So long story short- My vehicle needed a repair That was basically identical to a recall with the same make/model as my vehicle, however my vehicle was not listed for the recall.
I spoke with Ford customer relations and was told over the phone to get the repair done and to send the receipts to a specified address and that I would be reimbursed.
After sending in the receipts and not hearing back for a month I contacted customer relations and was told they will not reimburse the repair. I've been told by Maria (a supervisor in customer relations) that they would review the audio of the phone call where I was told I'd be reimbursed, and should hear back within a business day. It's now been 2 weeks and I'm told everytime I call "it's out of our hands, you should hear back within 1 business day".
Is there anyother way to get in touch with someone from Ford regarding this situation? Every time I call I'm placed on hold and told the same line "wait one business day" and have not had them call me in over a month. Not to mention when I call the customer relations number it's always someone that speaks very broken English, and is extremely difficult to understand.

 

The only things I can think of are the following ( in this order ):

1. You can file a BBB claim at https://www.bbb.org/us/mi/dearborn/p...752/complaints . Seems Ford somehow is able to get BBB to hide the complaints, but you can see most are answered, and ~500 are closed in the last 12 months alone. They can only be closed if the customer or the BBB has found the provided solution was acceptable, or that the claim didn't have any merit. Make sure to mention the recorded call when you do this.

2. Going down to your local dealership and asking for the general manager. Ask if they can help, and they likely will give you a hundred reasons as to why they can't. From there, ask for the contact information of their regional rep. They'll tell you that they're for sales, and you can tell them that they likely have someone's contact information directly at a corporate office who can help expedite this.

3. Your state likely has a consumer protection unit. I live in Georgia currently and theirs is at Georgia Consumer Protection Laws & Georgia Consumer Complaints. This is not just a group of people out to protect consumers, these are actual lawyers. You can normally file a complaint with them, but you'll need very accurate information to go with the complaint. IE the day and possibly the time you called, the agent name you spoke with, etc. Being that Ford openly disclosed keeping the recording, you might have some wiggle room, but from what I've seen a request they will potentially file with Ford for the recording at specific dates and times to avoid any delays with getting the information they requested by having Ford respond with something about having to sift through the large number of calls because too broad parameters were provided.

4. A long shot, but you can contact your local TV stations investigative reporting teams. I would definitely do the other two first before getting to this, because they're going to ask for a lot of information that might only be able to be verified with that recorded call. Also, a lot of the channels like a story where they can put someone on camera, so the local Ford dealership might not be enough, and they might just point you to the other solutions I mentioned.

 

the short of it is if the vehicle is not listed on the recall, it will not be paid for. just because the repair was " basically identical to a recall with the same make/model as my vehicle," it was not a recall for your make/ model vehicle.
if at some time in th future your vehicle is added to the recall, then you can submit your invoice for refund. but not until it is added to the recall notice.

 

This is Standard Procedure for most TSB recalls

 

What Tom said -

And to rub a little salt into the wound, the dealer most likely considered the repair as a cash ticket and charged you well over what they would have been paid from FORD.

I have owned FORDS since 1966. My last new one is a 2013 and I mean my last. If it isn't the dealer double dealing you it is FORD CORPORATE.

There, I said it and am glad...