I have to say that this entire ordering process has made me lose faith in Ford. I currently own a 22 Bronco and a 19 Expedition. I ordered a new Expedition on 11/2. I knew that it would be a bit of a wait but this has been truly ridiculous. It is not that there are production delays, given the issues in the world I expected delays, it is more about the lack of communication or ability to get any real information on the production. I received and email on 2/3 that my car was being built the week of 2/14. Starting mid Feb., the Ford tracker tool listed in production. For weeks the status stayed the same. I made calls to the Ford marketing center and my dealer and they had no further information. On 3/14 the in production date changed to 3/14. It has remained in this status for three weeks now. I contacted my dealer and their system showed that the truck would be delivered between 3/30 and 4/5. Last week I called the marketing center and twice I was told that the Hold status would be lifted and the truck would be shipped this week. As of today, the truck is still in a hold status. Now I am hearing that they are removing options and sending vehicles out incomplete. I have asked for a supervisor call back numerous times. The marketing center states that a supervisor will call back within 48 hours. I have never received a call back. I have called the Ford executive office and have been put into a voicemail box at least 3 different times. The message states that someone will call back within 1 business day, no call ever received. All I want to know is 1.) when will the parts be in to finish my truck? 2.) will I receive a complete (finished) vehicle or will there be items that will be left of with a promise to finish later? If I receive the answers to my questions then I can make a decision if I want to wait or move on to another vehicle from another manufacturer. Ford customer service is terrible. I have worked for large multinational corporations for my entire career and have never seen such a ridiculous customer experience. There is no one, Ford Dealer, Ford Marketing Center, Executive Offices, etc. that can provide any information to allow customers to make informed decisions.
Also, Ford is allowing vehicles to slip out of the factory into the hands of dealers. These are not special order vehicles that a consumer has not picked up but rather stock orders for dealerships. These dealer inventory cars are being sold for over MSRP. Ford knows about it and is condoning it. The general view on this forum seems to be oh well I guess I will just have to wait and put up with the horrible customer service. If that is the choice of the customer that is ok. My patience is wearing thin. I don't know how much longer I can support a company that shows a complete lack of consideration for its customers. This is more than just a parts issue, this is an overall management breakdown.
Having been involved in some form of production in my past, I can both sympathize with you, at yet at the same time, understand why this is happening. With that said, let me explain a little as to why you may not be getting timely responses.
1: You call in and inquire, request a supervisor to contact you with answers
2: Supervisor then calls Ford corporate to find out what the story is so they can give you a qualified answer per your request
3: Ford corp calls production team
4: Production team calls inventory appropriations
5: Inventory appropriations then calls acquisitions
6: Various acquisitions employees then make calls to the suppliers for the parts in question that are needed to build or finish your vehicle
7: Those suppliers then call their suppliers asking for an ETA on the parts they need to finish the parts for your vehicle so they can get back to their customer.
8: Those suppliers then call their suppliers asking for an ETA on the parts they need to finish the parts for your vehicle so they can get back to their customer.
9: Those suppliers then call their suppliers asking for an ETA on the parts they need to finish the parts for your vehicle so they can get back to their customer.
10: Those suppliers then call their suppliers asking for an ETA on the parts they need to finish the parts for your vehicle so they can get back to their customer.
11: After some time, all suppliers have hopefully gotten calls back from their suppliers, and have then called their customers to let them know what the ETA is for the parts.
12: Various calls back through the supply food chain finally reach Ford customer service, a supervisor then has the information in hand to call their long list of customers back to let them know what they have been told.
13: You as the customer still feel frustrated, angry, disgusted by the lack of a prompt response, yet after reading this, have a better understanding of why their is a delay in both a call back, and your vehicle not being produced in what you consider a timely fashion.
With 10's of thousands of small parts and/or/in sub assemblies being produced, all it takes is one broken down truck, bad weather delay, production line breakdown, or faulty/incorrect parts to one supplier, to create a cascade effect for the end user/manufacturer.
Hope this is somewhat helpful from a fellow orderee awaiting his 2022 Expedition to make it into production.
Bill