okunney

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I'm sorry, but that is flat out BS. The Ford Facebook nitwit has already shown TWICE that they've let the "professional" reviewers get their hands on the car, and unless a reviewer actually bought a car they won't have any more time by mid December than they will by OKTB in November. If they can't write a well considered article in 2 weeks they need to find another job.

Sorry, but Ford needs to cut the "hurry up and wait", stonewall, delay any decisions as long as possible nonsense.

Frankly EVERYTHING they've done relating to customers so far has been a screwup:
  • Place an early reservation with us, but it won't mean a damn thing.
  • There may be a lease, there may be incentives, there may be good rates and there might not. Check back with us sometime later... we're not sure when.. we just don't really know
  • Hey, we've got a half assed scheme to sell more FE's, but it will literally take MONTHs to know anything about whether you got a car or not. We're not sure if you should cancel your existing order or not, because we aren't really sure if we are going to place an FE order for you. Enjoy playing the game of tag between the clueless Ford customer service people and the apathetic/incompetent dealer
  • Hey, here's a cool app so you can set up your car - if you're lucky enough to get a VIN from your dealer. Oh wait, it's lame and badly written
  • Make sure to learn the Fordpass app so you can do great things with your car like find charging stations and map routes. Oh wait, it's a buggy piece of crap too
  • Hey, we're going to take a few cars around to dealerships, but not tell anyone about it. While you're there, you might get a ride or you might not. You'll have to go there to find out. Oh, and the webapp to make reservations is a badly written piece of crap
  • Want to know the status of your car? great, go to out web app to see. Oh wait, you're dealer coopted your reservation? too bad, all you get to see is your dealer's contact info because the webapp is a buggy piece of crap

Apologize for the rant, but Ford needs to get out of its own way. It's not 1965 any more.

And here's what I see after getting a VIN and a build date:
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 1.05.39 PM copy.png
Where do you find the vin? I have the order confirmation but its bare bones.
 

sockmeister

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I'm sorry, but that is flat out BS. The Ford Facebook nitwit has already shown TWICE that they've let the "professional" reviewers get their hands on the car, and unless a reviewer actually bought a car they won't have any more time by mid December than they will by OKTB in November. If they can't write a well considered article in 2 weeks they need to find another job.

Sorry, but Ford needs to cut the "hurry up and wait", stonewall, delay any decisions as long as possible nonsense.

Frankly EVERYTHING they've done relating to customers so far has been a screwup:
  • Place an early reservation with us, but it won't mean a damn thing.
  • There may be a lease, there may be incentives, there may be good rates and there might not. Check back with us sometime later... we're not sure when.. we just don't really know
  • Hey, we've got a half assed scheme to sell more FE's, but it will literally take MONTHs to know anything about whether you got a car or not. We're not sure if you should cancel your existing order or not, because we aren't really sure if we are going to place an FE order for you. Enjoy playing the game of tag between the clueless Ford customer service people and the apathetic/incompetent dealer
  • Hey, here's a cool app so you can set up your car - if you're lucky enough to get a VIN from your dealer. Oh wait, it's lame and badly written
  • Make sure to learn the Fordpass app so you can do great things with your car like find charging stations and map routes. Oh wait, it's a buggy piece of crap too
  • Hey, we're going to take a few cars around to dealerships, but not tell anyone about it. While you're there, you might get a ride or you might not. You'll have to go there to find out. Oh, and the webapp to make reservations is a badly written piece of crap
  • Want to know the status of your car? great, go to out web app to see. Oh wait, you're dealer coopted your reservation? too bad, all you get to see is your dealer's contact info because the webapp is a buggy piece of crap

Apologize for the rant, but Ford needs to get out of its own way. It's not 1965 any more.
Wholeheartedly agreed. I think Ford is partially hamstrung by legacy mechanics, including the existence of Dealerships. They have to work through dealerships to some extent, and that's hopelessly fragmented.
That's why Tesla is better able to adapt to the 2020 consumer world - they're not burdened yet by bureaucracy, red tape, and middle-men.

Dealerships need to go away, and Ford needs to adopt a direct sales method and retain showrooms and service centers only. In my opinion.
 

dbsb3233

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Dealerships need to go away, and Ford needs to adopt a direct sales method and retain showrooms and service centers only. In my opinion.
While I agree with most of Timbop's list of things that went frustratingly bad, I don't think dealerships need to go away. There's still a lot of value and purpose to them. However, they definitely need to adapt and evolve to fit within the growing trend of direct online orders.

There was a thread here a few months ago about Ford supposedly launching a new online ordering system that's supposed to do all that much better, but I haven't seen zip on it since. No idea where that stands.

There's no reason it can't work well for online orders, even taking delivery at a dealership. If they do it right. Could be a big "if" though.
 

silverelan

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My understanding is that European dealerships are basically delivery & service centers.

You go to a dealer, test drive the cars, pick the one you like then configure it how you want. The delivery gets scheduled for a later date.

I'd be okay with this sales model.
 

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Where do you find the vin? I have the order confirmation but its bare bones.
AFTER you get the "your car is scheduled to be built" email (if they remember to send it to you), you have to get the VIN from the dealer. One might ask why you can't just get it online, but that would just be silly.
 


sockmeister

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There was a thread here a few months ago about Ford supposedly launching a new online ordering system that's supposed to do all that much better, but I haven't seen zip on it since. No idea where that stands.
That reminds me. I've been wondering about that, too. I remember reading about it. I guess they abandoned it.
 

kdryden99

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I'm sorry, but that is flat out BS. The Ford Facebook nitwit has already shown TWICE that they've let the "professional" reviewers get their hands on the car, and unless a reviewer actually bought a car they won't have any more time by mid December than they will by OKTB in November. If they can't write a well considered article in 2 weeks they need to find another job.

Sorry, but Ford needs to cut the "hurry up and wait", stonewall, delay any decisions as long as possible nonsense.

Frankly EVERYTHING they've done relating to customers so far has been a screwup:
  • Place an early reservation with us, but it won't mean a damn thing.
  • There may be a lease, there may be incentives, there may be good rates and there might not. Check back with us sometime later... we're not sure when.. we just don't really know
  • Hey, we've got a half assed scheme to sell more FE's, but it will literally take MONTHs to know anything about whether you got a car or not. We're not sure if you should cancel your existing order or not, because we aren't really sure if we are going to place an FE order for you. Enjoy playing the game of tag between the clueless Ford customer service people and the apathetic/incompetent dealer
  • Hey, here's a cool app so you can set up your car - if you're lucky enough to get a VIN from your dealer. Oh wait, it's lame and badly written
  • Make sure to learn the Fordpass app so you can do great things with your car like find charging stations and map routes. Oh wait, it's a buggy piece of crap too
  • Hey, we're going to take a few cars around to dealerships, but not tell anyone about it. While you're there, you might get a ride or you might not. You'll have to go there to find out. Oh, and the webapp to make reservations is a badly written piece of crap
  • Want to know the status of your car? great, go to out web app to see. Oh wait, you're dealer coopted your reservation? too bad, all you get to see is your dealer's contact info because the webapp is a buggy piece of crap

Apologize for the rant, but Ford needs to get out of its own way. It's not 1965 any more.

And here's what I see after getting a VIN and a build date:
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 1.05.39 PM copy.png
It's not just for the Mach-E I just saw this on youtube from the Fast Lane Car Channel where a subscriber talks about the Bronco ordering process

https://www.youtube.com/c/TFLcar/community
The Fast Lane Car4 days ago
We just got this email from Clayton. Here’s a interesting FYI for all who are ordering the new Bronco. “Hey guys, I love your content but was hoping to see more coverage of the 2021 Bronco. I want to share my Bronco reservation experience. My parents had a Bronco when I was growing up, and out of nostalgia ( and desire for the newest and greatest in offroading/ Overlanding), I reserved my Badlands the day it was available. I was very excited when the Build and Price tool launched, but I found it a very frustrating experience. For example, the website does not allow you to configure noise deadening with the 2.7L or the sasquatch package with any roof racks. Furthermore, the rock rails that are supposed to be included on the Badlands appear as a ~$1000 option. A tow-hitch receiver is priced at $995. Has there been a vehicle launch that has been so hyped and curated but so poor on the technical side? Does this bode poorly for the 2021 Bronco? This has me seriously considering a Tacoma or 4Runner. I'm very frustrated with Ford when I see the effort put into the Bronco Social Media but failure to create a bug-free vehicle configurator. I'd love to see you guys cover this and share similar vehicle launch stories. Best, Clayton”
 

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The review embargo thing is not a new in the car world.
No, but the timing is ludicrous. In September Bill Ford talked about the JD Power review that's apparently already written. Darrin Palmer AND that annoying guy that teases tiny fragments of information on facebook both mentioned in the first week of October that the media have already been given access to the cars. OKTB is supposed to be November 23rd, and allegedly cars will actually start getting delivered in early December. Why the hell have an embargo that goes 3 to 4 weeks after you start officially shipping cars?
 

tex

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I'm sorry, but that is flat out BS. The Ford Facebook nitwit has already shown TWICE that they've let the "professional" reviewers get their hands on the car, and unless a reviewer actually bought a car they won't have any more time by mid December than they will by OKTB in November. If they can't write a well considered article in 2 weeks they need to find another job.

Sorry, but Ford needs to cut the "hurry up and wait", stonewall, delay any decisions as long as possible nonsense.

Frankly EVERYTHING they've done relating to customers so far has been a screwup:
  • Place an early reservation with us, but it won't mean a damn thing.
  • There may be a lease, there may be incentives, there may be good rates and there might not. Check back with us sometime later... we're not sure when.. we just don't really know
  • Hey, we've got a half assed scheme to sell more FE's, but it will literally take MONTHs to know anything about whether you got a car or not. We're not sure if you should cancel your existing order or not, because we aren't really sure if we are going to place an FE order for you. Enjoy playing the game of tag between the clueless Ford customer service people and the apathetic/incompetent dealer
  • Hey, here's a cool app so you can set up your car - if you're lucky enough to get a VIN from your dealer. Oh wait, it's lame and badly written
  • Make sure to learn the Fordpass app so you can do great things with your car like find charging stations and map routes. Oh wait, it's a buggy piece of crap too
  • Hey, we're going to take a few cars around to dealerships, but not tell anyone about it. While you're there, you might get a ride or you might not. You'll have to go there to find out. Oh, and the webapp to make reservations is a badly written piece of crap
  • Want to know the status of your car? great, go to out web app to see. Oh wait, you're dealer coopted your reservation? too bad, all you get to see is your dealer's contact info because the webapp is a buggy piece of crap

Apologize for the rant, but Ford needs to get out of its own way. It's not 1965 any more.

And here's what I see after getting a VIN and a build date:
Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 1.05.39 PM copy.png
Totally agree. After a week short of a year with early day of launch reservation and now a Christmas week build Ford is losing me for all the reasons you mention. I even put in a back up reservation for Bronco Sport because my confidence in Ford to successfully do OTA updates is pretty low after a year of watching their web site flounder. Sadly the Sport information flow is even worse than Mach e. To all the current and former Ford employees I know it hurts to read these types of comments, but Ford should stop with the show (too many new car announcements) and get with the go.
 

zhackwyatt

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If reviewers weren't required to wait, we'd get fast reviews rather than well considered, well driven ones. And reviewers who have to wait for the car to be released from a previous reviewer would be unfairly disadvantaged.
Microsoft did something interesting with the Surface Duo. Two phased NDA, so reviewers could talk about hardware etc right away, but they couldn't release any information about software and battery life experience for like two weeks after they had the units.
 

Daniel M

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Totally agree. After a week short of a year with early day of launch reservation and now a Christmas week build Ford is losing me for all the reasons you mention. I even put in a back up reservation for Bronco Sport because my confidence in Ford to successfully do OTA updates is pretty low after a year of watching their web site flounder. Sadly the Sport information flow is even worse than Mach e. To all the current and former Ford employees I know it hurts to read these types of comments, but Ford should stop with the show (too many new car announcements) and get with the go.
Dammit Covid, how dare you screw up our new car release with supply chain, health and safety, and production development, and PR/communication issues. I wish people would just be optimistically happy and anticipate the MME release positively. This is an entirely new system that has been developed. Is it perfect, no. Has this year been historically horrible, absolutely yes. Are there more important issues to stress over, yes. Are we all excited to get a new car, you best believe it!**

**all statements are of my opinion. You have the option to agree or disagree with any/all statements. I just request that everyone stay happy and healthy, however that means for each of us individually and as a society.
 

buzznwood

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My understanding is that European dealerships are basically delivery & service centers.

You go to a dealer, test drive the cars, pick the one you like then configure it how you want. The delivery gets scheduled for a later date.

I'd be okay with this sales model.
I can't speak for now seeing as with changes in the common way how vehicles are purchased and taking into account that the last brand new car I purchased in the UK was an escort cosworth, but this is pretty much how it worked, A dealer would normally get a demonstrator that you could take a tested drive in, you would spec the car they way you would want then you sit around twiddle your thumbs waiting for it to turn up months later, no ADM crap either and seeing when it came to fords in the UK nobody would be paying MSRP or above.

Fast forward to the internet days at it seems pretty much the same to me, build using the online configurator it gets sent to dealer, get a price and if happy wait for it to turn up and with sites such as carwow that contact loads of dealers plenty of online options.

When I emigrated over to the USA in the very late 90's the whole purchase new of the lot was a completely alien idea to me, anything sitting on a lot in the UK back then would have been used, sure it can be seen as coinvent compared to waiting but frankly who wants to play the game of trying to finding your spec on the dealer lot while dealing with an obnoxious salesperson trying to push you towards what ever unrelated crap happens to need shifting. Or having to put up with dealers that seem rather reluctant to take your custom order as you would rather wait instead of settling for nearest match.

The whole dealer setup should have moved over to delivery & service centers years ago the smart ones have long since figured this out.
 

dbsb3233

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Dammit Covid, how dare you screw up our new car release with supply chain, health and safety, and production development, and PR/communication issues. I wish people would just be optimistically happy and anticipate the MME release positively. This is an entirely new system that has been developed. Is it perfect, no. Has this year been historically horrible, absolutely yes. Are there more important issues to stress over, yes. Are we all excited to get a new car, you best believe it!**

**all statements are of my opinion. You have the option to agree or disagree with any/all statements. I just request that everyone stay happy and healthy, however that means for each of us individually and as a society.
I think everyone understands COVID delays. Almost none of those items is a COVID delay, it's just poor customer communication, bad coordination with dealers, a buggy ordering/reservation process, a crappy phone app, a fiasco of a MachDrop promo, reservation priority that was only loosely followed, etc.

I have faith that the car itself will be great. But the journey getting there has been quite rocky. Maybe we just expect too much. But if this were just about anything other than a special new $60k car that has no counterpart (for those the many people that don't like the look of Teslas anyway), I think many people would have just moved on to something else now.
 

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I've been holding my tongue and reading as many threads as I can, hoping that the context will come to me but I give up. What the heck does OKTB stand for?
Sponsored

 
 




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