Took my F150 in for repair of items supposedly covered by the premium extended warranty that we purchased with the vehicle. Too bad the dealership doesn't seem to understand how to properly use the very warranty they sold us. A covered system that is clearly spelled out by name in the warranty was denied repair over and over by the dealership. Their only solution was for us to do all the legwork contacting the warranty provider and Ford customer service.
After an endless series of phone calls, we finally connected with an individual who was able to tell us what the Ford service department was doing wrong. The service rep was entering the wrong part number over and over, which is why it was being denied. After we provided him with the correct part number, the repair was covered. Doesn't that seem a little ridiculous? We paid them thousands of dollars for an extended warranty that they neither know how to use, nor are willing to help us utilize properly - even when we pointed out that the item was specifically listed on the warranty brochure as being covered!
However, they were quick to point out that we could pay for the repair out of pocket. The part was going to be over $900.00, plus the cost of labor. Do they count on people accepting the rejection and then just paying for the repair themselves? It's interesting that the dealership makes money selling the warranty, but also stands to benefit if a repair is not covered by the warranty. It seems convenient when their service reps enter the wrong part numbers for warranty, which results in coverage for the repair getting rejected. I understand human error, but the service department was not willing to budge in any direction, even though it was obvious from the warranty brochure that the repair should have been covered. A true customer service action would have been for the service rep to take the lead on this issue and delve into it deeper, as there was obviously an error somewhere. Instead, he basically told us it was our problem to try to resolve.
It should be noted that if we had just accepted the rejection, we would have likely paid the dealership for the repair. I'm not accusing, but that seems kind of convenient. Though they sold us the warranty, as soon as we needed a little more assistance, they took a total hands-off stance, forcing us to pursue this on our own. I would be interested in how often the wrong part numbers are entered and people are wrongly refused warranty coverage.
Other than that, they also left messes on my truck that I had to clean myself after I picked it up (tape residue, installation smudges all over the replaced window, footprints on the bed rails). They took apart my bed cover and failed to put it back together properly, which resulted in me having to take the truck back up to them for that to be corrected.
As if all of that wasn't enough, the service rep also informed me that the trim they had to remove to perform one of the repairs would likely come off at some point in the future and have to be replaced. Wait a minute, if that is a known problem, shouldn't they have just replaced the trim during the repair, or at least given me something to get it replaced if the problem came up? He quoted me a price for the replacement trim. Astonishing.
As one last point, one of the problems I took the truck in for only occurs during freezing temperatures. Unfortunately, I was not able to take the vehicle in while it was cold out. They were not able to replicate the problem. Our extended warranty ends during the fall. Though the problem is an unusual problem that we would have no way of faking, and though we brought it up during the warranty period, they told us it would not be covered once the warranty expired, which will likely be the case. They mentioned it on the repair paperwork, but told us we would have to pursue it on our own with Ford customer service.
This isn't the first poor service experience we've had with this dealership. There seems to be a significant lack of professionalism and...
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