Reservation Automatically Converted to Order Overnight

[dbsb3233]

Wow, what a difference dealing with someone in the know. After a week of wrangling with the other dealer rep, the GM and I got everything settled in a couple of emails and I just approved the order.

X-Plan accepted.
Fees capped at no more than $100 under X-Plan.
Fully refundable $500 dealer deposit.

Order Placed! Woohoo!

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[SnBGC]

Good points.
So you are saying the final price isnt specified in the order details when you view it online?

You should see something like this....

 

[dbsb3233]

Good points.
So you are saying the final price isnt specified in the order details when you view it online?

You should see something like this....

Depends (in part) on what's in those ttttttt footnotes say. My dealer hijacked my reservation which took it past that screen and I don't have a way to look at it anymore.

Maybe they are locked into that as the actual vehicle price (not sure), but I think they'd still have the ability to pull shenanigans with fees. Document fee, dealer handling fee, advertising fee, dealer-added "features" like paint protection or undercoating or window tinting or other such profit-boosting nonsense they may automatically add that aren't technically part of the vehicle price itself. I don't like the idea of "order now, and negotiate later".

Many dealers are good and fair, but others not so much. I'm just not entirely sure what to expect from a simple online order like this, so I want to make sure I had an agreement on details via email. I'm not 100% sure how binding that really is either, but it's something.

Also, I wanted them to agree to accepting X-Plan, which is a different price altogether. I joined MCOA a few days ago for $25 to get the X-Plan PIN. Should save me about $900 (actually more like $1300 if it means capping the D&H fee at $100 too).

 

[SnBGC]

Let me see if I can retrieve the footnote stipulations. It was mostly boilerplate stuff.

Sounds like you are all set now. Great news!

 

[ChasingCoral]

He said Ford's initial info was sent out in Jan-2019, with some updates along the way, but a combination of bad info and them misinterpreting it led to a lot of misinformation on their part. He also said Ford normally sends a rep out to instruct each dealership on new processes like this, but COVID undercut that.

False and true.
True: They didn't send out reps. We already heard that here. @hybrid2bev provided us with information on the new system.

False: There was an entire training system on how the dealers were supposed to do this and a Mach-E Launch Playbook Summer 2020. It sounds like your dealership didn't make sure their assigned Mach E person took the training and actually learned what they were supposed to. That's partly the fault of the salesperson who was assigned that job but his boss didn't make sure it happened. You're no longer working with the salesperson who didn't do his job right, your now working with the GM who didn't do his.

 

[SnBGC]

Let me see if I can retrieve the footnote stipulations. It was mostly boilerplate stuff.

Sounds like you are all set now. Great news!

Go to your order reservation and click on View Order
Scroll to the bottom where you see "Disclosures". Expand the view and there will be about 194 items to review.

 

[dbsb3233]

False and true.
True: They didn't send out reps. We already heard that here. @hybrid2bev provided us with information on the new system.

False: There was an entire training system on how the dealers were supposed to do this and a Mach-E Launch Playbook Summer 2020. It sounds like your dealership didn't make sure their assigned Mach E person took the training and actually learned what they were supposed to. That's partly the fault of the salesperson who was assigned that job but his boss didn't make sure it happened. You're no longer working with the salesperson who didn't do his job right, your now working with the GM who didn't do his.

Which is why he apologized profusely. He acknowledged that they dropped the ball with all the misinformation. I think the responsibility shares pretty equally between the 3 of them (the GM, the internet sales rep, and Ford). I throw Ford in there too because this is far from the only dealership that's been reported to have screwed up the process.

And while this isn't an excuse, I do have to acknowledge that for most dealerships, the Mach-e represents maybe 2-3 vehicle sales for the entire 2021 model year. It certainly doesn't warrant an abundance of time being thrown at it relative to the other 99.8% of their sales. But at the same time, they should have done better than this.

 

[JamieGeek]

Which is why he apologized profusely. He acknowledged that they dropped the ball with all the misinformation. I think the responsibility shares pretty equally between the 3 of them (the GM, the internet sales rep, and Ford). I throw Ford in there too because this is far from the only dealership that's been reported to have screwed up the process.

And while this isn't an excuse, I do have to acknowledge that for most dealerships, the Mach-e represents maybe 2-3 vehicle sales for the entire 2021 model year. It certainly doesn't warrant an abundance of time being thrown at it relative to the other 99.8% of their sales. But at the same time, they should have done better than this.

Especially considering other vehicles in the future (ahem Bronco) will be using the same process.

 

[dbsb3233]

Especially considering other vehicles in the future (ahem Bronco) will be using the same process.

Yep, I made sure to keep mentioning that when referencing the new and different reservation process Ford thrust on them, in hopes of reminding them that "oh yeah, Mach-e sales are tiny but we better figure this out for the bigger batch of Bronco reservations coming".

 

[dml105]

This appears to have happened to me as well. I got an email on Saturday morning (before I woke up) saying that my reservation had been converted to an order.

I have not yet received any communication from the dealer, and had not decided which dealer I wanted, and what exterior option I wanted.

Following to see what recourse people here get.

 

[dbsb3233]

This appears to have happened to me as well. I got an email on Saturday morning (before I woke up) saying that my reservation had been converted to an order.

I have not yet received any communication from the dealer, and had not decided which dealer I wanted, and what exterior option I wanted.

Following to see what recourse people here get.

In my case, the dealer moved it from reservation to an open order, but had not hit SUBMIT to actually place the order. It appears there's 3 statuses, even though the later 2 are both labeled as "ORDER". Might want to check with your designated dealer to confirm they didn't submit the order yet. Most likely they didn't, as they'll probably want a dealer deposit at that time.

Unfortunately, it appears to have made my vehicle locked into that dealer (my $500 Ford deposit refunded within a day). And in my only conversation with the Ford Mach-e helpline, the dealer didn't sound reversable once they did that (cancelable, but not reversable). Fortunately I was (eventually) able to get the confirmation from the dealer on the items I wanted confirmed, so I was able to complete the order with them.

 

[hybrid2bev]

A new dealer job aid version 2.1 was just published today that has new warnings on it in several places. "PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ORDERS WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE CUSTOMER." So hopefully that will help prevent this issue.

 

[dml105]

A new dealer job aid version 2.1 was just published today that has new warnings on it in several places. "PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ORDERS WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE CUSTOMER." So hopefully that will help prevent this issue.

Not much help to the people who have already been converted...

We'll see if the dealer makes things right.

 

[timbop]

A new dealer job aid version 2.1 was just published today that has new warnings on it in several places. "PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ORDERS WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE CUSTOMER." So hopefully that will help prevent this issue.

Given that the upside for dealers who do it is that they now have you locked in with them (unless you want to go to the back of the line) and the downside seems to be a strongly worded letter from Ford, it seems clear which avenue sleazy dealers will take.

This is reminiscent of the scene in "Aliens" when the lieutenant tells them all not to use their weapons, and the one guy (who gets killed 30 seconds later) says "what are we supposed to use, harsh language?" Apparently that is the worst that a dealer can expect.

 

[dbsb3233]

A new dealer job aid version 2.1 was just published today that has new warnings on it in several places. "PLEASE DO NOT PLACE ORDERS WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE CUSTOMER." So hopefully that will help prevent this issue.

Good to see them actively adjusting. Perhaps they've been reading these forums. And/or the surveys. While I'd only responded to my online survey regarding my order a few days ago, I detailed my experience with the dealer unwittingly hijacking my reservation, and suggested they needed to make it clearer to dealers NOT TO DO THAT.

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