- First Name
- Dustin
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2022
- Threads
- 12
- Messages
- 1,592
- Reaction score
- 2,146
- Location
- Kingston, Wa
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Bronco Sport Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
After way too much angst, annoyance, and frustration I am now the very proud owner of a spectacularly beautiful Velocity Blue Bronco Sport Badlands. The vehicle itself is amazing. I do look back every time I walk away in a parking lot. With each glance in the rearview mirror I smile seeing the old Bronco silhouette on the back glass. I'm smitten, just plain in love with this thing.
My dealership, however, does not engender such florid feelings. I get that I'm probably a lot to handle as a customer. I'm exacting. I'm picky. Worst or all, I refuse to be an uninformed consumer, and I strive to not be some shyster's mark. I want (need) to understand the process. Where my salesman acted like the order is placed in a bottle and thrown into the bay and that an automobile would just arrive at some point as if by magic, I'm the opposite. I want to know each meaningful step of the operation. This caused a great deal of friction between the dealership and me. I can deal with most of it, but the one unforgivable thing they did was lie. Over and over the salesmen made easily disprovable false statements. Some of the lies were so obvious and silly they would be funny if not for how irritating it is to be treated like an idiot. "Look man, I work here..." is not an adequate answer to the question, "do you really expect me to believe that?"
The dealership did honor price protection (thanks, Tim, for the documentation.) They did pull the Vincent report and honor the $1K retail order incentive. But, they pulled the nitrogen filled tires and paint protection "accessories package" that they "do to all the vehicles" garbage. When I stated (perhaps a little too gruffly) "you did things to the vehicle that I did not authorize and expect me to pay for them..." I was told to calm down. I extracted $500 worth of accessories I wanted for that $500 charge, but I'm still livid they tried to charge me that much money for air and a car wash. I got the floor mats and cargo area liner I wanted (plus some meh things), and I will still have all my points to spend, but that really was the very least they could do.
As I was getting ready to leave the salesman told me Ford would be sending a satisfaction survey and begged for five stars. We passed a couple of looks back and forth. I think he understands that I'm not well disposed to grant his request. If I were to be completely honest I'd give him about 3 stars. 3.5 max. I'm sure he's mostly operating within the constraints of his management, but still. Every email from the dealership is signed with "Quick. Transparent. Less Complicated." which they utterly violated at every turn.
I'd flame spray the dealership in the survey but for the need of oil changes. I did purchase the maintenance package since having already spent the money I'll be much more strict with myself about meeting the requirements. In this area there are only three reasonable options for dealerships: the place where I bought the Bronco, the place I've been boycotting since 1993 when a salesman said, "you're not even a customer" and walked away, and another place that's an hour away. I don't mind the hour. It's a nice drive, and any reason to visit Port Angeles is pretty ok with me, but that's not easy extra time to schedule. I've had some warranty work done on my wife's car at the current dealership, and the service department has (so far) been pretty good. I don't want to burn that bridge unless I should.
So the ultimate question is do I show mercy and grace in the survey? I know what the answer should be, but it's really a struggle to reach it. In the end I have the vehicle I want, paid the agreed upon price, got the allowed incentive, purchased the accessories I was going to buy anyway, and I even ended up with some fancy air in my tires. Shouldn't that be enough to satisfy even a cranky old customer like me?
My dealership, however, does not engender such florid feelings. I get that I'm probably a lot to handle as a customer. I'm exacting. I'm picky. Worst or all, I refuse to be an uninformed consumer, and I strive to not be some shyster's mark. I want (need) to understand the process. Where my salesman acted like the order is placed in a bottle and thrown into the bay and that an automobile would just arrive at some point as if by magic, I'm the opposite. I want to know each meaningful step of the operation. This caused a great deal of friction between the dealership and me. I can deal with most of it, but the one unforgivable thing they did was lie. Over and over the salesmen made easily disprovable false statements. Some of the lies were so obvious and silly they would be funny if not for how irritating it is to be treated like an idiot. "Look man, I work here..." is not an adequate answer to the question, "do you really expect me to believe that?"
The dealership did honor price protection (thanks, Tim, for the documentation.) They did pull the Vincent report and honor the $1K retail order incentive. But, they pulled the nitrogen filled tires and paint protection "accessories package" that they "do to all the vehicles" garbage. When I stated (perhaps a little too gruffly) "you did things to the vehicle that I did not authorize and expect me to pay for them..." I was told to calm down. I extracted $500 worth of accessories I wanted for that $500 charge, but I'm still livid they tried to charge me that much money for air and a car wash. I got the floor mats and cargo area liner I wanted (plus some meh things), and I will still have all my points to spend, but that really was the very least they could do.
As I was getting ready to leave the salesman told me Ford would be sending a satisfaction survey and begged for five stars. We passed a couple of looks back and forth. I think he understands that I'm not well disposed to grant his request. If I were to be completely honest I'd give him about 3 stars. 3.5 max. I'm sure he's mostly operating within the constraints of his management, but still. Every email from the dealership is signed with "Quick. Transparent. Less Complicated." which they utterly violated at every turn.
I'd flame spray the dealership in the survey but for the need of oil changes. I did purchase the maintenance package since having already spent the money I'll be much more strict with myself about meeting the requirements. In this area there are only three reasonable options for dealerships: the place where I bought the Bronco, the place I've been boycotting since 1993 when a salesman said, "you're not even a customer" and walked away, and another place that's an hour away. I don't mind the hour. It's a nice drive, and any reason to visit Port Angeles is pretty ok with me, but that's not easy extra time to schedule. I've had some warranty work done on my wife's car at the current dealership, and the service department has (so far) been pretty good. I don't want to burn that bridge unless I should.
So the ultimate question is do I show mercy and grace in the survey? I know what the answer should be, but it's really a struggle to reach it. In the end I have the vehicle I want, paid the agreed upon price, got the allowed incentive, purchased the accessories I was going to buy anyway, and I even ended up with some fancy air in my tires. Shouldn't that be enough to satisfy even a cranky old customer like me?
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