Texas Motors Ford damaged my new truck 3 times, committed fraud, and failed to make good. Ripoff! Fort Worth Texas

I took my 2002 Ford Ranger XLT into Texas Motors Ford (TMF), 300 W. Loop 820 South, Fort Worth TX, in order to have the 10,000-mile warranty oil change and service work conducted. After the work was completed, my truck was inside the customer pick-up bay awaiting my arrival when an employee of TMF ran into it with a company golf cart.

Mr. Terry Pritchard (service manager at the time) who witnessed the incident, informed me of the situation when I arrived to pick it up, and stated that the body shop was attempting to buff out the damage. When the vehicle came back from the body shop, Mr. Pritchard showed me the damage and informed me that TMF would order a new bumper and replace it because the scratches would not come out. It took approximately 1 week to get the new bumper in and install it.

When I arrived to pick up the vehicle this time, I immediately noticed that the new bumper was totally covered in greasy fingerprints, the plastic fascia part that mounts underneath the bumper was severely scratched and torn up, and both front fenders had numerous vertical scratches at the point the bumper ends wrap around the sides of the vehicle. I immediately contacted Mr. Cliff Johnson (President TMF), and had him personally look at the additional damage as well as the apparent lack of quality in the workmanship. In turn, he walked me over to Mr. Jack Shepherd's office (Parts & Service) and told Mr. Shepherd that the job was unacceptable and to get it corrected for me immediately.

I left the vehicle there and TMF provided me with a loaner truck for the interim. Three days later when I arrived to pick up my truck for the third time, I conducted what I considered a thorough inspection of the repair work. Everything appeared to be OK (given my limited knowledge of paint and body repair) so I accepted the vehicle. I should also point out that TMF had the vehicle cleaned, and detailed, before returning it to me this time.

Approximately 5 weeks later on 7 June 2003, I was drying off the bumper having just washed it when I noticed that the exact same scratches that were on the bumper involved in the golf-cart incident had magically reappeared on the supposed new bumper. Obviously, I was quite surprised and somewhat livid, after realizing this was an outright act of fraud that TMF had perpetrated on me. I immediately called TMF and informed the weekend service manager that I expected a phone call from either Mr. Johnson or Mr. Shepherd on Monday morning.

Monday, 9 June 2003, at approximately 10 AM, I received a call back from Mr. Shepherd. As I attempted to explain the facts to him, he became extremely rude, evasive, and disrespectful towards me and insinuated that I was lying to him concerning the scratches. He told me the bottom line was that TMF had already bought and replaced the bumper once, and since I had already receipted for it, I had no recourse.

Not having the patience to deal with this idiot any further, I contacted Mr. Johnson and informed him of my recent findings on the bumper and the phone conversation I had with his service manager. I got the immediate impression he did not believe me either, but he told me to bring it in and he would verify the status of this bumper by checking the serial/stock number on it against that of the new bumper they had purchased.

Later that afternoon I took my truck to TMF so Mr. Johnson could look at it and run the numbers. We had a brief conversation in his office wherein he rescinded his comments on being able to verify the serial number, and further attempted to blow smoke up my tail with typical corporate bureaucratic excuses. Understanding his apparent position, I made it absolutely clear to him of my certainty that his service department and body shop had perpetrated an act of fraud by not replacing the bumper as originally agreed on, but simply masking the damage and trying to pass it off as new. When I informed him of this, he immediately took a legal position, and I never heard another word from him or any other person associated with FORD.

Since that time I have tried to contact someone at FORD in MI, but that is a better kept secret than national security items. I filed a complaint with their consumer relations department, but to-date, no response. I filed a complaint with TMF new Customer Care department, but to-date, no action. They have all dropped the concern... I guess because they know that I do not have the money to sue them.

James
Fort Worth, Texas
U.S.A.

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