Peculiar Shipping Findings - Is Ford Being Honest?

[Original Poster]

First time poster here - been lurking around here since February. Looking forward to adding to the content here.

Anyway, I ordered my F150 STX 4X4 5.0L back on February 9th. It was built at the Kansas City plant back on June 25. Like you all, I tracked its progress (or lack thereof) the entire time. Things seemed to move along as predicted. Took a little longer than I was told, but all in all, not too bad.

In late June, I received the email from Ford that my truck had shipped. I then checked in with Ford Chat, and got the convoy number, ETA, etc. My truck stayed in the "shipped" status for weeks. I'm thinking the whole time that it is on its way. I kept checking with chat, and they always gave me the same info, same convoy number, same shipping service... everything the same each time. It seemed fishy. So, I got creative, and reached out to the shipping company.

Fast forward to yesterday, when I had some things revealed to me by an employee at one of the major convoy transportation companies that handles a large portion Ford's shipments:

• The convoy number Ford provided to me is bogus. The shipping company doesn't recognize the format, and said "we have no idea what that number is".
• My truck is not in shipment. Requests by the carrier to retrieve my truck are met with a status from Ford that says "Unit Unavailable for Shipping".
• My truck is sitting in an off-site storage lot somewhere in Muncie, Kansas.
• Calls to Ford are met with agents parroting the same old convoy number, with the same old bogus details, with the same old bogus ETA.
• The person with the shipping company said that they could lose their job for sharing this information, but they didn't care anymore. It was also shared with me that it was demanded by Ford that they do not share tracking information with customers. IMO, this is probably why the ability to track on jackcooper.com has disappeared.
• The shipping company representative's best guess as to what "Unit Unavailable" means is that it is waiting on a part or chips. Would be nice if Ford would just be honest and tell me that. I could live with the truth.

So, with earlier ETA information from Ford, I have arranged financing. Terms are good for 30 days, and in this world of skyrocketing interest rates, reliable shipping information from Ford is critical. I do think that my bank will extend me, but not forever.

I am hoping that someone here has gone down a similar rabbit hole, and can shed some light on what is really going on here. And if not, hopefully this post will clue you in to why the Ford tracker seems so inconsistent and/or not lining up with reality.

Sponsored

 

[hotrodmex]

Have you asked your dealer for a screenshot of the VVR?

 

[Original Poster]

Have you asked your dealer for a screenshot of the VVR?

I did this morning. They're supposed to get back to me by EOB today.

 

[mik6235]

First time poster here - been lurking around here since February. Looking forward to adding to the content here.

Anyway, I ordered my F150 STX 4X4 5.0L back on February 9th. It was built at the Kansas City plant back on June 25. Like you all, I tracked its progress (or lack thereof) the entire time. Things seemed to move along as predicted. Took a little longer than I was told, but all in all, not too bad.

In late June, I received the email from Ford that my truck had shipped. I then checked in with Ford Chat, and got the convoy number, ETA, etc. My truck stayed in the "shipped" status for weeks. I'm thinking the whole time that it is on its way. I kept checking with chat, and they always gave me the same info, same convoy number, same shipping service... everything the same each time. It seemed fishy. So, I got creative, and reached out to the shipping company.

Fast forward to yesterday, when I had some things revealed to me by an employee at one of the major convoy transportation companies that handles a large portion Ford's shipments:

• The convoy number Ford provided to me is bogus. The shipping company doesn't recognize the format, and said "we have no idea what that number is".
• My truck is not in shipment. Requests by the carrier to retrieve my truck are met with a status from Ford that says "Unit Unavailable for Shipping".
• My truck is sitting in an off-site storage lot somewhere in Muncie, Kansas.
• Calls to Ford are met with agents parroting the same old convoy number, with the same old bogus details, with the same old bogus ETA.
• The person with the shipping company said that they could lose their job for sharing this information, but they didn't care anymore. It was also shared with me that it was demanded by Ford that they do not share tracking information with customers. IMO, this is probably why the ability to track on jackcooper.com has disappeared.
• The shipping company representative's best guess as to what "Unit Unavailable" means is that it is waiting on a part or chips. Would be nice if Ford would just be honest and tell me that. I could live with the truth.

So, with earlier ETA information from Ford, I have arranged financing. Terms are good for 30 days, and in this world of skyrocketing interest rates, reliable shipping information from Ford is critical. I do think that my bank will extend me, but not forever.

I am hoping that someone here has gone down a similar rabbit hole, and can shed some light on what is really going on here. And if not, hopefully this post will clue you in to why the Ford tracker seems so inconsistent and/or not lining up with reality.

In my case, I have been stuck at "built".

I was a week later than you (6/27 build week). Received an email 7/13 that truck was built as of 7/11 (there was a plant shutdown during 4th Holiday week) which in itself was frustrating, but then I was told estimated delivery to dealer 7/17-7/23. On Ford's order tracking site it said it would be
"a few days to a week" for shipping.

On order track, it shows that my truck was awaiting shipping since 7/5 and is estimating another week before shipping.

Midweek last week, after not seeing any movement...I went to "chat" to get an update and was told that the original 7/17-7/23 date was when it would be released for shipping.

All of the above expectations were missed, I went to chat on Monday of this week and was told a new estimate was 7/30 to the dealer.

They say contact the dealer for more info, but the dealer says they are not responsive to their inquiries regarding customer orders either.

 

[Original Poster]

Update: So, the VVR shows the same thing that Ford keeps telling me. Ultimately, the verdict from the dealership is that multiple transportation services are moving vehicles, which causes some loads to be untraceable. They went on to further clarify that the next alert they will receive will be from the shipping service, and that this alert will indicate that the truck will be delivered in 24 hours or less. As I already knew, they also repeated that they do not get intermediate updates as it moves from place to place on the way.

So, if I am to believe them (and I'm on the fence), my truck has indeed been on its way, and Jack Cooper has erroneous information. I guess time will tell. But a trip from KC to Louisiana shouldn't take a month.

 

[WRS]

RR and trucking delays are not new, has been happening for over a year now. If RR to Unloading ramp the trucking delays will still kick in. Did you get a railcar #?

 

[powerboatr]

Update: So, the VVR shows the same thing that Ford keeps telling me. Ultimately, the verdict from the dealership is that multiple transportation services are moving vehicles, which causes some loads to be untraceable. They went on to further clarify that the next alert they will receive will be from the shipping service, and that this alert will indicate that the truck will be delivered in 24 hours or less. As I already knew, they also repeated that they do not get intermediate updates as it moves from place to place on the way.

So, if I am to believe them (and I'm on the fence), my truck has indeed been on its way, and Jack Cooper has erroneous information. I guess time will tell. But a trip from KC to Louisiana shouldn't take a month.

"the verdict from the dealership is that multiple transportation services are moving vehicles, which causes some loads to be untraceable." i find that statement from a dealer to be complete and total BULL muffins
FORD knows where each and every vehicle is. its not like loosing a piece of letter mail
some one is not being truthfull imo

 

[Mtnman1]

Update: So, the VVR shows the same thing that Ford keeps telling me. Ultimately, the verdict from the dealership is that multiple transportation services are moving vehicles, which causes some loads to be untraceable. They went on to further clarify that the next alert they will receive will be from the shipping service, and that this alert will indicate that the truck will be delivered in 24 hours or less. As I already knew, they also repeated that they do not get intermediate updates as it moves from place to place on the way.

So, if I am to believe them (and I'm on the fence), my truck has indeed been on its way, and Jack Cooper has erroneous information. I guess time will tell. But a trip from KC to Louisiana shouldn't take a month.

You went truck from KC to LA??? You sure about that? Seems far for a truck.

I went rail from KC to Ohio. Thats about a 12.5 hr car drive.

It started the rail journey on 7/13. Truck still not at dealer. Of course being rail, it went up to chicago, back down to Ohio. Stopping at every rail yard in between.

 

[Original Poster]

You went truck from KC to LA??? You sure about that? Seems far for a truck.

Well at this point I’m not sure, but Ford has been giving me a convoy number since day 1. A Jack Cooper convoy number that not even Jack Cooper recognizes.
And on one of my chats with Ford, they assured me that it was en route on a convoy trailer on its way to my dealer. It just seems that none of what they’ve been telling me is true.

 

[Original Poster]

Update: delivery pushed back to August 17th. But according to Ford, my truck has been on the same convoy for 40 days. Moral of the story is not to believe anything for Ford tells you on their tracker, their emails, their chat, or any other customer service portal.

 

[texski]

Ford has changed dramatically, and I don't think any of this benefits the customer. They are using the Marketing Dept (those answering our questions about Custom Retail Orders) as Gatekeeper to keep us from looking behind the curtain to see what is actually going on.

In 1976, my Dad bought a Chevy 3/4 ton, and it was a lemon. I remember him walking up the chain, and eventually SPOKE with a VP. For those of you who aren't this old, it is important to know that this kind of service existed. Ten years ago when we had an unresolved problem with our Porsche key, an Area Rep from North American Porsche called a meeting with the Service Manager, Service Advisor, and Service Foreman, and us to find a solution. It was handled and I was satisfied.

For whatever reason, Ford has chosen to limit WHO we can communicate with, and WHAT information is disclosed. A reasonable expectation would be for a rep to say, I don't have that information, let me transfer you to someone who does. And Ford, as a large, international corporation, should have the staff that can answer BASIC questions, and even more specific questions like, What's going on with my order.

But instead, Ford has taken the tack of obfuscation. They provide "answers" without information, and this is yet one more example. They gave you an answer, but the content is MEANINGLESS. Mowing your lawn would have been more productive than this chat or call. At least something would have gotten accomplished. Ford will also tell Marketing to refer back to the dealer. They say the dealer has been provided this information. Because I have heard so many other people say the same thing, I believe my dealer when he says, They don't tell us anything. So, Ford's philosophy is to OCCUPY their customers instead of providing reliable information. I don't know why they think this is acceptable. And yet, I see Ford making really ignorant decisions like this. Maybe they are trying to swat customers away so they can regroup and get their feet under them. This is not the way to manage your brand. #FireFarley

OP, your situation is consistent with many others, if there is any solace in that. It seems like I have seen where contractors have 10 weeks to deliver before they are penalized. I laughed when Marketing tried to tell me when I should receive my truck. Maybe you can talk to your GM and ask them to match financing terms if your bank's offer expires. Dealers tend to be more responsive.

 

[Original Poster]

Update: Truck still sitting in Muncie, KS. However, I reached someone at Union Pacific who says that they are going to transport it to Reisor, LA. No idea when. Here's what they sent me (lots of blank fields):

Only information on the Union Pacific reporting - vehicle is at Muncie, KS - destined for Reisor. No action since 6/1

Vehicle Information

VIN(TCN): 1FTFW1E57NKE13368(144327259)
TCN Active: Y
New/User Type:
Railcar ID(TCN): (1)
Railcar Origin: Muncie, KS 581577000
Railcar Destination: Reisor, LA 653879000 UP Railcar Destination: Reisor, LA 653879000 Diverted From Destination:
Railcar Position:

Shipment Information
Reported Last Set By ADIMS
Shipper: FORD
Shipment closed:
Shippable:
On Hold/Code: N/
Hold:
Shipper Sub Customer:
Shipper Origin:
Shipper Destination:
Sell Division:
Ship To Dealer Address:
Ship to Dealer: F23378

Current Information
Reported Last Set By ADIMS
Current Location:

Current Status: Prerelease
05/31/22 23:00 CDT 06/01/22 20:52:59 CDT Current Bay/Zone:

 

[Cb Mw]

Customer service has changed considerably through the years across the board.

Due to the number of complaints most corporations have complaint departments and you aren't getting any higher. It's more efficient for the company. Execs and management wouldn't get anything done if they hand held customer complaints - it would he 99% of their time.

For most companies - 90% of complaints are either unfounded or based on a problem in which there is no immediate solution, such as staff or trucker shortages.

Not saying it's right but that's the standard today. I've managed a complaint department. BBB complaints get responses but it may also be a standard template response.

 

[Original Poster]

Update: through sources that I will not mention (but impeccable sources), I have learned that my truck is not in Muncie, KS., being shipped, or anything like that. But instead, it is on "plant hold". What on earth could make an "In-Transit" vehicle be simultaneously in a "Plant Hold"?

This is quite a saga. I feel like I could write a book, but just hoping this can help someone else, and maybe I can solve this mystery. Meanwhile, Ford Chat says that I should be excited to receive my truck any day now!

 

[Original Poster]

Update, and this is a good one: On the Ford tracking site, my status has moved backwards from "Shipped" to "Built". On Ordertrack, it has regressed to "Awaiting Shipment".

This just keeps getting better and better. That said, it is supposedly on ramp 6U, but I don't believe that either at this point.

Sponsored