Ford's failure to deliver and communicate

[Drex]

Every Bronco has a bar code that gets scanned when it gets parked in a lot. They just don't drive around all willy nilly guessing where specific Broncos are located.

And does this scanner have precise GPS location of where each scan was taken?

Otherwise, this does nothing to disabuse my personal theory that a vague idea of the general area of each one might be in a lot is as good as Ford can get until they get folks actually in the lots looking. Not parked in a logical order to foment getting the FIFO once the appropriate remedy for the deficiency is corrected and diverted from the production line

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[Compta38]

It's 5:30am here right now, I've tried to read the op a couple times now and have given up about a paragraph through. I'm going to try again at lunch.

 

[Liberty]

We better get use to it, the supply chain mess impacts every manufacturer and will be with us for awhile. The Bronco was last years success story and won’t get the priority for chips and other materials like it did in 2021. Small market, small volume. All eyes and effort are now focused on the Lightning

 

[broncoSJ]

Reserved Day 1 in the first hour. Been waiting 697 days so far. Stuck in production since 01/03 with the lastest "ETA" of August, which is just a made up date to keep us from calling every week.

 

[SuperFord]

This post is intended to address Ford's failure to timely fulfill Bronco orders and failure to meaningfully communicate with order holders.

I reserved a Bronco on 8/3/20, and placed my order on 2/18/21 for a 4-door OBX with MIC. On 10/28/21, I converted my order to a soft top on the recommendation of my Dealer salesperson who advised that doing so would speed up the timeline on when I would receive the vehicle (sigh). Ford originally provided me a with 12/20/21 build date. Thereafter Ford delayed my build week five separate times (indeed, at one point Ford delayed my build week twice in less than a 48-hour timeframe), until it was finally changed to the week of 3/14/22. To the extent the Tracker can be relied on (it cannot), my Bronco has been “In Production” since 3/18/22. Similarly, at one point my ETA was 4/7-13. That ETA has since been delayed at least 3 times (that I know of) to 6/3, 6/8, and most recently 6/23. I have no confidence that my 6/23 ETA will hold.

I enjoy working with folks at my Dealer; they are good people who are not all responsible for Ford’s abject failure to deliver. But my Dealer rep tells me Ford gives him no information. The Manager of my Dealership tells me Ford gives him no information. Said Manager called his Ford rep on my behalf – and then relayed back to me that his Ford rep had no information. I’ve repeatedly called Ford’s Customer Service who initially provided the (scripted) response that I should speak with my Dealer as the Dealer would have the pertinent information. I then proceeded to explain that I have done so, countless times, and they do not, in fact, have any information. But alas, Customer Service then tells me that they too have no information. Instead, they typically then refer me to Marketing HQ (I’ve spoken to three different individuals there over the past month) and, none of them have any information either with the exception of the aforementioned (and completely unreliable) “ETAs.” Making matters worse, on some calls the Marketing HQ representative tells me my Bronco is not on chip hold. On other calls they tell me that my Bronco is, in fact, on chip hold. One Marketing HQ representative told me that the “ETA” is when my Dealer will receive my Bronco from Ford. Yet on a separate call with a different Marketing HQ representative, I was told that “ETA” signifies only when my Bronco will ship from the plant. When I point out these inconsistencies and seek to reconcile them on calls with Marketing HQ, I get non-answers.

What I do hear a lot about when speaking with Ford reps, however, is the party line about difficulties they’ve experienced producing these vehicles in a timely fashion due to COVID and supply chain disruptions. Do you know who else has experienced pandemic and supply chain disruptions? Practically every significant manufacturer in the world! And as someone who professionally counsels business and manufacturers, particularly in navigating those COVID/supply chain disruptions in the past couple years, I am personally unaware of any significant manufacturer who has failed so abysmally as Ford.

But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that all of Ford’s present challenges were unforeseeable and let’s further assume Ford’s inability to mitigate those challenges, in the years since they did become known, could also be excused. That which no pandemic, chip shortage, trucking delay, etc., can excuse is Ford’s absolute failure and breakdown in customer service and communication. Ford’s failure to communicate with at least this order holder is astonishing. And the lack of information Ford makes available to its customer service and Marketing HQ personnel is shocking. Among the questions I’ve put to them – on multiple occasions:

• How many Broncos are currently “In Production”?
• What is the holdup in the completion of my build? Is it a chip hold or is the delay on account of some other part?
• How many other Broncos are similarly on hold? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands?
• How many Broncos that are “In Production” for whatever reason and due to be completed before mine?
• What is Ford doing to resolve those issues?
• Did Ford order new chips or seek to source them elsewhere and, if so, when?
• Assuming Ford has sought to procure additional microchips, did Ford order enough to fulfill its current backlog of “In Production” orders?
• When does Ford expect to start receiving those chips?
• How is Ford prioritizing the build of Broncos? FIFO? Is Ford prioritizing orders placed through certain dealerships over others?
• Is Ford really going to reopen its order banks for the Model Year 2023 before clearing out the backorders?
• Is Ford going to start producing new orders before fulfilling the prior orders?
• Without even seeking a specific date – does Ford reasonably think I’ll receive my Bronco in Q3? Before year end? By mid-2023?

In response to these, and practically every other question I ask, the answer is always the same: “I don’t have that information” and/or “Ford doesn’t give me that information.” But here’s the thing: the answers to those questions are knowable. Somebody at Ford knows how many orders remain in the “In Production” purgatory. Somebody at Ford knows how many Broncos are scheduled to be completed before mine. Somebody at Ford knows when, approximately, and assuming everything goes to plan (assuming there is one), I could reasonably expect to receive my Bronco. But Ford is choosing to *not* communicate that to order holders (despite their patience to-date). And, Ford is also choosing to not give access to that information to its customer-facing personnel. In so-doing, Ford is intentionally depriving order holders from the ability to make informed decisions. To illustrate, if there are only 200 Broncos likewise on-hold and/or scheduled to be built before mine – that is one thing. If, on the other hand, there are 20,000 Broncos on-hold and/or scheduled to be built before mine – that is quite another thing, and the disclosure of that info may cause me to pursue another vehicle. Ford knows this. Ford still chooses a total lack of transparency.

What is even the point of providing customers with a Build Date that doesn’t hold? Why even bother providing ETAs that don’t get met? Is Ford proud of its meaningless and infuriating Tracker?

I have a hard time accepting that a Company as long-standing and successful as Ford has been historically is actually this inept at operations and customer service. Rather, at this point, I am beginning to suspect that Ford took its 150K+ ’21 Bronco orders *knowing* that Ford could not timely fulfill those orders, so it could reflect high demand on its books or to achieve some other share-price motivated purpose.

It is difficult to comprehend the good will Ford has lost as a consequence of this process. No amount of flags, hammocks, or swag can make up for the complete lack of trust and confidence I now have in the Company.

To be clear – all of the people with whom I’ve actually interacted about this order process – my Dealer salesperson, the Dealer Manager, the customer service personnel at Ford, the people at Marketing HQ – have been professional and courteous (and also apologetic). None of this is on them. But someone at Ford is responsible for this botched rollout. Again, even if Ford’s inability to secure parts and timely complete builds could be completely excused, there is no valid excuse for the Company’s horrendous customer service and lack of communication.

For those of you who have already received your Bronco – I’m happy for you and hope you enjoy the vehicle. I'm envious of your posts and pics. For those of you who advise it's worth the wait - I hope you're right. But for those of you who, like me, continue waiting – regrettably I don’t see this situation improving until those individuals at Ford who do have information and are in a position to provide more transparency are properly motivated to take accountability and address the situation.

TLDR

 

[Jr Birdman]

Hang in there

 

[flip]

As one of the resident dealer here I'll try to keep this high and tight.

Once the order is in, buildable, non-99 priority code, it goes through a "firewall" at Ford dealers and regional people can't penetrate. Customer assistance for the most part doesn't have any more info than what the dealer can see and is also blocked from what scheduling does. There might be a few people at Ford that have contacts and try to get you an answer but those are few and far between.

I agree, the communication is horrible from the customers perspective and just as bad at the dealer level. The same contacts that were mentioned in the OPs first post is the same chain of command every dealer in the country goes through to get information. There could be a handful of huge dealers that have backdoor contacts and are in very tiny minority.

From my perspective, the questions that need to be addressed by Ford to the dealers are:

Why have held vehicles not been shipped to the dealer(s) after the new bailment agreement was put in place?

Which module(s) are contributing to the months long "chip hold" of some broncos when others are being produced and delivered since the hold went into place?

Is the current on-hand supply of semi conductors or other commodities to build any trim level of bronco? How many?

What is the current projection for completion of the original reservations or those placed prior to 12/31/2020?

Based on the last 2 questions, can you give each dealer an estimated window as to when these orders will be completed?

At this point the communication, if any needs to be had with the dealers. We are in a better position to address individual customers and what has been the typical mode for dissemination in the past. Ford putting out vague or watered down public statements has done more harm than good because it only garners more questions no one can answer.

Regional and dealer allocations along with commodities are going to be here for the foreseeable future. These things are going to determine how fast orders are going to get cleared up. If MAP had everything they needed and were at full tilt, they'd be caught up by Christmas.

 

[FormerJeepJunkie]

No offense, as you seem to have taken the time to be articulate- this is a vehicle. For the sake of your family and health, it would be best to remember that. You’ll own it for a set number of years, as it is a disposable asset, and you’ll find another one. This will all seem nonsensical eventually.

 

[Lilj4425]

I'll lay 10 min to lock... Lol

You live on a throne of lies.

Oh and by September.

 

[Carolina Jim]

communication is horrible from the customers perspective

Ford is frozen in time like a bug in fossilized tree sap. They are from an era when there was no need to communicate with the unwashed. Do you think things have changed much from when a dozen servants would hover over the dinner table you visited ot the Ford Estate:

 

[flip]

Ford is frozen in time like a bug in fossilized tree sap. They are from an era when there was no need to communicate with the unwashed. Do you think things have changed much from when a dozen servants would hover over the dinner table you visited ot the Ford Estate:

Yes, things have changed. Back then you had 7 people there to give Henry's guests almost undivided attention, knew their jobs and did them well. Back then, that was the level of service that was expected from "Ford". While times have changed, the level of service and attention has not telegraphed down through the business.

I'll disagree with the "frozen in time" idea because of the growth and innovation over the last 100 years. What stagnated is the idea that relationship, customer service and focus on quality are less important than the transactional process and market penetration. They still don't get this and it's obviously on full display now. It's going to get exponentially worse once they start doing direct sales.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Hudman316]

Welcome back! Not sure if you were abducted or in a coma but you obviously missed all of the craziness!

We had a global pandemic in 2020, 2021 & 2022 that wrecked our global supply chain and created labor shortage across every industry. Unfortunately, automotive manufacturing was affected severely due to the fact that they require parts from all of the world built by large labor pools and they need a large labor pool to assembly the automobiles. This has delayed the production of automobiles around the globe and makes meeting time schedules nearly impossible.

Sure they could email you once a week or daily to tell you: “We’re waiting on parts from our suppliers”. I’m not sure why that would be better. All they can do is give estimates based on the estimates given to them buy a bunch of suppliers scattered all over the globe.

Anyways, I’m sure it frosts your flakes having to suffer with the rest of the world. Hang in there.

 

[Carolina Jim]

customer service

Speaking of innovation, there are consulting companies today who specialize in studying customers' eyes and body language to assess how many seconds go by before a customer becomes irritated and frustrated. Service providers use this info to optimize staffing levels and CSAT.

So, you're right that Ford has figured out that customers want more than black cars...and they've adapted well to power windows & all....but they haven't really scratched the surface on understanding customers.

 

[Chippewa-Pin]

For those of you who, like me, continue waiting – regrettably I don’t see this situation improving until those individuals at Ford who do have information and are in a position to provide more transparency are properly motivated to take accountability and address the situation.

The only thing that will improve the situation is Ford getting caught up with demand. They are obviously content with their communication strategy. This is just a blip on the screen to them that will go away once they get caught up with demand.

 

[flip]

Speaking of innovation, there are consulting companies today who specialize in studying customers' eyes and body language to assess how many seconds go by before a customer becomes irritated and frustrated. Service providers use this info to optimize staffing levels and CSAT.

So, you're right that Ford has figured out that customers want more than black cars...and they've adapted well to power windows & all....but they haven't really scratched the surface on understanding customers.

Bingo!

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