Curious if any of you have had issues like the following:

I bought an '09 F350 6.4 in June. Bought it in Portland and drove it home to Anchorage. I purchased both the 7 year 100k Extended Service Plan with -0- deductibles (as near bumber to bumper as I could get) and the Premium Maintenance plan for severe duty conditions 5k oil change intervals.

In September I drove it (with wife and travel trailer in tow) to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for six weeks of elk hunting in Idaho and Montana (wife flew home to go back to work.)

Hunted successfully and getting ready to drive back home I took the truck into local Coeur D'Alene Ford dealer, Lake City Ford, for an oil change (despite warning from friend about poor service experience.) I'm thinking, "Hell, it's only and oil change what can they do wrong?"

I had checked weather on the route home (through southern BC, Kootenay, Banff, and Jasper parks in BC and Alberta then through Grande Prairie, AB to Dawson Creek, BC and Alaska Highway home. My wife said it was -14 in Tok, Alaska (often the coldest spot on my route home) so figured I needed to change over to winter oil.

I requested dealer use 5w-40 oil as required by Ford for the driving conditions I'd encounter on my way home and after (temps to -20 F and below).

First problem - dealer's service technician calls and says they don't have the oil in stock, they suggest they could get oil at NAPA and use that (Not FOMOCO oil). I say use only the oil that is required by Ford to protect my warranty. They say, OK we can order it and have it by 4:00 PM. Fine.

Next call a few minutes later says no problem getting the oil but it will cost me extra (first they say the oil is $25/qt, then that it will cost me $75). I say, "No, my maintenance plan covers the oil changes required for severe conditions and the 5w-40 oil is required by Ford for the conditions my truck will be driven in so the oil change should be covered by my maintenance plan and cost me nothing." We discuss and I say, "Look put the oil in and we'll sort it out when I pick up the truck."

When I go to pick up the truck I talk to their warranty person first. Yes, she understands my reasoning but their policy says something else - they don't require 5w-40 oil in Coeur D'Alene so they don't put it in under maintenance plan, except for additional $.

I explain that my prepaid FORD maintenance plan provides for 5k oil changes and all other maintenance required by Ford to maintain warranty, etc. at Ford dealers THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA at no further cost to me. I explain to them that 5w-40 oil is REQUIRED per FORD specs. They can't find anything in their computer so I show them the Diesel Supplement to my owner's manual indicating that 5w-40 oil is REQUIRED for the conditions I'm about to drive my truck in. We agree that this is the oil required by FORD to maintain my warranty. We agree that the maintenance plan is supposed to be good at any Ford dealer in North America. They agree it's a Ford maintenance plan and they are a Ford dealer. But...they say THEIR policies take precedence.

I talk to their service manager. We agree again (after he too reads the Diesel Supplement) rule. But...it's not the dealership policy and they will only do it if I pay extra. I tell them to put in the oil and I'll pay but I request Ford regional rep phone #. They put in the oil, charge me $43 rather than the $75 they had previously said was required and give me only the national Ford customer care #.

Today I talk to Ford customer care representative. He says they agree this is not the way it should be but says all he can do is send a complaint to the dealership that he (and Ford) can do nothing else. I explain I've had the discussion with the dealer and that I understand the dealers are independent businesses but that they are FORD franchises with contractual agreements with FORD. I explain that FORD should be able to enforce my maintenance plan agreement in it's dealings with franchisee dealers. Otherwise any dealer can decide to honor or not honor the agreement or interpret it any way they choose making the agreement basically worthless to me.

I request that the customer service rep forward my complaint to someone at Ford who CAN do something other than send my complaint to the dealer. Waiting to hear back from someone at Ford.

Anyone else have similar experience? What did you do and what resolution did you get?

 

I think that contacting and sending for an e-mail is the first step to get this fixed. Most likey they will re-imbure from Ford directly.

I also think a complaint to the better business bureau via e-mail if possible with a carbon copy to Ford may further assist.

While I can understand both the dealer's side and yours the dealer is in-correct. Locally policy does not take presedence. I had that issue once on my other truck. Got a free extended warranty out of it.

Here is the link for Ford: https://secure.ford.com/footer/conta...eServiceIssues

 

The more I read about s*** Ford warranty service and even s****ier Ford dealer service departments just makes me feel better about having elected to do all routine maintenance myself this time around. I just could not trust a technician under the hood of my pride and joy (and business lifeline) that apparently is factory or dealer trained to upcharge or disallow obvious warranty and service related responsibilities.
I would tell them to refund the full cost of your extended service contract if they do not resolve this to your complete satisfaction. Some would say it's only 40 or 50 bucks but that's clearly not the issue. You are so obviously sticking to the letter and intent of your warranty related responsibilities by insisting that the proper weight oil for your severe use is used, they should give you a medal for caring so much.
It's too bad that (arguably) the best trucks on the road are manufactured, sold and serviced by some of the worst business folk in the industry.
Good Luck.

 

I have not had this type of issue with my truck before, but I don't really cross thermal regions for extended periods. Be careful not to "knee-jerk" on this issue, after all principal vs $43.00? I suggest being patient and follow a rational approach; sometimes it takes time for a Ford-sized corporation to get the wheels turning.

I bought a brand new diesel, TDI Volkswagon, that need an alignment from the day I drove it home, wheel was cocked to the left. I took it to the dealer and they said VW didn't pay for alignments, but drive it for 5K miles and it might "correct itself". If not they would rotate the tires. If that didn't fix the problem they would align at not cost. I didn't argue with the service manager, but after receiving a request to fill out a service poll I asked VW America to contact me regarding this issue...they actually did!. They listened and the regional person contacted me and notified me that VW would pay for the alignment and to make an appointment with the dealership. In this case it looks like it's going to work out.

 

Thanks for the replies and good suggestions.

I'm trying to follow the appropriate processes available to me to deal with the issues involved, which is why I contacted Ford customer care by phone. I didn't try to detail the issue in an e-mail because the site through which Ford accepts e-mails from customers is limited to 1000 characters (not words). So I thought it would be easier to try to talk directly to a human being to explain the issue. I plan to follow up with a snail mail letter to Ford so that I have documented the issues for them and given them a full understanding of the issues, and to allow them the opportunity to find an appropriate way to resolve it. But most importantly I want Ford to understand the flaws and limitations of their current approach and find a way to fix it for the benefit of both the company and its customers.

I don't "knee-jerk" on anything. I worked for too long dealing with the public in circumstances involving highly charged emotional situations to "knee-jerk". Most of the people I dealt with WERE "knee-jerking. But in my line of work an answer such as: "It doesn't make sense but it has to be this way because it's our policy," or "We (the people in charge) can do nothing but refer you back to (the source of the problem)" would not be acceptable responses.

The $43 is a non-issue to me. I'm lucky enough to have more money than l'll be able to spend before I die. I spent nearly triple the $43 just to fill the fuel tank for the first leg of my trip home and double that amount to refill the tank every time I stopped - diesel is $4.00+/gal at nearly all the stops along my route home. If I had to make a $43 investment in addition to what I paid for the maintenance plan in order to get the right oil every time I changed oil it would still be worth it to me. Driving the 328 miles from Tok to Anchorage the temperatures were down to -35 F, so not having the right oil was not an option.

My interactions with the folks at the dealership in Coeur D'Alene were courteous, congenial and focused on understanding and problem-solving. They agreed with me that their dealership "policies" seemed to directly conflict with the requirements imposed by Ford to maintain my warranty and that the required oil "should" have been covered under my maintenance plan. But their hands were tied by the dealership "policies". They were nice folks just doing their jobs within the limitations of the dealership "policies" and I left there with their good wishes and they had my appreciation for getting the oil done so I could leave the next day.

The issue for me is not this particular interaction. The issue is what the Premium Maintenance Plan I bought from Ford actually covers and whether the coverage is really applicable at every Ford dealer in North America as it says it is. Or...whether it is up to every Ford dealer in North America to decide what they will or will not do under the plan and how much "additional" they will charge for doing anything under their dealership "policies".

My considerable upfront expenditure in purchasing the maintenance plan was supposed to pay for ALL the maintenance required to keep the truck in warranty (both basic and the extra extended warranty I purchased.) If Ford cannot or will not enforce that plan with their franchise dealers then the maintenance plan is only as good as any particular dealer decides it is.

As I told the Ford customer care rep, I expect a corporation as large and successful as Ford to stand behind what it sells and to be able to do what I did for 40 years - resolve issues sensibly and reasonably quickly within the terms of laws and contractual obligations.

I have owned a Ford truck since I was 20 years old (I'll be 60 next week). I'll likely replace my F350 in 3 years, if not before. I'll be buying a new car for my wife within the year. It will make a difference to me what Ford does on this because it will tell me whether Ford is a reliable company I want to do business with.

Ford's corporate leadership is not stupid. They made some smart financing moves that allowed them to avoid bankruptcy. They've done a good job developing technology and improving quality in their products. They should have a structure in place so some very low level person in the corporation can understand the broader implications of this tiny little issue and fix it not so much for me but for the broader Ford customer base and for the benefit of the company.

 

wow good read!!

I hope FOMCO does the right thing and circulates a letter to there North American dealers pointing out there franchise contractual aggrements that have been paid in full by there customers.