Disgusting service from Ford

Good day.

I write to you in total shock and disgust at the lack of customer service I have experienced.

I have always only purchased Volkswagen in the past but having researched the Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost (and being in the market for a car last year) I was completely enthralled by it and bought one. My vehicle was not purchased brand new and in the first week I noticed a strange noise whenever I app**** the brakes. There was also an issue where the right rear window would intermittently not wind up. I took my 2015 Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost Trend to CMH Umhlanga. They said that the brake discs needed skimming and that I should monitor the frequency of non-operation of the window. I agreed for the dealer to carry out the repair. A few days later the noise re-appeared and on contacting the dealer, I was told that it will go away but it worsened. Frustrated, I went back to the dealer and insisted that they have a look. This time they said the brake pads were non original, hence the noise. My concerns here are: did the discs need to be skimmed in the first place as this was not done free of charge and how did an official workshop of a major motor supplier not have pick up the anomaly with the pads upon initial inspection? Getting this resolved was yet again at the loss of my personal time and money as I had to take time off work each time that I had to run back and forth.

In January of last year I took the vehicle through to the same dealer for the annual service. I was met by a gentleman who spoke to me in a very unprofessional manner, using words like “Bra” and “Ekse”. Shocked, but wanting to get my car sorted out, I proceeded to book the car in with him. I explained that the issue with the window was still there and he assured me (in slang) that he would have it sorted out. There was also a problem with the Sync system which I asked him to check and, to my total disbelief, he asked me what is a Sync. I had to educate a Ford staff member about a Ford product! I left there totally bewildered and even more uncertain if I ever should have moved away from Volkswagen. That afternoon I was transported back to the dealer only to find that the window was in exactly the same condition. When I questioned the service advisor he said that it was working fine when he tested it and that he would send someone out to me to check on the fault in a few days as it was already late in the day. A few days later some guy came to have a look, tried some device and said that this was not the issue and another part needed to be ordered. More than a month later, I called the dealer to find out what the progress was. This time I was told that they had confused me with another customer. They had replaced the part on his vehicle and the status of mine was that , according to their records, the window functionality was being monitored by the customer. They promised that they would order me a replacement part immediately and contact me as soon as it arrived. A few weeks later, I was contacted by Bevan to say that the part is still on order. When it got to a month again, I called Bevan and he said that there was some sort of issue with part and it was on re-call but assured me that he would immediately place an order for the part….If there was a recall, why did they need a call from me to order the correct part.

About three weeks ago, they called me and arranged to collect my vehicle in order to conduct the repair. Granted, on that day, my vehicle was quite dirty but they brought it back in the same condition saying that they didn’t want to delay me by washing the car so they returned it as soon as they were done. Really??? When I got home that evening I got home only to discover that there was something preventing the right rear door from opening(the door that they had worked on). Frustrated and disappointed as I had to again take time off to get Ford to do their job properly, I returned to the dealer the next day. This time I went directly to the dealer principal and explained all of the above to him. After a while the vehicle was ready and they said it was some clip that was jamming the door which they had not sorted out but that it was fine. I tried the door and it worked fine, but then the left rear window started doing the same thing that the right window was doing. They assured me that they would order a new part and call me as soon as they have it.

I requested an explanation from the dealer principal, which they have not provided me with, and I am still waiting for them to install the part. All I got was an apology that was more like an attempt to get rid of me. It seems that even though I escalated all of this to the dealer, I was forgotten the moment I walked out the door. I seriously doubt that I will ever buy a Ford or advise anybody to do so based on the pathetic after sales support that Ford provides.

I forwarded this mail to Ford customer care and am still waiting for a response.