Airbag Recall Fraud

[Hoagus]

The story seems to be paywalled so far, but the gist of it is that dealerships have faked the repair, and done shoddy work. Ford is coming after them.

This is kinda why I didn’t have this recall fixed. My service guy scoffed when I told him my concerns.

Now who’s scoffing?

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[paneubert]

I'll reserve judgement until I see an actual article/facts. But it seems like it would be hard to "fake" the repair since they need to use an easily traced item like an airbag. Is the claim that dealer service department ordered the parts and then simply....sat on them while marking the recall as complete and not replacing the airbags? What do they plan to do with those traceable replacement airbags they ordered?

Now....claims of " shoddy work" are a totally different thing. That is for one....an opinion. And two, not fraud in any way. Shoddy work is shoddy work. But if the recall was performed, the quality of the work is all that is in question, not going to ever be what a court would label as fraud.

 

[bgn]

I'm on the 26th call in 2 months to Ford customer service to get my airbag recall fixed properly.

I have been driving around with missing parts since February 2023.

They don't give a sh**, even when you tell them how serious the situation is.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...your-ford-dealer-experience.43023/post-760853

 

[Darnon]

Is it this story? https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...rd-flawed-takata-air-bag-repairs/72537303007/

That seems to be more in relation to the Takata airbag recalls on various models.

 

[Scott Asheville]

Duplicate thread

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...tor-ford-fines-dealerships.43840/#post-772766

 

[Rod]

The story seems to be paywalled so far, but the gist of it is that dealerships have faked the repair, and done shoddy work. Ford is coming after them.

This is kinda why I didn’t have this recall fixed. My service guy scoffed when I told him my concerns.

Now who’s scoffing?

Paywalled? Wth man. Just throw some bs out there and hope you get folks thrashing about? Uggghhh. Go away.

 

[bgn]

Paywalled? Wth man. Just throw some bs out there and hope you get folks thrashing about? Uggghhh. Go away.

It's not B.S. I've experienced it myself.

 

[Rod]

You’ve experienced bad service, not some intentional fraud by Ford. Just stop. You have no proof. Even the OP sites a story conveniently behind a “paywall” that has info. Again, no proof that’s being posted into this thread. But thrash away!

 

[bgn]

You’ve experienced bad service, not some intentional fraud by Ford. Just stop. You have no proof. Even the OP sites a story conveniently behind a “paywall” that has info. Again, no proof that’s being posted into this thread. But thrash away!

Bad service?

I paid for a new, safe vehicle. Ford objectively failed to deliver that, hence the recall.

The dealership was paid by Ford to deliver a service and fix my vehicle. They knowingly failed to do that and put my life in danger, but got paid by Ford. Is that not fraud?

 

[bgn]

Here's what I assume is the article:

https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...rd-flawed-takata-air-bag-repairs/72537303007/


"Some customers whose repair records mistakenly reflect fixes never made are at risk from the devices, which can explode without warning and spray shrapnel on vehicle occupants. Others, drivers of certain Ranger pickups, may have incorrectly installed air bags that may not deploy in a crash, putting passengers at risk."

"A Free Press investigation reviewed internal company documents, dealership memos, federal regulatory filings and court papers, showing that Ford fined some dealerships whose repair techs billed the automaker for replacing Takata air bags despite installing the devices incorrectly or not doing the work at all. A federal whistleblower complaint alleges Ford invited trouble by easing repair rules to allow low-skill techs to process the repairs quickly — a charge the automaker adamantly denies."

 

[Ranch]

I guess it's possible some despicable techs could have pretended to replace airbags. The thought that someone would be so lazy and uncaring to jeopardize people's lives is almost unimaginable.

When I worked Saturdays main dealership back counter during the height of the Takata recalls I was swamped with handing out airbags, clutch kits and door latch kits. The tech's had to write the RO# on the part box, put the old parts inside and return it to the back counter. I would then sign the RO indicating I received it. Didn't have time to look at the returned airbags and never thought about doing so.

Is it possible some tech's simply opened up the box, wrote the RO# on it and turned it in? Yes. We saved all of the airbags in case Ford called them back but there were so many of them that the majority never shipped back to Ford.

After awhile (I forget how long) we had to get rid of them so an employee would blow them up in the back of the dealership so we could get rid of them.

 

[Rod]

Bad service?

I paid for a new, safe vehicle. Ford objectively failed to deliver that, hence the recall.

The dealership was paid by Ford to deliver a service and fix my vehicle. They knowingly failed to do that and put my life in danger, but got paid by Ford. Is that not fraud?

No. It’s bad service. Have you called Ford customer service? What did they say?

 

[bgn]

No. It’s bad service. Have you called Ford customer service? What did they say?

26 calls in two months. Two cases, one closed by the agent.

When I contacted the original agent about why she closed the case, she ignored me.

New case's manager has not called me once. The last agent I called last week felt so bad for me that she told me to contact her personally if I get no movement.

Ford corporate is useless and is absolutely 100% complicit in what's going on at the dealership level if they are choosing to not hold basic quality standards AND failing to act with any ounce of concern for customer safety after 26 calls, pictures of the issue, and screenshots from their official service manual.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Here's what I assume is the article:

https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...rd-flawed-takata-air-bag-repairs/72537303007/


"Some customers whose repair records mistakenly reflect fixes never made are at risk from the devices, which can explode without warning and spray shrapnel on vehicle occupants. Others, drivers of certain Ranger pickups, may have incorrectly installed air bags that may not deploy in a crash, putting passengers at risk."

"A Free Press investigation reviewed internal company documents, dealership memos, federal regulatory filings and court papers, showing that Ford fined some dealerships whose repair techs billed the automaker for replacing Takata air bags despite installing the devices incorrectly or not doing the work at all. A federal whistleblower complaint alleges Ford invited trouble by easing repair rules to allow low-skill techs to process the repairs quickly — a charge the automaker adamantly denies."

This has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the Maverick or any Maverick recall. This is in regards to the old Takata air bag recall that started about a decade ago. Takata is long out of business now and there are no Takata airbags in any Maverick.

 

[Ranch]

This has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the Maverick or any Maverick recall. This is in regards to the old Takata air bag recall that started about a decade ago. Takata is long out of business now and there are no Takata airbags in any Maverick.

Wait a minute. Are you saying that there hasn't been 26 recalls on the Ford Maverick? LOL.

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