Is anyone else sick to death of being told by their dealer "I'll call you with an update in x days" and the !Removed! call never appears. Not once has my dealer rung me when he has promised. Even today 24 hours before I'm due to pick my car up I had to call him to get a time off him.

Exactly the same thing happened to me.

I dont think there is such a thing as a good Ford dealer!

At least the quality of their cars make up for it

Is anyone else sick to death of being told by their dealer "I'll call you with an update in x days" and the !Removed! call never appears. Not once has my dealer rung me when he has promised. Even today 24 hours before I'm due to pick my car up I had to call him to get a time off him.

Hmmm... seems like this is the "norm" more and more these days.... Mind you, to be fair on my Ford dealer, they have kept me updated at least on a fortnightly basis (even weekly!).

When you pick it up tell them your not happy with the service, tell them you hope you get a CSI call (customer service interview) I did with my wifes car, I ended up getting free colour shield and 3 years free servicing, if they get a bad CSI score it can cost them £1000's, I will also be doing it when I pick up my Fiesta :)

I dont think there is such a thing as a good Ford dealer!

Not true! My dealer has been amazing. When I picked up my Fiesta he even said if I needed any help with anything, even if I couldn't be bothered to read the manual to figure it out then I should call him for help :D Some are good I promise, Sky Ford in Hemel have been wicked

No complaints about my dealer either, but to fair, I didn't mither him every week like some have done on here. I was told it could take between 8-12 weeks, so I waited. Wasn't bothered when it was built, wasn't bothered when it had left the factory/country etc, all I wanted to know was when the car arrived at the dealers and when I could get my hands on it.

Some people just have a problem with waiting, even when they are told the timescale and for some reason need to be told about every step of the manufacture.

Larwance of Kemany inverurie, aberdeenshire gave me a great deal and communication

Not true! My dealer has been amazing. When I picked up my Fiesta he even said if I needed any help with anything, even if I couldn't be bothered to read the manual to figure it out then I should call him for help :D Some are good I promise, Sky Ford in Hemel have been wicked

Hear hear--not all dealers are bad.

If you're in the Midlands, go to Shepshed Ford--they are excellent.

My dealer has been great with me. I've only called him twice. the first time was to find out the target date of the car and the second time was to see if it was on schedule. He's phoned me to tell me about the special controls and phoned Motability to see if they could secure the price of the controls for me from the price that they were in March when I ordered.

The rest has been my dad's impatience, which is getting right on my nerves because he isn't on the insurance for it so therefore can't drive it.

No complaints about my dealer either, but to fair, I didn't mither him every week like some have done on here. I was told it could take between 8-12 weeks, so I waited. Wasn't bothered when it was built, wasn't bothered when it had left the factory/country etc, all I wanted to know was when the car arrived at the dealers and when I could get my hands on it.

Some people just have a problem with waiting, even when they are told the timescale and for some reason need to be told about every step of the manufacture.

Maybe you don't mind waiting, my father is the same. He keps saying that it's not too long to wait for a car. And for the most part I agree.

However the reason I personally got fed up of waiting is because you hear of people getting their cars built and delivered after a fraction of this time: My dad's responce was "Yes, but your car is the highest production model etc etc and has extra options etc etc". However, the car was still built within 24 hours.. so why the long delay? A lot longer than various other cars?

Back to the point, I don't think "meither" is the correct term here: Seem's to me that some people (and without sounding disrespectful mainly the older generations - by older I mean like my dad etc) seem to still think as if it was 30 years ago, when there was far less communication and information readily available.

IMO us, as customers, have every right to be ringing up dealers if we havn't heard from them for over a week or more. Things should be running much quicker and with a lot more information readily to hand, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Not with Ford at least.

I repeat, seems like some people who say that "people can't wait" seem to still be thiking about 30 years ago. Now thats not to say that nowerday people are incapable of waiting / have no patients / etc... but things in modern time are expected to run much quicker. And for the most part they do.

Just my opinion.. but I bet this is going to fire up a whole new argument lol. With me at the centre once again :) Sorry to rant! lol.

Your friendly neighbourhood JAR.

Maybe you don't mind waiting, my father is the same. He keps saying that it's not too long to wait for a car. And for the most part I agree.

You and everyone else was told at point of ordering what the estimated wait time would be. No point moaning about waiting

However the reason I personally got fed up of waiting is because you hear of people getting their cars built and delivered after a fraction of this time: My dad's responce was "Yes, but your car is the highest production model etc etc and has extra options etc etc". However, the car was still built within 24 hours.. so why the long delay? A lot longer than various other cars?

Back to the point, I don't think "meither" is the correct term here: Seem's to me that some people (and without sounding disrespectful mainly the older generations - by older I mean like my dad etc) seem to still think as if it was 30 years ago, when there was far less communication and information readily available.

IMO us, as customers, have every right to be ringing up dealers if we havn't heard from them for over a week or more. Things should be running much quicker and with a lot more information readily to hand, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Not with Ford at least.

I repeat, seems like some people who say that "people can't wait" seem to still be thiking about 30 years ago. Now thats not to say that nowerday people are incapable of waiting / have no patients / etc... but things in modern time are expected to run much quicker. And for the most part they do.

Just my opinion.. but I bet this is going to fire up a whole new argument lol. With me at the centre once again :) Sorry to rant! lol.

Your friendly neighbourhood JAR.

Maybe you should listen to your dad a bit more, he seems to have got the hang of it. You were told an estimated waiting period at the point of ordering, if you wasn't happy with it, you shouldn't have ordered it and got a car that was in stock. If you were happy, hence the order, then why moan about it all the time.

Why should the dealer ring you every week? I never expected or wanted that, I knew what date the car was expected and I let them get on with it and the car was duly delivered to the dealer the day before the expected date. If they have nothing to tell you, do you expect them to ring up and tell you they have nothing to tell you? What's the point of that, I'm sure they have better things to be doing.

My word - thirty years ago was certainly a bad time wasn't it? I mean you ordered a car - got a delivery estimate and came it came some time around the time they said it would. Shocking. Things really have moved on haven't they?

Phone the dealership every week? Why? As Keith says, what will that do? I have a suggestion - tick the dealer off.

Edited to remove me being a grumpy so and so - sorry JAR, it was unnecessary.

Oh dear my topic has caused some feeling. I haven't pestered my dealer and as you will note he delivered the car ahead of schedule. My complaint with him has been that HE told me he would ring me about 5 times and not once did he. As I said even on the day before pick up when he promised me he would ring to arrange a time for me to pick it up HE DIDN'T. I had to ring him minutes before the dealership shut to ask what time I could pick my car up.

Why promise a call and then not bother was all I asked.

Is anyone else sick to death of being told by their dealer "I'll call you with an update in x days" and the !Removed! call never appears. Not once has my dealer rung me when he has promised. Even today 24 hours before I'm due to pick my car up I had to call him to get a time off him.

My dealer was exactly the same Daz.... I even said to him " I should work here, as ive rang you more then you've rang me" :P

But when the car gets handed over to you.... you will get a call from ford (service centre) to ask if you were satisfied with the dealer etc B)

Being a promised a call and it not appearing is bad customer service - that's not good.

That's very different to hassling the dealer when they have nothing new to tell you...

:D

I don't expect the dealer to ring with nothing to say... I expect production to be quicker.

I don't expect the dealer to ring with nothing to say... I expect production to be quicker.

You obviously don't know anything about manufacturing then.

Obviously. :|

I would have just presumed that with modern technology and a company as large as ford, coupled with the fact that this car has been the best selling car for months, production would be a little quicker?

No complaints about my dealer either, but to fair, I didn't mither him every week like some have done on here. I was told it could take between 8-12 weeks, so I waited. Wasn't bothered when it was built, wasn't bothered when it had left the factory/country etc, all I wanted to know was when the car arrived at the dealers and when I could get my hands on it.

Some people just have a problem with waiting, even when they are told the timescale and for some reason need to be told about every step of the manufacture.

Have to say I agreew ith you Keith. It has been hell waiting with no information but my dealer said it would me early to mid August before the car would be with them so having ordered it on the 1 June I called them on 1 July just to see if there was a build date on the system yet. As epxected there was nothing apart from 'expected' build date in August so I will now wait until the 1 August and call again.

To be honest as long as it is delivered for 1 September, and the 59 plates, I will be happy although being without a car is wearing a bit thin!

It takes over 10 hours for it to go through the paint process!!!

Obviously. :|

I would have just presumed that with modern technology and a company as large as ford, coupled with the fact that this car has been the best selling car for months, production would be a little quicker?

But it doesn't work like that. To build the car you need all the relevant parts to hand.

If for arguments sake, Ford estimate they will build 10,000 Fiestas per month, they will then tool the factory to cope with that demand.

They also have to account for varieties of the same car, ie 3dr and 5dr. Lets say they build 5,000 each of the relevant shells to meet the demand. Then you also have other options such as Dress Up Kit, Techpack, wheels etc etc. They then have to estimate how many people would order cars with those options so that they have stock to build the required numbers.

If the scenario is like above and they get 20,000 orders for one month, then they have time problems as they can't build cars quick enough. What happens if they get 15,000 orders for the 3dr and 5,000 orders for the 5 dr? Then, they haven't got enough 3dr shells to meet demand, requiring more lead time for the shells. Now, say they estimate 10% go for the dress up kit when in fact 30% go for the dress up kit, again, more stock level problems.

As you can see, it all adds up and multiplys depending on the stocks of varying options which inevitably result in longer waiting times. It's not building the car that holds the process up, hence a car with all options being built in similar time to one without, it's getting all the parts together that are required to build the thing that causes the problems.

You could say,well why don't they make more Dress Up Kits etc, but again, the toling and manufacture of them will be done in accordance to what they predict and it's not as easy to make more in the same time frame as tooling costs to do that get out of hand.

I don't think you'd be happy if your car came delivered without the dress up kit because they didn't want to add an extra 4 weeks to your build date, would you.

Well, if anyone's planning to buy one in the Leicester area Evans Halshaw gets my vote. I had a call from them each week telling me how the order was going and the car turned up within the month! :)

I'm understand of all that KeithC, but you can't deny that some of us on theese forums have been treated less as customers and more as the final cog in a process.

I just think that a modern company and dedicated factory could do all the above in less than 100+ days, like so many of us seem to have had to wait.

Seems to just be a difference in opinion, largly based around the difference in generations. But not entirely.

I'm understand of all that KeithC, but you can't deny that some of us on theese forums have been treated less as customers and more as the final cog in a process.

But you get that everywhere whether it's an insurance company, utility company or a Ford Dealership. I agree, it's not right when people say they will phone you and they don't but that's just the way some staff work, they will do anything to fob people off. As for the waiting time and the cars, that's not bad dealers, that's reality unfortunately.

I just think that a modern company and dedicated factory could do all the above in less than 100+ days, like so many of us seem to have had to wait.

But they can't and that is the problem. When you are in a queue getting served at the bar, the bar staff can't sudenly serve 6 people at once, they deal with each customer in line. You have to wait for your turn.

Ford, more than likely have a backlog of builds, your just the next in the queue. They are probably working shifts etc and the plant may even be running 24hrs, but each component will have a production time and there's nothing you can do to speed it up as I would imagine in companies like that the margins are very very tight, I know, as I work in engineering.

The only other option that a company like Fords would have would be to open another production and assembly line but the costs and time would be stratospheric and then when demand dies down, they are left with machine and lines they would not need. Not financial viable, certainly in this day and age.

Seems to just be a difference in opinion, largly based around the difference in generations. But not entirely.

But it's not an opinion, you just can't make cars quicker because the queue is longer, it doesn't work like that.

Agree with all that Keith said. The simple fact is that most car companies are in the same boat, perhaps the wait isn't quite as long as Ford but then they don't have the biggest selling car.

Nevertheless, your wait is almost over :)