Sync and MFT problems

[jbuck]

Attn: Owners of Ford vehicles with MFT and SYNC systems. Please make sure you report your concerns regardless of if they are well known or not. Ford needs to hear from angry customers about your problems!

 

My 2.4 version of Sync is plagued with problems that are well documented in these forums. Screen lock up, screen lag, fan speed stuck on high, abrupt system reboots. Perhaps unrelated but noteworthy, BLIS intermittent failure (for no good reason),as well as cross traffic alert failure. Sound familiar? Tell Ford.

 

It appears the 2.7 solution (dealer installed only) is not fully baked. Sync v2.7 is causing problems for some customers and my dealer advised against installing it at this time. Dealer confirmed that the solution is hit or miss and they have had customers that have lost navigation functions from the upgrade process. My service guy also mentioned it took two days for them to perform one of the updates for a customer due to problems.

 

Ford is working on a fix, no ETA for when the next release will be available or what specifically the release will address. It seems to me that better communication on the issues, solution, and estimate for fix should be available. While not ideal, good communication will make this unpleasant experience more manageable for customers. I have not received any communications from Ford stating what the known problems are, how the problems will be resolved, when the problems will be resolved, etc. It's not the service departments problem that they are having trouble with install, and they should not be responsible for communicating these updates (or problems with updates) to Ford customers. Someone at Ford needs to do a better job with public relations for their existing customers.

 

Put pressure on Ford to resolve these problems by calling Ford customer assistance number below. Maybe if they here from enough disgruntled customers they will expedite a fix, and come up with a better method for communicating with customers that are experiencing these problems.

 

Make your concerns known by writing or calling to:

 

Ford Motor Company

Customer Assistance Center

16800 Executive Plaza Drive

P.O. Box 6248

Dearborn, MI 48121

Toll free: 1-800-392-3673 (all makes)

Toll free: 1-800-521-4140 (Lincoln and Merkur only)

[cirockets]

Attn: Owners of Ford vehicles with MFT and SYNC systems. Please make sure you report your concerns regardless of if they are well known or not. Ford needs to hear from angry customers about your problems!

 

My 2.4 version of Sync is plagued with problems that are well documented in these forums. Screen lock up, screen lag, fan speed stuck on high, abrupt system reboots. Perhaps unrelated but noteworthy, BLIS intermittent failure (for no good reason),as well as cross traffic alert failure. Sound familiar? Tell Ford.

 

It appears the 2.7 solution (dealer installed only) is not fully baked. Sync v2.7 is causing problems for some customers and my dealer advised against installing it at this time. Dealer confirmed that the solution is hit or miss and they have had customers that have lost navigation functions from the upgrade process. My service guy also mentioned it took two days for them to perform one of the updates for a customer due to problems.

 

Ford is working on a fix, no ETA for when the next release will be available or what specifically the release will address. It seems to me that better communication on the issues, solution, and estimate for fix should be available. While not ideal, good communication will make this unpleasant experience more manageable for customers. I have not received any communications from Ford stating what the known problems are, how the problems will be resolved, when the problems will be resolved, etc. It's not the service departments problem that they are having trouble with install, and they should not be responsible for communicating these updates (or problems with updates) to Ford customers. Someone at Ford needs to do a better job with public relations for their existing customers.

 

Put pressure on Ford to resolve these problems by calling Ford customer assistance number below. Maybe if they here from enough disgruntled customers they will expedite a fix, and come up with a better method for communicating with customers that are experiencing these problems.

 

Make your concerns known by writing or calling to:

 

Ford Motor Company

Customer Assistance Center

16800 Executive Plaza Drive

P.O. Box 6248

Dearborn, MI 48121

Toll free: 1-800-392-3673 (all makes)

Toll free: 1-800-521-4140 (Lincoln and Merkur only)

 

Agree. Which I have been doing off and on for a few weeks. I have problems with the clock which does not sync with the GPS. All along it was 3.5 (2.5 after DST) fast and was showing Western European Time zone. They suggested getting the 2.7 update, which I did on Friday. Within minutes it was now 1.5 hours behind my time and showing Eastern Time Zone. The dealer has been calling the Ford engineers and I have been calling the 3673 number. Today an email was received saying the engineers were stumped and they were now working on the specific problem. They took my phone number and said they would call when they had it solved. This is not an earth shattering problem because it can be set manually and turning off the GPS switch. Basically 2.7 update didn't do anything that noticeable for me.

[cal3thousand]

I've had my Edge for 12 days. It came with v2.7. It seems pretty good, but I've had 3 resets. Most of them occur when on a phone call and trying to backup at the same time.

 

EDIT: I took down the number and plan on calling. I think everyone that likes the MFT system and plans to keep the car should give them an earful. They won't fix the problems if they don't hear someone complaining. Additionally, when they quantify their call rates, they will take the number of complaints and try to extrapolate that over the whole customer base. So the more complaints, the more action.

Edited April 12, 2011 by cal3thousand

[akirby]

I've had my Edge for 12 days. It came with v2.7. It seems pretty good, but I've had 3 resets. Most of them occur when on a phone call and trying to backup at the same time.

 

EDIT: I took down the number and plan on calling. I think everyone that likes the MFT system and plans to keep the car should give them an earful. They won't fix the problems if they don't hear someone complaining. Additionally, when they quantify their call rates, they will take the number of complaints and try to extrapolate that over the whole customer base. So the more complaints, the more action.

 

What has Ford done the last 6 months that would make anyone think that they're not trying to fix everything? Obviously they haven't been as successful as we'd like but I don't see how anyone could fault the effort.

[cal3thousand]

What has Ford done the last 6 months that would make anyone think that they're not trying to fix everything? Obviously they haven't been as successful as we'd like but I don't see how anyone could fault the effort.

 

I don't feel that they aren't doing anything. Its just that a company will take larger efforts if they feel the impact is larger. If everyone were to downplay the issues to nil, do you think Ford would be addressing anything? They are a company as any other with a bottom line to measure and will not outlay funds to fix a problem they don't perceive or as much funds to a problem they haven't quantified properly.

[4havnfun]

What has Ford done the last 6 months that would make anyone think that they're not trying to fix everything? Obviously they haven't been as successful as we'd like but I don't see how anyone could fault the effort.

 

In business a company is judged by results not efforts although I share the view that Ford is coming up short on both counts. Many of us are long term Ford customers and truly want the car experience that was sold to us but with MFT Ford marketing has written a cheque that the rest of the organization has been unable to deliver on.

[akirby]

I don't feel that they aren't doing anything. Its just that a company will take larger efforts if they feel the impact is larger. If everyone were to downplay the issues to nil, do you think Ford would be addressing anything? They are a company as any other with a bottom line to measure and will not outlay funds to fix a problem they don't perceive or as much funds to a problem they haven't quantified properly.

 

Since you just joined I'll assume you missed what happened when the Edge was released last year. There were a significant number of serious problems and Ford addressed them very quickly with a new software release within the first month or two. They also replaced several APIM units. This latest software release is the 3rd software release since the Edge debuted just a few months ago.

 

The point being that Ford knows their software has issues and they've been making a solid effort to fix it. They haven't been totally successful yet but there is no indication that they're ignoring the problem or not doing their best to fix it.

 

I'm not saying not to call or write but don't feel like you have to do it in order to get Ford's attention.

[k1200rsport]

WHAT???? PROBLEMS WITH MFT????? What are you guys talking about???

My calender and other similar issues are well documented with Ford, because they have responded to me via email and call.

[wilsons66604]

.... there is no indication that they're ignoring the problem or not doing their best to fix it.

There is also no indication that they are working on the problem.

Ford has made very little attempt to keep the owners informed on what is actually going on with the bug ladened Touch system.

I think they need to admit the issues to the general public and keep us updated on what they are working on. This would help to manage the owners' expectations.

[viper001]

There is also no indication that they are working on the problem.

Ford has made very little attempt to keep the owners informed on what is actually going on with the bug ladened Touch system.

I think they need to admit the issues to the general public and keep us updated on what they are working on. This would help to manage the owners' expectations.

Respectfully submitted, but there is another active thread elsewhere on this forum with a link to an article where Ford has publicly done everything you are asking. The only thing not put forth in that article is an exact date that all problems will be fixed because when you are working on a pile of issues you really can't know that, and putting out a date in such cases is a really bad p.r. move.

 

I haven't been in this party as long as some of you guys, and my problems with MFT are admittedly less severe, but 3 major software releases in half a year would seem to indicate quite a bit of effort is going toward fixing these problems.

[akirby]

but 3 major software releases in half a year would seem to indicate quite a bit of effort is going toward fixing these problems.

 

^^^ This ^^^

 

If they weren't putting out regular software releases then I might agree but that's pretty clear evidence that they're TRYING to fix the problem, regardless of how successful they've been.

 

Let's keep in mind there are a lot of perfectly satisfied 2011 Edge owners out there with few to no problems. This doesn't seem to be affecting all vehicles or all customers.

[cal3thousand]

^^^ This ^^^

 

If they weren't putting out regular software releases then I might agree but that's pretty clear evidence that they're TRYING to fix the problem, regardless of how successful they've been.

 

Let's keep in mind there are a lot of perfectly satisfied 2011 Edge owners out there with few to no problems. This doesn't seem to be affecting all vehicles or all customers.

 

 

That's just the thing. The "perfectly" satisfied people are those that have just have not said anything. I'm sure there's plenty of people that have had 2-3 resets/freezes in as many weeks of ownership that have not spoken up. I for one, am included in that group.

 

I don't think the system is laggy or sucks (I'm on v2.7) but I want them to put a proportionate amount of effort into it. They should have been able to fix the issues by now if they were to put the proper effort. (Backup camera's and navigation are not new technologies, so getting those to work properly should not be this difficult). I'm not asking them to develop a new system in a year, just fix the BUGS (<---- ie poorly written code). As this was their first foray into creating such an advanced system, I gave them the benefit and bought in. Now that I have it, they need to hear every time it does not work properly so that they, and subquently, folks like you that don't have the system, don't have a false sense of its robustness.

 

Ford's not the only one that needs to hear about it. Understand that Microsoft has it's hands in it too. (check the badging on the dash).

 

BTW. Regarding my tenure here... I wasn't here "back then", but its still on the site and yes, I did read numerous posts before posting AND leasing.

 

I'm all for living on the bleeding edge of technology and adopting systems before they are perfected (I love Android). But the "power's that be" need to understand whether the systems they created are working OR not.; And if not, to what extent.

 

No one except Ford and/Or MS can tell you what is actually going on behind the scenes. And yes, 3 updates appears to be effort put forth. BUT twice as many (or more) developers on the case MIGHT have gotten the job done in 1 update. So you can't really equate effort to updates.

 

Bottomline for me, if you have problems, let them be heard. Or you might get put in the bucket of "perfectly satisfied"

[choff1138]

That's just the thing. The "perfectly" satisfied people are those that have just have not said anything. I'm sure there's plenty of people that have had 2-3 resets/freezes in as many weeks of ownership that have not spoken up. I for one, am included in that group.

 

 

The perfectly satisfied get tired of getting bashed by the few having major problems so leave. I for one have had mine since September and had one reset and no fuse pulls. I am still on 1.8, feel there is no major lag - I compare it to our garmin more than our iphone. I think people need to speak up when there is issues, but just griping on a forum doesn't do any good, it is the wrong venue.

 

I wish everyone could appreciate what the car can do as much as I have. It is a blast!

[cal3thousand]

The perfectly satisfied get tired of getting bashed by the few having major problems so leave. I for one have had mine since September and had one reset and no fuse pulls. I am still on 1.8, feel there is no major lag - I compare it to our garmin more than our iphone. I think people need to speak up when there is issues, but just griping on a forum doesn't do any good, it is the wrong venue.

 

I wish everyone could appreciate what the car can do as much as I have. It is a blast!

 

The forum is for discussion. If you can't read it without getting personally hurt, YOU need to leave.

 

EDIT: for the record, nobody bashed anyone... including those who are satisfied. Calm down.

Edited April 12, 2011 by cal3thousand

[choff1138]

The forum is for discussion. If you can't read it without getting personally hurt, YOU need to leave.

 

EDIT: for the record, nobody bashed anyone... including those who are satisfied. Calm down.

 

I don't take it personal - that is why I am still following - but there have been plenty of bashing a while back - both directions. I am just saying why a lot of people aren't on here saying how great their system is.

[akirby]

The forum is for discussion. If you can't read it without getting personally hurt, YOU need to leave.

 

EDIT: for the record, nobody bashed anyone... including those who are satisfied. Calm down.

 

You implied that everyone was having problems and the ones who were "satisified" were simply ignoring the problems. That is clearly not the case. The ones who have no problems don't post much. Every time choff1138 says that she's had no problems she gets challenged over and over - going back to last fall.

 

So let's stick to reporting what you know about YOUR vehicle and don't make judgements about other people's vehicles.

[akirby]

They should have been able to fix the issues by now if they were to put the proper effort.

 

No one except Ford and/Or MS can tell you what is actually going on behind the scenes. And yes, 3 updates appears to be effort put forth. BUT twice as many (or more) developers on the case MIGHT have gotten the job done in 1 update. So you can't really equate effort to updates.

 

Brook's law - adding more people to a late software project only makes it later.

9 women cannot have a baby in 1 month.

 

I started my professional career doing Unix development in 1986. I know a little bit about the subject and you're dead wrong. You can't just add people to fix more bugs. Let's say I had 10 different items that needed to be fixed under the hood. Could 10 different people all work in the engine bay at exactly the same time? Of course not. The same is true with software.

 

At one point last year there were reportedly 1500 bugs. You don't fix 1500 bugs in 1 month.

 

Blame them for releasing the software too early.

Blame them for choosing Flash instead of html 5.

Blame them for not being great programmers.

 

But you can't blame them for lack of effort or for trying to sweep problems under the rug.

 

And there's nothing wrong with letting Ford know your displeasure. But that doesn't mean you'll get them to work any faster or harder than they already are.

[cal3thousand]

Brook's law - adding more people to a late software project only makes it later.

9 women cannot have a baby in 1 month.

 

I started my professional career doing Unix development in 1986. I know a little bit about the subject and you're dead wrong. You can't just add people to fix more bugs. Let's say I had 10 different items that needed to be fixed under the hood. Could 10 different people all work in the engine bay at exactly the same time? Of course not. The same is true with software.

 

At one point last year there were reportedly 1500 bugs. You don't fix 1500 bugs in 1 month.

 

Blame them for releasing the software too early.

Blame them for choosing Flash instead of html 5.

Blame them for not being great programmers.

 

But you can't blame them for lack of effort or for trying to sweep problems under the rug.

 

And there's nothing wrong with letting Ford know your displeasure. But that doesn't mean you'll get them to work any faster or harder than they already are.

 

True to an extent. You can't have 10 people working in one engine bay. But one could be working on the paint, while another on the exhaust, while another on the intake, another on the brakes, etc.... If you have only 1 guy doing it all... it will take forever. And more eyes on the problem = more likelihood of finding a proper solution. Like I previously said, only MS and Ford know. And more eyes doesn't just mean more in numbers. I'm sure if they reached out to the mobile phone UI developers, they could get a better GUI that was more efficient.

 

But additionally, what's the next step after a release? You measure the impact and see if there are other issues that arise, and prepare for the next release. This REQUIRES that people include their feedback.

 

I'm still baffled why those that don't have issues just say that they don't have issues, instead of trying to defend something and hush those that are seeing issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[akirby]

I'm still baffled why those that don't have issues just say that they don't have issues, instead of trying to defend something and hush those that are seeing issues.

 

Maybe because they're baffled as to why the people who do have issues keep insisting that everyone has the same issues? Pot....kettle?

[cal3thousand]

I don't take it personal - that is why I am still following - but there have been plenty of bashing a while back - both directions. I am just saying why a lot of people aren't on here saying how great their system is.

 

I'm sorry that bashing occurred in other threads. But lets not muddle this thread with leftover emotions from other threads.

 

 

You implied that everyone was having problems and the ones who were "satisified" were simply ignoring the problems. That is clearly not the case. The ones who have no problems don't post much. Every time choff1138 says that she's had no problems she gets challenged over and over - going back to last fall.

 

So let's stick to reporting what you know about YOUR vehicle and don't make judgements about other people's vehicles.

 

 

I didn't say everyone nor imply it. I, rather, replied to shed light on the other possibility that those you put in the "perfectly satisfied" buckets may be in the "partially satisfied" bucket... "myself included"

 

 

[cal3thousand]

Maybe because they're baffled as to why the people who do have issues keep insisting that everyone has the same issues? Pot....kettle?

 

When did I insist everyone has issues?

 

My very first post on this thread: "I've had my Edge for 12 days. It came with v2.7. It seems pretty good, but I've had 3 resets. Most of them occur when on a phone call and trying to backup at the same time.

EDIT: I took down the number and plan on calling. I think everyone that likes the MFT system and plans to keep the car should give them an earful. They won't fix the problems if they don't hear someone complaining. Additionally, when they quantify their call rates, they will take the number of complaints and try to extrapolate that over the whole customer base. So the more complaints, the more action. "

hmmm... "it seems pretty good, but I've had 3 resets." sounds like my own observation there. "Most of them occur..." seems like description helping to identify issues.

"I think that everyone that likes the MFT system and plans to keep the car should give them an earful" .... I think I should have explicitly included "that have problems" instead of implying it.

Let me be clear: I never meant to insinuate that one should call to complain if they did not have issues.

[rwolson]

I thought long and hard about repsonding, but decided to join the discussion.

 

First, I've owned my Edge since mid December. I've experienced three system reboots during the entire time. The odd part, each reboot occured when I went to Maine.

 

Second, I'm experiencing some minor issues like a Climate control system which decides when it wants to turn up the passenger temps, slow response when pressing the Voice command, button, slow nav, etc, but nothing critical. The dealer did make positive steps in resolving the climate control issue, but since it's intermittent difficult to test and know if you fixed it.

 

Third, adding more programmers at a late stage in a product lifecycle's a recipe for disaster. A programmer cannot just walk into a project cold and contribute immediately, They need to review code, read specs, learn the product. Also, if they ask expiernced programmers questions people miss deadlines. So, while it's always nice to get extra help sometimes you may introduce new and unexpected issues.

 

Fourth, it's maddening and furstating to chase software or hardware issues when only a few encounter the problem. Also, if you can't reproduce the issue you guess at solutions and in some cases introduce new issues.

 

Fifth, you don't want o relase another version too early until you've performed a lot of tests.

 

Note, developing GUI software's always difficult because many people will hate your designs while others find it too complex. A GUI developer may go through a couple of versions before they find a good balance.

 

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Time to stepdown from the box.

 

 

So, hopefully, we see a good release soon to fix the issues for people experiencing major problems.

 

BTW, I'm on my 37th year chasing 1's and 0s and seen a lot of changes in the computer industry.

Edited April 12, 2011 by rwolson

[wilsons66604]

I thought long and hard about repsonding, but decided to join the discussion.

 

First, I've owned my Edge since mid December. I've experienced three system reboots during the entire time. The odd part, each reboot occured when I went to Maine.

 

Second, I'm experiencing some minor issues like a Climate control system which decides when it wants to turn up the passenger temps, slow response when pressing the Voice command, button, slow nav, etc, but nothing critical. The dealer did make positive steps in resolving the climate control issue, but since it's intermittent difficult to test and know if you fixed it.

 

Third, adding more programmers at a late stage in a product lifecycle's a recipe for disaster. A programmer cannot just walk into a project cold and contribute immediately, They need to review code, read specs, learn the product. Also, if they ask expiernced programmers questions people miss deadlines. So, while it's always nice to get extra help sometimes you may introduce new and unexpected issues.

 

Fourth, it's maddening and furstating to chase software or hardware issues when only a few encounter the problem. Also, if you can't reproduce the issue you guess at solutions and in some cases introduce new issues.

 

Fifth, you don't want o relase another version too early until you've performed a lot of tests.

 

Note, developing GUI software's always difficult because many people will hate your designs while others find it too complex. A GUI developer may go through a couple of versions before they find a good balance.

 

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Time to stepdown from the box.

 

 

So, hopefully, we see a good release soon to fix the issues for people experiencing major problems.

 

BTW, I'm on my 37th year chasing 1's and 0s and seen a lot of changes in the computer industry.

I agree!

That's why I've been suggesting scrapping this POS and do it in iOS or some other OS with low overhead

[cal3thousand]

I am going to call to express what I feel is not working properly as well as what I feel IS working well. I think Ford could use the feedback. And with that, I am DONE with this thread.

[akirby]

When did I insist everyone has issues?

 

Let's keep in mind there are a lot of perfectly satisfied 2011 Edge owners out there with few to no problems.

That's just the thing. The "perfectly" satisfied people are those that have just have not said anything.

 

It's not up for debate. There is no need to make comments or assumptions about what other people are experiencing or not experiencing just like they shouldn't tell you what you are or are not experiencing in your vehicle.