I just wanted to hear a few suggestions about how to deal with an issue I'm having with a Ford dealer. Here's what's happened so far - I'm supposed to go in tomorrow to pick up the truck and haven't paid for the work yet:
1. I'm in northern NY for the summer and made an appointment with a Ford dealer for a L/O/F and tire rotation, and to check on an occasional harsh downshift issue I've noticed. Truck is still under factory power train warranty and is driven pretty normally. The only towing I do is occasional with a couple of jet skis.
2. Drop the truck off at dealer, give them my keys. They misconstrue the "occasional harsh downshift" as me requesting a transmission service. I inform the service advisor before I left that the transmission was serviced (along with a new filter) as part of warranty service performed just 5,000 miles ago at another Ford dealer. Service advisor says he'll call me to update me on progress and when the truck is ready.
3. I hear nothing for 6 days. Granted, 3 of those days were the 4th of July holiday weekend. I am now without a car to get back to this dealer, an hour away from my location, and have to find someone to drive me there.
4. I call the dealer and they say the truck is done and ready for pickup. When I ask what was done and what it cost, I'm transferred to another person (probably a cashier) and they say $450. This is for the L/O/F and rotation (with full synthetic oil I didn't request), transmission service (which I didn't request), transmission programming (which I thought it needed), and diagnostic time. I told them this truck is still under the power train warranty and told the service advisor that a transmission service had just been performed. They were "going to talk to the warranty department" and "get right back to me".
5. I call the dealer 4 hours later and am connected to a different person. He says the transmission work wasn't covered by the warranty. I tell him to look up the OASIS report and current warranty status and ask him why not, and why I'm being billed for a transmission service if one was just performed 5,000 miles ago. He will "talk to the warranty department" and call me in the morning. He also mentioned something about "the tech found some metal in the pan" which I found a bit disconcerting, if a transmission service had just recently been performed. How does a transmission service and software update fix that possible issue?
So, that's where I am. I think I'm being fed a line of garbage and getting the "tourist tax" from this dealer. I expected to pay for the L/O/F and tire rotation and have this transmission/drivability issue covered by the factory power train warranty. Any advice dealing with this less-than-confidence-inspiring Ford dealer would be appreciated!
1. I'm in northern NY for the summer and made an appointment with a Ford dealer for a L/O/F and tire rotation, and to check on an occasional harsh downshift issue I've noticed. Truck is still under factory power train warranty and is driven pretty normally. The only towing I do is occasional with a couple of jet skis.
2. Drop the truck off at dealer, give them my keys. They misconstrue the "occasional harsh downshift" as me requesting a transmission service. I inform the service advisor before I left that the transmission was serviced (along with a new filter) as part of warranty service performed just 5,000 miles ago at another Ford dealer. Service advisor says he'll call me to update me on progress and when the truck is ready.
3. I hear nothing for 6 days. Granted, 3 of those days were the 4th of July holiday weekend. I am now without a car to get back to this dealer, an hour away from my location, and have to find someone to drive me there.
4. I call the dealer and they say the truck is done and ready for pickup. When I ask what was done and what it cost, I'm transferred to another person (probably a cashier) and they say $450. This is for the L/O/F and rotation (with full synthetic oil I didn't request), transmission service (which I didn't request), transmission programming (which I thought it needed), and diagnostic time. I told them this truck is still under the power train warranty and told the service advisor that a transmission service had just been performed. They were "going to talk to the warranty department" and "get right back to me".
5. I call the dealer 4 hours later and am connected to a different person. He says the transmission work wasn't covered by the warranty. I tell him to look up the OASIS report and current warranty status and ask him why not, and why I'm being billed for a transmission service if one was just performed 5,000 miles ago. He will "talk to the warranty department" and call me in the morning. He also mentioned something about "the tech found some metal in the pan" which I found a bit disconcerting, if a transmission service had just recently been performed. How does a transmission service and software update fix that possible issue?
So, that's where I am. I think I'm being fed a line of garbage and getting the "tourist tax" from this dealer. I expected to pay for the L/O/F and tire rotation and have this transmission/drivability issue covered by the factory power train warranty. Any advice dealing with this less-than-confidence-inspiring Ford dealer would be appreciated!