Disappointed with communication

[Etienne Bégin]

Hi,

 

When I ordered my edge 2015 on Feb-10 I immediately subscribed to this forum. This is a great place for information!

 

However, only yesterday (may-14) was my dealer informed by Ford Canada that the 51D package is delayed until September. I have found out on May 5th when members here told me, but my dealer did not agree until he got explicit confirmation. Yesterday, another member told me his dealer just received the information about the delay. Again, on the same day, the 51D package was removed from Ford.ca build page !

 

I have searched the forums and it seems many members knew about the delay back in April 25, even before.

 

When I called my dealer, Ford Canada Customer Service, PM'd FordService, no one could confirm my order was delayed because of this option. I made very clear to all of them I thought the 51D was a problem. No one could get a reason code or anything except a meaningless status.

 

I still don't know if I would've received my car earlier if I had edited the order before. Now, I am afraid the order was edited late and that the car will be built way late.

 

I am a bit disappointed by the lack of communication. Maybe this is the dealers fault but it's impossible for me to tell.

 

Next time I order a car, I will be a lot more cautious about news. I should have been a lot more alert!!

 

Etienne.

[rwf78155]

Have you considered delaying or cancelling your order? The 2016's would be out in a month .

 

btw....the forum has been of a lot more info to me then my dealership (which is awesome) !

 

The Ford reps on this site are A++

[Etienne Bégin]

Have you considered delaying or cancelling your order? The 2016's would be out in a month .

 

btw....the forum has been of a lot more info to me then my dealership (which is awesome) !

 

The Ford reps on this site are A++

 

I will wait to get the ETA. If it pass end of June I will cancel and go for an MKX 2016

[akirby]

Your dealer knew about it or at least had the information available.

[Etienne Bégin]

Your dealer knew about it or at least had the information available.

 

I had the information available from this forum and should have asked to edit the order immediately.

 

Live and learn !

[cv27]

...I am a bit disappointed by the lack of communication. Maybe this is the dealers fault but it's impossible for me to tell.

 

Next time I order a car, I will be a lot more cautious about news. I should have been a lot more alert!!

 

Etienne.

Étienne,

 

Being also from Canada, I have found over the years that Ford Canada does its best, BUT the Canadian organization is not at the same level as the one in Dearborn.

 

During the Sync saga a few years back, I soon found out that information is first created in Dearborn and later, sometimes too much later, crosses over to Canada. I dealt directly with the US Invehicle technology center. Even then, it wasn't perfect: Ford has many layers that don't necessarily exchange at the speed of light.

 

As for dealers, mine is golden when it comes to deal time, but I'm miles (kilometers) ahead of him on information, partly because of this forum and personal contacts in the US organization.

 

So now you can cancel your order and either:

1- Wait for the 2016, which will likely be available early/mid 2016, not September 2015 as others have speculated

2- Hunt the lots for a vehicle closest to your order, but they're rarely a 100% match

 

I understand the frustration though.

[Etienne Bégin]

Étienne,

 

Being also from Canada, I have found over the years that Ford Canada does its best, BUT the Canadian organization is not at the same level as the one in Dearborn.

 

During the Sync saga a few years back, I soon found out that information is first created in Dearborn and later, sometimes too much later, crosses over to Canada. I dealt directly with the US Invehicle technology center. Even then, it wasn't perfect: Ford has many layers that don't necessarily exchange at the speed of light.

 

As for dealers, mine is golden when it comes to deal time, but I'm miles (kilometers) ahead of him on information, partly because of this forum and personal contacts in the US organization.

 

So now you can cancel your order and either:

1- Wait for the 2016, which will likely be available early/mid 2016, not September 2015 as others have speculated

2- Hunt the lots for a vehicle closest to your order, but they're rarely a 100% match

 

I understand the frustration though.

 

Thanks for your understanding! I have talked to a former sales rep and he told me the information gets to the dealer very late. He basically told me to rely on "leaks" I get here, and proceed to make changes to my order.

 

In quebec you could also have issues with the language barrier. There are many points of failure.

 

I'll wait a couple more days and possibly just do as you said: get a 2016 Edge, or even an MKX.

 

Etienne.

[Etienne Bégin]

I finally got my VIN number from my dealer, and FordserviceCA told me the ETA is June 21st, which is ok for me.

 

I got my VIN when I was on my way to the dealer to cancel the order. They got very lucky

 

I have talked to another dealer in the area who was extremely transparent. I wish I had talked to them first. I actually talked to the person who does all the ordering and transfers between dealers so he was very knowledgeable.

 

He showed me all communications papers/emails he gets from Ford, and the 51D availability issues were known way back in March! But that paper said until 3rd/2nd trimester (not exactly sure) . The September delays were communicated to them mid-April. He said he is not aware of communication delay between dealers, it's a matter of reading your (expletive) emails.

 

As we kept talking about cars and such we got deep into details. He showed me the ordering software, allocation principles, invoice prices, order tracking reports, everything! I have never seen such transparency from a salesmen I was in shock.

 

In my area, the dealers can only order 2-3 Edge per month. The allocation quantities are absurd.

 

Etienne.

[akirby]

That's the frustrating part - this happens over and over and Ford gets blamed when it's not their fault.

[cv27]

That's the frustrating part - this happens over and over and Ford gets blamed when it's not their fault.

 

Who decides what the allocations will be? At what level?

[akirby]

I was referring to the lack of dealer info on the 51D problems. But if you're talking about how dealers get allocation from the factory, it works like this.

 

The dealer submits orders with a priority. 1-10 are reserved for Ford and only used for special circumstances. Retail orders (sold) are supposed to be 11-20 and dealer stock is 21-99 (might be off by one). Every week Ford decides how many vehicles they're going to build and they allocate that to dealers based on how many they've sold before and other factors. So let's say dealer X gets 4 vehicles. The 4 vehicles in the dealer's queue with the lowest priority will get built that week. If there are more than 4 at the same priority then they're taken in order of the date the order was placed (I think). This means a retail order will always be built before a stock order provided the dealer put in the priority correctly. The dealer can also prioritize between customers by assigning different priorities but that's up to them (e.g. you get 11, I get 14).

 

But if a vehicle can't be built due to a material hold or unavailable option then it doesn't even come up for scheduling within a dealer's allocation. The vehicle must be buildable before it gets scheduled.