What you "think" the reason I'm not tracking is wrong and unfounded. I know what the reason is, and it has nothing to do with Escape delays.

Look here:

http://www.mustangforums.com/forum/s...d.php?t=129834

I knew this guy, I used to help him when he went on vacation I'd fill in. His job was threatened. I'm not going to end up in the same boat. Ford, like any other large corporation, can be fickle. When things go good, it'll ride the wave, when things go south can cut you loose.

I was going to put the tracking on hold (ie hiatus) while I decided what I was going to do (ie weigh the risk, because the forum climate was getting heated). But no matter what, EVERYTHING is a conspiracy. The downward spiral from that point on was what made me decide to close it for good.

Please note the date:

This is not the only interchange I'd had with this poster, there were others
http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums...dpost&p=406502
That was in response to my immediately preceding post, in the nom de plume that I use when making non-tracking related (ie normal) posts. But because it wasn't obviously from me, OAC_Sparky is just another pawn in the conspiracy, right?

I tried everything within my means of being open and honest; to try to calm people down. But I cannot give information I don't have, and I try to avoid even speculating. Because when I'm wrong, I'm the one with egg on my face. What then actually happened was that I was running from thread to thread, trying to stomp out rumors and trying to get people to stick to fact, I get accused of being secretive and "in cahoots", it was lose-lose for me.

In all honestly, I appreciate your loyalty to Ford and your enthusiasm for the FEH. We want and need more customers like you. Yet the bottom line is, while you may believe you know the inner workings of Ford, you're off base in this case, just as you were with my post to fmorriso. I don't want to curb your enthusiasm or interest in the product, but I need you to understand that the speculation doesn't do any good unless there's some kind of proof.

I have/had no CONFIRMED reason or knowledge of why the FEHs were/are delayed, as a matter of fact I stated as such, that unless someone from the plant came forward with some concrete info that everything is speculation. Someone came forward and claimed to have been told that the delay was due to Ike. Certainly plausible, because the same thing happened when Katrina hit. But still, it was speculation.

Do I think Ford knows about me? Sure, I don't doubt it. I make due diligence to avoid breaking any company confidentiality directives, I don't post sensitive or internal documents, etc.; so, no harm, no foul, and they turned a blind eye. But that changes materially when people start "keeping spreadsheets comparing people's orders" and "I'm going to take the dealer to small claims court" and they don't realize they're killing it for everyone. Because now I've unwittingly become an accomplice to their actions.

They just walked around my plant yesterday, handing out cardboard boxes to management they felt "expendible". About 20 got escorted out by security. There's a limit to how far I can hang my butt out before it gets kicked.

Now, think for a minute and entirely suspend disbelief of everything in this post. Give me your trust for one moment and put yourself in my shoes. If you were in my position, what would you do?

 

And to add, I apologize for derailing the thread. Please continue with the original topic, I'll withdraw having said my piece.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green Lantern

Sorry to get back off topic for a moment but I just wanted to add a couple of points in here.

....so say we all

 

You have my trust now regarding the Escape delay, and here is what I would have done since you ask.

When I read the silly "Danger" post a while back, I didn't feel it was directed at you. We all know the data you get off the Ford computer is not your fault or anything you have control of. You have been providing a service customers rarely find out, that helps customers determine when and if they got what they ordered and a close date it will arrive. I've advised the "Danger" poster and others to just forget the order and find one on a lot. If I felt a poster was putting my job at risk with the threats, I would have address that in a warning or discontinued your tracking services to him. This would have put others on notice of your concerns. Punishing the other customers and possible Ford sales is why I posted my concerns about your dropping the tracking service. The timing of the Escape delays caused me to try and further justify your reasoning. Also, I have highly recommended the '09 FEH/MMH and more than a few were tracking and would have been tracking their orders though you. Just yesterday I confirmed that the '09 FEH AWD could be pulled behind an RV all wheels down. After confirming that it could, I think we sold another unit because he couldn't find the information he needed anywhere.
http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/can...-be-towed.html

As one earlier post here expressed concerns, we don't know if the delay will cause those of us that have already purchased further issues. Hopefully Ford will provide more information about the delay so we won't have to keep guessing.

GaryG

 

While it's sad that it came to this, I must say it isn't surprising. I can certainly sympathize with those who are upset that they can't get any info on their FEH order progress. I am in the same boat.

I ordered my '09 FEH before production began. I was told it'd probably take about 3 months (and since I went through the same process when I ordered my '05 FEH, which also took about 3 months, I thought the estimate was believable.) With $4+/gallon gas, it's become quite the popular car... so I figured I might need to be prepared to wait an extra month or two.

Unfortunately things went downhill for my order. I've posted some of the history, but the short version is that the order went from an estimate of 3 months to a new estimate of 6 months, to "sometime before the end of the production year". This while I was noticing people on GreenHybrid (I didn't know about BlueOvalForums or ViperPilot until someone pointed it out in response to one of my posts) had ordered cars after me and were already driving them -- meanwhile I still can't even get a VIN number assigned.

I called the dealer who called the zone rep who said she "didn't believe" I could possibly know anyone who ordered after me and already had a car. Obviously I couldn't let that go... I took her up on the bet and escalated within Ford until an executive told me what was going on with my order.

Some executive who is obviously way overpaid decided that Ford should try to improve their image by creating the illusion that these cars are easy to get (at least in some markets). Meanwhile in order to create this illusion, they have to screw the rest of us. Apparently it didn't occur to them that in the age of the Internet, people talk about stuff. It was just inevitable that people would find out that something is fishy with the order fulfillment process and ultimately those getting the short-end of the deal would be unhappy and Ford would end up with a more negative public image. While other employees are being laid off at Ford, *that* executive is no doubt taking home a bonus for his/her fine work.

Ford management should not be insulated from the negative reaction from buyers. I was rather hoping it would escalate to the point where Ford actually gets some negative press out of the deal. Here in Dearborn (really all across the Detroit area) there's very strong pressure to "buy American". They have bumper stickers prominently asking "Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign!" I must say I'm fairly disgusted by an attitude of expecting Americans to buy their products out of pity.

Here's a suggestion for Ford... why not actually try treating customers well (or even fairly) and focus on a strategy of "do the right thing"? Who knows... you *might* even impress some customers enough to get some positive word-of-mouth advertising for a change and ultimately even grow the business. I know I know... that's just CRAZY talk!

 

Based on what I've read here, I imagine trying to get one of these in Canada would be incredibly hard (if not impossible). But what I find interesting is that Ford is really advertising the FEH hard here right now. I see 2 or 3 commercials a day on Canadian channels for the 09 FEH. Yet, on the ford.ca web site there is not anything on the FEH. Sounds to me like GM's "I want a car I can plug in" commercials telling us about all the wonderous products they are making that you can't have. If they're willing to spend big bucks advertising a product you can't have, then they certainly are doing it for image alone.

 

If your interested in buying a 09 FEH in Canada there is one at the dealer I ordered mine from (Gallinger Ford in Milton) though it doesn't have a nav system and why I didn't buy it, so yes hard to get one but not impossible.

 

Just got a call from my Ford Customer Relations rep. Still no word on what the quality control issue is or when it will be resolved. In other words, no idea as to when our FEH will ship.

 

Anyone in this "holding pattern" received any newer information on the rumor of a transmission hold? Thanks. Julian

 

The SUV division workers at KCAP are scheduled to come back from TLO today so we should be hearing more information soon. My customer relations rep promised to call me before end of business Thursday with an update.