From Bad to worse

In 2016 I purchased a brand-new Ford Ranger XLT from Action Ford Roodepoort. This was a dream car and I spent a small fortune in acquiring it off the showroom floor. When I initially purchased the vehicle, I was promised a 4x4’ing course from the dealership, this never materialized bar my numerous requests. I was however emailed by the sales rep a list of the questions that I would be asked when contacted by the Ford CRM to find out how my experience was, with the filled in answers he wished me to give. I should have known.

In 2018 during my car’s 60,000km service I requested that a claim be put through for stitching on the driver’s seat that had come loose due to faulty workmanship. This was approved and it was arranged for my car to be taken in. I was travelling to the UK for a month and arranged to have it repaired upon my return. On the day I arrived back in SA, leaving the airport, I was involved in an accident and my car needed to go into the panel beaters from a month. I did update the dealership about this. When getting my car back I called the dealership to arrange fitment. I arrived on the date that was agreed but was told that there was no booking under my name. I arranged to bring the car in on another day, when I arrived on the other day at 9:15, after having told the booking agent that I would only be able to arrive at this time was turned away for being late. I arranged an alternative date, due to work commitments I had to travel out of the country but had arranged that our driver take the car through, which he forgot to do so and upon my return and discovery that the work had not been carried out, I called the dealership to apologize and reschedule. As it was nearing the end of the year it was agreed that the fitment would take place in the New Year.

On the 23rd of December my car did not want to start, working out that it was a battery problem I contacted the AA under the Ford maintenance plan who came through and changed the battery. The next day when driving the car, I found that it had no power and after a google search figured out that the computer needed to be reset. My family and I were due to leave on our Christmas vacation the following day. I have only ever serviced my car at the Action Ford Roodepoort dealership. I contacted them to ask if they could rest my car’s computer and was blatantly told NO! they were busy and couldn’t help, this would mean a delay in us leaving for holiday and missing out on spending Christmas with my parents. So, my wife and I started to frantically call around. Thankfully the team at Ford Fury Fourways politely obliged to help me, I raced through there and 10 minutes later was on my way out with a working vehicle.

Upon my return to Johannesburg I scheduled an appointment to have my seat fixed, along with investigation into a scratching noise that is coming below the passenger side of the dash board. A concern that I have raised before and was told it was attended to. I made arrangements to have the car dropped off at 8am on the Wednesday 16th of Jan. As I had meetings all over Johannesburg on that day, I spent a fortune in Uber and private taxi’s riding from Roodepoort to Rosebank to Midrand. At the end of my day, still not having been contacted nor updated by the dealership I eventually got hold of the service lady, she told me that the part was not in stock and had been order, so they would need to keep the car for a further day. I voiced my disapproval and was promised that I would be contacted and updated the following day. The next day I was again not contacted and resulted in me calling the dealership for an update on the status of my car. I arrived to collect my car on the evening of the 17th of Jan. I was subsequently contacted by the CRM team for the standard follow up and I voiced what had happened and my dissatisfaction. I was then contacted by the customer service agent who left a voicemail apologizing for the inconvenience and lack of communication and promised to call back. That never happened.

I was then contacted by the CRM lady from the dealership who apologized and offered to compensate me with a tank of fuel. I mentioned to her that I am on a company fleet card and a tank of fuel would mean nothing to me. She asked me what I wanted to change the bad rating I’d given the dealership and I said it not about material goods for me but rather about fixing the service issues in the dealership. I did say that I loved my Ranger and that Ford merchandise would be appreciated. She called me back to say that she had ordered some new car mats for me and I must promise to change my rating. She said she would call me when I can come and pick up the mats. I have not heard from her since and it’s been over a week. So today when the follow up email came through, I decided to right to Ford Head Office and notify them of my experience.

All this dealership seems to care about is how customers answer their CRM, Well I am no longer interested in a few mats to change my opinion of Action Ford Roodepoort. I would like my car attended to properly and after forking out a massive amount of hard earned money I would expect some level of Client service and appreciation of my support towards the Ford Brand.