Ford's CEO needs to go.

[AirborneRATT]

Okay guys. We can disagree and argue on the cause and effects here but the bottom line is that Ford has 6,000 open tech slots and Ford techs are complaining. I still need a recall done and the two dealerships in my area have not been able to meet my needs, hence the reason I started this thread. It was a rant and got far more attention than I anticipated. If you got great service in your area I'm truly happy for you but my experience is different.

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[Blue_Max]

Okay guys. We can disagree and argue on the cause and effects here but the bottom line is that Ford has 6,000 open tech slots and Ford techs are complaining. I still need a recall done and the two dealerships in my area have not been able to meet my needs, hence the reason I started this thread. It was a rant and got far more attention than I anticipated. If you got great service in your area I'm truly happy for you but my experience is different.

What's amusing is that your method for dealing with the problem is simply to fire the CEO. There's an extremely long chain of people, departments, policies, and labor laws between your unsatisfactory service experience and him. You gonna replace him with a service advisor?

 

[AirborneRATT]

What's amusing is that your method for dealing with the problem is simply to fire the CEO. There's an extremely long chain of people, departments, policies, and labor laws between your unsatisfactory service experience and him. You gonna replace him with a service advisor?

Great response when companies pay millions for one guy to run the company. When it's all good, give that man a bonus. When it goes to hell, blame the lowest paid employees. When you have control over something, the buck stops with you. That's taking responsibility. That's accountability. Call it "being a man" if you like but to sluff off the problem makes things worse. That's the reason for the high pay. To take responsibility and fix problems to make the company more attractive to investors and customers. I haven't seen him do that on this issue.

With that, I'm out. Feel free to continue on. I wish you well.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I don't watch sports but I do remember this saying.
When a team is performing poorly, you don't fire the team. You fire the coach or manager.

 

[MavStangVa]

Great response when companies pay millions for one guy to run the company. When it's all good, give that man a bonus. When it goes to hell, blame the lowest paid employees. When you have control over something, the buck stops with you. That's taking responsibility. That's accountability. Call it "being a man" if you like but to sluff off the problem makes things worse. That's the reason for the high pay. To take responsibility and fix problems to make the company more attractive to investors and customers. I haven't seen him do that on this issue.

With that, I'm out. Feel free to continue on. I wish you well.

Ford motor company does not OWN the dealerships. Nor do they HIRE the techs. Perhaps if YOU were willing to pay $300/hour for service the dealer could pay more for techs. May I inquire what service your routinely PAY for at your dealer? Remember they are in business to make money just as the techs are there to make money. Waiting for you to show up pays ZERO.

 

[Blue_Max]

Great response when companies pay millions for one guy to run the company. When it's all good, give that man a bonus. When it goes to hell, blame the lowest paid employees. When you have control over something, the buck stops with you. That's taking responsibility. That's accountability. Call it "being a man" if you like but to sluff off the problem makes things worse. That's the reason for the high pay. To take responsibility and fix problems to make the company more attractive to investors and customers. I haven't seen him do that on this issue.

With that, I'm out. Feel free to continue on. I wish you well.

You'll never make CEO with that attitude. You created this topic. You have control over it. But you're sloughing (yes, that's the word) me off, I guess because you can't defend your naive position.

You've acknowledged that it's an industry problem, yet you still blame Jim Farley personally for your bad experience and demand his removal. And you seem to think that will solve everything. Just get a different person (you don't even name a candidate), and the auto industry's lack of qualified service technicians will be fixed.

Have you written a letter to him? I'm going to guess he doesn't frequent MTC, so he probably hasn't seen your concerns. Maybe he'll resign in shame. Maybe he'll hire you as his life coach. You have the power!

 

[AirborneRATT]

My apologies. I assumed two things here, and I was wrong. Sorry.

1. I thought that, of all the folks I could rant about this issue, the members here would have some context for what is going on. That does not appear to be completely true.
2. I thought that if someone voiced such a strong opinion on a subject, they might educate themselves before voicing that opinion publicly. Again, that appears to have been wrong, too. My bad.

Here is my understanding of part(s) of the issue. There are going to be some issues that are not related to the CEO, and I concede those points. You cite labor laws and other items of that nature. I won't dispute those. However, his response to those conditions would be squarely within his realm of responsibility, and Ford employees have not been happy with his response. But here are some items that were, and still are, under his purview and have been mismanaged long enough to affect Ford customers like you and I.

(Please feel free to look these up on your own. This will get you started.)

Unfair warranty labor times. This was referenced by another member in this thread, too. There are several folks on YouTube who have reported on this. Techs are complaining that they get paid for a fraction of the actual time it takes to make certain repairs. This does a few things that I can think of off the top of my head. It frustrates the techs and causes them to earn less money for longer time, and it causes wait times for customers to increase. If a job is slated to take one hour but actually takes two (for the sake of conversation), the next customer is waiting an hour longer for their repair and the tech only gets paid for the one hour. Who is happy about that? Not the techs.

Low starting pay. This, too, is talked about on YouTube. Master techs can apparently make a ton of money, but it takes too long for new techs to get to that point. It has also been said that young people don't want to learn trades, but if the trade doesn't pay well and reliably (my next point), why would anyone try to work that job? Basic economics dictates this. The CEO can and should address this.

Inconsistent workload. Ford techs only get paid when working on cars and trucks, and apparently Ford can't deliver a steady stream of repairs for techs. This could be good for us as customers but bad for attracting and retaining techs who don't know what their take home pay will be from week to week.

It is also my understanding that techs have to come out of pocket for their tools. I would agree if you replied that all mechanic shops do this, but if you get low pay and a spotty workload, why would you work for any company?

Vehicle complexity. Next, and this, too, is under the CEO's purview: engineers have designed vehicles in a way that makes them far more complicated, making them harder for techs to work on. The CEO could get his VPs of engineering to work on reducing this complexity.

I've seen several other issues, too, but I think these are enough to discuss. I also wish to point out that these are not my complaints. I did not think these up nor experience them myself. This is what is being reported by multiple sources, and I hope that you will take some time to review them on your own.

Now, regarding the issue of dealerships being their own businesses: I would agree with that, too. I will also admit that I don't know, but I have good reason to believe that Ford sets the bottom of the pay scales. While dealers could pay more, savvy customers might complain when they see what Ford Motor Company states is the going rate for any particular repair. It was also mentioned earlier that some have found competing dealerships are charging more than others. The CEO can address this too.

I hope that my points above help you understand why I have my opinion about the CEO of Ford. I think there is enough information there that, if you wish to look it up, you can.

Finally, I wish to address the redirection of my words that seems to have caused you to think you've won an argument. I have not "demanded" anything. I did state an opinion. As someone who uses words like "sloughing," I would hope that you can see the difference.

I merely came here to rant, and that was the first thing I wrote. A rant is a rant, and somehow that offended some people. I do not apologize for that. I, too, have feelings, and anger was what I felt at the time. However, I will concede that ranting about things is not considered helpful outside of the initial relief one feels when doing so. Long-term, it does not help, and I forgot that. Thank you for helping me see that again.

None of these items listed above are my doing. These are the reasons being talked about in the public space, and the CEO's job is to handle these things in a way that best promotes the company. He has not done that, and the company is hurting.

Whether he stays or gets asked to leave, he will receive big dollars either way—millions, most likely. No sympathy from me over that, but again, you have not seen me demand anything.

While you point out that I was quick to point the finger at the CEO (with my reasons stated above), you were quick to blame the workers, among others. I find that interesting, too. People want to work, but work has to support their needs and be competitive with other similar businesses.

I have found that some Ford techs are going to companies like UPS and Amazon for better pay and working conditions. So the industry can support techs, but apparently Ford cannot. This is another area where I have been misrepresented. I am talking about Ford, not the industry as a whole.

I will also admit that my information is not direct and could be faulty however, techs are leaving and new techs are not joining up so there must be some truth to these claims. Either way, it is a fact that Ford is struggling. Again, these are not my claims just what I’ve seen around this issue and the reasons for my opinion.

Now, I don't know who you are angry at, but it ain't me. I didn't do anything to you. I posted a rant, and some offense was taken. It was not yours to take.

Be well, and if we ever meet in person, I'd be happy to buy you a beer and we can talk about the Ford Maverick, which I still think is a great vehicle. I just need someone to work on it.

So now, I wanted to avoid an argument, but here I am. I was not able to walk away. I have stated an opinion and given solid reasons for that opinion. I respect your right to have a different opinion but I hope that you base that opinion on some form of data.

P.S. I get that "sloughing" is a word. I understand the context of your meaning, but does that mean you consider yourself dead tissue? I hope not. Thank you for calling me out and getting me to post my reasoning.

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