comes to influencing dealer behavior. Should they start putting a disclaimer on all their ads that the dealers are independent businesses and they have very little control over them? Customers need to be able to separate Ford from the dealer just like they don't blame Sony for something that Best Buy does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 What can they possibly do beyond what they're already doing? Franchise laws have their hands pretty much tied when it comes to influencing dealer behavior. Should they start putting a disclaimer on all their ads that the dealers are independent businesses and they have very little control over them? Customers need to be able to separate Ford from the dealer just like they don't blame Sony for something that Best Buy does. They could start by not instantly pointing the finger at the dealer when someone calls Ford Customer Service. Take a little time to actually explain to the customer what the differences are between Ford and the dealership and who is responsible for what. Not saying they don't do this to some extent already, but it seems obvious in some cases they aren't going far enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 They could start by not instantly pointing the finger at the dealer when someone calls Ford Customer Service. Take a little time to actually explain to the customer what the differences are between Ford and the dealership and who is responsible for what. Not saying they don't do this to some extent already, but it seems obvious in some cases they aren't going far enough. I agree they could do a lot more with customer service especially when it comes to resolving recurring or long term problems. I'd like to see them buy more vehicles back with no questions asked rather than forcing the customer to go the lemon law route. That can be done without the dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I agree they could do a lot more with customer service especially when it comes to resolving recurring or long term problems. I'd like to see them buy more vehicles back with no questions asked rather than forcing the customer to go the lemon law route. That can be done without the dealer. That's a difficult line to straddle though. They wouldn't want to establish a precedent that could be used by other disgruntled owners to force Ford to buy back their vehicles when it's not necessarily justified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JScullin Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 I asked because it seemed a thing Ford the company would do for moving cars. Had I known it was the dealer specific thing I'd ask them directly. But as luck would have it, the salesman called me just a few minutes ago inquiring about a Focus my g/f is interested in so I asked him (he sold the car to my friend). He thought I was kidding when I brought it up yesterday. So he'll check into it for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Customers are stupid, period. Just look at how many Camry sales there are, and Corollas with 28 year old transmissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 That's a difficult line to straddle though. They wouldn't want to establish a precedent that could be used by other disgruntled owners to force Ford to buy back their vehicles when it's not necessarily justified. Not just a buy back - a vehicle swap. That wouldn't help someone who wanted to go buy another brand. And it would still have to be justified - multiple repair attempts. Ford already gets involved in these issues most of the time. I would just like to see a standard policy internally that would allow the regional manager to authorize a vehicle swap for unhappy customers (one at least). This would go a long way to add customer satisfaction and sidestep dealers who can't fix vehicles properly. They do it today - but it's rare. They can take the vehicles back, repair them at the factory and sell them to dealerships for loaners or used cars. Without resorting to lemon laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I asked because it seemed a thing Ford the company would do for moving cars. Had I known it was the dealer specific thing I'd ask them directly. But as luck would have it, the salesman called me just a few minutes ago inquiring about a Focus my g/f is interested in so I asked him (he sold the car to my friend). He thought I was kidding when I brought it up yesterday. So he'll check into it for me. Didn't mean to sound nasty. It's just a pet peeve of mine when people have a bad dealership experience and blame Ford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JScullin Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Didn't take it as such. Surprised at the tangent the thread went off in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Didn't take it as such. Surprised at the tangent the thread went off in. You haven't been here very long, have you? Threads without a tangent are rare. We even have a mascot (he's a gent, and he's tan, therefore he's a tan-gent)..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 FTFY. All customers should be informed. Oh wouldn't that be such a grand world, if every customer knew as much when buying a product as the company does when selling it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 (edited) That's not from Ford, it's from the dealer. Call the dealer and see what's up. which ( at least in california ) is illegal, I used to have a system where one referral was an oil change, next a Detail next both etc etc ....I was told to refrain as it crossed legal guidelines..."Bird -dogs " are a no no....yet I scratch my head when they haul people in with "prizes"....hmmmm Edited April 24, 2014 by Deanh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 FTFY. All customers should be informed. Dammit, next thing, you'll be saying that they should RTFM, too. You're getting to be pretty damned unreasonable in your old age... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Customers need to be able to separate Ford from the dealer just like they don't blame Sony for something that Best Buy does. Nice, in theory, but there are all those gigantic Ford logos on the building and often, despite Ford's explicit requests otherwise, in the business name itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 They could start by not instantly pointing the finger at the dealer when someone calls Ford Customer Service. Take a little time to actually explain to the customer what the differences are between Ford and the dealership and who is responsible for what. Not saying they don't do this to some extent already, but it seems obvious in some cases they aren't going far enough. I have some experience with this sort of situation in my work life, and I can tell you that the customers don't give two flips that there's a difference between Ford and the dealership, particularly when they have a problem. You can explain it 'til you're blue in the face, and you might as well be trying to explain general relativity to your cat; to them, it's completely irrelevant, they just want the damned problem fixed, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 which ( at least in california ) is illegal, I used to have a system where one referral was an oil change, next a Detail next both etc etc ....I was told to refrain as it crossed legal guidelines..."Bird -dogs " are a no no....yet I scratch my head when they haul people in with "prizes"....hmmmm Seriously? That's illegal? Referral cash? Why is it illegal, because Cali doesn't get their share in taxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Seriously? That's illegal? Referral cash? Why is it illegal, because Cali doesn't get their share in taxes? if from the dealer yes....co-ersion? bribery?....ironic, because Im quite sure some dealers offer free oil changes to customers that purchase from THEIR store...which in my mind is exactly the same.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Dammit, next thing, you'll be saying that they should RTFM, too. You're getting to be pretty damned unreasonable in your old age... I've always been unreasonable. Now I'm just unreasonable and cranky.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I have some experience with this sort of situation in my work life, and I can tell you that the customers don't give two flips that there's a difference between Ford and the dealership, particularly when they have a problem. You can explain it 'til you're blue in the face, and you might as well be trying to explain general relativity to your cat; to them, it's completely irrelevant, they just want the damned problem fixed, But that's my point - if you don't understand that a dealer is an independent business then you won't be able to make the right decisions to get your problems fixed such as going to a different dealer. Too many people stick with one dealer thinking that Ford is the problem when in some cases it's just the dealer. It's not fair to Ford and it doesn't help the customer get their problem fixed. What makes it even worse is that Ford can't control this bad dealer behavior. Who am I kidding? People are stupid and don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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