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
- Replace rear left side quarter panel
- Replace rear left door skin
- 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.
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
- 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)
- 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
- Quarter Panel and door skin replaced - Paint mismatch and side cladding not fitted back properly
- Rear bumper painted - Paint mismatch
- 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)
- 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.