Ford has forgotten who the customers are

[brnpttmn]

Because the delivery fee is not advertised in marketing nor is it negotiable at the dealership. I’m assuming good faith here but it’s pretty obvious that there’s an issue if the base price was $15k and the delivery fee was $5k. Marketing material, even the window sticker focuses heavily on “MSRP” the destination charge is added at the last minute and having it that way gives companies who do this an unfair advantage by being able to advertise their cars at a lower price than competitors.

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[mikebass57]

I suggest that Ford rethink the dealer allocation system if they want to operate in a Customer Build retail world, The only ones that benefit are the large dealers and the folks that place the order via the small town Mom and Pop dealer has to wait. They need to allocate based on order date - the big dealers will still make a fortune but the smaller dealer will still have a chance to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Whatever ever happened to first come - first served. I purchased (ordered) two new Fords this year and the Maverick ordered in July has not been assigned a delivery date. Let’s let Ford know what we think of their system. Agree or disagree that is up to you but please input your thoughts in this thread. Hopefully someone like @fordvideoguy can direct the brand manager to this thread.

I believe that most car dealerships will be moving to the place to get repair work done. I hope to do away from the place you have to order from and just do the online order shopping with no change or up charge done by the middle man. I don’t want to talk to the financial officer who sells the things that is easy to get the consumer on. I know I have to say no a lot in the back room. I want a check list and I’ll pick it if’s reasonably priced and worth the price. I have a salesman assigned to me and I get nothing out of him when I call.

 

[whtnrdy]

Because the delivery fee is not advertised in marketing nor is it negotiable at the dealership. I’m assuming good faith here but it’s pretty obvious that there’s an issue if the base price was $15k and the delivery fee was $5k. Marketing material, even the window sticker focuses heavily on “MSRP” the destination charge is added at the last minute and having it that way gives companies who do this an unfair advantage by being able to advertise their cars at a lower price than competitors.

Below is the part of your comment I was replying to, no mention of competitive unfairness in that comment:

"By the way I’m not saying high destination charge should mean FIFO, I just mean that given the delays and ordering issues we’re not getting value out of it and it’s a money grab (an illegal one by YOUR description)."

I will also repeat the last paragraph from my previous comment as it serendipitiously refers to this and your previous comment.

And for the people that walk into a dealer not understanding that car companies withhold the destination fee from the MSRP on ads and commercials, they do have an argument that they were being deceived on the total price. But that deception is used to look more competitive in the market and may not have anything to do with profit deception. What they shouldn't be able to argue is that this deception is preventing them from "getting proper value from the destination fee we are paying" or that it is a "profit grab" when they know nothing about the actual costs and profit of the vehicle.

 

[HybridNiroGuy]

For me it's been a little different. The only dealers who have physically had the Mavericks in stock or for personal orders have been the small ones. They were also much better at following up. I don't need a video message from the big dealer to tell me I can put a custom order in through them, when all I wanted was to actually sit in a real Maverick (which the small dealer understood).

 

[hcforde]

"It even fits the definition of fraud"

Laws aren't written in stone by some higher power; we can question what we think should legally constitute "fraud".

And to that point, I totally agree, why call it a delivery fee and why break it out from the total cost of the vehicle? Since it is just an average over the entire model line, and we aren't paying the actual direct cost of delivery, it doesn't make much sense to separate it. We have to pay for the steering wheel just as much as we have to pay for the vehicle to be shipped to the dealer. What other consumer product does, or is forced to do this?

However, anyone that is aware of and discussing the destination fee can't claim that Ford is deceiving them. This is the point I am trying to make here.

And for the people that walk into a dealer not understanding that car companies withhold the destination fee from the MSRP on ads and commercials, they do have an argument that they were being deceived on the total price. But that deception is used to look more competitive in the market and may not have anything to do with profit deception. What they shouldn't be able to argue is that this deception is preventing them from "getting proper value from the destination fee we are paying" or that it is a "profit grab" when they know nothing about the actual costs and profit of the vehicle.

OK, if Amazon will give you free shipping if you have prime how is that different. How can it be "free" if you have to pay for it up front. A delivery fee is in the order of a service fee. There is no fraud or illegality because it is spelled out upfront and you agree to it.

 

[Turtle]

OK, if Amazon will give you free shipping if you have prime how is that different. How can it be "free" if you have to pay for it up front. A delivery fee is in the order of a service fee. There is no fraud or illegality because it is spelled out upfront and you agree to it.

I got free Prime shipping on a dirt bike from China direct to my home. I love Amazon. It was delivered in 15 days.

 

[Jlemke]

My town is about 15k population and total with surrounding area about 40k. I was order #1 for a Maverick hybrid on 9/8 got my ship notice 12/1 . Not 1 email from Ford but my small town dealer gave me my vin and locked in 1.9% financing within about 1 week of ordering and even told me I had a build date of 11/8 window stick date 11/17 and 11/26 at bottom. Might get it around 12/20 so is that a long wait, not really.

This is the kind of dealer I like. Waiting time is irrelevant due to EPA, factory starting up in Sept, and OKTB wait. I got nothing to bitch about. The Ford model is fine. My dealer is running short on F150's and other Ford Trucks. Seems like a pretty normal thing now days. Good luck finding what you want when you walk onto a lot.

Your case seems to be the rarity.

 

[mrjspence]

I certainly agree. We had 3 Fords in our driveway and newest one a 2020 AWD Escape Hybrid in titanium trim (boy is it nice) and our loyal one, 04 F-150 with a whopping 72K miles…
Yet… we live around small dealers and we have a 7/20 hybrid order w no build date and an Oct EcoBoost order with no build date. Really quite the cognitive dissonance when you read about people getting their mavericks quickly.
Meanwhile in late 2020 we quite literally ordered & financed a Tesla Y from our iPhone, could track it along the way, the. had calls from Tesla before promised ETA and when we picked up, hand-signed maybe 3 papers and drove off in 10 minutes. That’s how you do direct orders. No dealership BS, no financing BS, no number games. Just a car. you buy it, it’s built and delivered, and you pick it up and drive it home.

 

[GaryHoosier]

The moon has a FAR side. But you can watch the dark and light rotate around the moon. Happens every month.

True, "Far-side" is more accurate than "Dark-side".
'Dark Side of the Moon' is the best-conceived concept album ever.

 

[Turtle]

Getting back to my original thread starter. I just seen where a MAV ordered 20 days after mine has been scheduled for one of the two big MAV dealers. The allocation system is there to benefit FORD and the BIG DEALERS and SCEW the General Public that ordered local. I am convinced that i may never see my HYBRID ordered July 20th.

 

[hcforde]

I believe that most car dealerships will be moving to the place to get repair work done. I hope to do away from the place you have to order from and just do the online order shopping with no change or up charge done by the middle man. I don’t want to talk to the financial officer who sells the things that is easy to get the consumer on. I know I have to say no a lot in the back room. I want a check list and I’ll pick it if’s reasonably priced and worth the price. I have a salesman assigned to me and I get nothing out of him when I call.

It is the dealerships that have fought the Tesla Sales Model of selling direct from being implemented in courts.

It is not the dealerships that will make that move but rather the car manufacturers. Ford has already indicated that they are moving in that direction.

 

[Turtle]

It is the dealerships that have fought the Tesla Sales Model of selling direct from being implemented in courts.

It is not the dealerships that will make that move but rather the car manufacturers. Ford has already indicated that they are moving in that direction.

It is the allocation system that i have issue with. I believe in FIFO - i understand the part constraints and shipping allocations but this was an identical configuration and i am sure that Ford has many vehicles going to the Washington / Baltimore area. So for all the excuses i have seen on this 13 page thread - i am calling BS.

 

[IPunchCholla]

It is the allocation system that i have issue with. I believe in FIFO - i understand the part constraints and shipping allocations but this was an identical configuration and i am sure that Ford has many vehicles going to the Washington / Baltimore area. So for all the excuses i have seen on this 13 page thread - i am calling BS.

I agree that allocations mess things up for retail orders. I mean, the dealer really didn’t do much work or take a risk like they do on stock orders, so allocations really shouldn’t come into play.

I do think anything like strict FIFO is unrealistic given the complexities of building and shipping vehicles economically. Realistically, this is a budget vehicle, and I expect for Ford to economize as much as they can.

Last week a vehicle identical to mine, but ordered about 20 days later was scheduled. I decided to take it as a sign that mine would be scheduled soon. Mine got scheduled today! I hope you get yours next week!

 

[hcforde]

It is the allocation system that i have issue with. I believe in FIFO - i understand the part constraints and shipping allocations but this was an identical configuration and i am sure that Ford has many vehicles going to the Washington / Baltimore area. So for all the excuses i have seen on this 13 page thread - i am calling BS.

FIFO does not work under the constraints we have (unless you want to pay for individual shipping from Mexico.) Even some suppliers have reverted from FIFO of orders and are supplying in a different manner, one which is more profitable to their own organizations. A number of contracts have even had to be re-worked. You can call BS all you want but I doubt you have ever manufactured anything in your life and dealt with the logistics of distribution. BTW, you can get a PhD from major universities on the subject so Monday morning quarterbacking by an amateur isn't worth that much.

I don't mean to be harsh but you are speaking out of your emotion!

 

[Turtle]

FIFO does not work under the constraints we have (unless you want to pay for individual shipping from Mexico.) Even some suppliers have reverted from FIFO of orders and are supplying in a different manner, one which is more profitable to their own organizations. A number of contracts have even had to be re-worked. You can call BS all you want but I doubt you have ever manufactured anything in your life and dealt with the logistics of distribution. BTW, you can get a PhD from major universities on the subject so Monday morning quarterbacking by an amateur isn't worth that much.

I don't mean to be harsh but you are speaking out of your emotion!

Nobody said anything about shipping - FIFO - only BUILD - that is why i indicated my residential area being Washington / Baltimore. There is a car hauler from FORD in my area a few times a week. So before you RIP up my life experiences try reading what i said and then don’t bother to reply. I would match my logistics and transportation credential with anyone. You may be too young to remember the old days when your dealer found you the car you wanted on someone else’s lot or the yard by the train station. They would put it on a hauler and within a couple of days it arrived.

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