Horrible customer service from a Ford dealer!

I went into a big Ford dealer to look at a diagram of the fuse box for my 1994 Ranger. I was missing a fuse that I think was a 30 amp but wasn't sure. The parts guy could only go back to 1996 and thought it might be the same, wrong. I said I had an automatic and he said, "too bad, the standards better". He also asked if I had the owners manual, which if I did, I probably wouldn't have had to go there. He asks if I have the old fuse and I say it was missing. He then tells me to go the cashier and ask for the service manager since he can get the service manual for a 1994. The service manager was on the phone. A couple minutes later, the cashier tells the service manager that I'm looking for a fuse for a 94 Ranger. The cashier comes back and tells me the service manager will be tied up... for 45 minutes!!! All I needed was a .$50 fuse and a look at the fuse box for what they're for. I know they had microfiche before 1996 but that has to be one of the poorest examples of customer service I have ever seen. I"m tempted to let the owner know what I thought. He used to be a big shot at Ford before he bought the dealership. There was even a mission statement on the wall the owner signed. Pathetic! Dave

Go visit a local junkyard and you'll probably get your answer a lot quicker.

I've been at our local Case-IH dealer looking for parts and the young parts guy went and pulled out the old microfiche machine under the counter and went through the files and pulled out the correct fiche and in a few minutes he had the diagram and part number, that's because he was doing his job..a week earlier I had asked about a part and the guy on the desk that day said they were no longer available....too lazy to look..it all depends on the person and the day!
They have been very good about pulling up a diagram on the computer and giving me a copy so I have the parts list ans assembly diagrams, our dealer has been very good about doing stuff like that

If I remember correctly you seem to be having a lot of trouble with getting good customer service recently. Maybe you need to move to a better neighborhood.

Ahhhh, now that was just cold. Mabey the Ford man was killing time ~here~ around christmas...

Rod

Found onlime
94 Ford Ranger
If you have cover it should be numbered.follow the diagram.
#1. 15AMP fuse. four way flash
#2. 20AMP fuse. horn
#3. 20amp C.B. cigar lighter,flash to pass,power lumbar.
#4. 10AMP fuse. instrument panel. illumination.
#5. 20AMP fuse. premium radio. amplifier.
#6. 30AMP c.b. power windows.
#7. 20AMP fuse. rabs module.
#8. 15AMP fuse. H02S heater.
#9. 10AMP fuse. A/C switches,clutch coil.
#10. 15AMP fuse. radio.
#11. 15AMP fuse. park/licencelamps/rabs
"KEEP ALIVE"
#12. 30AMP fuse. blower motor.
#13. 15AMP fuse. turn lamps,B/U lamps,
turn indicator,daytimerunning lamps.
#14. 15AMP fuse. dome/courtesy lamp,
radio memory,power mirror.
#15. 10AMP fuse. speed control.
#16. 15AMP fuse. warning gauges/lamps,
electric shift 4x4,chime module.
#17. 6AMP C.B. front wash/wipe

I saw that same list but the fuse that was missing was #12 and my blower motor worked just fine without it. That's why I went to the dealer to check. Big waste of time. Napa wasn't much better but had some fuses on the wall. Good thing they don't sell Ford tractor parts. Getting parts for my 1965 MF tractor is much easier. Go figure. Dave

Maybe your people skills aren't real good???? Try licking a 20 dollar bill and sticking it on your forehead next time :shock:

Dave the people person.

If everything is working, maybe it is an empty unused fuse slot.

What makes you think a fuse is missing?

Gary

Just try dealing with Pitney Bowes sometime if you want real bad customer service!

They did everything properly. You are so typical of the whining owner who wants a business to jump through hoops but get very little of your business money in return. You didn't have the manual, you lost the fuse, you only want to pay 50 cents for them to keep the product on the shelf for you and wait on you hand and foot for the privelege. You screwed up and want to blame them. You could have done the foot work but no you want them to do it and when they didn't do it on your schedule then you blame them. Stupid!

Your service was much better than what I've had at Ford Dealerships.

I had a Gran Marquis that I took in for a transmission flush. When I went to pick it up the front windsheild was broke. After a little heming and hawing the "tech" admitted it was hit by a rock when he drove it home for lunch on the "test drive".

Brought it back a couple days later for the new windsheild, a mirror was broke off and the windshield wasn't installed correctly. Had nearly a 1/8" gap on one corner and leaked. The "body man" had tried to install the window himself and broke the mirror off leaning over the car and then hadn't cleaned all the old glue out of the track.

Brought it back a third time to get the mirror repaired and another windshield installed. The mirror was installed but whistled (high pitched and loud) at highway speed, but the windshield was finally installed correctly - but they cut the headliner all the way across the front of the passenger compartment. 5 more trips to attempt to silence the mirror (doubt they ever actaully worked on it and they tried to charge me for the replacement headliner.

My next new car will be a Hyundai.

If I were the owner,I wouldn't let my employees who are getting paid big dollars to drop what they're doing and help a DIYer either.They have a business to run and DIYers don't pay the bills.Sorry for the harsh reality,but that's the way dealers and repair shops are and pro'ly should be.

Sounds like you burned up enough of their time(money) already for a "50 cent part".

If all you need is an owner's manual,one is on ebay right now for $21 including shipping. Auction #230394009851.

Had the same problem all the time when I was in service management.

People would call in all the time and expect us to take 15 minutes to diagnose their problem over the telephone so they could go to Autozone, get the parts for cheap, and fix it themselves.

Our standard response was, "You'll have to make an appointment and bring it in so we can put it on a scanner to check it out". It was amazing how fast they disappeared.

A few years back, i bought a wrecked '97 Ford Ranger, from a private owner. I needed several new parts to fix it, so i went to our local large, Ford Dealer.
As soon as i walked up to the parts counter, the guy there asked me how he could help me. I told him what was, and right away i got an interested person to help me get the parts i needed!
And, every time i went there, if even to ask for information, they helped me. Even printed out the info sheets and a copy of pertinent pages i need, since the original owners manual didn't come with the truck.
And, even when i walk thru the showroom, and stop to ogle the new cars that i cannot afford, i am treated with respect, and friendliness.
That Dealer has been in business for many years. I worked for them, way back in 1948-51, but all of those folks are long gone.
But, when i went to local Dodge Dealer, to buy a Dodge oil filter for my 1978 Dodge Motor-home, i was told by the smarmy young a-=h that he didn't have time to go look for it--go to an auto parts store.
And then, his boss walked in. He saw me looking perplexed, asked what was, i told him, and he told the goof where to find the filter, and also told him he had 3 minutes to go get it, or else! He got it!
Yes, i know that the young fools amongst us probably couldn't pour water out of a boot, if the directions were printed on the heel, but they have to be firmly shown the error of their ways, or the whole country will go down the tubes! EOR

Just put a fuse in it and see if what you want to work,works.If it does start with say a 10 amp.If you get along with that fine.If it blows put a 15 amp in it.Before you do all this look close and the amps may be marked somewhere on it.Or you could go to a junk yard and take that fuse out.Problem with stuff in the junkyard is do you know if its right or not.
People at a dealership are not going to waste their time with you over a 50 cent fuse.If they knew the answer they probably would tell you,but its such a insignificate thing they havent got time to deal with it.It takes thousands of dollars a week to run a shop.You 50 cent fuse is real low priority.They probably would look that right up for you if you bought a new pickup from them.

Sounds like the John Deere dealers around here.

As a former dealership parts man, I can tell you that the information as to what fuse goes in which slot is NOT in the parts books. It might be in the owners manual, but since owners manuals are NOT stocked in the parts chain, it's a PITA to order them.

You can order owners and service manuals from Helm Inc., the publisher who does most of the manuals for GM and Ford [among others]...and if the dealership orders it from Helm, expect to pay more, because Helm charges the dealer the same amount they charge the consumer.

As far as the service manager being too busy to talk to you...that's usually the case. Service managers usually have offices that are not in plain sight because they have a department to run. The service advisor is usually the point of contact for the customer...and since the advisors are paid on a commission basis for the services they sell, they have no incentive to look up information in a manual when someone on Line 3 may be trying to schedule a transmission overhaul.

And the days of the "50-cent fuse" are all but gone on the dealership level. WHY?? Because by the time you figure the dealer's cost to pay the parts man to look up the fuse, write up the sale,and the cashier to ring it up and make change, the dealer has already lost money on the transaction. Twenty years ago, we were told that any transactions for under a dollar was losing the dealerhsip money...today, I wouldn't be surprised if they fail to make any profit [net] on any transactions under $5 !!

But because they basically refused to lose money for you, that's bad service? When you could either go online and find the information you need, or could order your own manual ? Just like I have to keep preaching to the LIBERALS, businesses are NOT in business to make you happy; they are in business to MAKE MONEY. If they manage to make you happy while making money, they'll probably stay in business longer. But profits are--and always were--the primary purpose of ANY business that's not an outright charity.

Most vehicles I've had have the fuse and relay diagram printed on or into the back side / inside of the fuse cover, sometimes printed into the plastic, so may be hard to see. Doesn't the Ranger, or don't you have the cover?

My son had a wreck in his Ranger. Took it to the Ford house for the repairs. I went to pick it up a week later. Found the windshield broken and sheet rock remains in the bed. Ask the service manager what happened he told me it came in like that. I told him I knew that was a lie. Found out the body man had used the truck one day to hual sheetrock to his house. Broke the windshield when they dropped one of the sheets on the truck. Told the manager fix it or I will see you in court. Got the truck fixed never went back.

All I needed was a .50 cent fuse.....tells the whole story.

There was remnants of an old fuse in the slot and it also showed one on line. I wanted to double check with a dealer. Dave

Wow! I can't believe some of the responses. Bad customer service is bad customer service, period! Have some of you never heard of repeat customers? I only needed a $.50 fuse THIS time. What if I need an expensive part next time? Do you think I'd go back to this dealer? I went to this dealer previously to get a key and another partsman was very helpful and spent at least 15 minutes trying to make me a key that would work. I ended up having to go a locksmith that has a key grinder because the key/locks on my truck were too worn. That's why I went there again. I bought a $20,000 new truck in 1987. I was looking at Fords and Chevs. I went into a Chev dealer at asked if they had a brochure. A salesman goes in the back and brings out a brochure. Then he hands it to me and says,"here you go no charge". I looked at the brochure and it was for the previous model year. Who charges for vehicle brochures? I don't think the guy took me seriously. Do you think I bought a truck from him? No! Don't tell me that because it's only a $.50 fuse it's not worth helping a customer. A dumb comment about a brochure quite possibly cost a dealer a $20,000 sale. A little help with what seems a waste of time can go a long way. Dave

Here's a question for some of you. What if the tractor dealer was too lazy to look up something for your 40 year old tractor you're fixing? Would you buy a new tractor from them? Dave

I agree with you. What you needed was a small item. But it could lead to a bigger sale. When I was on the road I would stop and check on customers in the town I was in. Not all the time but enough that they knew I cared about them. My boss at the time told me to stop doing it. Until one customer ordered a genset at eighty thousand dollars. Ask him later if the coke I bought the customer. Was worth the sale. One reason I was fired was because I treated the customer with respect and tried to help them.I always had my jobs done and the company never suffered by me checking on customers.

Hate to break it to you, Dave, but GM--and the other manufacturers--charge the dealers for those brochures. That becomes a part of their overhead...and they have to make money to keep the doors open.

You don't know how many times that, as a parts man, I've been b!tched out by a customer for going the extra mile and doing stuff for the guy ahead of him who only needed the "50-cent fuse," instead of blowing him off to take HIS $2,000 body parts order. So it goes both ways. With me making $10 an hour, and taking 20 minutes to hunt up an owners manual and make a photocopy of the fuse panel legend, before I write the ticket for the sale of that 50-cent fuse, I've cost my employer around $4. Add to that the cost of the invoices, printer ribbon or ink cartridge, etc. plus the cashier's time, and by the time you're done that 20 cents the dealer "made" on your 50-cent fuse has cost the dealer about 5 bucks. So the dealer has LOST about $4.80 on a transaction that YOU apparently think he should be doing for free anyway.

The dealer would be money ahead if he just told you he couldn't help you and went on about his business. And that's why lots of dealers DON'T get perturbed when their employees do just that. What YOU are calling "bad customer service," THEY'RE calling "cutting their losses." Because those transactions DO show up on the dealership bottom line; but your promise to "maybe" buy a vehicle "someday" doesn't pay the light bill.

Ya know... to a point I agree with you. They probably could have looked the thing up for you as a 'goodwill' type of thing or at least grabbed a book and let you look it up yourself.
On the other hand, you could have bought a Haynes manual at crappy tire for 15 bucks (which you should have anyway if you're working on the truck) and that would probably have given you the info you needed... or you could have stuck an ohmmeter in the cold side of the fuse holder to see what kind of load was there, then calculate the needed fuse size... or........... you could just stick a 5 or 10 amp fuse in it and go and if it blows, go to 15 or 20 amp.

In one sense you might be glad you got someone to even talk to you at a big dealer in the sales department. I know of one of the more agressive dealer groups around here (one owner has several different brands and locations)... some of the sales staff don't really even want to talk to you unless they think there's a good chance of doing a deal. The reason being... management tracks every contact you make, every quote you write and every sale you make... and if you're doing a lot of talking and quoting but not closing deals... well... they're on your back. So as joe salesman, you really don't want to talk to joe window shopper because he's just dragging your stats down.... and in the service department at those operations... the service associate or whomever you're talking to operates on the same type of game. With commission. So he's there to sell you crap you don't need, not get 50 cent fuses. Why not jsut go to the local UAP/NAPA? Probably more help anyway...

Rod

EVERYONE should be REQUIRED to spend alot of time on both sides of the parts counter !
This would sure be an eye opener for many.

With everyone downsizing and cutting employees it's getting alot harder to get taken care of too.

And if Ford is like GM which they likely are you won't find fuses in the parts computer !
GM didn't even have a chart on the fuse box cover telling what they did. Just a number or amp rating ? Owners manual was of no use either !
GM sure was/is a screwed up company and should of been let go belly up !
I once spent ALOT of time searching for a service manual and then going through it to find out what a certain fuse did for a fellow once.
Lucky for him we were slow at the time , then things got really slow and I got laid off then the place closed ! There went one guy who got top service chances of getting it ever again. Times are changing and it's all for the worse !

Napa wasn't much better but at least had some fuses on the wall. How does it cost a dealer if they are paying people by the hour to help customers? I was the only one there at the time. I would have gladly looked in a manual if they could have just gave me one to look at. Surely the service counter could have taken a minute to give me a manual to look at. The MF dealer was busy when I went there, so they gladly let me look through the manual on how to install and adjust the draft plunger and spring. I have never ever seen a car dealer sell brochures. Their markup on everything they sell should cover it. When you buy parts, it should be first come first served, not who's spending more. Parts stores don't have a seperate line for less expensive parts. How does a parts guy know that you're not restoring a Shelby and will need thousands of dollars worth of original parts? How do they know that after I get the fuse figured out, I don't have a big list of other parts I need? If a customer b!tches at you for helping a customer that was there before him, tells you what a jerk he is. Why are his parts more important than the other guys? I wasn't looking for NOS parts for 1950 truck with a dozen customers waiting. I was looking for a fuse chart for a 1994 truck that I don't think was asking too much. What if I had a whole fleet of trucks and sometimes just needed an inexpensive part? I guess dealers shouldn't make keys because they are inexpensive or sell any parts that cost under $5. The last I heard, dollars are counted 1 at a time. A lot of small parts can add up in a hurry. You add up all the sales at the end of the day, some days are better than other's but at month's end everything usually averages out. Keeping customers happy brings them back. Angering customers sends them away, usually to the competition. Remember again, the movie Pretty Woman. When I bought my truck in 1987 I was so tempted to go the Chev dealer and tell him he blew a $20,000 sale. The news of poor service travels faster than the news of good service. Dave

Let me tell you about my Chevy dealer next door,
I took a tire over to get changed to a used tire
I took over The owner asked one of the guys to do
it, no charge. Last week I went over and borrowed
a $95 dollar special tool from them. I've bought
vehicles from them since 1962 first the father
then the son, now from the other son. I used to
go in and tell them "I'm gonna buy a new truck
today, gimmee your best price" Then I take a
ride checking about 4 other dealers then go
and buy it from the neighbor Never knew what a
good deal I had till I read these posts.

Dave, I was always the guy who went above and beyond for the customer...and I can tell you from firsthand experience that nowadays, each dealership department is considered a "profit center," and each sale is a "profit-building opportunity." A counterperson who spends the kind of time you're talking about to sell a 50-cent fuse gives the dealer heartburn...and woe be unto the MANAGER who "wastes" his time--and the owner's money--that way.

Dealers look at things that way now because high-priced "consultants" have told them that the dealership runs on the "80/20" rule": that 20% of your customers will generate 80% of your revenue. Therefore, the 80% of customers that generate only 20% of the dealership's revenue are, by and large, a waste of labor and resources for your dealership. And since the dealer is paying the consultant big bucks to tell him this, then it HAS to be gospel.

MY philosophy is that if you take care of the customer, they will take care of you; a kind of "what goes around, comes around" philosophy. Since that is in direct conflict with what the high-priced consultant is telling the dealer, guess which one of us is expendable? [Clue: it AIN'T the high-priced consultant.]

It's a whole new world out there, Dave, and folks who think like you and me are considered dinosaurs...soon to be extinct.