Order deposit stolen

[Maquis]

Ford doesn't handle deposits. The deal is between you and a dealer(either the original one OR the new one). Ford won't touch your money...they sell to the dealer who sells to you. That's how it works.

This is why when you change dealers your money is refunded instead of given to the new dealer. Ford will not "touch" your deposit..even to facilitate transfer of it to the new dealer.

Your beef is with the dealer..not Ford

Not sure why you quoted me…..you repeated what I posted.

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[bmwhitetx]

Ford never handled the money and would have no direct visibility into the transaction between the dealer and the credit card.

What I am saying is that the transaction started on the Ford website. You pick a dealer and then Ford sends the info (your name, address, CC number, CC expiration) to the dealer for them to process. I wouldn't be surprised if Ford actually initiates the transaction into a dealer-owned account (the name on my credit card statement is a different name than what I typically see from my dealer).

Either way, Ford knows that the dealer took a deposit because they told them too and gave them all the info to do so. When I moved my reservation to another dealer by calling Ford corporate, they updated my reservation on the Ford website and told my first dealer to refund me $100 which they did.

That was my point - Ford should be able to show the dealer what they told them to do and when. Ford knows the facts here but aren't helping.

 

[Henry Ford]

Ford customer service is just a call forwarding system without the ability to actually transfer a call. They have a list of people to tell you to call,.the first one is always your dealer.

I am really enjoying my truck but good lord, the manufacturer/independent dealer model is a terrible way to run a business. No business starting today would ever funnel most of its customer interactions away from said business. It pisses off people for reasons other than the product.

 

[GDN]

What is most disheartening in all these stories is the extent @Ford Motor Company refuses to offer any real help. We know many dealers are useless in this whole model so expect Ford to back up their promises. They talk big about being customer focused but at the end of the day they refuse to correct these mechanisms they have built and hold dealers accountable.

In this case the reservation and order deposits originated from their corporate web site and they shuffled the money to the dealer. They should be able to prove to the dealer that they got the money and not have us do that.

I don't know that I completely agree. When this process started over a year ago, there were many documents posted that gave the dealers step by step processes exactly what to do for reservations, deposits, etc. I'm quite certain we didn't see them all, but the dealers were told with pictures and step by step what they needed to do.

What we have is dealers that have gotten very comfy at controlling the narrative and not really giving a crap about the customers in any way.

Ford may run the corporate site and enable the dealers, but it is on every dealer to know how to interact with their parent company and take care of their customers. This is on the dealer. Period.

I was one of the first anywhere to move my reservation from one dealer to another. Did it on Friday after Wave 1 came out. The $100 refund was triggered immediately and without my original dealer doing anything. I never spoke to my original dealer, once.

As far as the next $500 - as most, I didn't get it applied to my purchase. When I was in with my dealer a few weeks later I noted it. The guy I was working with said oh yeah its here in the customer portal. I don't know what he logged into, but he showed me his screen where it showed the $500 and about 3 clicks later it was done and he printed me the receipt.

Systems like this don't just happen along with no training and documentation. Some dealers just don't care to deal with them and learn about them. This is not on FOMOCO.

There are some small dealerships that maybe just can't dedicate much to the systems and keeping up. I believe those are small town single dealerships. Beyond that I give no excuses.

If you go research - most of the big town dealers and multi-dealer owners they are millionaires and make incredible amounts of money on your back and cars. Just do a little reserach and you'll be surprised. Make no excuses for these dealers for not knowing what is going on and how these systems work and not to take care of their customers. It is total BS. They don't care about you or they think that you'll just roll over on even $500 and walk away. Gravy money for their pockets.

 

[bmwhitetx]

...What we have is dealers that have gotten very comfy at controlling the narrative and not really giving a crap about the customers in any way....

Some dealers just don't care to deal with them and learn about them. This is not on FOMOCO.

...There are some small dealerships that maybe just can't dedicate much to the systems and keeping up. I believe those are small town single dealerships. Beyond that I give no excuses.

...Make no excuses for these dealers for not knowing what is going on and how these systems work and hot to take care of their customers. It is total BS. They don't care about you or they think that you'll just roll over on even $500 and walk away. Gravy money for their pockets.

I completely agree that the dealer is at fault here. But if a dealer is doing all these bad things then I think it is on Ford to assist the customer and intervene on their behalf. They are taking a hit to their brand. Ford memos says they have price protection but they don't. Look at all the price protection threads we have on the Pro. To sit idly by and not help is inexcusable.

 

[chl]

OP Here. For clarification, I changed dealers in the reservation process, prior to the order invite. My reservation deposit was promptly credited back to my credit card, and the new (selling) dealer did not collect a reservation deposit. The $500 order deposit showed the dealer name on the credit card transaction and it showed on the on-line order summary.

The dealer says they "never got the money". I have shown them the credit card statement. There is a "back of house" process that goes on, so I have no idea when or how they got or should have gotten the money. I put my credit card information in on a Ford.com website. Someplace in the background that generates a charge in the name of the dealer. Do they get the money immediately? when they accept the order? when they make the sale? when they report the order? I certainly don't know. I have communicated with my salesman, the sales manager, the finance manager, the dealership GM and the dealership Owner. All deny access to the deposit or the system by which others on this forum say the deposit can be credited back.

I have asked Ford customer service to call the dealer and tell them how the system works. No action from that. I have written to Ford customer service; not even an acknowledgment of receipt for that. I have not tried to reverse the credit card charge. The card transaction was six months old when I took delivery and is over a year old now.

In the overall scheme of things, given the travails of others as to ADM and order deferral, it probably isn't a big deal. I don't work on following up every day, but I have spent some considerable hours at the dealer and on the phone. My perception certainly is that I am the only one making any effort.

If the dealer won't give you the money, there is a name for that - theft.
You can contact the police because theft is a crime.
You have evidence you paid (credit card receipt and statement).

You can also file a claim in small claims court (or the SD equivalent) as a civil suit to recover the money, and they could even impose penalties on the dealer.

I would give the dealer an ultimatum: pay be back the money or I'm going to report it to the police as a theft and sue.

I am an attorney and I wouldn't let anyone steal $500 from me - period.
It is a shame that dealerships often have such shady people working for them, and that sometimes, one has to play hardball...but that is the greedy world we live in.

Good luck!

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

I have owned my 2022 Lariat Lightning for seven months and 8500 miles. It has been everything we expected and more. We have had the usual frustrations with slow software and lack of DC fast charging availability, but none of the issues with OTA updates, modem failure or PAAK failure.

Our only frustrations have been the original transaction. Our dealer played no games and we paid MSRP as agreed, although the dealer seemed clueless as to the process. We coached them the whole way using this forum as reference, telling them when we had an order invite, how they had to accept the order, etc. When we took delivery they told us they did not yet have our $500 order deposit from Ford, and that we should contact Ford directly. They also managed to screw up the timing on reporting the order to Ford, which cost us the charging hours incentive and the $500 charger install Visa card that was offered to those Lariat and Platinum orders taking delivery before June 30.

To date, neither the dealer nor Ford have been responsive as to the $500 deposit. Each points to the other and for some reason it is impossible to simply pick up the phone and figure it out. The Ford zone rep won't talk directly to me and Ford customer service people have no information at all. As the months have gone by without a resolution I have come to realize that this is my first and last new Ford vehicle. I don't do business with people I can't trust.

After yoiu talk to the finance person at the dealership, if this is still not solved, then go to your credit card company. They will immediatly credit your account the $500 and they will fight it out with the dealer.

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