Dealer kinda screwed me, Customer service not helping, now what?

[TommyGun]

I ordered my mach1 back in July. The Dealer was happy to take it in as an A-plan order. He did state that he was not sure if he could give me the full A-plan discount as he was unsure what Ford was going to reinburse him. He said that he could easily sell the Mach1's he is allocated at sticker price. He wrote the order up stating that I would pay no more than $28,500 for the car. He then told me there was a decent chance I would pay much less once he knew what ford would reinburse him.

I just got my mach1 recently. They told me the final price would be $28,500. They also told me I had to have my A-plan pin number in order to get the price of $28,500. So I reluctantly signed and took possession of the car.

I now have found out that the actual A-plan price is somewhere below $26,000. That means I should have gotten this car around $2,500 cheaper since it was an A-plan purchase.

Some people have told me that this dealership has screwed ford by doing this and also screwed me. I do realise I got a better price than sticker, and for that I am happy. I still think the way this deal went down is crummy. The dealer is now going to get a reinbursement from ford to compensate for selling the car at A-plan price, yet they sold it for much more and now will make a killing off of the sale.

Today I called Ford Customer Service. They told me to call the AXZ plan headquarters. So I called them and they say I need to get a copy of the factory invoice for the car. They also said I would need to approach the dealership General Manager about this. I am pretty sure my dealership is not going to give me the invoice. AXZ HQ says that without the invoice there is not much they can do. They also have not said if I would even be able to get a reinbursement even if I did get the invoice. Then they tell me that I should try calling Ford Customer Service, however, every time I call them, they tell me that I need to deal with the AXZ plan headquarters to find out about what can be done. Bascially I am going in circles.

I would like to ask you all if you have any ideas on what to do next. Do you think I am even entitled to a reinbursement? I am not trying to screw over the dealership, however I think I was mislead and I also think they are using A-plan to their advantage to come out ahead. For some reason nobody at Ford Customer Service seems too concerned.

[03mach1]

In the computer it AUTOMATICALLY figures out the price for A/X/Z plans and it is on the invoice. I had ordered mine May 21st!!

They can also printout the DORA with the pricing on it..

I got that (DORA) right away when I ordered mine and I got X-plan pricing. I also got a copy of my invoice too. Here is what is on mine for pricing.

A/D Plan - $25,838.67

X-Plan - $27,022.21

MSRP - $29,290.00

[wdwrdcrzr]

Sounds like something should be done to dealership.A plan is 25,960 with interior upgrade package and 5 speed.

[TommyGun]

Well the thing that sucks is that I have told both AXZ HQ and Ford Customer Service what the A-plan price should be. They still say that I need to get the invoice. I am not sure why this is so important to them. Furthermore they don't seem all that concerned about fixing this and have not even answered if I would be elgible for a reinbursement. THey actually told me I should try and get the dealership to reinburse me! I know that this will not happen, they know exactly what they did and they did it for a reason.

[127bull]

Tommy, sorry to hear your troubles. The dealer should have given you the invoice, I believe they have to. I think I got my car at the same dealer and got Xplan no problem and I got all the paper work showing all the plans and dealer cost. If you need some help let me know I can call my salesman and see whats on the up and up. btw can't wait for warm weather so we can go crusin.

[KCSailor]

Hey,
Get a Lawyer, and call the attoney general since this constitutes fraud.

[MACHDADDY]

MINE IS FOURTH CAR I HAVE BOUGHT FROM MY DEALERSHIP. I AM ELIGIBLE FOR X PLAN AND THEY WONT HONOR IT. THEY SAID THEY ARE ONLY ALLOCATED 1 CAR SO I HAVE TO BUY IT AT STICKER. SO I GUESS 28,500 IS A BETTER DEAL FOR YOUR CAR. BETTER THAN NOTHING.

[gotmach]

The dealer can sell the car for what ever they want to . they do not have to agree to any a-z plan. The bigest thing is i hope they didnt force you to sighn the papers. When you do sighn on the dotted line, that means you understand and agree to the price. Another thing to know. the dealership is the customer to Ford and the owner is the dealerships customer. Its all about the money..

[TommyGun]

Yeah, I am glad I at least got somewhat of a price break. However, I think its somewhat dishonest of them to use my PIN number and turn it in as an A-plan order. They REFUSED to sell me the car until I got the PIN number, this is one thing they were very concerned with.

[gomachin]

Your last post made more sense to me unless I skipped over it in the first. I didn't realize they got your pin #. My husband and I own a John Deere dealership and I understand the back side of this more than most people. I pay for all our equipment when it is purchased. Yes, lots of times special incentives are offered to the dealers to take at the time of settlement on the equipment. Most of these should be passed on to the customer. In other words if a dealer can take an extra $1,000 when he pays for that piece of equipment it is meant to be taken off MSRP. Most reputable dealers will do it just to get the sale. Some will not and just pocket the $1,000 to their good. Other times incentives are based on #of units sold. In other words, if you sell 4 Gator utility vehicles then the dealer will get $100.00 per unit sold after that. That is not meant to be passed on to the customer because there is no guarantee you will sale that many in the beginning. But in your case, I do believe what they are doing is using your pin for the A plan pricing reinbursement(what it sounds like, anyway). If this is the case this is not ethical. You should contact the Territory Manager of this dealership. I know in our case that is who will get to the bottom of it the quickest. Also I understand when they send you the questionaire if a dealership gets a bad review, Ford comes down on them very hard. I heard that from a good friend of ours that owns a dealership. That would be a good way to get the word back to Ford. I know in our case if a customer complains, whether it is warranted or not, we will get a call from John Deere. Thank God it has only happened once and the customer was just really nasty anyway. I know this is a long post, but keep trying, it may not get your money back but it will definately cause trouble for that dealer. GOOD LUCK

[Five Oh B]

Your dealer likely did not report your sale as an A-plan to Ford - even though you gave them your PIN #. If a sale is reported as an A-plan to Ford it is subject to audit for accuracy. The price charged has to be exactly (to the penny) what is on the invoice for your car or the dealership risks trouble with Ford.

They may not get caught today on your Mach 1, but in the long run a Ford audit will catch up with them.

If they did not report your sale as an A-plan to Ford, but as a regular retail sale, then they risked nothing with Ford. What they risked was your repeat and referral business in the future. As they lied to you, be sure to tell as many people as possible to stay clear of them and to buy elsewhere!

[starscream]

My feeling is that you are not legally entitled to get any money back. I say this for several reasons:

1) AZX plan is a dealer option, many of us couldn't find a dealer to honor that.

2) Dealer did state that he was not sure if he could give you the full A-plan discount

3) He wrote the order up stating that you would pay no more than $28,500 for the car.

I'm not saying that that's fair practice and you don't have a right to be po'd, just that legally I don't think you're entitled to be reimbursed for anything.

Also though on a different note you said:

The dealer is now going to get a reinbursement from ford to compensate for selling the car at A-plan price, yet they sold it for much more and now will make a killing off of the sale.

Most of us couldn't get plan pricing on the Mach because Ford doesn't reimburse the dealers the full difference between the plan price and the MSRP. So for a dealer to give a plan price they do take a hit off what they would make if they sold it near sticker. I think what they make is only a few hundred dollars. So I don't think the dealer is making a killing off the sale, in fact with 700 dollars being the difference between the sale price and MSRP, they are probably making just as much as if they sold it for MSRP.

[TommyGun]

Thanks for your replies. At this point I think I am going to drop the issue. Its not really worth the trouble. I am happy with the price I paid and I am happy with the car. The main reason I even thought about this to begin with is because some people have told me I am entitled to a reinbursement because the dealer screwed up. Right now Im not so sure I am entitled to anything like that, which is ok if thats true.

I just hope I have not ruined my relationship with the dealership because Ford called them and told them I filed a complaint. The thing that sucks is that I only called ford for information on this subject and TOLD them that I was NOT filing a complaint. How nice of them to go ahead and call the dealer anyways. So I had to explain everything to the sales manager when he called. He just told me that I agreed to the price and Knew I was not getting the full A-plan discount. I told him I was just a little aggravated how pushy the dealership was about getting my PIN number when I picked up the car even though I was not getting A-plan price. He explained that they needed that number so they could get reinbursed and without it they would not have been able to sell me the car for $28,500.

At this point its not worth pursuing. I don't want things to get nasty. All I wanted to know was if the way this deal went down was right or not. Ford didn't seem too concerned about answering that question for me. Anyways, thanks for the replies. Now im going to just enjoy my mach1 and pray for some better weather :)

[Greggvh]

First NO the dealer does not have to honer the ford plans.

Now that said the A plan is not a discount and you are not buying the car from the dealer at that point you are buying from ford. So you can not have a partial discount on the A plan. Its all or nothing.

The dealer pays some place around the A-plan price for the car so anything past that is what they are making. So they did not make $700 they made a few grand on your car.

You should call customer service and insist on talking to a supervisor and if that dosnt work then ask for thier supervisor and keep going up and do the same with the other number.

This Dealer asked for your A-plan pin number and charged you full price. That is just wrong. They lied to you and cheated you!

Also if I understand the plans right the A plan is the old plan. I dont think any current emplyees can get the A plan (??right or wrong??) I thought the new one is called something else. So the A plan is for an emplyee that has/had worked for ford for a long time and then to have a dealer screw them over like this is just wrong!

Dont give up on this you lost about $3000!

As far as dealers not doing the plans on the Mach 1s thats because you all tried doing it when they were new. It was the same way with the bullitts but by the middle of production they were sitting on lots and you could pick them up on the A-plan as we did. You also need a good dealer :)

[Darkhorse]

QUOTE]Originally posted by TommyGun
He explained that they needed that number so they could get reinbursed and without it they would not have been able to sell me the car for $28,500. [/QUOTE]

Pursue this. That is a lie. They don't need your pin number unless they're selling you the car on plan pricing. The fact that he asked for this when you picked up the car tells me they turned this in as an A-plan sale. He told you they couldn't sell you the car for $28,500 without your pin number. They can sell the car for any amount they want unless they sell it on A/D/X/Z plan. They only need the pin number when they sell it on the plan. If they are selling the car for $28,500 then that isn't a plan price, thus no need for the pin when you picked it up. They sold you the car for $700 under msrp but they are attempting to turn it in to Ford as an A-plan sell in order to make more on the car. They could get into deep trouble for this. I bought this GT I have in July under my father's Z-plan. They only asked for the pin at the very end and this was after they asked my dad to call an automated number to get the pin. They lied to you. My father worked for Ford Motor Company for over four decades and I called him about your post. He bought about twenty cars in that period and he said they are double dipping as he called it. Go to them and try and get reimbursed and if they refuse go to Ford about it. Before you do any of this, get that invoice. As someone else said, there is no such thing as a partial discount on plan pricing. It's an all or nothing deal.