Originally posted by 2000v6SE:
"FORD would NEVER let me even go 'back there' into their sacred work area"
Dealers are independent franchises, NOT "FORD" or Ford Motor Co., like everyone is saying....
I think most of us understand this, but Ford absolutely needs to step up to the plate and realize the consistent and damaging black-eye they are receiving due to dealer service. It's the SOLE and ONLY thing that has driven me away from ever purchasing a Ford again. Independently-owned franchises or not, Ford as a publicly traded entity is LOSING market share (my next car purchases until I'm in the grave)from myself and others like me due to THIS EXACT REASON. If something is causing people to go to your competition for products and service, an intelligent businessman that wants to stay in business FINDS out WHY and DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Period. Otherwise, welcome to the world of falling stock prices as well as stagnant and sliding sales...
IMHO, this is one of Ford's core problems and issues with dealerships. It's the "not my job" mentality of Ford pushing the ownership of quality of service onto the dealerships and the dealerships having little to no oversight and responsibility of their level of service (apart from a BS customer survey that you may occasionally get). All the present measures that I'm aware of to ensure proper service are simply fluff.
Again, remember my statement that the DEALERSHIP is most likely the only point of contact that a customer EVER has with Ford. Why can't Ford see this and lay down more stringent measures on service quality, issue penalties against repeat offender dealerships, put in place a QOS (Quality of Service) rep structure that has employees randomly visit shops and converse with customers? Heck, why not take a service manager off of the dealership payroll, put him on Ford's and have him report DIRECTLY to a QOS management structure on any issues? Have his pay/commissions based on shop performance and I GUARANTEE you'll see results, as long as he's got the authority to lay down the law.
Most dealerships prove daily that they need to be babysat by someone that can spank them hard when they get out of line, in terms of service. The above may be extreme, but if it was my company and my money on the line, I'd damn-sure make changes fast before any more customers head somewhere else other than Ford for their next car.
Ford does make some really good automobiles (and this is coming from a die-hard GM fan, though I'm almost manufacturer-neutral anymore). The new Cobra is flat-out awesome. The Lightning, GREAT! I still like the Taurus for daily driving use and their trucks, while not to my aestetic taste, are pretty damn tough.
Why risk a great product set with a$$-clown service!?!?!?!?!?
If anything, the below quote needs to be hung on the wall of EVERY Ford service department:
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
-Aristotle
There are two things companies live and die by, everything else is icing on the cake:
1) Quality of Product
2) Quality of Service on that Product
They aren't mutually exclusive at all. Ford desperately needs to figure this out.
