The dealer gave my reserved vehicle away I waited six months for

RickMachE

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Yep. My dad was a Ford guy. My grandfathers were Ford guys. My first car was a 1970 Ford Torino GT which I still own.

I think Ford makes great vehicles but 99% of the dealers are just outright scumbags who make the ownership experience awful.
99%. I think that's a 1,254% exaggeration. ?
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Rfehl62

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Appreciate the insights. Is the allocation penalty only if a dealer sells the order without the customer giving it up, though? Because that's what I'm getting at. Add on some services that weren't requested (nitrogen; VIN etching; special coatings for exterior and interior; and so on) and maybe now the customer can't afford it, or is unwilling to buy it. And now it's an abandoned order, right? Not the dealer's fault that a customer reneged on the deal. And after all, the website just shows a cost estimate -it's a reservation, not a purchase agreement.

That's sort of the situation I'm finding myself in - difference from MSRP was zero when I placed the reservation with a dealer, and now - without communicating with me - I noted one day that it's a few thousand dollars. Still sorting that one out so I'll keep the details to myself, but if I were to back out of the reservation on principle, it's not like the reservation goes away, right? The dealership can take it over.

Agreed that the situation seems to be a proper mess...
Ford did take that into account when creating the policy but it is not generous at all. Basically, I need to delivery 70% of my retail orders to the customers that ordered them. Ford does not care whos fault it is or who has control over it. You just need to be at or above the number. Realistically, we can only afford to have 2 or 3 customer orders fall through before we are in the red and the penalties go into effect. As for the pricing, if you had a signed agreement on the price of the car when you ordered it then there is nothing they can do. They MUST sell it to you at that price. If you back out of the reservation and the original deposit is refunded then the dealership loses that reservation. Now, you and the dealership can possibly work something out under the table to keep it there so they can order it for their stock BUT it will still count against their allocation if they do that. Hopefully this has helped.
 

Mach1E

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I’ve had very good luck with the Customer Experience officers.
That’s good to hear, but I still think in this case it’s between the dealer and the OP. I just don’t see Ford getting involved nor wanting to unless the dealer refuses to refund or something.

I still would lodge a formal complaint due to bad sales practices with Ford just so it’s noted somewhere.
 

Mach1E

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Ford did take that into account when creating the policy but it is not generous at all. Basically, I need to delivery 70% of my retail orders to the customers that ordered them. Ford does not care whos fault it is or who has control over it. You just need to be at or above the number. Realistically, we can only afford to have 2 or 3 customer orders fall through before we are in the red and the penalties go into effect. As for the pricing, if you had a signed agreement on the price of the car when you ordered it then there is nothing they can do. They MUST sell it to you at that price. If you back out of the reservation and the original deposit is refunded then the dealership loses that reservation. Now, you and the dealership can possibly work something out under the table to keep it there so they can order it for their stock BUT it will still count against their allocation if they do that. Hopefully this has helped.
Good to hear that Ford actually has a policy to discourage this kind of behavior! (Fake orders, selling out from under a reservation, surprise ADM)

I get the feeling a lot of the dealers are ignorant to the policy though. That wouldn’t surprise me since it seems more often than not it’s us who are teaching them about things (like Ford Options).
 

SWO

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99%. I think that's a 1,254% exaggeration. ?
Do you take 100% of information so literally in the rest your life? Did you think I conducted a survey or something??
 


RickMachE

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Do you take 100% of information so literally in the rest your life? Did you think I conducted a survey or something??
I was clearly poking fun at your preposterous statement. 99% of car dealers aren't bad. You're tying a stereotype to an industry.
 

SWO

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I was clearly poking fun at your preposterous statement. 99% of car dealers aren't bad. You're tying a stereotype to an industry.
It's an appropriate and well-deserved stereotype.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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just don’t see Ford getting involved nor wanting to unless the dealer refuses to refund or something.
It’s already been determined that the dealer won’t refund. How much longer does it take before “refuse.”
 

jlauro

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my plan is call and ask for GM Today. If no response in 24 hours certified letter to GM. If no response within 48 hours of that letters to dealer, Florida AG, and local BBB.
Any updates on getting your refund back after they sold your vehicle?
 

Mach1E

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It’s already been determined that the dealer won’t refund. How much longer does it take before “refuse.”
I don’t think that’s the case. Unless I’m missing something, this is what the OP said:

“sales managers at the dealership acknowledge they sold the car, however no one ever offered to refund my deposit or assist with finding another vehicle. I specifically asked for both options and was told to call back once and come back later when I stopped in as sales manager was with a customer (lol) .”

Doesn’t sound like they refused, just said to come back to talk to a manager. I personally wouldn’t go back. Just email or call and ask for a refund.

His last post was yesterday, so I think we are just waiting on an update.

Last Post:

“my plan is call and ask for GM Today. If no response in 24 hours certified letter to GM. If no response within 48 hours of that letters to dealer, Florida AG, and local BBB.”
 

Malacandra

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Just an FYI, don't rely on anything coming out of complaining to the BBB. They are not a government agency, and does nothing to reinforce any complaints. Only thing that happens is Ford is emailed the complaint. Whether Ford actually has someone monitoring their BBB account, or giving a damn is a complete crap shoot.

The BBB is literally an old-school Yelp back in the day before Yelp/Twitter/FB, etc. Just a review board of the sorts. You're likely going to get more traction with Twitter, Yelp and other Social media to get others looking.

This is from personal experience dealing with BBB when I was running a small business a while back. You just paid a fee for their logo to put on your site, and that's it. They do literally nothing else to help your business, nor the customer complaints. In fact, you can actually pay them to get negative reviews removed to some extent.

Not saying you shouldn't at least make the complaint, in case someone actually responds there, but just saying don't put too much faith on anything being resolved through there. Good luck! This is definitely a horrible dealership that needs their negative press.
I'd just like to provide a counterpoint from my own very, very recent experience of trying to negotiate a buyback of my Chevy Bolt by GM because of the battery recall.

I tried to initiate contact with GM via their "EV Concierge" which was the way they directed their customers to interact with them on their website. Phone calls were futile: I was once on hold for 7.5 hours and then disconnected at the end of their business day ("Hold times may be longer than usual…") Emails went unanswered. Total brick wall. Trying to go through their channels and failing utterly to move the process from the most basic first contact and information-gathering stage. That went on for about a month.

I considered a lemon law lawyer (California has a good lemon law) who would be paid by GM if I "won", but I saw a post on a Bolt forum by someone who had luck going through the BBB Auto Line. So I tried that: it was simple enough to do. After filling out an online form, I heard back from the BBB within 24 hours requesting a number of documents that they'd need to arbitrate a settlement. I quickly provided them, and within 14 days I had a letter that outlined the terms of an agreement from GM that stated that they would offer me a buyback of my Bolt, with the entire process to be completed within 60 days (the BBB gave them some grace in completion time in deference to the volume of Bolt buyback requests that GM is currently dealing with).

Today I received my formal offer which covers the cost of my car, its closing costs (taxes and fees), as well as all of the interest paid on my loans… minus a fair "usage fee" based on the milage I had driven (which was very low - it only deducted ~$500). All of this is dictated by California's lemon law, and needless to say, I'll be accepting that offer.

I don't have any doubt, whatsoever, that without the intervention of the BBB this would have been a considerably more difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating process based on the obstacles I experienced prior to their involvement, and the (relative) swiftness of forward movement after bringing them into the loop… which cost me nothing.
 

springfever8

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First and foremost, I absolutely love the one Mach E I have been able to purchase, however the purchase process has been an absolute disaster .

in March 2021 I ordered a 4WD, premium, extendEd range Mach E and put down my $1,500 deposit through Essential Ford in Stuart.

in April this dealer got a car in that had everything I wanted except the color and I elected to purchase versus having to wait. Since my initial $1,500 deposit could not be refunded or applied to purchase (per the dealer) of the vehicle in inventory I decided to get the second one for my wife.

Recently, I received notice from Ford that my vehicle had shipped. After not hearing from the dealer I checked the status of my order and it has since been sold.

sales managers at the dealership acknowledge they sold the car, however no one ever offered to refund my deposit or assist with finding another vehicle. I specifically asked for both options and was told to call back once and come back later when I stopped in as sales manager was with a customer (lol) .

anyway, if you picked up a black Mach e premium from essential Ford recently , congrats. That is the car I ordered. Would love to see it .

as for me, I’m on the hunt for another Mach e for my wife for Christmas and still have to get my original deposit back
Shameful, We tried to deal with them, ordered our premium from Maryland.
 

ArthurH

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I'd just like to provide a counterpoint from my own very, very recent experience of trying to negotiate a buyback of my Chevy Bolt by GM because of the battery recall.

I tried to initiate contact with GM via their "EV Concierge" which was the way they directed their customers to interact with them on their website. Phone calls were futile: I was once on hold for 7.5 hours and then disconnected at the end of their business day ("Hold times may be longer than usual…") Emails went unanswered. Total brick wall. Trying to go through their channels and failing utterly to move the process from the most basic first contact and information-gathering stage. That went on for about a month.

I considered a lemon law lawyer (California has a good lemon law) who would be paid by GM if I "won", but I saw a post on a Bolt forum by someone who had luck going through the BBB Auto Line. So I tried that: it was simple enough to do. After filling out an online form, I heard back from the BBB within 24 hours requesting a number of documents that they'd need to arbitrate a settlement. I quickly provided them, and within 14 days I had a letter that outlined the terms of an agreement from GM that stated that they would offer me a buyback of my Bolt, with the entire process to be completed within 60 days (the BBB gave them some grace in completion time in deference to the volume of Bolt buyback requests that GM is currently dealing with).

Today I received my formal offer which covers the cost of my car, its closing costs (taxes and fees), as well as all of the interest paid on my loans… minus a fair "usage fee" based on the milage I had driven (which was very low - it only deducted ~$500). All of this is dictated by California's lemon law, and needless to say, I'll be accepting that offer.

I don't have any doubt, whatsoever, that without the intervention of the BBB this would have been a considerably more difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating process based on the obstacles I experienced prior to their involvement, and the (relative) swiftness of forward movement after bringing them into the loop… which cost me nothing.
That's great that you had such results. Perhaps BBB upped their game since the past 10 years, or more established companies take their complaints more seriously. I can tell you this was not the case back in 2009 when I dealt with BBB both as a business owner and a consumer.

I'll just give one brief example without detracting from the thread too much. Many years ago, a small gaming accessory company ripped off quite a few people not fulfilling orders. Forums lit up, all who were affected filed complaints and many went to BBB. No one heard a peep, and some saw their negative reviews removed from the BBB site.

So perhaps there's more weight and movement when it comes to a more established company.
 
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GrayWolf

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That's great that you had such results. Perhaps BBB upped their game since the past 10 years, or more established companies take their complaints more seriously. I can tell you this was not the case back in 2009 when I dealt with BBB both as a business owner and a consumer.

I'll just give one brief example without detracting from the thread too much. Many years ago, a small gaming accessory company ripped off quite a few people not fulfilling orders. Forums lit up, all who were affected filed complaints and many went to BBB. No one heard a peep, and some saw their negative reviews removed from the BBB site.

So perhaps there's more weight and movement when it comes to a more established company.
The BBB established a service that is specifically related to the automobile industry. Here's the link that you and @Bongjovi can have for future reference:

https://auto.bbbnp.org/

Note: this program also assisted me with my own Chevrolet Bolt EV buyback prior to my grabbing my MME GT.
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