David sent a message to Mark Fields - President and Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Company email address that said:
Greetings Mr. Fields,
I appreciate that you must be incredibly busy, so I'll try to get to the point as quickly as possible.
In September, I purchased a 2013 Ford Focus hatchback from Elk Grove Ford just south of Sacramento, CA. I had such a positive experience with the dealership and my salesperson, Ron Powers, that I returned to them in January and bought a second Ford Focus hatchback for myself.
Last week, we took our 2013 Focus in for some service at Elk Grove Ford and found out that it needs a new clutch. It is an automatic and has less than 50,000 miles on it, so we were/are concerned that the clutch is already defective. Elk Grove Ford was, once again, great to work with, but they told us that the part was on backorder for six weeks.
We thought we would call around and see if we could find the part elsewhere to expedite the process, as I am worried about either myself or my spouse getting stranded somewhere if the clutch were to just completely go. We found one at Future Ford on Madison Avenue in Sacramento, CA. Elk Grove called Future Ford and informed us that Future was not willing to sell the part to them.
We thought we would try to contact Future Ford ourselves, and they told us that they would not release the part, but we could have our car serviced there in three weeks to get us in. We asked the parts manager, Alex Zakharov (not sure of the spelling there) to give us a call back when he got out of a meeting, and he did not.
In the meantime, I called Ford customer service and spoke to a wonderful representative named Sandy who logged the following case numbers as a complaint on Future Ford for their lack of assistance and to see if the part could be expedited.
We called Alex back at Future Ford, and he was very rude to us. We said that we had contacted Ford corporate about expediting the part and their not wanting to sell the part to us. He said, "You can talk to them [Ford corporate] all you want," and "They can call me all day, but I'm not selling the part and that's that."
I was very puzzled by his reaction, and I called back just to get his name and make sure that I had it spelled right. I only asked for his name. I was not rude or in any way confrontational. When I was transferred to parts and explained the situation. The gentleman told me Alex's name and then hung up on me without even saying good bye or letting me thank him for his assistance. He simply said, "Alex is the one you want... with a Z." and hung up the phone.
Mr. Fields, I understand that each dealership is a separate entity and that they have the right to refuse to help a customer from another dealership. I just find that extremely disappointing. I have only lived in Sacramento for a year and a half, and I went to the closest Ford dealership to my house.
I am a teacher, so I don't have a ton of money, and I wanted a good, reliable car from a dependable company. I picked Ford not once but twice in the past six months when I have the choice of myriad other manufacturers and dealerships. Future Ford's refusal to help me, while within their rights, seems to be counter to what Ford's mission and goals are. If they had been polite and helpful, they could have possibly won over customer. Instead, they were not only unhelpful but actually rude to me and my spouse. The way I was spoken to on several occasions and their hanging up on me when I asked a simple question is just not acceptable.
This experience tarnishes the image I have of Ford. If dealerships are unwilling to be Ford team players, why are they selling the product? If customers from other dealerships are spoken to so terribly and treated so shabbily, what does this say about Ford customer service? If employees speak disrespectfully and/or have a negative attitude towards Ford Motor Company and your customers, what kind of damage are they doing to your profitability and overall image?
I want nothing more than to ask that someone work with Future Ford to improve the customer service in the parts department. Mr. Alex had such a cavalier and disrespectful attitude towards Ford, that I am not sure it will make an impression on him; however, it could help other customers and employees in that department not emulate his lack of respect for customers. Yes, I understand that I was a customer of Elk Grove Ford, but I am also a customer of Ford Motor Company, and I know that you have and can do better! Maybe Future Ford could train at Elk Grove Ford to learn from them.
In closing, I would like to say that I really do appreciate your attention.
Sincerely,
David
