Complaint Review: Don Reid Ford

After over a year of bringing my Excursion in for the same problem and being repeatedly charged for something they fixed wrong, then refused to investigate the real problem until after the warranty for the repair expired, I was charged once again for the same issue. Here is the letter I presented to the service manager and they still are demanding I pay for 1/2 of the repair, which is another 349$ out of my pocket:

12/23/06
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Hard rain with blowing wind.
12/24/06
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Buzzing sound starts in vehicle dashboard area which would not stop even after turning off vehicle and removing keys. Removed a fuse from the fusebox and the noise stopped. Vehicle ran fine, but without dome light.

01/03/07
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Brought vehicle in to resolve the problem so dome lights could be restored. Vehicle was misdiagnosed as a headlamp switch assembly issue and the headlamp switch assembly was replaced.

During drive home radio would only work while vehicle was in drive and not in park and cruise control would not work. I immediately called the dealer upon arriving home and informed them of the problem. I almost pulled the fuse out that I pulled previously, but since there was no buzzing sound I left it in, unfortunately.

Total Cost: $146.13

01/04/07
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Vehicle had dead battery in the morning and could not be jumped. It had to be towed back to the dealer. Was told that I needed a new GEM module, a new alternator, and a new battery. Vehicle was not ready for pickup until 01/09/07.

Total Cost: $778.04

04/10/07
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Hard rain with blowing wind that evening.
04/11/07
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First thing in the morning, the check engine light was on. The O/D light was on and wouldn't turn off even though vehicle was not in O/D. Speedometer was working erratically, jumping up and down.

Before bringing vehicle in, I researched the symptoms and found much evidence of the exact type of problem being due to water leak causing water damage to GEM module. This information was explained to repair service advisor.

Vehicle was misdiagnosed as needing the real wheel speed sensor and ignition lock cylinder replaced. The problem with the GEM module was either not investigate or not found. Total Cost: $384.13

10/07
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Hard rain with blowing wind at night.
Next day
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Vehicle would not start in the morning. Had to jump the vehicle to drive it to dealer for repair. Once again I informed the service adviser that I thought the problem was due to water leaking onto the GEM module.

Vehicle was diagnosed as having a bad battery. A new battery was provided as the bad battery was still under warranty. The problem with the GEM module was either not investigated or not found.
Total cost: $0

01/17/08
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Hard rain with blowing wind that evening.
01/18/08
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Vehicle would not start due to dead battery. Called and made appointment to bring vehicle in for repair on 01/21/08. Could not make appointment and had to reschedule for next day.
01/22/08
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I had to jump vehicle to drive it to dealer for repair.

Once again I informed the service adviser that I thought the problem was due to water leaking onto the GEM module. I was informed by the service advisor that the battery was recharged and that everything was fine. I asked that further investigation be performed. I reiterated that I thought the problem was due to water leakage onto the GEM module. That evening I sent an email to the service advisor containing 12 links to web pages, blogs, forums and postings on the NHTSA web site regarding problems with the same symptoms being related to water leakage onto the GEM module. The service advisor reviewed the links and informed me the next day that he did not think that was the cause of the problem.

The vehicle was left outside overnight at Don Reid as it was supposed to rain that night. That night we did indeed have a hard rain with blowing wind. The next morning the battery was dead and would not take a charge. This happened while the vehicle was still at the dealer and finally proved that what I was claiming was indeed happening.

Further investigation was performed on the vehicle and several days later I was informed that the GEM module was damaged due to water leakage. The problem was finally diagnosed correctly, unfortunately after the warranty had expired. I was told that I would be given a discount on the cost of the repair.

I informed the service advisor that the repair should be performed free of charge since the problem occurred several times during the warranty period and my claims of water leakage onto the GEM module were not taken into consideration nor was the GEM module ever inspected for signs of water leakage, even after my repeated claims.

I believe that if the problem was diagnosed correctly on 01/03/07 that I would not have ended up needing to replace the alternator nor the battery. These parts worked fine until the problem was misdiagnosed as a bad headlamp switch assembly and the fuse was put back into the fuse box.

I believe that my suggestion of water leakage onto the GEM module was not taken into consideration on 04/11/07 and once again the GEM module was not inspected for water damage. I also believe that the real wheel speed sensor and ignition lock cylinder did not need to be replaced or were damaged as a result of water leakage onto the GEM module. I believe that if the repair was done correctly on 01/04/07 then I would not have had to incur the expense of replacing these parts.

I believe that if my previous suggestions of water leakage onto the GEM module were taken into consideration, inspected and repaired that I would not have had the dead battery problem in October, 07. I also believe that my continued suggestions of water leakage onto the GEM module at this time were once again not investigated.

In fact, I believe that none of my suggestions regarding water leakage onto the GEM module were ever investigated and that the true problem was not diagnosed correctly until after the warranty had expired for the GEM module replacement done on 01/04/07.

I have spent many hours (costing me lost income) trying to resolve this problem and my repeated suggestions of water leakage onto the GEM module were ignored, costing me to replace components that should never have been damaged nor needing replacement.

I am utterly disgusted by the suggestion that I pay for the repairs to get the problem finally resolved. I cannot believe that Don Reid Ford does not take responsibility for ignoring my suggestions, causing additional repairs to be performed, and parts to be unnecessarily replaced. If the problem was properly diagnosed and repaired from the beginning, none of these subsequent issues would have occurred and I would not be in this situation. I would not have had to spend money and time during the last year to have the original problem fixed. In my opinion, these ongoing problems were due to the incompetence of the service department Don Reid Ford.

All of the history and repair records for this issue have somehow been lost by Don Reid Ford. Luckily, I keep all of my records and I am able to provide a complete history of this issue.

Michael
Winter Springs, Florida
U.S.A.