How fair is it, really, to be upset at Ford?

[jb56]

Way to prove my point by labeling anyone you don’t agree with as a “Ford apologist”. We get it, you didn’t make the cut to get a truck this year but damn, lots of folks with real problems in the world right now.

this is a ford lightning ordering forum, and I’m labeling people who are making excuses for a massive corporation “ford apologist”

this thread is literally in an ordering forum and it is literally titled “is it fair to be mad at ford” and you are saying that my complaints are not good because of the real problems in the world? If you want to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Covid, inflation, and all the other real problems, why are you hanging out in a forum about ford lightnings and commenting on a thread like this?

If I go argue about how I’m upset with formula 1 rules on a formula 1 forum, are you going to go there and tell me that people have real problems too?

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[thegangler]

this is a ford lightning ordering forum, and I’m labeling people who are making excuses for a massive corporation “ford apologist”

this thread is literally in an ordering forum and it is literally titled “is it fair to be mad at ford” and you are saying that my complaints are not good because of the real problems in the world? If you want to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Covid, inflation, and all the other real problems, why are you hanging out in a forum about ford lightnings and commenting on a thread like this?

If I go argue about how I’m upset with formula 1 rules on a formula 1 forum, are you going to go there and tell me that people have real problems too?

Plenty of folks (like myself) will be driving Lightnings this year with no complaints about the process. Ask the folks who reserved the Cybertruck in November of 2019 how they feel right about now. There are Rivian reservation holders from 2018 that are waiting AND got their prices raised, retroactively.

Trade-offs abound, and Ford’s sales channel is via dealers, and dealers literally pay Ford for the right to decide who gets a vehicle - it’s always been that way, it’s just not been in the perfect storm of shortages and demand.

Enjoy your sour grapes, Ford will continue to sell 1m+ F150s a year and you can enjoy the time spent in your sad echo chamber.

 

[jb56]

Plenty of folks (like myself) will be driving Lightnings this year with no complaints about the process. Ask the folks who reserved the Cybertruck in November of 2019 how they feel right about now. There are Rivian reservation holders from 2018 that are waiting AND got their prices raised, retroactively.

Trade-offs abound, and Ford’s sales channel is via dealers, and dealers literally pay Ford for the right to decide who gets a vehicle - it’s always been that way, it’s just not been in the perfect storm of shortages and demand.

Enjoy your sour grapes, Ford will continue to sell 1m+ F150s a year and you can enjoy the time spent in your sad echo chamber.

what echochamber? I’m here voicing complaints and most people are disagreeing with me. Do you know what an echo chamber is?

Ford will continue to sell a ton of trucks. But they bungled the launch of the bronco and the lightning. Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. Tesla makes huge mistakes, but will still sell a ton of Teslas.

you are saying my complaints are sour grapes? But you object to me labeling you an apologist?

Tell me, which of the points I made in the OP were wrong? Let’s have a discussion about my actual points. Or, do you agree with everything I said but you just believe that isn’t enough to be bothered by?

 

[monsterlag]

what echochamber? I’m here voicing complaints and most people are disagreeing with me. Do you know what an echo chamber is?

Ford will continue to sell a ton of trucks. But they bungled the launch of the bronco and the lightning. Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. Tesla makes huge mistakes, but will still sell a ton of Teslas.

you are saying my complaints are sour grapes? But you object to me labeling you an apologist?

Tell me, which of the points I made in the OP were wrong? Let’s have a discussion about my actual points. Or, do you agree with everything I said but you just believe that isn’t enough to be bothered by?

Pay no attention to these people, probably somebody who paid $10k ADM and was happy to pay it.

 

[rdr854]

what echochamber? I’m here voicing complaints and most people are disagreeing with me. Do you know what an echo chamber is?

Ford will continue to sell a ton of trucks. But they bungled the launch of the bronco and the lightning. Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. Tesla makes huge mistakes, but will still sell a ton of Teslas.

you are saying my complaints are sour grapes? But you object to me labeling you an apologist?

Tell me, which of the points I made in the OP were wrong? Let’s have a discussion about my actual points. Or, do you agree with everything I said but you just believe that isn’t enough to be bothered by?

I think it comes to communication and perhaps the lack thereof with customers. Proprietary information that was provided to dealers and leaked on this forum could have been provided to customers in a watered down form to set expectations. While the reservation terms and conditions were helpful, they appear not to have been effective in setting those customer expectations. And, while some people read what they are given, unfortunately, others do not. As a result, I am not sure that there would have been a great difference had Ford Motor Company provided more information.

Am I a Ford apologist? No, I am not. I just work in a service industry where some clients do not read and blindly certify documents. I just think Ford and it’s dealer network could have put out inform and many folks would not have read it. Same happens with emails!

 

[Slick68]

I think at this point, in order to save face, Ford should just give us our trucks at no cost. I mean, it’s only fair after everything they’ve put us through… ? (laying on the sarcasm)

 

[jb56]

I think it comes to communication and perhaps the lack thereof with customers. Proprietary information that was provided to dealers and leaked on this forum could have been provided to customers in a watered down form to set expectations. While the reservation terms and conditions were helpful, they appear not to have been effective in setting those customer expectations. And, while some people read what they are given, unfortunately, others do not. As a result, I am not sure that there would have been a great difference had Ford Motor Company provided more information.

Am I a Ford apologist? No, I am not. I just work in a service industry where some clients do not read and blindly certify documents. I just think Ford and it’s dealer network could have put out inform and many folks would not have read it. Same happens with emails!

I was told by my dealership in the fall (including the sales manager) that given my reservation spot, that I was virtually certain to get a 2022. My reservation confirmation said it was for a 2022. They had over 730 reservations and then ended up only getting 6 MY2022. They were completely caught off guard by this.

I think that is poor management and communication by Ford. But we can disagree

 

[jfried]

a lot of ford apologists around here. Nobody is saying that they shouldn’t have to be patient. I’m not angry that I’m still waiting. I’m angry about the list of things I put in my OP, which you apologists all seem to completely ignoee.
Ford is going to fulfill less than 1% of reservations at my dealership in 2022. Ford have no indication until January of 2022 (7 months after reservations) that fulfillment would be so low. I’m fact, they subtly allowed information to be distributed without correction that would suggest they would fulfill 5%+. And now, a Lot of people who reserved later than me are getting trucks. Had I know this in swtember, I could have made other plans. It’s the lack of transparency, not the wait, that is irritating.

they kept as many people on the hook as possible and provide terrible communication.

and you guys are all like “they are doing the best they can!” If that is true, then they suck.. I don’t think they are doing the best they can. I think they are pretending to do the best they can while focusing on the most profit possible for ford. Hopefully they’ll send me a hammock or desk calendar to make up for it!

But hey, at least they sent an email in error to me today acting like I would be getting a truck soon.
The best they can. Totally. .

If I recall correctly... when the announcement happened, the target "on-road date" was always spring 2022. While they're not going to meet that, it seems quite likely that it will be very early summer when these things hit the road... and in today's supply chain conditions, I think that's remarkable. Even pre-COVID, new vehicle launches RARELY make their targeted on sale date. When they're new, and exciting vehicles, you generally have to "know somebody" to be the first guy on the block with one. This is no different.

Generally speaking, you should never "plan" on getting a "new release vehicle" until you either see them on lots, or can freely order one with a dealer with a reasonably accurate lead time.

Ford plans to build 15,000 Lightnings for the 2022MY. Apparently every dealer is going to get a demo; which will speak for about 2500 of them. There will be some fleet sales as well, that will likely bring the consumer number closer to 10k, which is of course 5% of sales.

Personally... I think there's a lot more to be frustrated about with Ford than the Lightning process.... how about trying to get a regular f150?

Ram lots are flooded with 1500 trucks, so much so that you can seemingly get any combination of trim/colour/options within a 30 minute drive. I placed an order for a gas f150 over a month ago... it still has not been scheduled. I don't believe they've produced any F150s in the last 3 weeks. I'm Canadian, so can't even do an inventory search of 2022s because the site is still on 2021.

I think it comes to communication and perhaps the lack thereof with customers. Proprietary information that was provided to dealers and leaked on this forum could have been provided to customers in a watered down form to set expectations. While the reservation terms and conditions were helpful, they appear not to have been effective in setting those customer expectations. And, while some people read what they are given, unfortunately, others do not. As a result, I am not sure that there would have been a great difference had Ford Motor Company provided more information.

Am I a Ford apologist? No, I am not. I just work in a service industry where some clients do not read and blindly certify documents. I just think Ford and it’s dealer network could have put out inform and many folks would not have read it. Same happens with emails!

I don't think it was in anyone's best interest to say "go talk to your dealer about prioritizing you". All it does is put the dealership in a crappy situation where customers start internally coming up with reasons why they feel that they should get one of the first ones, to have the dealer say no to them.

The concept of dealers knowing their customers, and who they want/need to prioritize, is a lot less conflict for all involved.

 

[rdr854]

If I recall correctly... when the announcement happened, the target "on-road date" was always spring 2022. While they're not going to meet that, it seems quite likely that it will be very early summer when these things hit the road... and in today's supply chain conditions, I think that's remarkable. Even pre-COVID, new vehicle launches RARELY make their targeted on sale date. When they're new, and exciting vehicles, you generally have to "know somebody" to be the first guy on the block with one. This is no different.

Generally speaking, you should never "plan" on getting a "new release vehicle" until you either see them on lots, or can freely order one with a dealer with a reasonably accurate lead time.

Ford plans to build 15,000 Lightnings for the 2022MY. Apparently every dealer is going to get a demo; which will speak for about 2500 of them. There will be some fleet sales as well, that will likely bring the consumer number closer to 10k, which is of course 5% of sales.

Personally... I think there's a lot more to be frustrated about with Ford than the Lightning process.... how about trying to get a regular f150?

Ram lots are flooded with 1500 trucks, so much so that you can seemingly get any combination of trim/colour/options within a 30 minute drive. I placed an order for a gas f150 over a month ago... it still has not been scheduled. I don't believe they've produced any F150s in the last 3 weeks. I'm Canadian, so can't even do an inventory search of 2022s because the site is still on 2021.




I don't think it was in anyone's best interest to say "go talk to your dealer about prioritizing you". All it does is put the dealership in a crappy situation where customers start internally coming up with reasons why they feel that they should get one of the first ones, to have the dealer say no to them.

The concept of dealers knowing their customers, and who they want/need to prioritize, is a lot less conflict for all involved.

I never said anything about prioritization of reservations. I was talking about the leaks of proprietary/confidential information and that clearer communication from any OEM (Ford in this case) to its franchised dealer body and its customers would have been helpful to set expectations.

I realize that an OEM may not have everything laid out at the beginning, since they do not know what customer demand will be. That is why there is always disclaimer language which allows the OEM to change the terms and conditions of the reservation system at any time.

 

[gpbst3]

Fords biggest mistake was making a refundable deposit.

How about being mad at all the people who put in multiple reservations at different dealership to see which ones comes in first. Or the guy who put a reservation down on the cybertuck, lightening and rivian so they can decide which one they want later.

 

[thegangler]

Pay no attention to these people, probably somebody who paid $10k ADM and was happy to pay it.

My dealer is not charging ADM.

 

[Nick Gerteis]

I see the Stan is strong with some in this thread. It’ll be interesting to see how hard some will be backtracking when Ford does indeed, as implied, demote the dealers to mere delivery drop off points for EVs in the near future.

 

[Nick Gerteis]

Fords biggest mistake was making a refundable deposit.

How about being mad at all the people who put in multiple reservations at different dealership to see which ones comes in first. Or the guy who put a reservation down on the cybertuck, lightening and rivian so they can decide which one they want later.

Can’t brag about “200K reservations in just a few months” if you make it non refundable or charge $2K. Both of which they should have done, you’re absolutely correct here. But getting the press attention was more important to them.

 

[Ryan091]

If only that was the world we live in. Pandemic, supply chain, potential WW3 be damned, I PAID MY MONEY I DESERVE MY TRUCK! Sorry folks, everyone these days is doing the best they can, what do you get by getting so angry about it? Cancel your reservation and move on.

Thank you, too many fucking people complaining about that on here. Just wait for your truck.

 

[VTbuckeye]

Can’t brag about “200K reservations in just a few months” if you make it non refundable or charge $2K. Both of which they should have done, you’re absolutely correct here. But getting the press attention was more important to them.

If they made it 2k and semi-refundable there should be a condition of performance on ford's part. They have to be able to deliver a 2022 model year any configuration desired or they then have to refund the deposit.

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