Grave injustice from Action Ford Roodepoort and Ford South Africa.

<p>To Whom It May Concern </p> <p>Good morning</p> <p>I am currently living in Johannesburg and I would like to report a serious problem I’ve had with Action Ford Roodepoort and Ford South Africa. I feel that a grave injustice has happened and I have suffered a great loss. In July 2012 after returning from overseas I purchased a Ford Fiesta 1.6 Trend power shift. from Zeda car sales in Cape Town. The car still had its factory warranty, full service and maintenance plan in place.</p> <p><br /> On 8 December 2014 my Ford Fiesta broke down while I was on my way to Drakensburg for the summer holidays. At this point in time the car still had its full factory warranty, maintenance plan and service plans. The A.A. came and checked the car and I was told that the car had problems with the transmission and it had to be taken to the Ford dealership for repairs and maintenance. <br /> <br /> The A.A towed my car into Action Ford Roodepoort where I was informed via telephone that they've checked the car and they would do the necessary transmission updates and I would have to replace the battery. I informed them of what the A.A said but they guaranteed that everything was fine and the problem was resolved. I sent one of my family members to collect the car on 11 December 2014 as I had not yet returned from vacation. The car was parked in a locked garage until the 10th of January 2015 when I returned from my vacation. <br /> <br /> On the 10th of January 2015 I started driving the car again but after a week a noticed that the car was having problems with the transmission again but at this time no warning lights were present/flickering like before. On the 7th of February 2015 my husband and I was driving home on a Saturday afternoon and the car stalled on the highway and all the warning lights for transmission repairs lights was once again flickering , once again the same transmission problems was detected. <br /> Again the A.A. towed my car into Action Ford Roodepoort on Monday the 9th of February 2015 with the same problem as before. <br /> <br /> My husband and I went into Ford to speak with the repairs manager and the dealer principal and they claimed that the clutches needed to be replaced with a particular seal and it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get the seal. After 4 weeks of not hearing anything from Action Ford I contacted them to discuss any further developments. Their response was that they were still waiting for the part (seal). At this point my husband requested a courtesy car as I was without my car for 6 weeks and it was very difficult to get to and from my workplace. Nearly 6 months later I still did not have my car as the seal had still not been replaced. At this point my car went into FORD on the 9th of February 2016 and was returned on the 30 July 2015 (nearly 6 months)</p> <p> I had requested on several occasions during this time that the entire transmission be replaced because the A.A. clearly stated to me what the problem was. Action Ford refused to replace the transmission but rather decided to replace the seal and clutches. By this time my cars factory warranty was almost expired and no real repairs were done because the problem persisted a few weeks after the car was returned to me in July 2015.</p> <p>After 2 weeks the same thing happened, my car was shaking when pulling away from a stationery position and this was very abnormal. Again I called Action Ford and they said they could only do the necessary electronic updates. <br /> The problem persisted throughout 2015 during this year my car was taken into Action Ford 6 times that for services and repairs. A final service was done in November 2015 where I was told that everything was in order.<br /> <br /> In February 2016 my car went in again because of the ongoing transmission problem. I was then told that the transmission needed to be replaced at my own expense and the camp belt needed to be replaced. My service plan was expiring in February 2016 and I would not be able to replace the Camp belt under the service plan because Action Ford already did the service in November 2015 and did not replace the Camp belt or inform me that it needed to be replaced. Replacing the camp belt would cost R5700 even though this should have been done in November 2015 under my existing service plan. Why on earth would Action Ford not be aware that the camp belt would have had to be changed and the service plan manager explained that that should have been picked up during the November 2015 service and I’m only allowed 1 service per year so my next service would have to be done in August 2016 after my service plan expired. Obviously Action Ford gave me very poor advice and did not follow the necessary service guidelines. </p> <p>Ford gave me poor advice as they were aware that the service plan was expiring but they did not do the necessary Camp belt replacement. I then had to extend my service plan which cost me R5700 so that I could have my service done in August 2016.<br /> <br /> In February 2016 my car went in again to Action Ford and I parked my car at the Action Ford locked premises where the security guard checked in the car. The person in charge of my car ( service agent) by the name of called me a few days later to say my car was ready for collection. I told her I would be there by 4pm that same day. I also received a text message from Action Ford to say that my car was ready for collection. </p> <p>30 minutes later I received a call from the service agent telling me that one of the security guards moved and knocked my car into a pole in the Action Ford parking lot when I delivered my car the Sunday evening and no one had noticed it and they were now going to send the car for repairs. She claimed that she did not notice that the car was damaged in the rear of the car when she called me to collect the car. (this was 4 days after the car was knocked) and no one noticed,</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Again I was without a car for several weeks as the car was now sent to the panel beaters in Roodepoort for repairs. When the cars body works was repaired the car was returned to me and low and behold the shaking and transmission problems was still there. Action Ford Roodepoort mis-diagnosed my car since day 1 and now I am the one who has to fork out this exorbitant amount to replace my transmission. <br /> </p> <p>At this point I contacted Ford S. A and even after weeks of dealing with them nothing came of it as I was only able to work through an agent and never was able to speak to anyone but her. I was not able to contact anyone in senior management at Ford S.A. They informed me that I had to pay for repairs R54 000 for the transmission repairs because it was out of the warranty period.<br /> </p> <p> I don’t see why I had to pay this exorbitant amount for the transmission repairs when my car was still under warranty and full service plans when I informed Action Ford from day 1 what the problem was. Their misdiagnosis is now solely my problem. The problem was the transmission and they refused to replace it under its warranty. They claimed to have fixed the problem so why, not even a month later did the problem recur. After an almost two year battle with Action Ford and later on Ford S.A. I feel that I have suffered a great loss and was put through so much distress. I was still making monthly payments for a car I wasn’t even driving; I was unable to drive for months because Ford had the car in their possession. Ford had the car in their possession for almost a year at different periods between 2014 and 2016. <br /> <br /> We dealt with Action Ford managers and service agents for months and they made several promises and we complained about the poor service and inferior workmanship and negligence from Action Fords side. It has been an uphill battle and a great financial strain and inconvenience from my side. After hundreds of calls and e-mails all that Action Ford says is that they’ve tried everything but they will not accept any responsibility of negligence, misdiagnosing the car and poor service delivery from their side. <br /> <br /> Also to be noted is in April 2016 the car was still at Action Ford and I met with the dealer (saleman) from Action Ford as I wanted to trade in the car for a 2016 model. My car is in an excellent condition, it was always taken care of. He evaluated my car and gave me a trade in value of R99 000 and this offer was valid for 7 days only. The paperwork was never completed as the salesman never got back to me and subsequently ended up in hospital. He no longer works at Action Ford at this point in time.</p> <p> </p> <p>As a particular service agent was dealing with my car from day 1 we asked her about trading in the car but still there was absolutely no response from Fords side I collected my car on Saturday 9th July 2016 after months at Action Ford Roodepoort. When I took the car back to Ford on the 18th of March 2016 no service lights, warning lights etc was flickering or on at this point in time. I emailed Catt and asked that my car be returned in the condition that I brought it in. When I collected my car on 11th July 2016 my car could barely drive home. All the service lights plus the transmission light was flickering and Catt told me this was normal because of the transmission problem I have. I eventually got home in a state.</p> <p> </p> <p>Now I have a car that can't drive, can't be sold and has almost no trade in value and this is all because of ACTION FORDS negligence from the 8th of December 2014 when all they had to do was to request the transmission be replaced immediately. I have to use public transport to get to and from work and I had just paid up a car and I’m unable to drive the car.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been through so much this past 2 years and the pain, suffering, stress and anxiety caused by Ford S.A and Action Ford is unacceptable. After years of sweating to pay off this car which I barely drove ( I was the sole driver) as my mileage after 5 years was only at 80 000 km, I feel that it is gravely ********* what has taken place with Action Ford and Ford S. A. </p> <p> </p> <p>I have not included any individual’s names in the content above but have them available on request. I would appreciate your urgent attention to this matter </p> <p> </p> <p>Please can you assist me with regards to this matter. </p> <p>Dates car was in at ACTION FORD ROODEPOORT</p> <p>8 December 2014 – 11 December 2014 (3 days) for transmission updates</p> <p>9 February 2015 – 30 July 2015 ( 20 + 31 + 30 + 31 + 30 + 31 = 173 days) repairs on transmission</p> <p>2 November 2015 – 20 November 2015 ( 18 days)</p> <p>25 February 2016 – 14 March 2016 ( 19 days) transmission repairs</p> <p>18 March 2016 – 11 July 2016 ( 14 + 30 + 31 + 30 + 11 = 116 days) repairs on transmission and waiting for approval to conduct repairs from FORD S.A.</p> <p>TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS: 329 days = Almost 1 year that my car spent at Action Ford Roodepoort</p>