This is gonna be long, so bear with me here...extremely frustrated!!!

I bought my new '01 Silver Lightning at Huntington Beach Ford back on September 6. As a condition of the sale, I requested a tire be replaced (cut in sidewall), and the paint at the rear fender to be repaired (dirt or something under paint). No big deal said the sales manager. Haggled out a deal, and paid below sticker. No problems. Drop off the truck on the 11th. Should have known better after what happened that day. Anyways, I was going to have the tire replaced, paint repaired, Lo-Jack, alarm, and window etching done. My service retard...I mean service writer said all would be done in two to three days. Cool, right? Dead wrong!!!

Received a call on Thursday, the 13th, service retard said that the techs just finished the alarm, Lo-Jack, and window etching and just had the service writer in the body shop look it over. He supposedly found more bubbles in the paint and suggested the whole truck be repainted. Also said they would replace the front bumper because of the damage caused cominbg off the trailer. I agreed and asked when it would be done. Next Friday they said. Great just in time for a weekend of cruising! Took the free loaner (2002 Exploder...POS). Drove the **** out of it!!!

The following Thursday rolls around and I decide to call for an update. My service writer said that it would be done on Friday as scheduled. I give him a call Friday and he says that it wasn't quite ready yet and it would definately be done Monday afternoon. So my weekend is shot! No call comes by 4 on Monday and I call to find out my service retard took the day off and my truck won't be ready till Tuesday. Call Tuesday and he is back and says it will be done tomorrow. I go ballistic on this guy!!! He studders and stammers for an excuse and I ask to speak to the service manager. He gets on and he becomes my b****! He asks what he can do and I said I want a factory tonneau installed and my truck ready tomorrow afternoon. He agrees, and I am somewhat satisfied. So, I call Wednesday and he says they found a tonneau and it will be ready tonight. I get finished with work and he calls me back and says that it would definately be better to come in the morning as the techs had gone home without installing the cover. I say fine and all is good.

So I go into the dealer today to pick it up. I get the "Sir" treatment from the service writer and as my truck rolls up, I get a grin from the new FREE tonneau cover. As I walk up to inspect the paint, the grin quickly vanishes. There was wax residue all over the plastic...no big deal. Then I see oil spots all over each side of the bed. and some kind of adhesive residue on the passenger door! I go Ape-S***!!! We can clean that up, yadda yadda yadda. He sends it to the detail shop for a quick clean and as I go back with him, I see that the windows were not etched like they were supposed to do two weeks ago! Not only that, but the Lo-Jack was never installed either!!! Upon closer inspection, thet even missed a spot in the paint!!!

I was given a phone number to the customer service coordinator for the west coast dealerships and they will be getting an earful, beleive me. I am going to ask for some things free of charge, such as extended warranty, oil changes, and free detail work.

Avoid Huntington Beach Ford for any service work at all costs. They have no clue as to what customer service is. Anybody else had any problems with this dealership? I will update when I hear word from Ford as to what they will do.

 

Blown':

This sounds like a "typical dealership experience" to me. Once you get the thing off the lot, don't take it back for ANY reason. You'll only be setting yourself up for heartbreak.

Needless to say, I'll be installing the intercooler update myself, at my expense if nescessary.

 

UPDATE......Dropped off the L this evening. Spoke directly with the service manager. Apologized up and down saying he would have my truck all ready for me by Friday. I have my doubts. Will keep posted.

AVOID SERVICE AT HB FORD!!!

 

I'd suggest using this experience to your advantage. Think about it: Ford makes money servicing cars. If you give them the opportunity by leaving an "open end" to your experience, they may make up for it (somehow). But, if you close the door on the "negotiation", they won't have a chance to win back your business the possible referrals. Without that possibility, they may consider your business "lost" and not care to help you.

Hope this helps.

Spike

 

BlownSVT:

This does not really address your problem directly, but I have been taking my '99 to the next door Lincoln dealer since the first two services.

As it happens, we also own two fairly recent Lincolns that are also serviced there on a regular basis. In any case, my Bolt gets the same $29 lube/oil/filter job plus a free wash and they don't give me any static at all about the chip/filter/exhaust mods.

I believe from what I have read that the L/M dealers being part of Ford's new "Premier Automotive Group" are highly motivated and probably compensated for offering superior service.

They may not be able to do any really specific SVT service, whatever that may be, but they certainly have taken very good care of Moby from about 3000 to 16000 miles and I am totally satisfied with their service.
Bill

 

Bill
I agree - Back in the late 80's early 90's I took my turbo coupe to the Local Lincoln dealer all the time. They just treated me better

Doug

 

I wish I could try taking the L to a different dealer, but this is a factory warranty deal and was part of the deal I made when purchasing the truck. I am going to pursue a free extended warranty as a result, and like I posted earlier, I already got a free tonneau out of it, but it still does not make up for poor workmanship, terrible quality control, and me being out of my truck for a few days, or weeks in my case.

 

Picked up the L tonight...and I am not very happy. The shoddy work that HB Ford's body shop did is pathetic. The spot where they originally forgot to paint, they just sprayed over. No sanding to match or anything. The spots in the paint where oil penetrated are still in the side skirts. The scratches in the front bumper were repaired...kinda, and now there are NEW scratches!!! What gives??? Because I picked up the truck after work, nobody of any authority was there, just my service retard, I mean service writer. I was told that I would be getting a call first thing tomorrow from the service manager. I am prepared to ask for a new truck. This is ridiculous. I never owned a Ford before and the service I am getting is showing me exactly why. Poor quality and poor service.

I will update when I hear from the service manager tomorrow.

AVOID HUNTINGTON BEACH FORD AT ALL COSTS!!!
TERRIBLE SERVICE...PATHETIC QUALITY OF WORK!!!

 

Damn dude! Your story sounds like a made for tv thing. A new truck sounds good! Good luck!

 

Talked to service manager today, and all he said he would do is send out the L again and have them repaint again. I told him it was unacceptable and he gave me the "you can hardly notice it" B.S. Anyways, I guess I will have to leave the L on Monday. I did send an e-mail to the general manager of the dealership as well as Ford Motor Company and SVT explaining what has happened and my disappointment. We'll see if I hear from anybody outside of the dealership. I have just about had it with HB Ford!

AVOID SERVICE AT HB FORD!!!!!!

 

Dropped off the truck this evening. Was told it would be done Thursday. Was given a Mitsubishi Mirage as my loaner. Has anybody else dealt with HB Ford? This is ridiculous, but hopefully, the third time to the body shop will be the charm. Wish me luck!