Survey from Ford about Ordering

[hybrid2bev]

I just got this email from Ford. "Tell us about your Mach-E PREMIUM order experience."

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[methorian]

Same - Just completed it!

 

[Berth48]

J'adorerai répondre à ce sondage, mais pour cela il faudrait que l'on puisse déjà commander. Pour un véhicule qui devait être livré simultanément aux USA et en Europe ça à encore faillit. Quand je pense que j'ai réservé une FE avec le numéro 10012*** et que je serai livré bien après ceux qui ont un numéro bien supérieur ça me désole. Mais bon c'est comme ça et typique des américains. En plus d'un droit de réservation doublé on ce prend les frais de douane, c'est vraiment lamentable d'être obligé d'attendre plus

 

[JamieGeek]

Same

 

[ajmartineau]

Your first edition should be made at the same time as all the rest of the US FE. I assume they aren't going to re-tool again to make international FE.

 

[pb3]

I agree that the process seems unfair. Ford should have made clear in the beginning that there would be a timeline for USA and another for Europe.

About pricing, I lived in Europe (UK) for 30 years. It was common for comparable cars to cost much more than those on the US domestic market.

On the other hand, I pay three times more here for a nice bottle of French wine in the USA than I do in France.

(Sorry for responding in English, I can read some French, but my writing is terrible.)

 

[ajmartineau]

If I lived in Europe I'd be driving an EQC or be reserved (if possible) for the EQB. That's the AWD BEV I really wanted.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I agree that the process seems unfair. Ford should have made clear in the beginning that there would be a timeline for USA and another for Europe.

About pricing, I lived in Europe (UK) for 30 years. It was common for comparable cars to cost much more than those on the US domestic market.

On the other hand, I pay three times more here for a nice bottle of French wine in the USA than I do in France.

(Sorry for responding in English, I can read some French, but my writing is terrible.)

To be fair, Ford had planned for simultaneous release in the US and Europe. It was made clear. Multiple interviews discussed it.

This all changed with COVID-19. Ford made the best business call they could. Knowing they would miss key dates and incur EU fines either way, they chose to get the US cars into the hands of customers as fast as they could.

 

[Berth48]

[QUOTE = "ChasingCoral, message: 20952, membre: 642"]
Pour être juste, Ford avait prévu une sortie simultanée aux États-Unis et en Europe. C'était clair. Plusieurs entretiens en ont discuté.

Tout cela a changé avec COVID-19. Ford a passé le meilleur appel commercial possible. Sachant qu'ils manqueraient des dates clés et encourraient des amendes de l'UE dans tous les cas, ils ont choisi de mettre les voitures américaines entre les mains des clients le plus rapidement possible.
[/CITATION]
Je sais qu'au départ cela était prévu comme ça mais encore une fois les dindons de la farce sont les européens

 

[NEMuskRat]

Is this after the actual order or the confirmation?

How long after you ordered/confirmed did you get this email request?

Maybe mine just went to junk mail. I get a lot of requests.

 

[Berth48]

De plus nous avons payé le droit de réservation comme vous aux USA, non pardon plus du double, 1 000 €, et cette argent profite en premier aux Américains, c'est lamentable. Mais bon on attendra un peu plus voir beaucoup

 

[NEMuskRat]

Yes, it does suck.
It also sucked when I was in Europe and you guys had some real cool models they didn't have in the US.

I hope you can get your car as soon as possible. I also hope the way the US is dealing with the Covid issue we don't completely delay the project any more than necessary.

 

[TOBG]

I got mine on Tuesday and completed it.

 

[opennetus]

I made a lot of suggestions in my survey. Here are some of the comments/suggestions I made (though worded in a different, more diplomatic way in survey):

1) Ford is being way too passive in reining in dealership abuses. It is bad for both Ford's business and their reputation to not exert more control over the pricing and sales rules for their vehicles. Saying "it is not my problem; everything is between you and the dealer" just isn't going to work in the 21st century. If Amazon took such a hands-off approach with bad third-party sellers using their marketplace, they would already be out of business. Even if they can't, by law, sell directly to consumers or set prices, they can certainly use their website and incentive system to punish bad dealerships and make it non-profitable for them to incorporate anti-consumer practices. It should be just as easy as Amazon to compare the prices and terms of competing dealerships; it could all be displayed in a list, from cheapest to most expensive. That will stop the problem immediately because if you charge more, it is obvious to the customer and no one will ever buy from you. Ford isn't getting any of that extra "markup" so I don't understand why they are protecting these abusive dealerships.

Surely, Ford doesn't want to see press headlines like "Ford dealers add $15k additional markup to Mach-E". If stuff like this keeps happening, people will just abandon Ford and buy from companies like Tesla more and more so in the future, where the price you pay on the website is the same price everyone else sees and pays.

2) Ordering system should say whether a dealer is willing to accept plan pricing and whether the deposit is refundable. If you have to call a dealership, sometimes multiple times, to clarify transaction details (and then insist they give it to you in writing since they could just lie over the phone), than it is not a good ordering system. Might as well just place your order with the dealer directly if you have to contact them anyway just to get basic information which could have been listed on the website.

3) Lack of guarantees, clearly made in writing. There is nothing obvious stopping a dealer from adding surprises when it comes time to accept delivery. Ford needs to make it very clear that they will stick up and advocate for end customers and that the price you see is the price you will end up paying... no "handling/document/advertising fees" or "required protection packages" or other nonsense. If a dealership tries to do that, Ford should offer a warranty to make it right with the customer and punish the dealership, instead of leaving you out in the cold.

4) No way online of changing dealerships, change first edition orders, and no invitation to GT owners (who may have changed their minds and now want to order a non-GT) that they can order a non-GT now instead if they don't want to wait. We were told we could change all the reservation details later on... but you have to really work for it in certain cases.

5) The internal protection package wasn't an option in the initial reservation form and now, in the order process, it is hidden away. I bet a lot of people won't even know that is an option now. They should have highlighted that option on the main ordering screen instead of hiding it away in the "change configuration" area.

6) Ford should keep bothering dealerships until they either accept or reject an order, if it has been sitting untouched for, say 3 days. It shouldn't be the customer's job to teach dealerships how to use Ford's online ordering system.

 

[opennetus]

Is this after the actual order or the confirmation?

How long after you ordered/confirmed did you get this email request?

Maybe mine just went to junk mail. I get a lot of requests.

I got mine about 3 days after I placed my order on Ford's website. My dealer still hasn't accepted my order, so that is not a requirement for them sending the survey.

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