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Good Customer Service - or Lack of Same


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So I'm watching 10PM news on Boston Fox station.  Station's "help line" apparently contacted by a local town whose 2019 F450 ambulance has been out of service for months after suffering a "total engine failure".    Ford has agreed- covered by warranty, but "supply chain issues are precluding them from providing the engine".  Chief shows a copy of the invoice..total cost for unit $324,000!  And .."we are forced to use our 15 year old back up (E Series by the way) or relying on mutual aid."

 

Reporter then says.."we have reached out to Ford on this issue and they have advised...we will get back to you".

 

Stay tuned.  I hope this gets resolved before a delayed response by this department results in serious consequences.  Oh and then after this I continue reading today's WSJ.  Half a column on "Ford EV Unit Starts Separate Reporting".  PerFord's Controller.."Investors will see categories such as revenue, earnings before interest and taxes, margins and assets for each segment of the business".

 

So much for "synergism"- and talk about priorities.  I just hope the numbers are all glowing when they start publishing .


 

Edited by akirby
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I’m sure the supply chain issues are real but I also bet they’re building new vehicles with those engines as we speak.

 

This is where Ford could distance themselves by going above and beyond to help a customer.  Pull an engine off the assembly line and advertise how you take care of customers especially first responders.

 

When customers have multiple problems in the first year just buy back the vehicle (minus a fair usage fee) and give them a $2500 rebate on a new one.  Fix the old one if it can be fixed and auction it which limits the loss.  Don’t make them go through lemon law or live with a bad vehicle.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, akirby said:

I’m sure the supply chain issues are real but I also bet they’re building new vehicles with those engines as we speak.

 

This is where Ford could distance themselves by going above and beyond to help a customer.  Pull an engine off the assembly line and advertise how you take care of customers especially first responders.

 

When customers have multiple problems in the first year just buy back the vehicle (minus a fair usage fee) and give them a $2500 rebate on a new one.  Fix the old one if it can be fixed and auction it which limits the loss.  Don’t make them go through lemon law or live with a bad vehicle.

 

 

 

Exactly...This  is not a contractor's vehicle..it is an emergency response vehicle and in a small town.  Mind boggling that Ford could be that insensitive to the issue.  You would think  vehicles that end up in this  service  would somehow have a priority code assigned to them.  And after I posted this, the story gets re-run as a filler.  I paid  closer attention ...it is a 550 and it failed in October!

I  should  also add I'm a property owner in two Mass. towns.  My tax dollars are paying for new ambulances that  have gone into service in these towns..both Rams.

 

Your last point, I've always  felt Ford spent a lot of money in the customer "service" function employing people who  were  trained to politely say.."sorry your vehicle does not qualify".   Others,  owe up to the problem...Toyota in particular in the way they handled issues such as the "taco" frame issue.

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On 3/22/2023 at 10:30 PM, Bob Rosadini said:

So I'm watching 10PM news on Boston Fox station.  Station's "help line" apparently contacted by a local town whose 2019 F450 ambulance has been out of service for months after suffering a "total engine failure".    Ford has agreed- covered by warranty, but "supply chain issues are precluding them from providing the engine".  Chief shows a copy of the invoice..total cost for unit $324,000!  And .."we are forced to use our 15 year old back up (E Series by the way) or relying on mutual aid."

 

Reporter then says.."we have reached out to Ford on this issue and they have advised...we will get back to you".

 

Stay tuned.  I hope this gets resolved before a delayed response by this department results in serious consequences.  Oh and then after this I continue reading today's WSJ.  Half a column on "Ford EV Unit Starts Separate Reporting".  PerFord's Controller.."Investors will see categories such as revenue, earnings before interest and taxes, margins and assets for each segment of the business".

 

So much for "synergism"- and talk about priorities.  I just hope the numbers are all glowing when they start publishing .


I've seen some videos posted of people recording their trucks in the Ford service lots that have been there for 9 months waiting on engines.  And not just one truck (power stroke).

 

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Well guys watching 10PM Boston Fox News just now and same issue that I started this thread about.  Town of Hingham Ma has a 550 ambulance out of service since Jan..  Same story-small department with two ambulances.  They are fortunate that a neighboring town has loaned them their spare- I would guess a 2015 450/550.

 

Reporter-same guy who did story last Wednesday night on issue with town of Abington- said he contacted "Ford"-not sure if that means dealer or Ford- but has not heard back.  This chief told reporter.."No engines available in country, supply chain issues".  

 

I guess OAP is not building any trucks either?????

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11 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Well guys watching 10PM Boston Fox News just now and same issue that I started this thread about.  Town of Hingham Ma has a 550 ambulance out of service since Jan..  Same story-small department with two ambulances.  They are fortunate that a neighboring town has loaned them their spare- I would guess a 2015 450/550.

 

Reporter-same guy who did story last Wednesday night on issue with town of Abington- said he contacted "Ford"-not sure if that means dealer or Ford- but has not heard back.  This chief told reporter.."No engines available in country, supply chain issues".  

 

I guess OAP is not building any trucks either?????

 

Ford Authority reporting on this one too today.  With same Fox reporter covering both  stories I'm sure he will be following up with Ford as this  is "his" issue--not to say he is an "ambulance chaser".?

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  • ice-capades changed the title to Good Customer Service - or Lack of Same

Hate to say it but this type of thing is not uncommon in the industry.  We've had similar issues with Detroit and Cummins.  (Not nearly as bad on the Detroit side, but we've had Cummins trucks down for months at a time in our shops for various reasons.)  Heck, we just converted a longtime PACCAR customer over to Western Star due to a couple trucks of theirs being in the shop for months.  (Aftertreatment parts on backorder for their MX engines.)

 

Getting updates on backordered parts from the OEM's and suppliers is one of the most frustrating things we deal with.  The process for that (or lack thereof) is maddening and we are constantly having to tell customers "we don't have an ETA."  

 

Daimler/Detroit will do some of the "pull the part off the line" fixes here and there, but Cummins will not let Daimler do that.  Cummins is awful with customer support.  Just like with CAT at the end of their lifecycle I look forward to the day we no longer have to deal with Cummins.  

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Well good news as reported by Fox 25 last night, "motor arrived today" for the Abington FD truck that has been down since Oct.  ..they then showed it parked at dealer that I recognized as Foxboro.... -Allegiance trucks.  This location was one of the early Ford dealer development heavy truck stores.  It is also a major fire equipment dealer (Pierce ) so they probably delivered this ambulance when new.  Their truck line is now International and Ford mediums.  Allegiance is a mega dealer that has been buying up International dealers in Northeast

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I'll bet the vehicle spec. writer for the Abington FD purchasing department will write Ford out of any future ambulance purchases.  Once those customers like that are gone good luck getting them back. 

Edited by 7Mary3
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On 3/30/2023 at 3:09 PM, 7Mary3 said:

I'll bet the vehicle spec. writer for the Abington FD purchasing department will write Ford out of any future ambulance purchases.  Once those customers like that are gone good luck getting them back. 

 

Agreed.  And as I previously posted it appears Rams seem to be predominating when it comes to new ambulance orders.  The Fire service community is a tight fraternity.  And the GM/Navistar class 4/5's will just make matters worse.

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