Ford canceled my reservation.

[Maquis]

We were told to convert all of our orders by Ford. There were a few customers that did not respond / did want to cancel their orders. We cancelled the ones that wanted to cancel and the ones that did not respond we left them alone.

Darned! I should have placed my reservation with you guys!

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[EaglesPDX]

Did you call Ford and see if it was a mistake? May be easily rectified.

I did, the kid on the phone said "check your spam box" (the cancellation did not go in the spam box) and nothing they could do.

I agree with @wheelz2000 that given this is a $75k purchase, that we were going to be waiting a year at least, only the person with the reservation should have been able to cancel it. Onus is on Ford and the dealer they required us to sign with to contact us when that 1, 2, 3 year wait is up. Using the same email with which they send marketing spam is not ethical.

DO NOT UNSUBSCRIBE TO OUR MARKETING SPAM OR YOUR RESERVATION WILL BE CANCELED was not present.

The fact that the cancellation email came through makes Ford's excuses bogus. They used an email address that they made sure got through for a cancellation notice but not for the "We are going to cancel" notice. And they could have always called the phone number listed if they got no reply

I think we got a hint of the looming boguosity when the reservations were switched to a dealers choice crap shoot (and the dealer told me I was never going to be in the first batch this year, 35 out 25 of the dealers allocation) which is when I reserved the Rivian which has turned out to be the saver on getting a tow truck before the Tesla wears out, '24. I got in before Rivians big price increase and in the first 75,000 with deliveries started in April.

 

[wheelz2000]

I would not let this go. The reservation number you get is the only proof you have that you put a reservation in as your interest in wanting the truck. We all know that. Yes we reservation holders are aware that if we are contacted, we have a choice to convert to an order or extend for a highly sought after pro or xlt at a later time. If one doesn't make a choice by a certain amount of time, then the reservation can be cancelled. Sounds like to me though you were caught up in a cluster of a mess.
I called corporate once to get clarification on how the timestamps were going to be handled and they had no knowledge of that.
I feel for ya bro! All I know is this is a social forum where alot of people with connections see the info posted so seems like someone should be able to help you...some how. Or one would think anyway.

 

[EaglesPDX]

All I know is this is a social forum where alot of people with connections see the info posted so seems like someone should be able to help you

More a heads up to others with reservations. With delivery years from reservations, onus is on the buyer to weekly(?) call the dealer Ford has saddled them with for an "update". Ford is doing you a favor in selling you the truck so onus is on buyer.

 

[TaxmanHog]

We cancelled the ones that wanted to cancel and the ones that did not respond we left them alone.

I think the JR sales associate working the task list accidentally canceled him IF he had an open order offer from the 4/12 or prior wave.

 

[theblunden]

I'd like to hear what happened that caused the cancellation. If you unsubscribed from the emails and that's what caused it that's crazy but ultimately if you did get an invite but never got the email to order it really sounds like the dealership dropped the ball. As someone that follows this forum and other news about the Lightning I've wore out the reservations portion on Ford's website.

 

[EaglesPDX]

I'd like to hear what happened that caused the cancellation.

Ford said it "expired" though the reservation doesn't mention an expiration date and they sent no notice about expiration.

Dealer said I was 35/25 for their '22 allocation so I was in '23 per the dealer and no expectation of delivery this year to warrant monitoring my account.

The Ford marketing unsubscribe is not specific to the order, just generic under your Ford.com profile. It offers no warning that this email account is how Ford will alert you to your vehicle order and cancellation of your reservation.

But the unsubscribe is asking Ford not to send unwanted marketing emails and would not make Ford communications designated as spam on my email account on Gmail. I never designated Ford emails as spam though Ford seemed aware that Gmail and others might automatically do that since the support person said, "Look in your spam folder". Again Gmail had not done that previously. Didn't see anything from Ford among the "Russian bride" spam when I went back and looked.

The dealer staff had sent me emails from their personal work emails.

The cancellation email came through fine so Ford was not designated as spam by me and Ford knew how to get an email to me. The dealer has emailed me previously. Ford and dealer both had my phone number.

Fair to say no communication from Ford other than "cancellation" due to "expiration".

Dealer likely converts the truck to "open sale" and gets to mark it up. A win-win for Ford I suppose.

A lucky win for me in getting my Rivian reservation due to Ford's previous bad faith on the reservations.

 

[rdr854]

Ford said it "expired" though the reservation doesn't mention an expiration date and they sent no notice about expiration.

Dealer said I was 35/25 for their '22 allocation so I was in '23 per the dealer and no expectation of delivery this year to warrant monitoring my account.

The Ford marketing unsubscribe is not specific to the order, just generic under your Ford.com profile. It offers no warning that this email account is how Ford will alert you to your vehicle order and cancellation of your reservation.

But the unsubscribe is asking Ford not to send unwanted marketing emails and would not make Ford communications designated as spam on my email account on Gmail. I never designated Ford emails as spam though Ford seemed aware that Gmail and others might automatically do that since the support person said, "Look in your spam folder". Again Gmail had not done that previously. Didn't see anything from Ford among the "Russian bride" spam when I went back and looked.

The dealer staff had sent me emails from their personal work emails.

The cancellation email came through fine so Ford was not designated as spam by me and Ford knew how to get an email to me. The dealer has emailed me previously. Ford and dealer both had my phone number.

Fair to say no communication from Ford other than "cancellation" due to "expiration".

Dealer likely converts the truck to "open sale" and gets to mark it up. A win-win for Ford I suppose.

A lucky win for me in getting my Rivian reservation due to Ford's previous bad faith on the reservations.

My understanding is that cancelled reservations do NOT result in stock orders for dealerships. Rather, a cancelled reservation will allow another reservation holder to make an order.

 

[greenne]

My understanding is that cancelled reservations do NOT result in stock orders for dealerships. Rather, a cancelled reservation will allow another reservation holder to make an order.

What is *supposed* to happen is that allocation is kept at the same dealer and should be move to the next reservation holder in line. I think that is what they are trying to accomplish with the cleanups and why they asked for each dealer to ping customers for their preferred configs a few weeks ago.

 

[EaglesPDX]

What is *supposed* to happen is that allocation is kept at the same dealer and should be move to the next reservation holder in line. I think that is what they are trying to accomplish with the cleanups and why they asked for each dealer to ping customers for their preferred configs a few weeks ago.

Dealers have a quota of “preferred customers” who are not reservation holders and can be charged a price markup. It is on dealers interest to sell to these preferred customers.

It was this line jumping approved by Ford that was one of my reasons for making a deposit on a Rivian. Other being one’s choice of dealer not one’s date of reservation that determined delivery. Dealer interest was served by Ford canceling the reservation with a nod and a wink by Ford.

 

[shutterbug]

Dealers have a quota of “preferred customers” who are not reservation holders and can be charged a price markup. It is on dealers interest to sell to these preferred customers.

That is simply not true. All "preferred" customers had to have reservations, even if not the early ones. Also, dealers could charge ADM, but it had to apply to all orders, not just preferred ones.

 

[Stlww18]

Do you have a screenshot of the cancellation? If it truly was cancelled without your consent, I would think it could be easily addressed by Ford; but it doesn't seem like you're willing to even try that option? Every other post is trash talking the dealerships and talking up your Rivian. Maybe it did happen how you're saying, but color me skeptical when every time someone suggests a way you can find a resolution to the problem, you dismiss it outright.

 

[p52Ranch]

You keep saying that initially you were #35 at your dealer and they were getting an allocation of 25. It sounds to me like you weren't doing enough following up with your dealer. It is highly probable of those 34 reservations ahead of you a number of folks either elected to wait on a '23 model for a Pro or XLT or they declined to order. So it is quite likely that your # came up.

I think it is reasonable to expect a reservation holder to be in regular contact with the dealer. Email, phone, in person, something to remind the dealer you are still interested in the Lightning.

I believe that wave 6 orders involved a bit more dealer communication with the customer compared to the first five waves as Ford was trying to get the 2022 orders filled. So it would seem to me that the communication issue was between you and your dealer. If the dealer told Ford you were on their order list and they did not have an order from you then, yes Ford would cancel your reservation.

We have not seen instances of Ford cancelling Lightning reservations other than for those who were offered the opportunity to order and took no action.

If you are really interested in the Lightning then contact your dealer and ask what is up and then follow up with Ford. If you just want to bitch on this forum then it seems you have done plenty of that.

 

[greenne]

That is simply not true. All "preferred" customers had to have reservations, even if not the early ones. Also, dealers could charge ADM, but it had to apply to all orders, not just preferred ones.

The time where a dealer could move people up/down the list has long since passed. I *think* at this point the dealer doesn't have a say in whether you get an invite or not... Ford choses those based on current dealer allocation.

The next one on the list at the dealer with a canceled reservation or a "non order" would have the next name on the list chosen based on a number of factors including desired trim and reservation date.

 

[shutterbug]

The time where a dealer could move people up/down the list has long since passed. I *think* at this point the dealer doesn't have a say in whether you get an invite or not... Ford choses those based on current dealer allocation.

The next one on the list at the dealer with a canceled reservation or a "non order" would have the next name on the list chosen based on a number of factors including desired trim and reservation date.

My point was and is that all of those who were "chosen", had reservations. If you didn't have a reservation, you could not order.

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