Complaint Review: Gwinnett Place Ford Service Dept.

My ordeal with this place started on March 14th. My 2005 Ford Explorer went into safe engine mode. So we decided to take it to Gwinnett Place Ford since they were right down the street from us. We dropped it off and received a phone call a few hours later that said our throttle body needed to be replaced. They told us $800.00. So I tell them to go ahead and fix it because this is our main family car and we have 5 kids so this is the car that fits all of our kids. A few hours later we get a call to say it was fixed. Me and my husband go there to pick up the car and before we could even pay the service guy approached us and told us the car went back into safe engine mode. So we left without our car!

The next day the service guy (Don) calls me and tells me that the Power Control Module now needs to be replaced. $400.00 for used and $1100.00 for a new! We go with the used. Don advised us the part wouldn't get there until Monday afternoon. I get a phone call from Don the following Wednesday saying that the part was in and it was running fine that he would drive it for a couple of days and for us to come get it Friday to make sure that the car doesn't go back into the safe engine mode. We go pick up the car Friday with $1200.00 in hand pay for the car and the Technician brings it around. I noticed that the ABS light and the Advtrac light were both on. We showed them and he did a few things and the lights went off. We drove the car home.

Less than 24 hours later......... my husband goes to get in the car to go to the store and the car is BACK IN SAFE ENGINE MODE!!!!!!!!!!! I call Don on Monday March 26th and tell him what happened. He's very apologetic and tells me to bring the car up there and that he will provide a rent a car for me from Enterprise. We have the car towed up there Monday evening and pick the rental up around 5:30p.m. I didn't hear from Ford for 2 days!!!! Don calls me Wednesday late morning (now 14 days since the issue started).

He now says the accelerator sensor code came on and they replaced it but that he wanted to drive it around for a while to make sure it doesn't come back on. I call my cousin in Auburn who is a mechanic. He told me what I had already knew..... there is something going on with the computer wiring! The chances of all 3 of those things going down is rare.... especially when they go down within hours of the other problem being fixed. I call Don Thursday and voiced my frustrations to him! This is just ridiculous! I have emptied out my savings, I have had to pull my kids out of daycare to be able to catch up financially! All while still having to pay for my car note through a separate financing company!

Fast forward to Friday, late afternoon. I get a VM from Don...... after me and him got off the phone Thursday the car went back into safe engine mode.... and a different code came up! I didn't even call them back because I am just exhausted with this. Didn't hear from them Monday either!

I get a phone call Tuesday April 3rd (now 20 days without my car) from a new guy Chris. This guy was so rude from the beginning!!!!!!!!!! He tells me that Don is no longer with the company and he will be taking over. He proceeded to tell me that there is a wiring issue (which I told Don that the Thursday before) and that his diagnostic guy was going to have to take several hours and go wire by wire to figure out where the problem is! He then tries to tell me it's going to run me between $300.00 to $500.00 for diagnostic fees! Are you kidding me!!!!!!!!!


I told him that I will not be paying that. I told him that they have had my car for 3 weeks now, I have already payed $1200.00 for labor, diagnostic fees, and also parts that I don't even know if they needed to be replaced at all since now you are telling me it is a wiring issue! He then proceeded to tell me that the rental car needed to be turned in that day because it will no longer be payed for by them! I got right off of work and headed straight up to Ford! I talked to the head service guy (Bill) and apparently he was new also! He said he didn't realize all the problems that I have had and that I could keep the rental and that all fees would be paid for. He was helpful and pleasant!

I get a phone call from Chris Wednesday April 4th (3 weeks now) saying that my car is fixed. I explained to him that my husband wasn't off work yet and that I was waiting for my parent to come get my kids that I doubted we could make it up there that day. He proceeded to tell me that I needed to take the rental car back that night. Ummmm they close at 6 so if I just told you that I can't make it up there to your place by 6:30 what makes you think I can get the rental up there by 6??? He tells me that I needed to have the car there by 7:30 in the morning.

I tell him I have to be at work in the morning and that I would drop it off when I pick up the car. He then tells me my advtrac light was on. I tell him that it wasn't on when we brought it in. He says that all he can tell me is 1 doesn't have to do with the other and that since his guy didn't get paid for diagnostic testing on my car that they could check it out but I would HAVE to pay for the fees for that. Mind you... the whole while he was talking to be he was pretty much talking to me like I was trash! Just snippy and NASTY! I tell him I would take it elsewhere.

We go pick up the car Thursday April 5th (Now 22 days). We get there, tell Chris who we are and the first thing out of his mouth is " Did you take the rental back"? Not I'm sorry for the trouble or how's your day, or even a simple hello. My husband tells him that we have 3 of our kids in the backseat and that when we get the truck that we will switch out the carseats from the rental to our car and then we will take it back. He snapped back " I TOLD YOU TO TAKE IT BACK BEFORE YOU GOT HERE".

So this pisses me off since this dude has been so nasty with me from the beginning! I tell him we only had 1 car at that time and I asked him did he want us to walk there! He's all pissy about the paperwork and tells us he needs the paperwork. My husband tells him that he will bring the paperwork back up there after we turned in the car. At this point Chris simply walks away from us. A few minutes later he pulls the car around. My husband and him talked for a minute and then my husband tells me that Chris said he will take the car back but he can't give us any paperwork of what was done to our car until the rental is turned back in!!!!

At that point I felt like we were being treated like thieves! Did he think we were going to steal the car???? What was this mans problem??? I go up to him (since I wanted the paperwork) and told him that I will take the car back so I could put gas in it and have Enterprise bring me back. He looks at me and says in the most a*****e way "whatever makes YOU happy". Funny thing is when I was pulling back up with the Enterprise people I see my husband and Chris talking and Chris is giving him the paperwork because he looked up on their computers and it showed that I had turned the car in!!!!

I will never buy a Ford car again after this experience! NEVER! I have never been talked to like that in my life from anybody! He treated us like criminals... like we were going to steal the d**n car! We never recieved an apology for what we had to go through or anything! Chris was pissed off because we didn't have to pay for anything the second time around.... BUT hey Chris..... we had already spent $1200.00 on the car! I think we atleast deserved to have to not pay for anymore of Ford's incompetence! Oh and here's the kicker. I asked for my old parts back so I could get them tested elsewhere to see if they were still good..... I was told that they had already been discarded! Well isn't that convenient!!! Never take you car here!!!!