Ford Fury - Worst customer experience for annual car service

This type of customer experience is unprecedented.

I took in my car for its annual service to Ford Fury Sandton this week. As I would not be able to take it in early on Tuesday morning, I arranged to drop it off at the dealership the Monday afternoon for a service on Tuesday.

When I dropped off the car, I told the lady assisting me that I had been experiencing problems with my brakes and for them to please have a look at this.

Come Tuesday, my work day gets busy and I am reminded when a friend (who I was meant to visit later that evening reminded me of the meet) texts me at 12h00 that my car is not with me and further that Ford Fury Sandton has not called me yet to inform me about what needs fixing on my car. When I call them to find out what is going on with the car, the lady on the other side in the Service department (not my service manager) informs me that the car is likely getting a minor service, which is probably the reason why no one has called as yet. And am also told that the car would be ready for pick up later in the day. I challenge the minor service based on my brakes issue that I had highlighted the day before. I conclude the call stating that I am going to wait on a follow up call from them with details about the service the car is going to get. At 13h00, I receive a follow up call from my Service Manager (who did not bother to introduce himself) who just tells me that the car was fine and thus would be receiving a minor service at a cost of approx. R3,000. They have checked the car and this is all that is needed. Again I challenge this minor service and explain to the Service Manager what I have been experiencing in terms of the brakes. He says he will ask for further investigation but blames it on me not clarifying what my brake problems was when I dropped off the car, otherwise they would have been able to know what to look for/conduct further investigations on the car. At 13h30, I receive a call stating that my front brakes and discs needed replacing and now the quote is R12,000 for the brakes including the minor service. Unfortunately as they have to order parts, the car will not be ready that day and I will be able to pick it up the following day, i.e. Wednesday.

Come Wednesday, the Service Manager calls at me at 12h00 to inform me that all is going well with the car and it should be ready at 15h00. I ask that I am picked up by a driver at my home when I need to come collect the car. This has been a previous request when arranging for the Monday drop off and I was reiterating the request. I am informed that I will receive a call directly from the driver. At 16h00, no call from the driver, so I decide to get an uber to collect the car.

Upon collection, as I am about to drive out (after Service Manager has handed me the invoice and my keys) I notice a large crack on my windscreen that runs across from the driver's side to the passenger's side. Luckily I had not even left their offices. I switch off the car and call the Service Manager to ask about this crack that was not there when I dropped off the car. He looks at me and asks am I sure it was not there before. I tell him yes and he goes to the 'back' to investigate what had happened. The Service Manager comes back to me to tell me that I had had a chip on the windscreen that had widen to the current crack while the car was in their possession. I did not have a chip and I again need to challenge this with them. I ask him to produce the checklist that is usually done to note scratches and the like when handing over a vehicle and for us to see if a chip on the windscreen had been listed. No document is produced but he is adamant that a chip was there when the car arrived.

I refused to accept receipt of the car on the basis that it was not handed over in this condition and they must fix the windscreen before I will accept receipt. Response is that though a chip existed, they are willing to fix the windscreen at their own cost.

I am disappointed about this service firstly because I am not sure what investigations were done nor the quality of assessments on my car if I have to be the one who highlights faults (more than once to specialists) on the car. A phone call and an instruction had to diagnose a car while the people physically assessing the car could not pick this up. Further, how does a dealership think they can give back your car damaged and be adamant that it was damaged before/there was resultant damage on your car and not even bother to highlight it upon collection?

Extremely disappointing service from Ford Fury Sandton. Forget never going back because of customer service, never going back because they damage my windscreen as well as initially passed my faulty brakes as adequate.