by monkeyhead » Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:03 pm
So the saga continues....
Spoke to Winford Ford today - van now not faulting, and they claim to have gone as far as they can without a fault to diagnose. Allegedly they were part way through a long list of tests, removal of lights, wiring loom etc when the fault cleared itself as before. They have had enough of the worthless pile of junk and want it never to darken their door again. I can see their point - they are not Transit experts, and they are burning up lots of time and effort, seemingly without much, if any support from Ford.
Had a right up and downer with the case manager allocated to me by Ford's Customer Service Centre (the name itself is a breach of the Trades Description Act). They tell me that I should be taking this up with the dealership who sold me the vehicle (People's in Liverpool - because they returned my calls, were easy to deal with and actually gave me the impression that they wanted to sell me a vehicle, in stark contrast to the local morons who just couldn't be arsed). They also tell me that because the vehicle currently doesn't have the fault, there is nothing they can do to help, and they repeatedly tell me they cannot get their local dealers to accelerate any booking to look at the vehicle even though this is a recurring warranty issue. They also tell me to get the vehicle to a Ford transit dealership.
Next step - rang Trust Morons at Cribbs to get the Ford Assist package reinstated - apparently I should have asked them to do this when they did the first annual check on 1 May - not that they saw fit to mention that at the time. Asked about availability to get the vehicle in with them - Cribbs Causeway - 25 June (i.e. 3 weeks away), Ashton - 12 July - over a month away. So much for sending it to a local dealership.
Then went to collect the vehicle from Winford, who insist that it started OK this am. You can just see this coming, turned the key and the 3 horsemen of the apocalypse return with the vehicle again refusing to turn over. So it is now left at Winford again much to both our mutual displeasure.
Next step - speak to People's who I bough the vehicle from. Am waiting for a call back from them, but am seriously considering asking Ford Assist to recover it back to them, despite the fact that this will make things logistically difficult for me with Liverpool being about 180 miles from Bristol . They have been helpful and understanding on the phone at least, and are as surprised as I am that Ford simply will not own a problem that is all about the poor quality of the product they have produced. Try as I might (and I have been blunt to the point of rudeness) I cannot get Ford Corporate to this point, and it seems that I have to ram this up though the selling dealership, even though they are owned by Ford. I'm sure this is part of a deliberate ploy to keep the company at arms length from quality issues with their product.
I've now logged a request with BBC Watchdog and will look for other avenues to engage with consumer rights champions. Hopefully a spot of adverse publicity will focus minds at Ford, and even more hopefully make people think twice about buying a new vehicle from them. Hell would freeze over before I would again.
Even if someone can find a miracle cure for the problem, I just have no faith in it any more, as it feels like this is a lifetime issue with this vehicle, and I can see no light at the end of the tunnel. I simply cannot rely on the vehicle - so kiss goodbye to the family holiday I was planning to take in it to France later this year.... I just want rid of it now, and I think Ford and I are destined for a date in court sometime in the future. Time to get some legal advice and the motor ombudsman involved I think.......