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-   -   Escalated poor work by A.S.S to Ford India - Fantastic support! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-dealerships/123376-escalated-poor-work-s-s-ford-india-fantastic-support.html)

Wanted to share my recent experience of poor work by an A.S.S and how the intervention by the car manufacturer helped me.

Apologies in advance for the thin red line in the photos. These are taken by my BB phone which seems to have some mysterious SW issue.

Short background: I have a 2008 Ford Fusion and recently met with an accident. I normally give my car for service/repairs to Metro Ford in Bangalore. Recently (~1 year) a new service center Elite Ford opened closer to my house and I decided to give my car there for repairs under insurance.

The list of repairs to be done were

1. Replace rear left side quarter panel
2. Replace rear left door skin
3. Painting of rear left side bumper

Handed over my car to them on 22nd May and got it back only on 5th June, with them citing various reasons for delays each time I enquired.

Now, coming to what they actually did to the car.

While cleaning someone had broken the antenna aerial on top of the car. The service advisers tried to "press fit" the broken antenna to fix the same, but when it did not hold up I asked them to replace it. I was appalled to see that they then removed antennae from a couple of cars which had come for service and tried to fit them on my car!

Turning to the color of the repainted door and panel, I was shocked to see a bluish tinge in the paint. The door color looked very perceptibly different from original silver. :Shockked:
I asked the service advisor and painter and they said that nothing can be done and that is the shade of the color.

So, I get back home and both my wife and I are really miffed now! Over next few days we do a proper survey of the car and find that

1. Side plastic cladding was not put back properly and was sticking out. Infact it used to get stuck in front door while opening rear door (see photo)
2. Lot of scratches on the rear quarter panel glass, both on edges and center of glass. Also glass was fitted back very poorly - See photos

Seeing the callous attitude of staff at Elite Ford (I noticed other customers also arguing with them), I decided to directly escalate the issue to Ford India.
I wrote to Ford India MD on 19th June detailing the issues. I promptly got a response within 1 hour and within 10 mins of that Elite Ford called me saying they will fix all the problems. I told them I will talk to Ford.

We did not want to give the car to Elite Ford and instead wanted the rectifications done at Metro Ford, whom we trusted.

In fact, got a 1 line diktat from my wife - the car will not be touched by anyone at Elite Ford. She even told this to the Ford representative who called us!

To ensure Ford understood the gravity of the situation and total lack of professionalism, I re-iterated the exact parts Elite Ford worked on and what happened to EACH of them

1. Quarter Panel and door skin replaced - Paint mismatch and side cladding not fitted back properly
2. Rear bumper painted - Paint mismatch
3. Rear LH quarter glass removed for panel replacement and fitted back - Bad alignment with big gap, beading sticking out and LOT of scratch marks on glass (center and bottom right)
4. Car Washed - Very poor experience and antenna broken

In the next 7-8 days, I got multiple calls from Elite Ford with offers of backup car, no labor charges in next service etc, a lot of coaxing, requesting and begging in long phone calls to give them another opportunity.
I flatly refused each time and in parallel was in touch with Ford to get the repairs done at Metro Ford. Seems there is not much of a precedence on this and the process is tedious - Metro sends Elite and Ford a quote of repairs, Elite and Ford will inspect the vehicle and approve the repairs and then Metro will work on it.

I received a lot of support from Ford India during this time while they worked through the processes. i was out of town for a few days last week of June and by July 2nd finally everything fell into place and car was given to Metro Ford on 3rd. After inspection, work was started, I was given a backup car as well and all the repairs were done very well to my satisfaction.

I wanted to write this thread, not to focus on the poor workmanship or customer orientation of Elite Ford, but to share my fantastic experience with Ford India. Reading about lack of empathy from many car companies on complaints from customers, this came as a refreshing change. In me, Ford has found a very loyal customer.
Metro Ford has always provided me fantastic service and this was no exception. Its great to work with them.

That colour difference is appalling to say the least. The 2 shades are completely different.

Ford seems to be improving in customer service these days. I had a few issues myself with Metro Ford but after escalating to Ford Metro pulled up their socks and have improved. Nowadays my Figo goes only to St. Marks road Metro for service.

It is good to know that Ford India has intervened to sort out the matter in a timely fashion.

Even in my case, the power steering hose was replaced free of cost by the dealer on the advice of Ford India, though the car was 5 years old and out of Extended Warranty.

I am about to give my Fusion for servicing next week and this calms my nerves as we have only one dealer in Goa. Till date he has done okayish job.
I feel like LoL after reading the names of various dealerships, here the name is Elite and look at the service standards.

Really great to hear such news about Ford India. It was really very sensible on the part of Ford India to provide so much support to their customers.

Yes, it was great that Ford always kept me updated on the progress not just on their processes but even when Metro Ford was working on it.

That is a very prompt action from Ford. I honestly did not expect to respond as fast as a Toyota Customer care.

Could you please share the contacts that you escalated to (Number / email) as that it might benefit fellow bhpians in future.

It is nice to see companies now focusing on customer care and support and not just in sales.

I had a similar experience with Rajshree Ford Coimbatore and i made a complain to Ford India and they were very prompt and my problem was sorted out within the next 2days. I guess Ford really wants to improve their after sales service across India and that is a good sign. Hope Skoda also follows ford in improving theirs but i guess its too much of an askstupid:

I wrote an email to write2md@ford.com. Had got this email ID from a poster at Elite Ford! It is also on Ford website. I used to get calls from their customer care team, no specific contact number. A person (Ms Bindu) was assigned to my case and she did all the coordination.

My colleague had the same experience with Elite. His air conditioner evaporator core had packed up. He went to Elite to have it checked. The car is maintained at Metro Ford in Lingarajapuram so my colleague had a good idea of how the mechanics handle a situation or a problem. At Elite, it was guess work and that is when my colleague decided not to give the car to them.

This is for everyone. Do not ever give your car Elite Ford. I doubt if any of the mechanics there know how to fix a car. At best, they can do a good job of changing the oil and your oil filter.

Hey Vid,

Wish ford had done this back in 2008 :(

I have a '05 fusion & used to get it serviced @ Cauvery kanakapura ford. Circa '08, after Cauvery defected to Honda & became magnum, I decided to move over to metro ford st.marks road. Proximity to my work being the primary reason.

The service experience was no different at the outset. However I started noticing a 2 kmpl reduction in mileage. Since my driving was always low, I took almost one month to confirm that something was wrong. A mileage test by metro ford didn't help. Without any diagnosis in sight, I gave up on getting back to 12 kmpl mileage figures & took the reduction in mileage as a part of my stride that something irreparable had happened to my ride. Over time started noticing that my front tires had started losing tread. Was not sure what was wrong.

In the meanwhile, had to visit my hometown (a 700 km round trip) and by the time I returned my front tires had almost gone bald. This was with just @ 22k on the odo, the remaining tyres were just fine. Went straight to Madhu's and met Nikhil.

Nikhil told me that this was indeed due to tyre alignment issues. It was an eye opener for me. I am absolutely sure, the alignment couldn't have changed after the service, it has never happened before or after that event. Ever since, the only place I get my wheel alignment & balancing done is at Madhu's. They've never let me done.

I tried reasoning with the metro ford guys that faulty wheel alignment had caused my tyre damage without much success.

I tried lathangi the next time and to my horror bumped into the same S.A that had serviced my car @ metro. I find it very difficult to trust the *** guys anymore. I am somehow managing with Cauvery ford these days.

Hope I don't get to see something similar ever again.

This is very good to hear the positive feedback for Ford India. Thanks for sharing your experience. Other manufacturers like Tata should learn from Ford that this is how customer service ought to be.

I am thoroughly disappointed with Ford and have vouched to never ever ever buy a Ford. Their only sturdy vehicles were the Mumbai garbage trucks of the 50's.

Their products are not good for Tropical MEA and India as Ford fails in extreme summers. I learnt it the hard way while driving my Ford TDCI from Kolkata to Mumbai via Raipur. I had just got the Ford serviced from Ganges Ford, Kolkata another big thief of Kolkata. Fords capitalist and only for profit motive is quite evident from my dealings with GK FOrd, Ganges Ford and Ford Corporate chennai

My Ford suddenly started making noises near Sambhalpur, OD and being in the middle of nowhere I had to drive it at slow speeds till Raipur GK Ford. Just 55 kms before Raipur near Mahasamund the TDCI spluttered made some awful piston and cylinder noises and vomited most of the engine Oil. I had to get a Tata Sumo to tow it to GK ford the biggest thieves in that region.

After leaving my car for repairs (if any) I had to take a train and leave for Mumbai. GK Ford Head of after sales called me up and gave me an estimate of 2.5 lakhs for getting the TDCI done. He said the turbo, a cylinder and the lower engine part is gone. He gave me an alternative to get a seconds engine from somewhere or even the lower engine half part. He said that the connecting rod had completely broken the lower engine block !!!! I spoke to Ford Chennai and in-spite of innumerable complaints and emails their attitude and talk was disgusting. They blamed me for the damage. Its ridiculous

I flew back to Raipur and sold my Ford TDCI for 15000 rs scrap to GK Ford (my tickets costed me 9k return with hotel stay 3k and others 2k). Those guys would have coolly pocket nearly a lakh selling the tyres, accessories, etc. Shame on your Ford. Thieves

Sorry to learn about this experience with Ford. Which model is it?
Quite similar to Maruthi's 1.6 failure being discussed in the technical section. I know its late, but only if you had time to determine the root cause and put the onus on Ford to get it repaired, things could have been different.