- First Name
- David
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2021
- Threads
- 47
- Messages
- 1,388
- Reaction score
- 2,300
- Location
- Franklin TN
- Website
- www.theredneckgarage.com
- Vehicle(s)
- 10 Wrangler 22 Lexus 22 Maverick 23 Maverick
- Engine
- 2.5L Hybrid
- Thread starter
- #1
Just had a great experience with the scumbags at Ferman Ford in CLearwater. The following is the complaint letter I sent to Ford - I was pretty damn mad - I plan on lodging a complaint to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles just to be a pita to them - This is my Greenlady story hahaha. Thought yall might find it interesting. Wondering when Ford will switch to a direct to consumer pricing to end all this crap. Just to be clear, I wasnt upset at the additional ADM of 5K - I was upset at the end they tried to add ANOTHER 5K - half the MSRP of the vehicle in "Market Adjustments" .
Hello Ms Ford,
Usually I just let things go and not complain, however when conduct of a business becomes "bait and switch" and pretty much fraud I felt the need to notify someone at Ford corporate.
Last August I ordered a Maverick from my local Ford dealer - Ford of Franklin. I am needing a service truck for my business. I was told by my salesman that yes, it will arrive in November or December. A few months later I got a call - uh yeah it's delayed now it's going to be February or March. I still haven't received a build date and scheduling is going on for May build - I'm honestly not sure if Ill even get a truck this year. With that in mind I searched dealer sites to see if any had a Maverick for sale. This is how I came into contact with Ferman Ford of Clearwater.
Ferman Had an XL Hybrid in white listed on their site for 26,900. I realized they had added 5000 dealer mark up and due to my need I was OK with that- After what Jim Farley said about Dealers and unreasonable markups I thought it was sad but like I said, I need a truck. I emailed the dealership asking about availability and was answered by a pleasant person named Heather and after a few text messages she did indeed confirm the truck was on the way, was available and that she would forward my info to the sales manager - Awesome ! Next I received a call from John McVey, one of their salesmen. He was a very nice guy - he told me the truck is on the way and as soon as it hit the lot he would call me and send the paperwork for purchase and I would be the first one it was offered to. Great ! Fast forward to today ( Saturday 3/12/22 ) I get a phone call from the sales manager - hey the truck will be coming in soon we can go ahead and finalize the paperwork if you want to buy it !! I said Awesome !!! Send it on over Ill pay half down and finance the rest. He said great I then asked if it will be Ford Motor Credit ( My credit is somewhere in the 820's ) I said I saw they had some pretty good rates on the Maverick and he told me uhh yeah we don't go thru them usually we get better rates with a local bank ( First lie ) . Ok great - Id cross that bridge when I came to it anyway ....
Imagine my surprise when I received a proposal for the truck I had inquired about including a vin number for 10,0000 OVER MSRP. I called him back and said hey that's not the price you had on your website !! First Uh yeah we cant keep those trucks off the website until they are delivered .... I asked then why isnt is just listed as MSRP if it is a customer order - not 5K over ? He then started the heavy lying- he said uhhh yeah the truck you mentioned was already sold - ( how indeed did he a few minutes earlier send me a proposal to sign for that truck then right ? ) He then goes on to tell me uhh the truck we can sell you is a Silver XL base model. I said uh huh he said now we buy these trucks from other dealerships and it cost us 10,000 to get it so we cant offer any discounts off that. As I strongly disagreed with him and said how in the world could you charge 10K over on a 20K truck. He informed me that if I knew about how business worked I would know they made money on their financing not the sale of the trucks. I said this is dishonest and he said well take it or leave it.
I then complained to Jason Bray the general sales manager - he also said yeah we pay 10K over for these trucks. He then backed up the story that the white truck - the one I had gotten a proposal to sign on a few minutes earlier .... was sold " And " sorry about the confusion. I then said well there's no confusion on my part - I called on a truck advertised on your website with a vin , your folks told me it was available, your folks called and said it was in, you sent me a proposal to buy it and when I pointed out it wasn't the price AS ADVERTISED - you then said uhhh the truck is sold. Scam artists.
So Ms Ford thats my story. I'm disappointed in many aspects - first I still havent even gotten a build date for my Lariat - however I can understand that as far as supply chain, chips - I get it. Hopefully I may get a build date soon. What is more troubling is that there are Ford dealers that are actually committing FRAUD - advertising trucks not only for 5000 over MSRP but at the last moment adding ANOTHER 5000.00 to the price and if you compain its somewhat like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld - No Maverick For You .... ( sorry that just popped in my head lol ) I am exploring who else to complain to about this particular dealership and their bait and switch tactics - I felt someone at Ford Corporate might also address their dishonesty as well.
I have included with this email documentation of my dealings including the advertisement on their website and the proposal today for the Maverick XL Vin # 3FTTW8E33NRA18268 I have more documentation of my conversations if needed.
Thanks so much for your time.
David W Sutton
Hello Ms Ford,
Usually I just let things go and not complain, however when conduct of a business becomes "bait and switch" and pretty much fraud I felt the need to notify someone at Ford corporate.
Last August I ordered a Maverick from my local Ford dealer - Ford of Franklin. I am needing a service truck for my business. I was told by my salesman that yes, it will arrive in November or December. A few months later I got a call - uh yeah it's delayed now it's going to be February or March. I still haven't received a build date and scheduling is going on for May build - I'm honestly not sure if Ill even get a truck this year. With that in mind I searched dealer sites to see if any had a Maverick for sale. This is how I came into contact with Ferman Ford of Clearwater.
Ferman Had an XL Hybrid in white listed on their site for 26,900. I realized they had added 5000 dealer mark up and due to my need I was OK with that- After what Jim Farley said about Dealers and unreasonable markups I thought it was sad but like I said, I need a truck. I emailed the dealership asking about availability and was answered by a pleasant person named Heather and after a few text messages she did indeed confirm the truck was on the way, was available and that she would forward my info to the sales manager - Awesome ! Next I received a call from John McVey, one of their salesmen. He was a very nice guy - he told me the truck is on the way and as soon as it hit the lot he would call me and send the paperwork for purchase and I would be the first one it was offered to. Great ! Fast forward to today ( Saturday 3/12/22 ) I get a phone call from the sales manager - hey the truck will be coming in soon we can go ahead and finalize the paperwork if you want to buy it !! I said Awesome !!! Send it on over Ill pay half down and finance the rest. He said great I then asked if it will be Ford Motor Credit ( My credit is somewhere in the 820's ) I said I saw they had some pretty good rates on the Maverick and he told me uhh yeah we don't go thru them usually we get better rates with a local bank ( First lie ) . Ok great - Id cross that bridge when I came to it anyway ....
Imagine my surprise when I received a proposal for the truck I had inquired about including a vin number for 10,0000 OVER MSRP. I called him back and said hey that's not the price you had on your website !! First Uh yeah we cant keep those trucks off the website until they are delivered .... I asked then why isnt is just listed as MSRP if it is a customer order - not 5K over ? He then started the heavy lying- he said uhhh yeah the truck you mentioned was already sold - ( how indeed did he a few minutes earlier send me a proposal to sign for that truck then right ? ) He then goes on to tell me uhh the truck we can sell you is a Silver XL base model. I said uh huh he said now we buy these trucks from other dealerships and it cost us 10,000 to get it so we cant offer any discounts off that. As I strongly disagreed with him and said how in the world could you charge 10K over on a 20K truck. He informed me that if I knew about how business worked I would know they made money on their financing not the sale of the trucks. I said this is dishonest and he said well take it or leave it.
I then complained to Jason Bray the general sales manager - he also said yeah we pay 10K over for these trucks. He then backed up the story that the white truck - the one I had gotten a proposal to sign on a few minutes earlier .... was sold " And " sorry about the confusion. I then said well there's no confusion on my part - I called on a truck advertised on your website with a vin , your folks told me it was available, your folks called and said it was in, you sent me a proposal to buy it and when I pointed out it wasn't the price AS ADVERTISED - you then said uhhh the truck is sold. Scam artists.
So Ms Ford thats my story. I'm disappointed in many aspects - first I still havent even gotten a build date for my Lariat - however I can understand that as far as supply chain, chips - I get it. Hopefully I may get a build date soon. What is more troubling is that there are Ford dealers that are actually committing FRAUD - advertising trucks not only for 5000 over MSRP but at the last moment adding ANOTHER 5000.00 to the price and if you compain its somewhat like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld - No Maverick For You .... ( sorry that just popped in my head lol ) I am exploring who else to complain to about this particular dealership and their bait and switch tactics - I felt someone at Ford Corporate might also address their dishonesty as well.
I have included with this email documentation of my dealings including the advertisement on their website and the proposal today for the Maverick XL Vin # 3FTTW8E33NRA18268 I have more documentation of my conversations if needed.
Thanks so much for your time.
David W Sutton
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