UK Customers

[Iwantonenow]

So just to update you all on here. I have been in regular communication with Nicola Webster from the executive office at Ford (big title doesn't fit the lack of any knowledge).
A while ago hannah (concierge) told us that we had to cancel one of our orders otherwise we would be charged for both cars and that they were a matter of a week between them arriving at the dealer. We questioned it and were told they were a week apart. We cancelled the red order and were planning on waiting the extra week for our space white. Since then our white car had been delayed time and time and time again (was meant to be here 8th May, then end of May, then early June, late June, July 3rd and then 17th July (which will now be further pushed back). Our red car came in and was sold to someone who effectively walked in off the street and drove away with it.
Nicola told me there was no concrete evidence that we had been given that information (so I quoted 2 emails in which hannah wrote it and then admitted it wasn't true, she was just passing on information.
I have repeatedly asked which stage of checks the car is at. The question was avoided for a week and then yesterday I was told it was in stage 3. I queried whether this was accurate as almost 4 weeks ago I was told it had finished stage 2....
Last Wednesday I was told
"Prior to the eCall issue, our quality checks identified a batch of EU vehicles having an issue with the high-voltage battery. This required us to hold all EU vehicles in Antwerp while analysing the extent of the issue. All impacted customers have been notified that their vehicle is unfortunately affected and requires a fix – fortunately your order was not one of the units identified."

Today she has written:

"Regarding the current status of your vehicle order, following the teams escalation to Europe yesterday, I can unfortunately confirm that the vehicle has now been identified as having an issue with the high-voltage battery – this is specifically a quality concern on the battery cells from our supplier that require replacement.

I can only apologise that we were not aware of this previously and therefore were unable to inform you of this sooner, we have asked for confirmation of when the repair is going to be scheduled and will confirm this back as soon as we have it."

Every word out of their mouths or in their emails is a lie and I'm fed up, angry and want to take this further but don't know where to turn.

They are trying to get me a dealer car to borrow while I wait for my car, but even that hasn't been confirmed in any way, and while she talks about getting it to me for the 21st, it's now a we're trying to get it to you for the 21st.

I dont believe they are telling the truth. I am a key worker (teacher) and my husband is an essential worker (aviation) and by next week we may only be down to one car.

I have asked about compensation which has of course been ignored. I have asked about extended warranty but again...nothing.
What I believe should happen is they should find a space white sr rwd car and allocate it to me and get it to me as a priority, whereas I'm told this isn't possible as I will lose the picg £3000 (which Ford forgot to apply for so they are subsidising anyway), and failing that get me whichever version white car they can get hold of, as I have clear evidence of being lied to time and time again.

I would be interested if anyone knows anywhere to escalate these issues to. If there is a problem in a school yoi go to ofsted, there must be similar for the car industry.

I will find who to take this further with. I will go to the media and press if needed.

I actually am at the point that this is taking a toll on my mental health.

Sponsored

 

[IronAddict]

Not that I can find - I think it’s an eSIM embedded in the SYNC4A systems

…but you don’t need a Vodafone subscription for the car to work - that’s all included in the cost of the car. The Vodafone connection is just if you want to use personal devices on the car’s hotspot.

Ah thanks for that, that's pretty handy info! Don't think I'll both with the hotspot then

 

[Tony.T]

So just to update you all on here. I have been in regular communication with Nicola Webster from the executive office at Ford (big title doesn't fit the lack of any knowledge).
A while ago hannah (concierge) told us that we had to cancel one of our orders otherwise we would be charged for both cars and that they were a matter of a week between them arriving at the dealer. We questioned it and were told they were a week apart. We cancelled the red order and were planning on waiting the extra week for our space white. Since then our white car had been delayed time and time and time again (was meant to be here 8th May, then end of May, then early June, late June, July 3rd and then 17th July (which will now be further pushed back). Our red car came in and was sold to someone who effectively walked in off the street and drove away with it.
Nicola told me there was no concrete evidence that we had been given that information (so I quoted 2 emails in which hannah wrote it and then admitted it wasn't true, she was just passing on information.
I have repeatedly asked which stage of checks the car is at. The question was avoided for a week and then yesterday I was told it was in stage 3. I queried whether this was accurate as almost 4 weeks ago I was told it had finished stage 2....
Last Wednesday I was told
"Prior to the eCall issue, our quality checks identified a batch of EU vehicles having an issue with the high-voltage battery. This required us to hold all EU vehicles in Antwerp while analysing the extent of the issue. All impacted customers have been notified that their vehicle is unfortunately affected and requires a fix – fortunately your order was not one of the units identified."

Today she has written:

"Regarding the current status of your vehicle order, following the teams escalation to Europe yesterday, I can unfortunately confirm that the vehicle has now been identified as having an issue with the high-voltage battery – this is specifically a quality concern on the battery cells from our supplier that require replacement.

I can only apologise that we were not aware of this previously and therefore were unable to inform you of this sooner, we have asked for confirmation of when the repair is going to be scheduled and will confirm this back as soon as we have it."

Every word out of their mouths or in their emails is a lie and I'm fed up, angry and want to take this further but don't know where to turn.

They are trying to get me a dealer car to borrow while I wait for my car, but even that hasn't been confirmed in any way, and while she talks about getting it to me for the 21st, it's now a we're trying to get it to you for the 21st.

I dont believe they are telling the truth. I am a key worker (teacher) and my husband is an essential worker (aviation) and by next week we may only be down to one car.

I have asked about compensation which has of course been ignored. I have asked about extended warranty but again...nothing.
What I believe should happen is they should find a space white sr rwd car and allocate it to me and get it to me as a priority, whereas I'm told this isn't possible as I will lose the picg £3000 (which Ford forgot to apply for so they are subsidising anyway), and failing that get me whichever version white car they can get hold of, as I have clear evidence of being lied to time and time again.

I would be interested if anyone knows anywhere to escalate these issues to. If there is a problem in a school yoi go to ofsted, there must be similar for the car industry.

I will find who to take this further with. I will go to the media and press if needed.

I actually am at the point that this is taking a toll on my mental health.

Lauren- how do you think you will feel about the car once you get it? Will you adore it and be happy to keep it for some time, or will you gradually dislike it and pick faults only to sell it in 6 months?

If the latter walk away now (by all means stir it up in the media).

 

[Iwantonenow]

Lauren- how do you think you will feel about the car once you get it? Will you adore it and be happy to keep it for some time, or will you gradually dislike it and pick faults only to sell it in 6 months?

If the latter walk away now (by all means stir it up in the media).

I'm hoping I will love it, but right now I don't trust that it will last longer than its warranty (if that). I don't trust the people behind it and that is a huge concern

 

[bazzac]

So just to update you all on here. I have been in regular communication with Nicola Webster from the executive office at Ford (big title doesn't fit the lack of any knowledge).
A while ago hannah (concierge) told us that we had to cancel one of our orders otherwise we would be charged for both cars and that they were a matter of a week between them arriving at the dealer. We questioned it and were told they were a week apart. We cancelled the red order and were planning on waiting the extra week for our space white. Since then our white car had been delayed time and time and time again (was meant to be here 8th May, then end of May, then early June, late June, July 3rd and then 17th July (which will now be further pushed back). Our red car came in and was sold to someone who effectively walked in off the street and drove away with it.
Nicola told me there was no concrete evidence that we had been given that information (so I quoted 2 emails in which hannah wrote it and then admitted it wasn't true, she was just passing on information.
I have repeatedly asked which stage of checks the car is at. The question was avoided for a week and then yesterday I was told it was in stage 3. I queried whether this was accurate as almost 4 weeks ago I was told it had finished stage 2....
Last Wednesday I was told
"Prior to the eCall issue, our quality checks identified a batch of EU vehicles having an issue with the high-voltage battery. This required us to hold all EU vehicles in Antwerp while analysing the extent of the issue. All impacted customers have been notified that their vehicle is unfortunately affected and requires a fix – fortunately your order was not one of the units identified."

Today she has written:

"Regarding the current status of your vehicle order, following the teams escalation to Europe yesterday, I can unfortunately confirm that the vehicle has now been identified as having an issue with the high-voltage battery – this is specifically a quality concern on the battery cells from our supplier that require replacement.

I can only apologise that we were not aware of this previously and therefore were unable to inform you of this sooner, we have asked for confirmation of when the repair is going to be scheduled and will confirm this back as soon as we have it."

Every word out of their mouths or in their emails is a lie and I'm fed up, angry and want to take this further but don't know where to turn.

They are trying to get me a dealer car to borrow while I wait for my car, but even that hasn't been confirmed in any way, and while she talks about getting it to me for the 21st, it's now a we're trying to get it to you for the 21st.

I dont believe they are telling the truth. I am a key worker (teacher) and my husband is an essential worker (aviation) and by next week we may only be down to one car.

I have asked about compensation which has of course been ignored. I have asked about extended warranty but again...nothing.
What I believe should happen is they should find a space white sr rwd car and allocate it to me and get it to me as a priority, whereas I'm told this isn't possible as I will lose the picg £3000 (which Ford forgot to apply for so they are subsidising anyway), and failing that get me whichever version white car they can get hold of, as I have clear evidence of being lied to time and time again.

I would be interested if anyone knows anywhere to escalate these issues to. If there is a problem in a school yoi go to ofsted, there must be similar for the car industry.

I will find who to take this further with. I will go to the media and press if needed.

I actually am at the point that this is taking a toll on my mental health.

@Iwantonenow that absolutely sucks and I'm sorry to hear that. It is beyond clear that nothing that comes from Concierge can be believed or taken at face value. Despite being last told my car was in flushing there has been no vehicledatetime updates since which makes me suspect my car is being held and my spidey senses are now tingling after reading your message about a batch of dodgy HV batteries!

I wonder does your etis indicate anything related to the battery issue?

https://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleSelection.do

I really do think that ford does need to now stand up and start to consider compensation commensurate the extent of delay and messing around people have endured, never mind other costs such as depreciation that I for one have been severely impacted by.

 

[Iwantonenow]

@bazzac even worse, it is the executive office that are telling me the lies. They are just Clueless

 

[SJ_Okay]

I'm hoping I will love it, but right now I don't trust that it will last longer than its warranty (if that). I don't trust the people behind it and that is a huge concern

The thing is, they’re going to do everything they can to make sure these cars don’t fall apart after delivery… unfortunately for us, it seems they have a LOT to fix before. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up with a loss on it in year 1. The cars falling apart or having defective batteries after delivery is way more damaging to them than any of our grievances before delivery, via social media, the press or anything else. This car is a huge deal for them and it’s got a lot of eyes on it from all corners of the motorsphere (I’m ™’ing Motorsphere if it’s not taken ;-)… many of them hoping it fails. It’s unfortunate for us all, and particularly for you in your situation. There could be loads wrong that we will never hear about, but I’m pretty confident they’re going to be delivered ??

Edit: ??≠ shitty key fobs, overheating screens, wind noise and misaligned pano ?

 

[mach-e-2021]

The biggest issue to me right now is dealers have cars to sell on autotrader..... why / how? Everybody with a delayed car has potential losses / costs so why are the cancelled / free / available cars not been re directed to those overdue. Just seems like a flawed business model.
I have asked the concierge team if ford UK understand what Customer Experience is....

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

To all of you who are awaiting delivery and are desperate for news on your respective orders:

I see an awful lot of you making assumptions based on the "hidden" info that is held within the developer views of the various Ford websites (or the F12 info as it's often referred to). Many people are reading this info, interpreting it as meaning something, and then getting very upset when that data seems to contradict what they are told, or if the data doesn't update for an extended period.

- THE DATA IS NOT ALWAYS CORRECT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A RELIABLE SOURCE -

In the early days of order tracking, it was a fun little hack to get your VIN number without having to call your dealership, and back then it was reliable for a single source of info.

Now the website is full of so many new features and so much more data - but the new website is still technically in Beta. It's very buggy (have you tried setting up a driver profile recently!?) and this is where all that vehicle info you are relying on is coming from. I feel partly responsible for the current situation as I started producing guides to help people access this info, but what it has mutated into today is not fun any more.

I've been exceptionally lucky to be driving around in my car for 3 weeks now - but that web data I just mentioned still says my car is "IN TRANSIT" with a tappsdate of 28th April, and a status update of 9th December 2020 (the day it rolled off the line)

For my car the tappsDates were always wrong, the location data was always wrong, and once it started bouncing around the Antwerp QA process it really didn't bear any resemblance to reality.

What I'm trying to say is try to take a breath, step back, and don't rely on that data to tell you anything accurate. Take what the site tells you with a massive pinch of salt, and if it's not telling you anything then don't read anything into that either.

The launch and the subsequent delivery rollout has not been handled at all well by Ford at a corporate level (understatement of the year), but be nice to your Dealership staff, and be nice to Hannah for the sake of their personal wellbeing - it's not their fault. They are trying to help you the best they can with one hand tied behind their backs.

I've rambled on long enough - but I had to say something as I hate seeing you all get so worked up over the website data amongst other things.

 

[bazzac]

To all of you who are awaiting delivery and are desperate for news on your respective orders:

I see an awful lot of you making assumptions based on the "hidden" info that is held within the developer views of the various Ford websites (or the F12 info as it's often referred to). Many people are reading this info, interpreting it as meaning something, and then getting very upset when that data seems to contradict what they are told, or if the data doesn't update for an extended period.

- THE DATA IS NOT ALWAYS CORRECT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A RELIABLE SOURCE -

In the early days of order tracking, it was a fun little hack to get your VIN number without having to call your dealership, and back then it was reliable for a single source of info.

Now the website is full of so many new features and so much more data - but the new website is still technically in Beta. It's very buggy (have you tried setting up a driver profile recently!?) and this is where all that vehicle info you are relying on is coming from. I feel partly responsible for the current situation as I started producing guides to help people access this info, but what it has mutated into today is not fun any more.

I've been exceptionally lucky to be driving around in my car for 3 weeks now - but that web data I just mentioned still says my car is "IN TRANSIT" with a tappsdate of 28th April, and a status update of 9th December 2020 (the day it rolled off the line)

For my car the tappsDates were always wrong, the location data was always wrong, and once it started bouncing around the Antwerp QA process it really didn't bear any resemblance to reality.

What I'm trying to say is try to take a breath, step back, and don't rely on that data to tell you anything accurate. Take what the site tells you with a massive pinch of salt, and if it's not telling you anything then don't read anything into that either.

The launch and the subsequent delivery rollout has not been handled at all well by Ford at a corporate level (understatement of the year), but be nice to your Dealership staff, and be nice to Hannah for the sake of their personal wellbeing - it's not their fault. They are trying to help you the best they can with one hand tied behind their backs.

I've rambled on long enough - but I had to say something as I hate seeing you all get so worked up over the website data amongst other things.

Thanks @Wonky_Donkey . You are of course right and I think most of us do take the f12 info with a pinch of salt.

Despite frustrations I know I for one have been nothing but courteous to Hannah and Rebecca. My situation is one of those were my dealer won't communicate which means I have to rely on Concierge service.

I think what is becoming apparent though is that it is not just sometimes spurious info coming Ford but down right lying. That's what's unacceptable, in my book anyway. In my opinion Ford have been exposed on numerous occasions now of providing customers with not just misleading but false information.

It is this that has meant some of us are forced to rely on f12 more than we should to try and grasp any vaguely resembling a progress update. But yes, I know you and Graham both reported the unreliability of this method and we do need to acknowledge that.

I've committed to sticking this out until I get my car. However, I've certainly never experienced such customer experience. I would think Ford are fully aware of their failings and they could redeem themselves by admitting this, stop lying to cover up, maybe even apologise / compensate those that they have treated so poorly. They certainly need to stop lying.

 

[portlandg]

To all of you who are awaiting delivery and are desperate for news on your respective orders:

I see an awful lot of you making assumptions based on the "hidden" info that is held within the developer views of the various Ford websites (or the F12 info as it's often referred to). Many people are reading this info, interpreting it as meaning something, and then getting very upset when that data seems to contradict what they are told, or if the data doesn't update for an extended period.

- THE DATA IS NOT ALWAYS CORRECT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A RELIABLE SOURCE -

In the early days of order tracking, it was a fun little hack to get your VIN number without having to call your dealership, and back then it was reliable for a single source of info.

Now the website is full of so many new features and so much more data - but the new website is still technically in Beta. It's very buggy (have you tried setting up a driver profile recently!?) and this is where all that vehicle info you are relying on is coming from. I feel partly responsible for the current situation as I started producing guides to help people access this info, but what it has mutated into today is not fun any more.

I've been exceptionally lucky to be driving around in my car for 3 weeks now - but that web data I just mentioned still says my car is "IN TRANSIT" with a tappsdate of 28th April, and a status update of 9th December 2020 (the day it rolled off the line)

For my car the tappsDates were always wrong, the location data was always wrong, and once it started bouncing around the Antwerp QA process it really didn't bear any resemblance to reality.

What I'm trying to say is try to take a breath, step back, and don't rely on that data to tell you anything accurate. Take what the site tells you with a massive pinch of salt, and if it's not telling you anything then don't read anything into that either.

The launch and the subsequent delivery rollout has not been handled at all well by Ford at a corporate level (understatement of the year), but be nice to your Dealership staff, and be nice to Hannah for the sake of their personal wellbeing - it's not their fault. They are trying to help you the best they can with one hand tied behind their backs.

I've rambled on long enough - but I had to say something as I hate seeing you all get so worked up over the website data amongst other things.

I too have had my car for 3 weeks now and I have just been into my Ford account and my car is still showing in the manage orders section AND the progress buttons still show it as in production. Like @Wonky_Donkey I would trust the data on Ford's website with a large degree of scepticism.

 

[SJ_Okay]

The biggest issue to me right now is dealers have cars to sell on autotrader..... why / how? Everybody with a delayed car has potential losses / costs so why are the cancelled / free / available cars not been re directed to those overdue. Just seems like a flawed business model.
I have asked the concierge team if ford UK understand what Customer Experience is....

If someone cancels their order, that car becomes the dealers to do with as they please. It would be huge cost to Ford and/or the dealership to arrange another transporter to collect the car and move it to a different part of the country in order to re-assign it to someone who is still waiting. There is just no way they’re going to be able to co-ordinate and pay for the diverting of cancelled orders to waiting customers, which then creates another cancelled order and takes a sale away from one dealership and gives it to another. It would destroy relationship and undermine their entire business model. Best thing to do, which is what I did, was to ring around the dealerships we know are getting MME’s and leave your details in case they ended up with a cancelled order that matches what you want. This is what I did, as well as keeping an eye on autotrader. Others are doing this too… someone even tried to snake my old order from my dealership before I’d even cancelled it. There are plenty cancelled orders that will be hitting dealership very soon… get on the phone and let them know to call you… and if you do find one, and celebrate about it on here, be honest to the dealership you end up cancelling on ?

 

[SJ_Okay]

Slowly making my way through the owners manual… it’s a great read. Not quite as thrilling as my favourite book, The Argos Catalogue, but its definitely up to there…

I confused by this regarding the autounlock feature… am I being daft in not understanding this? It says the car will unlock doors when travelling over 12mph? Is this correct and if so, why? I’m only asking from the point of view of a) having a child (yes I know I can use child lock) and b) any curious passengers who do not know what the levers to open the doors are for. Am I missing something? I would have thought the doors auto lock about 12mph, not unlock??

 

[SJ_Okay]

Also… ?????? For a dealership eCall fix today ???

 

[Nick Nick]

Slowly making my way through the owners manual… it’s a great read. Not quite as thrilling as my favourite book, The Argos Catalogue, but its definitely up to there…

I confused by this regarding the autounlock feature… am I being daft in not understanding this? It says the car will unlock doors when travelling over 12mph? Is this correct and if so, why? I’m only asking from the point of view of a) having a child (yes I know I can use child lock) and b) any curious passengers who do not know what the levers to open the doors are for. Am I missing something? I would have thought the doors auto lock about 12mph, not unlock??

The keyword in the first line is ALL
Which is odd - because how in the heck does a car simultaneously travel above 12mph and be stopped ...

I will put this down to a rush copy being approved