1973Maverick
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I have owned multiple Ford vehicles. My experience over the past year is completely outrageous. I have tried my best to work with Ford dealerships and Ford corporate and I am feeling completely defeated and at a loss on how to best proceed.
I purchased a 2021 F-150 Powerboost in February of 2021. I spent a lot of time working on the deal emailing multiple dealerships across GA looking to make a purchase that would meet all of my needs while keeping me in budget. I finally settled on Five Star Ford in Stone Mountain, Georgia. They offered me a fair price on my trade in and were able to get the price of the truck where I needed to keep me in the high end of my budget. Initially I was extremely happy with my purchase. The salesman had told me the truck had received all available updates and as soon as I was on a highway supported by Bluecruise I would see the icons change on my dash and the truck would drive itself. I left the dealership feeling happy, hopped on the highway, and was immediately confused. No Bluecruise. I assumed the highway was just incompatible and completed my drive home.
I began researching the update process and discovered the threads exposing the job 1 debacle. I found the Ford widget and was able to verify my version number. I was on version 1.4.0 not yet at 1.7.1 and I hoped I would be one of the lucky ones that wouldn’t get stuck. A few days later I received my first update and was optimistic.
Fast forward a few weeks. I get a call from my bank that had financed my previous truck stating a payment was due. I explained I’d traded in the truck about a month ago and it was paid off on the trade in. They explained they hadn’t received payment and I would need to make a payment to keep from harming my credit score. They said once the payoff was received I would get a refund of the overpaid balance. Ok, but what about the extra month of interest? They would not waive the interest which amounted to about $100. I contacted the dealership and they claimed they’d paid off the loan and would investigate.
The next day I received a call from the dealership stating the check had been returned as they put the incorrect account number on the check. They asked me to verify my account number to be sure my account number matched their records. I said I would be happy to check but I’m driving and would need to call back. “No problem,” exclaimed the person in the accounting department. “Since you’re driving I will text you my call back number. Feel free to call any time!”
About 30 minutes later I’ve pulled off at a rest stop and I dial the number texted to me. A recording of a woman answers asking to verify I’m 18. I thought that was odd but assumed it had something to do with the discussion of the loan and pressed 1 to confirm I was over 18. As soon as I pressed one the recording continued. “Thank you for enrolling in sexy GA messaging services and consenting to receive sexy text messages at this number.” I immediately hung up the phone but it was too late. I began receiving sex text messages almost immediately.
I quickly called the dealership and asked to speak with the general manager. I explained to him how they’d dropped the ball on the payment, which he verified was their error when copying the account number I provided from their paperwork to the check. I then informed him that his accountant thought it would be funny to sign me up for sex messages. He apologized for the check mishap, promised to get a new check out that day, agreed to cover the additional interest accrued due to their mixup, and promised to investigate what happened with the accountant and call me back.
As a few weeks had passed since the update I received I decided to call the service department and see about scheduling an appointment for them to look at the update issues while I waited for the general manager to return my call. I hadn’t noticed until I received my new registration in the mail and opened the glovebox that the lock cylinder was missing. I needed to address this as well. The salesman had given me his cell phone and told me to text him should I have any issues. I texted three times a day for about three days and did not receive a single response. Finally he replied and said Cedric from the service department would call me back within a day or two.
The next day my phone rang and it was Five Star Ford and a man named Cedric was on the other end. I began outlining my issues with the updates and the glovebox and before I was finished was abruptly cut off. “SIR, WE DO NOT BUILD THE FUCKING TRUCKS HERE. WE SELL TRUCKS. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR TRUCK TAKE IT UP WITH FORD CORPORATE,” exclaimed Cedric. I was a bit taken aback and explained that I purchased the truck there and needed to work with the service department. He confirmed he worked with the service department. He explained he could make a service appointment for me but wasn’t too sure what that would do. I said to go ahead and schedule the appointment and also asked about a loaner vehicle. “LOANER VEHICLE! HAVEN’T YOU HEARD ABOUT THE GOD DAMN CHIP SHORTAGE? THERE ARE NO FUCKING LOANER VEHICLES,” screamed Cedric. At this point I told Cedric I was at work and wasn’t prepared to have a gigantic fight. I told him I’d call back when he calmed down and hung up the phone.
Frustrated I called back the general manager at Five Star Ford and explained what had just happened. He sort of giggled and said that sounds like Cedric. I was blown away. The GM knew he had an employee talking to people this way and wasn’t concerned. At this point I asked about the check, additional funds, and sex messages. He apologized for the sex message situation and claimed it was an accident and there was nothing more he could do. I asked about the check and he said the new check was sent out and the bank would receive in a day or two.
Fast forward another week. I get an email from my bank saying congratulations on completing your final loan payment. Relieved I login to my bank account to see if the proper amount had been paid and if I had received the promised credit from the bank. To my surprise the amount paid was the exact amount owed, after the extra payment was applied. I immediately called my bank and asked if they could confirm the check amount. They pulled the logs and said the check amount was correct based on the new pay off amount provided to the dealership about three days prior. New payoff amount? She explained after my last payment they had called and requested a new pay off amount which would account for the lower amount on the new check. It was late in the evening and the dealership was closed.
The next morning I called the dealership the moment they opened. I asked for the GM and was told he was busy. I explained I had an issue with the payoff and the receptionist transferred me to the Controller. The Controller answered the phone and I explained the situation. She didn’t understand why I was upset. I told her we had made a deal for the dealership to pay X amount for my trade in and the amount she paid was less. At this point I was running out of patience and I told her she was stealing money from me. This is blatant theft. You sat on the payoff purposefully until I made another $1200 payment and then got a new payoff amount for $1200 less and sent that in. I told her I wanted my money and she told me there was nothing she could do. I told her to call Ford financing and tell them they had their money for the next payment because I already made a truck payment this month and wasn’t making another. She screamed at me, “IF YOU CAN”T AFFORD THE TRUCK YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BOUGHT IT. IF YOU ARE TOO BROKE TO MAKE PAYMENTS THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!” I explained that I didn’t buy a $70,000 truck because I am broke and she was a thief and I wanted my money. She yelled no one calls me a thief and hung up on me.
I called back immediately and asked for the GM. Again they said he was busy. I told the receptionist I am getting dick pics from your dealership, Cedric screamed FUCK at me, and the Controller told me I am a broke joke and hung up on me. The GM needs to be unbusy right now. She put me on hold for about 3 minutes and the GM picked up. Before I could speak he said he already talked to the Controller, she was totally wrong, and a check would be in the mail for the difference today. I said I would wait for the check but was doubtful. He said the full amount of the extra payment you made, along with the interest we spoke about, would be in the check.
One week later I receive the check in the mail. Not only is the extra interest not accounted for but it is about $100 less than the extra truck payment I made. I called the GM immediately. He asked me why I was busting his balls over what amounts to about $200. I asked him the same. If it was a trivial amount why was it left off the check. He went on and on about how it would be hard to cut a new check but he could try to make it happen, etc., etc. I asked if it was an accounting or ownership issue. Basically it sounded like he was going to be in trouble for cutting another check. So I asked if it would be easier to send me parts. He was super relieved and said absolutely. I can make a deal for sure. I said OK send me the wheel wells which are about $200 and we will call it even. He agreed and we hung up. This was in March. I have been unable to connect with the GM again via phone and the wheel wells never came.
At this point I decided I would just move on. It was a month of dealing with these people at Five Star. I assumed the issue was an isolated issue at a bad dealer and I decided I would just work with a local dealer. At this point I contacted Fayetteville Ford. I explained all the issues I had with the truck and they explained they only had a tech in on Tuesday’s that can do updates. They made me an appointment for the following Tuesday and told me to drop off first thing in the morning and they would try to have me out same day. I arrived for my appointment and met my service advisor Gary. When I arrived he had no idea who I was, why I was there, and said I was not in the system. He took all my information and said sorry for the mixup we will get right on this. I told him I would wait in the waiting room for an update because I assumed they would have the truck for a long time and wanted an idea of how long I would be without my vehicle. About 90 minutes later Gary entered the waiting room and told me I was all set! I couldn’t believe it. He said they ordered the new lock cylinder and all the updates were completed. I told him I was surprised because everything I read on the internet says the updates issue is a long process. He shrugged and said the tech said it was all good. I checked the update version in the ford pass app and it said I was still at 1.6 and in the truck there were not changes or added features. I went back in and Gary said it was all set, the update would download OTA over night. I told him this wasn’t true based on everything I had read but he was adamant. I said OK Gary I will do the dance and go through this process but I guarantee I will be back next week.
Fast forward a week. No updates. I call Monday and talk to Gary and he says oh it didn’t update this week? OK bring it in tomorrow and the radio guy will take another look. So I arrive, check in, and go back to the waiting room. Two hours later Gary pops into the waiting room and again tells me the updates are done. I told him the ford pass app still says 1.6 and there is now way it was done that quickly. At this point the TSB had just dropped from Ford outlining the issues with the updates and a procedure to fix. I show this TSB to Gary and show that it states right in the letter sent to the dealerships that it takes a minimum of about 8 hours. He said they finished faster because the tech says he is done. I asked to talk to the tech because something wasn’t adding up. The tech came to the check in area and I asked him if BlueCruise was working and asked him to verify the procedure he used. He asked me, “What is BlueCruise?” Gary then asked me the same. I said we talked about this for over two weeks now and I assumed you know what I was talking about. How can you say something is fixed if you don’t know what it is. I pulled up a Ford marketing video and showed them the BlueCruise in action. They were both pretty blown away and actually said wow Ford is just like Tesla now.
I was pretty surprised and depressed at that point. I again asked the tech how he verified the update had been done. He really didn’t have an answer which makes me think he never even plugged anything into the truck. Finally I asked if he had just looked in the menu or if he had plugged in. To which they both looked at me and said wow you can check for updates from the menu. I told them to follow me and walked out to the truck. Showed them how to access the update details page in the settings and showed them the option to upgrade was greyed out which was a symptom outlined in the TSB. We returned to the check in area and Gary insisted that they had cleared the bottle neck and OTA updates would begin flowing. I told him he was wrong but there was nothing I could do and I would be contacting Ford corporate and left.
At this point I contacted Ford corporate and went through everything that had happened. Said I wanted to make formal complaints against these dealers, and wanted help solving the issue. I spent HOURS on the phone outlining the different dealerships I had already tried, explaining the dick pic situation, and asking for help. Each person I spoke to promised they would escalate the situation and open cases. They all said they would call me back and none of them ever did. I spoke to about 6 different Ford corporate people and all of them apologized endlessly for the poor treatment, promised to rectify the situation, and never returned my calls. I finally found a post listing a phone number for the Ford OTA department. I tried calling them directly. I again went through my entire story. The operator was sympathetic and said I finally had the right department. She would reach out to all the local dealerships until she found one that had already completed and was familiar with the software update issue. She said she would call me back the following day with a solution.
I waited a week. One entire week for the OTA girl to return my call. She never called back. I finally called back and got another girl in the OTA department. She pulled up the VIN on my truck and said there were no open cases and she had no idea what I was talking about. She said she would look into it and call me back. At this point I lost it and yelled at her that I wasn’t going to be rushed off the phone or sit around waiting for a call back. I told her I wanted to talk to someone who would help me. If you want to get technical sending me naked pictures could be deemed sexual assault. No one cares because I am a middle aged male so everyone thinks it’s just a funny story but to put it in other terms a Ford dealership has sexually assaulted me and I want to talk to someone high enough at Ford who will care or I am going to blast my story all over social media and hope a lawyer reads everything that’s happened and tells me he will take on my case and we will find someone at Ford who cares. She says OK so you want to talk to a supervisor? I said that wasn’t the point. A call center supervisor isn’t any better than her. At this point I have spoken to 6 or 8 different call center employees and no one at that level seems to understand what is happening. It needs to be flagged for review because I am going to do my best to get this in front of someone who cares one way or another.
The representative explains she needs time to research the case and promises she will call me back in two hours. She also promises she will escalate the situation to the appropriate people. I tell her OK but if I don’t hear back from you I am not going to try to follow up again and will have to try to go another route. To my surprise she calls me about two hours later. She acknowledges Ford is aware of the 1.7.1 update issue and asks if I would be willing to give her one business day to find a shop willing to do the updates ASAP. She also wants to be sure the shop has performed the updates and is familiar with them. She promises to work out a loaner or rental car reimbursement. I agreed to give her the one business day and we end the call.
The following day my phone rings. I see on the caller ID it is Ford calling. I am totally surprised she is following through and I answer the phone quickly. There is a man on the other end of the line. He states he is returning my call as I requested a call back from a supervisor. I am totally confused. I tell him I did not request a supervisor call back and the issue was being handled by the girl I had spoken to the day before. He explains she is no longer working on the case and he is calling me because I requested a supervisor. Now I am totally confused. I am pretty mad and I tell him I did not ask to speak with a supervisor and I wanted the girl to follow through with all her promises. I outline all my issues and ask him how I should proceed. He tells me it sounds like you need to hang up with me and call a service department. I explain I have called multiple service departments and ask if he listened to the story I just told him or read any case notes. He said he did and there was nothing anyone at Ford could do to help me and I needed to hang up and call a service department.
Now I am super steamed and getting pretty angry. I tell him I am not calling anyone and he needs to follow through with what was promised and call the dealership and demand they do something about this! He reluctantly agrees to call the dealership and try to work as an intermediary. He places me on hold while he calls the dealership. I wait on hold for 6-7 minutes and the call abruptly disconnects. So now I have no way to contact this supervisor as he claimed supervisors don’t give out their direct lines and I can’t get the original girl back as she’s been instructed not to involve herself further.
I waited near my phone for 30 minutes hoping this supervisor would call back. After about 30 minutes I had to jump on a conference call for work and of course 10 minutes into the call I have a beep from call waiting. As soon as I am free from the conference call I listen to the voicemail. It’s that supervisor, who gave no contact info, essentially telling me he’s made me an appointment for June 29 at the local dealer and I should call them directly to give them an idea of what the issue is. He says if I have any questions feel free to call him back but leaves no contact information.
I call back the 800 number and have to basically start from scratch with a new rep. He says he can’t see who the supervisor was in the system and he would try to help me. He recommends keeping the June 29 appointment. I explain that appointment was made without speaking with me and I am driving to Florida for 4th of July and need the truck back because my road trip starts July 2. He says we will let the dealership know the criteria and if they can’t guarantee to have it back by then we would reschedule for when I return.
The rep and myself call the service advisor for three days leaving messages begging people to make him return the call. He never calls me directly but does leave a VM with the Ford rep (anyone familiar with these reps knows it’s nearly impossible to get them on the phone unless they call you. They’re constantly fielding calls.) His message is just confirming he booked the appointment.
The ford rep and I agreed we should probably try the appointment and see if they can make any head way. They had received the new lock cylinder for the glove box and that needed to be completed anyway.
In the mean time I began experiencing issues with my shifter. While in drive the gear shifter would move about an inch in either direction. When lowering and raising it made a grinding noise like a coffee grinder. I also began receiving alerts that no key was detected in the vehicle while attempting to start the truck and also while driving. When I arrived on the 29th I added these two issues to the list of things needing to be addresses. The service advisor said he would make sure the tech took a look and promised to keep myself and the Ford rep updated.
Later that evening neither the Ford rep or myself had heard back from the service advisor. We called the dealership and spoke to someone claiming to be a coordinator and would make sure the service advisor called us back. The following day he still had not called. I called once every two hours all day and the service advisor was always “busy” but the receptionist promised he would call back soon. Finally at 5pm last night he called me back. The gear shifter was shot and would need to be replaced. He was working on the updates and had attempted to update the APIM 4 times with no success. He said he had no idea how long the truck would be in the shop.
I reminded him of my road trip and need for the vehicle on Saturday. He said the gear shifter should be in Friday and he could get that and the glove box repair done but couldn’t make promises on the updates. He said he would try again tomorrow and would check in with me to update me.
Today is Friday and I just received a call from him at the EOD saying the APIM is not updating. The battery keeps getting drained and it needs to be driven to recharge the battery and then they try again. I mentioned I had read that it should be connected to a battery charger based on what I had read online but of course any mention of the forums and they call you in moron and shut you down. He laughed and said he’s working with Ford engineers and they are following their instructions. He completed the glovebox but the updates had not been completed and the gear shifter is not completed.
I am left without my truck for my Florida road trip…. No estimate on how long it will be in the shop, and am told no loaners are available and Ford will not authorize a rental.
I know this is extremely long. Believe it or not I’ve left out a lot of minor inconveniences to keep it as short as possible. I am not sure what I expect to come from posting this but hopefully someone at Ford sees it and gets this straightened out. I am extremely disappointed in my treatment and my vehicle.
I purchased a 2021 F-150 Powerboost in February of 2021. I spent a lot of time working on the deal emailing multiple dealerships across GA looking to make a purchase that would meet all of my needs while keeping me in budget. I finally settled on Five Star Ford in Stone Mountain, Georgia. They offered me a fair price on my trade in and were able to get the price of the truck where I needed to keep me in the high end of my budget. Initially I was extremely happy with my purchase. The salesman had told me the truck had received all available updates and as soon as I was on a highway supported by Bluecruise I would see the icons change on my dash and the truck would drive itself. I left the dealership feeling happy, hopped on the highway, and was immediately confused. No Bluecruise. I assumed the highway was just incompatible and completed my drive home.
I began researching the update process and discovered the threads exposing the job 1 debacle. I found the Ford widget and was able to verify my version number. I was on version 1.4.0 not yet at 1.7.1 and I hoped I would be one of the lucky ones that wouldn’t get stuck. A few days later I received my first update and was optimistic.
Fast forward a few weeks. I get a call from my bank that had financed my previous truck stating a payment was due. I explained I’d traded in the truck about a month ago and it was paid off on the trade in. They explained they hadn’t received payment and I would need to make a payment to keep from harming my credit score. They said once the payoff was received I would get a refund of the overpaid balance. Ok, but what about the extra month of interest? They would not waive the interest which amounted to about $100. I contacted the dealership and they claimed they’d paid off the loan and would investigate.
The next day I received a call from the dealership stating the check had been returned as they put the incorrect account number on the check. They asked me to verify my account number to be sure my account number matched their records. I said I would be happy to check but I’m driving and would need to call back. “No problem,” exclaimed the person in the accounting department. “Since you’re driving I will text you my call back number. Feel free to call any time!”
About 30 minutes later I’ve pulled off at a rest stop and I dial the number texted to me. A recording of a woman answers asking to verify I’m 18. I thought that was odd but assumed it had something to do with the discussion of the loan and pressed 1 to confirm I was over 18. As soon as I pressed one the recording continued. “Thank you for enrolling in sexy GA messaging services and consenting to receive sexy text messages at this number.” I immediately hung up the phone but it was too late. I began receiving sex text messages almost immediately.
I quickly called the dealership and asked to speak with the general manager. I explained to him how they’d dropped the ball on the payment, which he verified was their error when copying the account number I provided from their paperwork to the check. I then informed him that his accountant thought it would be funny to sign me up for sex messages. He apologized for the check mishap, promised to get a new check out that day, agreed to cover the additional interest accrued due to their mixup, and promised to investigate what happened with the accountant and call me back.
As a few weeks had passed since the update I received I decided to call the service department and see about scheduling an appointment for them to look at the update issues while I waited for the general manager to return my call. I hadn’t noticed until I received my new registration in the mail and opened the glovebox that the lock cylinder was missing. I needed to address this as well. The salesman had given me his cell phone and told me to text him should I have any issues. I texted three times a day for about three days and did not receive a single response. Finally he replied and said Cedric from the service department would call me back within a day or two.
The next day my phone rang and it was Five Star Ford and a man named Cedric was on the other end. I began outlining my issues with the updates and the glovebox and before I was finished was abruptly cut off. “SIR, WE DO NOT BUILD THE FUCKING TRUCKS HERE. WE SELL TRUCKS. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR TRUCK TAKE IT UP WITH FORD CORPORATE,” exclaimed Cedric. I was a bit taken aback and explained that I purchased the truck there and needed to work with the service department. He confirmed he worked with the service department. He explained he could make a service appointment for me but wasn’t too sure what that would do. I said to go ahead and schedule the appointment and also asked about a loaner vehicle. “LOANER VEHICLE! HAVEN’T YOU HEARD ABOUT THE GOD DAMN CHIP SHORTAGE? THERE ARE NO FUCKING LOANER VEHICLES,” screamed Cedric. At this point I told Cedric I was at work and wasn’t prepared to have a gigantic fight. I told him I’d call back when he calmed down and hung up the phone.
Frustrated I called back the general manager at Five Star Ford and explained what had just happened. He sort of giggled and said that sounds like Cedric. I was blown away. The GM knew he had an employee talking to people this way and wasn’t concerned. At this point I asked about the check, additional funds, and sex messages. He apologized for the sex message situation and claimed it was an accident and there was nothing more he could do. I asked about the check and he said the new check was sent out and the bank would receive in a day or two.
Fast forward another week. I get an email from my bank saying congratulations on completing your final loan payment. Relieved I login to my bank account to see if the proper amount had been paid and if I had received the promised credit from the bank. To my surprise the amount paid was the exact amount owed, after the extra payment was applied. I immediately called my bank and asked if they could confirm the check amount. They pulled the logs and said the check amount was correct based on the new pay off amount provided to the dealership about three days prior. New payoff amount? She explained after my last payment they had called and requested a new pay off amount which would account for the lower amount on the new check. It was late in the evening and the dealership was closed.
The next morning I called the dealership the moment they opened. I asked for the GM and was told he was busy. I explained I had an issue with the payoff and the receptionist transferred me to the Controller. The Controller answered the phone and I explained the situation. She didn’t understand why I was upset. I told her we had made a deal for the dealership to pay X amount for my trade in and the amount she paid was less. At this point I was running out of patience and I told her she was stealing money from me. This is blatant theft. You sat on the payoff purposefully until I made another $1200 payment and then got a new payoff amount for $1200 less and sent that in. I told her I wanted my money and she told me there was nothing she could do. I told her to call Ford financing and tell them they had their money for the next payment because I already made a truck payment this month and wasn’t making another. She screamed at me, “IF YOU CAN”T AFFORD THE TRUCK YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BOUGHT IT. IF YOU ARE TOO BROKE TO MAKE PAYMENTS THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!” I explained that I didn’t buy a $70,000 truck because I am broke and she was a thief and I wanted my money. She yelled no one calls me a thief and hung up on me.
I called back immediately and asked for the GM. Again they said he was busy. I told the receptionist I am getting dick pics from your dealership, Cedric screamed FUCK at me, and the Controller told me I am a broke joke and hung up on me. The GM needs to be unbusy right now. She put me on hold for about 3 minutes and the GM picked up. Before I could speak he said he already talked to the Controller, she was totally wrong, and a check would be in the mail for the difference today. I said I would wait for the check but was doubtful. He said the full amount of the extra payment you made, along with the interest we spoke about, would be in the check.
One week later I receive the check in the mail. Not only is the extra interest not accounted for but it is about $100 less than the extra truck payment I made. I called the GM immediately. He asked me why I was busting his balls over what amounts to about $200. I asked him the same. If it was a trivial amount why was it left off the check. He went on and on about how it would be hard to cut a new check but he could try to make it happen, etc., etc. I asked if it was an accounting or ownership issue. Basically it sounded like he was going to be in trouble for cutting another check. So I asked if it would be easier to send me parts. He was super relieved and said absolutely. I can make a deal for sure. I said OK send me the wheel wells which are about $200 and we will call it even. He agreed and we hung up. This was in March. I have been unable to connect with the GM again via phone and the wheel wells never came.
At this point I decided I would just move on. It was a month of dealing with these people at Five Star. I assumed the issue was an isolated issue at a bad dealer and I decided I would just work with a local dealer. At this point I contacted Fayetteville Ford. I explained all the issues I had with the truck and they explained they only had a tech in on Tuesday’s that can do updates. They made me an appointment for the following Tuesday and told me to drop off first thing in the morning and they would try to have me out same day. I arrived for my appointment and met my service advisor Gary. When I arrived he had no idea who I was, why I was there, and said I was not in the system. He took all my information and said sorry for the mixup we will get right on this. I told him I would wait in the waiting room for an update because I assumed they would have the truck for a long time and wanted an idea of how long I would be without my vehicle. About 90 minutes later Gary entered the waiting room and told me I was all set! I couldn’t believe it. He said they ordered the new lock cylinder and all the updates were completed. I told him I was surprised because everything I read on the internet says the updates issue is a long process. He shrugged and said the tech said it was all good. I checked the update version in the ford pass app and it said I was still at 1.6 and in the truck there were not changes or added features. I went back in and Gary said it was all set, the update would download OTA over night. I told him this wasn’t true based on everything I had read but he was adamant. I said OK Gary I will do the dance and go through this process but I guarantee I will be back next week.
Fast forward a week. No updates. I call Monday and talk to Gary and he says oh it didn’t update this week? OK bring it in tomorrow and the radio guy will take another look. So I arrive, check in, and go back to the waiting room. Two hours later Gary pops into the waiting room and again tells me the updates are done. I told him the ford pass app still says 1.6 and there is now way it was done that quickly. At this point the TSB had just dropped from Ford outlining the issues with the updates and a procedure to fix. I show this TSB to Gary and show that it states right in the letter sent to the dealerships that it takes a minimum of about 8 hours. He said they finished faster because the tech says he is done. I asked to talk to the tech because something wasn’t adding up. The tech came to the check in area and I asked him if BlueCruise was working and asked him to verify the procedure he used. He asked me, “What is BlueCruise?” Gary then asked me the same. I said we talked about this for over two weeks now and I assumed you know what I was talking about. How can you say something is fixed if you don’t know what it is. I pulled up a Ford marketing video and showed them the BlueCruise in action. They were both pretty blown away and actually said wow Ford is just like Tesla now.
I was pretty surprised and depressed at that point. I again asked the tech how he verified the update had been done. He really didn’t have an answer which makes me think he never even plugged anything into the truck. Finally I asked if he had just looked in the menu or if he had plugged in. To which they both looked at me and said wow you can check for updates from the menu. I told them to follow me and walked out to the truck. Showed them how to access the update details page in the settings and showed them the option to upgrade was greyed out which was a symptom outlined in the TSB. We returned to the check in area and Gary insisted that they had cleared the bottle neck and OTA updates would begin flowing. I told him he was wrong but there was nothing I could do and I would be contacting Ford corporate and left.
At this point I contacted Ford corporate and went through everything that had happened. Said I wanted to make formal complaints against these dealers, and wanted help solving the issue. I spent HOURS on the phone outlining the different dealerships I had already tried, explaining the dick pic situation, and asking for help. Each person I spoke to promised they would escalate the situation and open cases. They all said they would call me back and none of them ever did. I spoke to about 6 different Ford corporate people and all of them apologized endlessly for the poor treatment, promised to rectify the situation, and never returned my calls. I finally found a post listing a phone number for the Ford OTA department. I tried calling them directly. I again went through my entire story. The operator was sympathetic and said I finally had the right department. She would reach out to all the local dealerships until she found one that had already completed and was familiar with the software update issue. She said she would call me back the following day with a solution.
I waited a week. One entire week for the OTA girl to return my call. She never called back. I finally called back and got another girl in the OTA department. She pulled up the VIN on my truck and said there were no open cases and she had no idea what I was talking about. She said she would look into it and call me back. At this point I lost it and yelled at her that I wasn’t going to be rushed off the phone or sit around waiting for a call back. I told her I wanted to talk to someone who would help me. If you want to get technical sending me naked pictures could be deemed sexual assault. No one cares because I am a middle aged male so everyone thinks it’s just a funny story but to put it in other terms a Ford dealership has sexually assaulted me and I want to talk to someone high enough at Ford who will care or I am going to blast my story all over social media and hope a lawyer reads everything that’s happened and tells me he will take on my case and we will find someone at Ford who cares. She says OK so you want to talk to a supervisor? I said that wasn’t the point. A call center supervisor isn’t any better than her. At this point I have spoken to 6 or 8 different call center employees and no one at that level seems to understand what is happening. It needs to be flagged for review because I am going to do my best to get this in front of someone who cares one way or another.
The representative explains she needs time to research the case and promises she will call me back in two hours. She also promises she will escalate the situation to the appropriate people. I tell her OK but if I don’t hear back from you I am not going to try to follow up again and will have to try to go another route. To my surprise she calls me about two hours later. She acknowledges Ford is aware of the 1.7.1 update issue and asks if I would be willing to give her one business day to find a shop willing to do the updates ASAP. She also wants to be sure the shop has performed the updates and is familiar with them. She promises to work out a loaner or rental car reimbursement. I agreed to give her the one business day and we end the call.
The following day my phone rings. I see on the caller ID it is Ford calling. I am totally surprised she is following through and I answer the phone quickly. There is a man on the other end of the line. He states he is returning my call as I requested a call back from a supervisor. I am totally confused. I tell him I did not request a supervisor call back and the issue was being handled by the girl I had spoken to the day before. He explains she is no longer working on the case and he is calling me because I requested a supervisor. Now I am totally confused. I am pretty mad and I tell him I did not ask to speak with a supervisor and I wanted the girl to follow through with all her promises. I outline all my issues and ask him how I should proceed. He tells me it sounds like you need to hang up with me and call a service department. I explain I have called multiple service departments and ask if he listened to the story I just told him or read any case notes. He said he did and there was nothing anyone at Ford could do to help me and I needed to hang up and call a service department.
Now I am super steamed and getting pretty angry. I tell him I am not calling anyone and he needs to follow through with what was promised and call the dealership and demand they do something about this! He reluctantly agrees to call the dealership and try to work as an intermediary. He places me on hold while he calls the dealership. I wait on hold for 6-7 minutes and the call abruptly disconnects. So now I have no way to contact this supervisor as he claimed supervisors don’t give out their direct lines and I can’t get the original girl back as she’s been instructed not to involve herself further.
I waited near my phone for 30 minutes hoping this supervisor would call back. After about 30 minutes I had to jump on a conference call for work and of course 10 minutes into the call I have a beep from call waiting. As soon as I am free from the conference call I listen to the voicemail. It’s that supervisor, who gave no contact info, essentially telling me he’s made me an appointment for June 29 at the local dealer and I should call them directly to give them an idea of what the issue is. He says if I have any questions feel free to call him back but leaves no contact information.
I call back the 800 number and have to basically start from scratch with a new rep. He says he can’t see who the supervisor was in the system and he would try to help me. He recommends keeping the June 29 appointment. I explain that appointment was made without speaking with me and I am driving to Florida for 4th of July and need the truck back because my road trip starts July 2. He says we will let the dealership know the criteria and if they can’t guarantee to have it back by then we would reschedule for when I return.
The rep and myself call the service advisor for three days leaving messages begging people to make him return the call. He never calls me directly but does leave a VM with the Ford rep (anyone familiar with these reps knows it’s nearly impossible to get them on the phone unless they call you. They’re constantly fielding calls.) His message is just confirming he booked the appointment.
The ford rep and I agreed we should probably try the appointment and see if they can make any head way. They had received the new lock cylinder for the glove box and that needed to be completed anyway.
In the mean time I began experiencing issues with my shifter. While in drive the gear shifter would move about an inch in either direction. When lowering and raising it made a grinding noise like a coffee grinder. I also began receiving alerts that no key was detected in the vehicle while attempting to start the truck and also while driving. When I arrived on the 29th I added these two issues to the list of things needing to be addresses. The service advisor said he would make sure the tech took a look and promised to keep myself and the Ford rep updated.
Later that evening neither the Ford rep or myself had heard back from the service advisor. We called the dealership and spoke to someone claiming to be a coordinator and would make sure the service advisor called us back. The following day he still had not called. I called once every two hours all day and the service advisor was always “busy” but the receptionist promised he would call back soon. Finally at 5pm last night he called me back. The gear shifter was shot and would need to be replaced. He was working on the updates and had attempted to update the APIM 4 times with no success. He said he had no idea how long the truck would be in the shop.
I reminded him of my road trip and need for the vehicle on Saturday. He said the gear shifter should be in Friday and he could get that and the glove box repair done but couldn’t make promises on the updates. He said he would try again tomorrow and would check in with me to update me.
Today is Friday and I just received a call from him at the EOD saying the APIM is not updating. The battery keeps getting drained and it needs to be driven to recharge the battery and then they try again. I mentioned I had read that it should be connected to a battery charger based on what I had read online but of course any mention of the forums and they call you in moron and shut you down. He laughed and said he’s working with Ford engineers and they are following their instructions. He completed the glovebox but the updates had not been completed and the gear shifter is not completed.
I am left without my truck for my Florida road trip…. No estimate on how long it will be in the shop, and am told no loaners are available and Ford will not authorize a rental.
I know this is extremely long. Believe it or not I’ve left out a lot of minor inconveniences to keep it as short as possible. I am not sure what I expect to come from posting this but hopefully someone at Ford sees it and gets this straightened out. I am extremely disappointed in my treatment and my vehicle.
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