Over the weekend I was washing my 2013 Platinum when the rear license plate light cover came off. No big deal it’s glued to the part that holds the bulb and should not be a problem to repair (re-glue) or get a warranty replacement. Well best plans sometime fail, the glue didn’t hold and now I was left with a discomforting thought of a visit to my local Ford Dealer.
A little history, I own four Fords and after incompetent service and attempted overcharging, I have not been back to this place in three years.
Well today my memories were refreshed as to why I don’t do business with this dealership.
At 11:30 I drove into the completely empty service drive. I was greeted by a nice young lady who given an explanation of my issue. She had no Idea what type of service I needed and told me someone would be out to assist me shortly. While waiting for over 10 minutes, I guess the five service writers sitting at their desk were too busy to assist me. I went into the parts department to see if they had the part, if it was cost effective I would end my suffering, buy the part and put it on myself. The person at the desk said it was not in stock and would have to be ordered at a cost of about $25.00, so back to the still vacant service drive. After waiting a few minutes I walked into the kiosk and finally someone asked if I needed assistance. After a quick explanation of what happened including the fact that the parts department did not have the part. I was told that it was close to lunch, (not lunch time yet) and there was no guarantee how soon someone could look at my vehicle since all of the technicians were busy with other duties. I know there are protocols to this service stuff, I also know a competent technician could look at my truck and determine in 30 seconds what I needed. When I asked how long this could take, the service writer said he had no idea, at least one hour or more.
I’ve worked in the service industry all my life and know how important customer service is; I see another missed opportunity by this dealership to change an impression. I could be over reacting and if I am someone please check me, but burning up two or more hours to have someone look at my truck and tell me something that is obvious is unacceptable.

 

I would have went right to the manager, a service writer can look at something that simple and get it ordered, doesn't require a tech..

 

when i go to my dealer i go right by the cute girl at the front desk and straight back to the service techs. why? because im now dating the girl that used to sit at that front desk and let me tell you, she knows a lot about cars haha

but in all seriousness, shes getting better

but seriously, id find a new dealership, start fresh, develop a nice understanding with the most outgoing service tech so next time you can walk right in and avoid the whole mess.

the dealer where i have to take my work truck reassures me every time i walk in the door that i made the right decision taking my personal rig to the other dealer

 

That is unacceptable. If you even care to have it, I'd go to the service manager and request a free oil change for your inconvenience.

If you never care to darken their door again, take deacon's advice and find a more reputable dealer to go to. Don't let one dealership sour your idea of all dealerships--the one where I sold vehicles for a year didn't pay us worth a d*mn but they have a better than average service department, so I still take my truck there.

 

I see you are SoCal....if in the LA area I have had real good luck with Southbay Ford & Galpin Motors...

I would avoid Airport Marina Ford like the black plague!

 

I had really good luck with Theodore Robbins in Costa Mesa

 

Any service writer who won't get off his/her dead *** and at least LOOK at your truck is not worth a crap, and I wouldn't bring any more business to THAT dealer. The writers at my local dealership actually LIKE to come look at the vehicle, it gets them out from behind the desk for a few minutes!

 

If you are in the Riverside area Fritz has been good for me the few times my truck was there.

My guess is you were at MossBros or Hemborg. Am I right?

No, you are not over reacting.

 

if there were 5 service writers there and none of them did anything then complaining to the manager probably won't help... sounds to me like its a management problem.

IF you wanted to complain then try figuring out how to contact the owner.

But if there is another dealer close by then I would just go elsewhere

 

Call an make an appointment with a different dealer. It is how dealers now work. They all are management heavy an over staffed but short on skill.

 

A follow-up to my original post, I did take my truck to another dealer. The service advisor handled the repair and had me out of there within 30 mins. It is good to know there are people who believe in service to the customer.
Thanks again for the advise,

 

Great it all got fixed up!

 

Could not agree more with the OP's dealer assessment. We live in the southwest and Ford trucks are heavily sold. No doubt the local dealers are fat and happy.

I just gave up on a dealer that I had been using for 14 years due to this same kind of poor, frustrating service. The service advisers do nothing more than absolutely necessary and generally don't want to be bothered. The Quick Lane area is simply running vehicles through as fast as possible with coupons, but looking seriously for anything and everything they can find to do or repair or basicially charge for doing. Whether it needs or not and in my case, whether or net they even replace a fuel filter when charging for it.

Used to love the convenience of Ford's dealer service. No more. Using independents now and I honestly think they have better qualified techs and the pricing is a little less although the price was never the issue. Basic honesty comes to play though. Have a new F-150 and will head out to a dealer in the country I haven't used before and hoping for a little better experience.

Would like to keep it dealer maintained at least for the three year warranty. We'll see - I will not deal with bloated, unresponsive dealers in the city again. Better options are out there.

 

Quick Lane seems to be a bit of a joke. I called 3 times, wanting to know the price of an oil change, and all I got was an answering machine.

 

When I read this I had to check to make sure you weren't in Texas! lol. My local dealerships service dept is just as bad, probably worse! They are absolutely ridiculously incompetent! Drives me ape ****! Guess you could say I feel your pain.