dlnormedic
Member
In all my years of car buying I have been a devoted Ford fan. Sadly, as of Monday, due to the complete incompetence and disrespect shown me by Melody Motors the Ford dealer in Melfort, Sask. I vow to never buy another Ford vehicle as long as I live.
I also vow to tell everyone I can just how terrible Melody Motors treats you and how they will do anything to get out of warranty work, especially if the vehicle was not sold be them. The first Expedition we took to them in 2005, the first question we were asked by the service manager when I called was “Where did you buy this vehicle?” I replied, “It doesn’t matter, it is a Ford vehicle.”
They wouldn’t touch the vehicle and I had to take it to another Ford dealer for warranty work.
I hoped the attitude had changed when on August 11, 2011 we asked Melody Motors Melfort to replace our driver side leather seat cover because of excessive cracking under the original warranty; we had roughly 55,000 km on our 2010 Expedition. We were informed that they would order the seat cover and call us when it arrived. We were subsequently called and informed that the seat cover was on a “national back-order” and they had ordered it but had no idea when it would arrive, they will call us when it comes in.
For three months I kept checking in with them to see if the new seat cover had arrived. Finally, after the third month Melody Motors service department told me not to worry, I did not need to keep calling because when it came in they would call me.
Monday, October 1, 2012, after nearly 14 months, I called in the morning to inquire once again about the seat cover. I was told they would check on it and call me RIGHT back. NO CALL CAME. I called them back in the afternoon, Melody Motors then proceeded to tell me that my warranty claim had been denied because it was not “bad enough” to warrant a replacement seat cover.
I asked how they came to that conclusion, and when does Ford get to decide how bad something has to be, before they replace it under the original warranty. She then admitted that they were supposed to have taken pictures of the seat when it was there in August 2011 to include with the original claim, but no one did. Therefore the claim was denied by Ford. If, I came back in now and was still less than 60000 km they could try and resubmit the claim. (We now have 96000 km).
As I continued to question her and try to understand how their mistake should prevent me from getting my warranty work completed, she admitted that the owners of Melody Motors told here directly they were not going to cover the cost of the new seat cover. Besides she said, you only have 60 days to complete a warranty claim before it is automatically denied. I informed her of the “national back-order” I was told about, and that I had called repeatedly in the beginning to check on it before I was told to not worry, Melody Motors would call me.
Her reply was, since there is no one there still working in the service department that was around last year this time, she has no way to “verify my story”. I reminded her that as the customer it is not my job to prove anything, and besides as she could see form our file, this was the only time we requested warranty work. It is not like we were constantly looking for repair work, we only asked for two things during the warranty period (the other being to replace the “rain sensing wiper sensor”).
I finally explained to her that I have owned 5 Fords in my life and considered myself a loyal Ford owner. However, after the treatment we have received from Melody Motors with our last two Expeditions I am about to walk away from Ford for good. I said, “Are you telling me that a $300.00 seat cover is worth more to Melody Motors and Ford then my business?”
She had no answer for me, other than to say that there was nothing she could do, and besides they don’t have a service manager right now, she isn’t even supposed to be having to handle these types of calls.
I reassured her that I was no upset with her; however she could inform the owners who were to coward to talk with me on the phone, that I would be sure to never buy a ford again and would make sure to inform everyone I can not to buy Ford, especially from Melody Motors in Melfort, Sask.
I called the Ford Motor Company Canada customer relations department to inform them of what happened. Their response was simple, “All Ford dealerships in Canada are independently owned and the only recourse they have is to take my complaint and forward it on to the owners. They may or may not decide to act upon it or contact me; it is entirely up to them.”
For the purposes of full disclosure, I bought my 2000 F150 from Melody Motors in 2002, the very first day I drove it, the engine service light came on. I took it back, they installed a new thermostat and charged me full price for the repairs, THE DAY AFTER BUYING THE VEHICLE.
I complained to them about that, and they gave me a credit in their parts department for a fraction of the cost of the repairs.
So, if you are in the market for a new vehicle; my advice is to steer clear of Melody Motors, and quite honestly you are better off not owning a Ford.
I also vow to tell everyone I can just how terrible Melody Motors treats you and how they will do anything to get out of warranty work, especially if the vehicle was not sold be them. The first Expedition we took to them in 2005, the first question we were asked by the service manager when I called was “Where did you buy this vehicle?” I replied, “It doesn’t matter, it is a Ford vehicle.”
They wouldn’t touch the vehicle and I had to take it to another Ford dealer for warranty work.
I hoped the attitude had changed when on August 11, 2011 we asked Melody Motors Melfort to replace our driver side leather seat cover because of excessive cracking under the original warranty; we had roughly 55,000 km on our 2010 Expedition. We were informed that they would order the seat cover and call us when it arrived. We were subsequently called and informed that the seat cover was on a “national back-order” and they had ordered it but had no idea when it would arrive, they will call us when it comes in.
For three months I kept checking in with them to see if the new seat cover had arrived. Finally, after the third month Melody Motors service department told me not to worry, I did not need to keep calling because when it came in they would call me.
Monday, October 1, 2012, after nearly 14 months, I called in the morning to inquire once again about the seat cover. I was told they would check on it and call me RIGHT back. NO CALL CAME. I called them back in the afternoon, Melody Motors then proceeded to tell me that my warranty claim had been denied because it was not “bad enough” to warrant a replacement seat cover.
I asked how they came to that conclusion, and when does Ford get to decide how bad something has to be, before they replace it under the original warranty. She then admitted that they were supposed to have taken pictures of the seat when it was there in August 2011 to include with the original claim, but no one did. Therefore the claim was denied by Ford. If, I came back in now and was still less than 60000 km they could try and resubmit the claim. (We now have 96000 km).
As I continued to question her and try to understand how their mistake should prevent me from getting my warranty work completed, she admitted that the owners of Melody Motors told here directly they were not going to cover the cost of the new seat cover. Besides she said, you only have 60 days to complete a warranty claim before it is automatically denied. I informed her of the “national back-order” I was told about, and that I had called repeatedly in the beginning to check on it before I was told to not worry, Melody Motors would call me.
Her reply was, since there is no one there still working in the service department that was around last year this time, she has no way to “verify my story”. I reminded her that as the customer it is not my job to prove anything, and besides as she could see form our file, this was the only time we requested warranty work. It is not like we were constantly looking for repair work, we only asked for two things during the warranty period (the other being to replace the “rain sensing wiper sensor”).
I finally explained to her that I have owned 5 Fords in my life and considered myself a loyal Ford owner. However, after the treatment we have received from Melody Motors with our last two Expeditions I am about to walk away from Ford for good. I said, “Are you telling me that a $300.00 seat cover is worth more to Melody Motors and Ford then my business?”
She had no answer for me, other than to say that there was nothing she could do, and besides they don’t have a service manager right now, she isn’t even supposed to be having to handle these types of calls.
I reassured her that I was no upset with her; however she could inform the owners who were to coward to talk with me on the phone, that I would be sure to never buy a ford again and would make sure to inform everyone I can not to buy Ford, especially from Melody Motors in Melfort, Sask.
I called the Ford Motor Company Canada customer relations department to inform them of what happened. Their response was simple, “All Ford dealerships in Canada are independently owned and the only recourse they have is to take my complaint and forward it on to the owners. They may or may not decide to act upon it or contact me; it is entirely up to them.”
For the purposes of full disclosure, I bought my 2000 F150 from Melody Motors in 2002, the very first day I drove it, the engine service light came on. I took it back, they installed a new thermostat and charged me full price for the repairs, THE DAY AFTER BUYING THE VEHICLE.
I complained to them about that, and they gave me a credit in their parts department for a fraction of the cost of the repairs.
So, if you are in the market for a new vehicle; my advice is to steer clear of Melody Motors, and quite honestly you are better off not owning a Ford.
