[Dinesh_Malhotra]

5th OCTOBER 2011, FORD goes all guns blazing against the consumer himself.
Around 1.30pm, in afternoon a Bhavna Ford`s driver along with a car reaches at my residential area`s parking bay. He calls on my phone and asks me to join him, so that he could take me back to Bhavna Ford, as my FIGO has been rectified of all the occurring issues and is ready to be taken a trial of, and to be taken home.
We (myself and my 2 brothers) agree, confirm and start moving out of our house to catch up with the guy standing inside the parking bay and to proceed further at Bhavna FORD`s service Area where as per the Driver that`d come, the car was ready and is out of all the issues prevalent in the car while submitting it for repairs. I was happy from inside. Felt that finally, finally... this FORD saga will end, and I’ll be done with this car problem. Instead, as it has been with FORD. I was mocked and asked to recheck if I am living under any delusions... seriously Ford?

As soon as we reached Bhavna Ford, today it was the REGIONAL Manager`s turn who`d come especially to pacify me and prove it to me that the car is without any niggles and is in fact in the best of the state of its lifetime. I smiled at him... i asked, sir did you take the trial to see of the issues mentioned, and verify if all of them have been cleared. 'RM' agrees. I request him to conduct one more trial test in front of my eyes, so that like him (RM), i too can rest assure about the quality of the job performed.

TO my horror, the RM explains to me that he didn't actually check ‘two’ of the issues mentioned of all, in practice. I ask which two?
RM replies," Handbrake and Car bottoming out (not scraping mind you, it HITS the under chassis) with quite a good THUD on speed breakers". These speed breakers are situated mostly on Thane-Belapur Road, Wadala (Bhakti park)-CST Road, Panvel Bus Depot Road and also the Road that I’d taken to reach Murud Janjira Fort (alibag) that is all filled with small yet very precise speed breakers created by Villagers there, where i could find my car to be the only one to be hitting the under chassis.
Within Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, You rarely get to see this affecting your day to day life on a daily basis, but if you are a highway driver like me, these above mentioned issues, can simply one day help fate in rubbing that very thin line off, that is between life and DEATH!

• First we move on to check the Handbrake issue if it is rectified:
  
  To recreate the same scene that is similar to the location where for the first time (Lonavala Tiger hills) I’d experienced my handbrake related issue, we move on to the upward curve location that is located near Terna College, Nerul, Navi Mumbai. We mutually decided that we shall both take turns in testing the same.
  
  We both (MR n me) or rather all 5 participants in the TEST assumed that the car when halts will be in a position wherein our FIGO has stalled on a upward curve of a slope and there`s another car that is following us.

(all happening in a duration of a few seconds)

First it was me. We accelerated the car towards the climb, halted it right at the part with brakes applied (not handbrakes yet) where it should be, for checking properly.
Showed the same to the RM. RM acknowledges that we are following right protocol for testing. Further I apply Handbrake as one would do with normal pull application intensity. As of now, my one LEG is on foot-brake and one is resting above the clutch, so that I’m ready to start shifting gears soon to get my car into motion a.s.a.p., before the imaginary car that's following us from behind, hits us on a slope (how should i put it.. trying my level best).

Please NOTE:

now if you`ll remember, if at steep slopes we have to move our car ahead once again that was once stopped, we rely solely on the grip of the Handbrake to keep the car right onto the track, while you remove your legs off from the foot-brake, place it on the accelerator while your left leg is busy playing with the clutch. in my case it was a much bit harder as when this imaginary incident for now had happened with me for real some months ago, MY engine had stalled during down shifting and the FOOT brakes had become ineffective as a result of the same. at the same time my handbrake was not working and there was a big TEMPO behind us, that cut us in the last minute leaving us space to let the car reach back onto the flat surface, so that we can then try to accelerate it again, albeit easily now.

Back to the Test: Guess what?? Even now the car starts rolling backwards. RM is perplexed, confused and I am not happy at all. RM tries to reason with me, says this is common with any of the cars in the market and makes me redo the same process 'FOUR times' before accepting or rather i should say giving a hint of acceptance that he can clearly see a problem here.


Then he tries:

He tries the same, same issue resurges, he explains to me that the notches are not adjusted properly of the Handbrake, even after being attended to, for '4 times' in last few months and recently yesterday (4th October 2011) by FORD`s authorized so called technician. I look at him and reply sternly; do not tell me why is happening or what are the technical reasons for the same. Just get it repaired before someone dies in my car. Especially for people who might not be actually aware about this issue plaguing my car and thus, reacting normally while using Handbrakes as they must (which has normal travel play and effectiveness)

To get more clarification on the issue:

We get RM`s own car which is also a FORD FIGO and I get my friend`s Maruti Suzuki swift for another retest schedule.
To our surprise, the RM`s Figo too did the downward spiral movement on halt at the slope with only handbrake applied, while the Swift with its precise hand-braking stopped right at the stop point with the HB be being with minimum force applied, like within 4-5 notches. With FORD FIGO you have to stretch to the most last notches to make it even stop. Imagine a Girl driving this car on a slope or you precisely developing the body like HULK or reflexes like Spiderman.

• Second Issue that is with the Car`s under-chassis getting HIT (not scraped) on speed breakers:
  
  The RM says to me even this phenomenon is common with FORD FIGO and he can’t help me. I say SIR, if you go through my service history, only in past 2 months I have started to intimate FORD on this issue and earlier on the same roads my car used to scrape but not get HIT under chassis.

RM tries to underplay the whole episode saying again that all FIGO get hit like this on the under chassis while crossing on speed breakers. I ask him that if he`s so sure that this 'Under chassis getting HIT' issue is existing in all of the FIGO`s sold, why are they (Ford) not doing anything to resolve it. He says that it is beyond his control and FORD`s research team will take a call on it as and when they feel they must.

Fine, i said. I then requested him to conduct a test wherein 2 other FORD FIGO`s belonging to neutral parties (filled with same number of people and load) to be run over the above mentioned speed breakers... And only if all of them get their under chassis hit like my FIGO does, i would accept that this under chassis getting hit to be a natural phenomenon of the Ford`s FIGO vehicle.

He exclaims NO! All cars are different. Even if the neutral parties’ cars do not get hit under the chassis while being tested on same bumps with same load. I am not going to acknowledge that your (mine) Figo has any issue. I was left baffled by this theory. I didn’t argue. Didn’t gather the strength to do, I was tired. I regretted the very moment of time i purchased this car.

• Third Issue of Paint Defect is acknowledged by the RM and he says he will get the car`s affected portion repainted at Wasan FORD.

• Minor issues were attended to and rectified like: Horn Tone, “Khas Khas” sound from inside the bonnet compartment, suspension sound rectified after greasing, effectiveness of brakes, brake drums cleaned, brake calipers cleaned, etc.

Drama After all the above (FORD seems to be inspired by T.V serials I guess):
We came back to the service station (Bhavna). I and my brothers were offered tea. We were discussing amongst each other what should we do next? RM arrived there in next few minutes, greeted us and smiled pleasantly. “That was a sudden change of stance in him”, I thought in my mind, just hoping that he might have given a second thought to my complaints…

He takes out a sheet of few papers that are filled in with shabby handwriting (it was an acknowledgement letter) with some content that duly notifies the reader of the letter,
that the signing person down there; agrees that the car he has received now is free of all the defects or imperfections he (I) had reported In his complaints earlier and is willing to collect the car maintaining that he is satisfied with the work done and rates the dealership in the best category for the quality of work performed.

One of my brothers quickly jumped in, asking me not to sign such undertaking and instead asked me to wait for FORD INDIA to give something in writing with regards to problems mentioned above and them being not a threat to drivability of the car, its driver and the passengers.


This made the RM get real angry… RM then interrupted my brother and asked him not to interfere between the owner of the product and the corporate designated authority when having a direct conversation.

I shot back at the RM. I reminded him that these are the people (my family members) who would actually take FORD to task, if any of the abnormalities present in the car results in causing me harm of any kind, be it physical or mental. So mind the tone in which you speak to them…

We decided to leave the place, as they were too many and were quite aggressive in their stance. We asked the RM to either get the things rectified or keep the car with them at the dealership, while I wouldn’t mind paying the monthly EMIs but I simply cant bear the tension of running a car that isn’t reliable.

After that I don’t know for what reason (even though after earlier episode and I already know that as per them the car has no fault), he has been sending me goody good SMS`s mentioning that my car is ready and I should collect it a.s.a.p and them being also willing to drop it off my home. Just for the sake of me signing that undertaking, darn WTH…

I replied to him around 9.00pm via SMS, that Sir, until my above mentioned problems are rectified I am not going to collect my car and I also explain to him that its not anything personal, but I as a consumer of the product feels cheated and is not ready to take any chances over false promises made by FORD and its employees.

He shot back an SMS again back to me at around 11.00PM, now totally ignoring the out comings of the trial and test we did in the afternoon today and instead mentions that
“THE CAR IS extremely best of its condition as tested by FORDs renowned technical Engineer and there`s nothing can be done by FORD or anyone now…”

I don’t know what I must do. I just won’t get the car back home, because they are persisting with me to sign that undertaking. Why should I accept that the car is fault free when, it clearly isn’t...?


Guys please suggest.

Is consumer court the only option that I can use now?

Note from Support: Please do not copy-paste from MS Word. It leaves behind formatting tags that have to be removed manually. Notepad works fine. Thanks.

[Statement]

Feels really bad to see some one go through so much. I think it is only fair to go to the consumer court than, having to endure so much headache. Why dont you write to write2md@ford.com saying that you have reached the end of your patience and that , you are also looking at a legal route.
Not sure how it will work out but just my thoughts, because it feels sad to see the trouble you are going through.

[blackfire_9]

Hi Dinesh,

I am short of words to express my utter shock & disbelief over the way your experience has unfolded with Ford. And like some one else mentioned on this very thread, the condition of affairs in our country is pathetic & this is evident with Ford not having any so-called policy of exchanging the "faulty" car with a new one. I am not so experienced with how the legal system works in certain developed nations but I firmly believe that companies (be it Ford, Nissan or any body else) do value their customers much more & are "afraid" of what can be if they do not.

You were right, the write2md@ford is a joke, which may just have been put there on the website to give a false sense of commitment towards customers on Ford's behalf. I am yet to hear anything from Ford or any body working for Ford. Though, when I had requested for a test drive, the same was acknowledged within a couple of hours & I have been recieving calls ever since about feedback & when I might consider buying the said car.

After reading through your incident, I went ahead & spoke to many people who are into this trade of spare parts & automobile service industry. And most of them had a unanimous opinion that Ford is a spoilt brat, & more so in India it seems. We as consumers, often are not able to see the complete picture & it seems Ford Figo is one such classic example.

I really want to be able to help you here, & I would try calling one of their helplines & at least try to reach some guy who shares a concern for somebody else's hard earned money for one & for his employer's (Ford's) customer for second. I will get back to you in case I can find any leads.

The only option left now is to stand up & fight. Because I fear if not then you may not be able to do anything at all if this is delayed any further. There is an optimal time till when you as a consumer would try to resolve things amicably, but then the force has to be shown so that the other party treats you with respect.

Also, I am pondering that maybe the reason you are not able to reach some higher authorities in the company is because all these folks are being played around by the dealership. The chief engineer, or the SAs etc, everybody is somehow getting benefitted by the existence of these Ford dealerships.

I just want to wish you good luck if you choose to fight, but it's a sad truth that "fight" is often not the most easy thing to do in our country & certainly not the one that can assure justice.

Take care of yourself.

It's tough to put myself in your shoes & even imagine what I would do, but try to find a way in which you can put up a fight with Ford & get them to replace your car. From now on, do not talk about repairs. You have paid a bloody good amount of currency to get this tin box, & you deserve that it works the way it is supposed to. The ace up your sleeve is the risk to life for you & your family, but keep it for later. For now, focus on other things like why you deserve a new car be it because of the inability of Ford to rectify these issues or because of the mental & financial & personal trauma that you have had to put up with or both.

Lastly, take your car back & you don't need to sign any letter/statement to get your car back. Tell them clearly that your issues are not fixed, & you are not satisfied. You are free to take your car back, they cannot stop you from doing that. You do not owe them any money, this is your car which was taken in by one of Ford's dealerships for FOC repairs & now if the customer is not satisfied, he/she can take it anywhere they want & take the next course of action. Don't leave your 6.5 lacs sitting there in the dealerships, because a better option in that case is to sell it & use the money to sue Ford.

[libranof1987]

Ford has a Used Car program, right?

Tell the RM that you want to sell your Figo at the Ford's Used Car section and ask for the best price. And if he or the dealership are so damn adamant that your Figo is at its best behaviour, they will offer the price that a supposedly perfect Figo at the same age as your's will fetch.

If any penny less and you'll be sure they are bluffing with the "your-car-is-perfect" nonsense.

See how quick they contradict themselves.

Is there anyone above the RM you can contact? How about a legal notice?

[Crazy4.Cars]

I wish anyone of us on this forum had the email id of the CEO or MD of Ford India.

This matter needs to be reported to the highest possible person at ford. This RM who attented to you needs to be

What does this RM mean by saying all Fords Suffer with this problem of under body scrapping. if this is the case we need to tell him ford is not fit for india, please pack your bags and get out of our country.

[EagleEye]

I can tell you that underbody hitting is definitely not the normal case with Ford Figos. FWIW, my 1200 kms run Figo has scraped the underbody only once and that too on a particularly bad bump. Also, you haven't been hearing complaints about it from all the other users here.

I am extremely sorry to hear about your bad experience.

But may I suggest the following:

Send a written letter by registered post to your Ford dealer/ service center detailing all the interactions and experiences you have had with them, with a cc to MD Ford India and 2-3 major automotive magazines of India. When writing to these magazines, attach a copy of the letter and also add a cover letter asking them to publish your story. Also post a copy on the facebook page of Figo. Mention in the letter that you are doing this.

Attach as annexures copies of all documentary proof you have got from service persons and testers etc who worked and tested your car. Don't forget to mention the way the RM tried to make you sign the letter. Quote word-by-word wherever possible. State that you are willing to get the car checked by a mutually agreeable unbiased third person/agency.

Make clear demands. My suggestion is to ask for a replacement or full refund, as the car is not repairable - proved after so much service done on it. State in the letter that the next step is legal action and further letters to press about the incapability of Ford Service.

Employ the services of an attorney if you have to, to make the letter proper and official.
Do write "cc. MD, Ford India; Magazine abcd; Magazine xyz" at the bottom of your original letter to the service center so they know you're coming out with your guns blazing.


If you do this they cannot ignore you or say that there is no problem with the car. Don't give up, injustice has been caused to you and you deserve justice. And in my experience I have seen that more often than not people get just what they deserve.

Originally Posted by Crazy4.Cars

I wish anyone of us on this forum had the email id of the CEO or MD of Ford India.

Email ID of Ford India's MD is already available to everybody.


EDIT: Dinesh, I have some experience drafting and sending official letters of all sorts, and I would be happy to offer you whatever little assistance I can. You may PM me if you wish.

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

Originally Posted by EagleEye

EDIT: Dinesh, I have some experience drafting and sending official letters of all sorts, and I would be happy to offer you whatever little assistance I can. You may PM me if you wish.

It seems i cant send you PMs still. do one thing i am attaching my contact number here. please lend me a call if you can and i`ll revert back to you to learn and understand about the steps that i must take asap in this situation, only if you`re OK with that.

Try to Help me though.. I have borne enough. the number is:

nine eight three three three seven six one nine two!

[govigov]

Originally Posted by Crazy4.Cars

I wish anyone of us on this forum had the email id of the CEO or MD of Ford India.

This matter needs to be reported to the highest possible person at ford. This RM who attented to you needs to be

What does this RM mean by saying all Fords Suffer with this problem of under body scrapping. if this is the case we need to tell him ford is not fit for india, please pack your bags and get out of our country.

I too would suggest the same. Let it go to the ford used car program and get the money from them stating that the car is in the best of condition and hence should get you the highest value. They shall take care of all the necessary paperwork for you. Move out of the FIGO and get another car that at-least gives you peace of mind.(May be a Swift, perhaps?) Even with all the issues sorted you will always have that at the back of you mind that the car has had problems. Why take all the headache and heartburn associated with it? Move on..

[honeybee]

Dinesh, I am not sure about the car bottoming out. To the best of my knowledge this is a phenomenon where the suspension is too weak to hold the car up and the struts hit the chassis/body whenever they are pushed up by an obstacle such as a speed breaker, or when rebounding from a pothole. Is this what is happening to your car? Or are you saying that the underbody of the car scrapes the speed breakers?

Secondly regarding the handbrake, if you pull it up as high as possible (to the last notch), does it hold the car up on a slope? In other words is the handbrake totally useless or is it only useless in the first few notches and is effective when pulled up all the way? Is this too the behaviour displayed by the RM's Figo?

Please write a letter to the RM / Bhavna Ford dealer summarizing your experience in the test drive and please state it clearly that unless Ford India (not the dealer!) assures you in writing that the defects won't reoccur, you won't be taking your car from the dealership as you are not sure it's safe to drive the car on a road.

And please do approach a legal authority, either the state transport authority or a consumer court, without wasting further time.

[sansvk]

Really sorry to hear about your experience. I own a Petrol Ford Figo bought early on in 2010 and have done 15K+ kms on it. Its been all good so far (touchwood), not sure about tomorrow, frankly speaking its been a "trouble free" experience. So far I have been to the service centers only for the regular services and once for a topup.
About my experiences with the Figo, I have experienced the rattles, got it rectified to a certain extent during the second service. Still a noise appears from the rear shocks when people exit from the rear bench. Brake pads sounded horrible for a new car, got it replaced during the 1st service. I drive around in Bangalore and regarding scraping of the underbody, havent had a very bad experience. I have scraped it about 4-5 times and all of them were on really badly laid humps.
In summary its a very good value for money car but I am certainly not going to own it for more than 3 years.
Incidents like your can happen to any individual owing any make of car. I would certainly suggest you to sell your vehicle and buy a new one and hope you never encounter such problems again.

[blackfire_9]

^^ Hey dinesh,

Any updates? Is your car still at the dealership?

I am still awaiting any response from Ford, either through email or through call as I have lodged a request on their helpline after much "pursual" that I needed to speak with somebody.

Drive safe.

[skanchan95]

Dinesh,
I really feel sorry and sympathise with you as I too had a similar experience with Hyundai about the steering rattles issue in our i20, where they refused(until recently) to acknowledge the problem and instead were telling that "I hear things" and then insulted me by telling others that I am crazy and create "jhik jhik". To this day, they say something or the other against me, inspite of having proved beyond doubt that the i20 has serious issues with its steering and that the guilty workshop is not fit to be called an authorised workshop. So, I am not really surprised by that Ford RM's attitude. These are the kind of fellows who will blame the victim for a crime.

I know in my heart that I am right and what the workshop,in collusion with the RO, did with me and my car was wrong. Even an EPS failure and the fact that I barely avoided an accident because of it was not enough to wake them up from their slumber sleep.They had left me no other option but to fight it out in the court. The car still has issues, both inherent ones and new ones magnified due to the workshop's incompetence. I am living with it, hoping that eventually the court will see what Hyundai failed to see or like an ostrich, didn't want to see.

If you go to consumer court, be prepared for a long drawn battle. These big companies will try all sorts of tactics to wear you down. In January this year, we filed a case against the guilty workshop & Hyundai for the recurring issues and the damage caused purposely to our i20 by the workshop. Guess what? none of them haven't even bothered to reply to the consumer court. Needless to say, I am not exactly thrilled by this. Soon the warranty will expire and I won't be surprised if they reply back by saying "On scrutiny of our records, your car is out of warranty!!!!!"

You could try writing to auto mags, but there too I have faced disappointment. A mag did carry out my story, but in the following month's issue, it carried a booklet praising the i20. Repeated mails to the mag asking them if they received any reply from Hyundai about the issues I was facing, went unanswered. It won't take a rocket scientist to figure out what might have happened between Hyundai and the mag.

Another way is to sell your car off. You are aware of the issues and know how to react when the issue occcurs but if the car is being driven by someone else and if God forbid, if he or she panics at that moment, it may result in a accident. I know a couple of i20 owners whose i20 had the same issues as mine, they got tired of visiting Hyundai service centers for rectifications, sold their cars off and now are more than happy with their new vehicle.

So, weigh your options and decide what is best for you & your family.

[EagleEye]

Dear Dinesh,

Do read this post: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2559870

blackfire_9 has a direct link to VP (Service), Ford India. I think your problems may be solved if you take this route.

[su1978]

NO car is a lemon, all this is a result of poor quality control and bad A.*.*. It is rightly said that sales is a one time affair but service is a life long commitment. Keeping this statement in mind, whom-so-ever i consulted, always advised me to go for Either A maruti/Honda/Toyota. Really these horror stories now seem to be true and really feel sorry for anyone who would have invested in these machines and would have lost all his peace of mind.

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

An update is coming guys...

will write by today evening.. FORD INDIA after sales service, Promises by its Big-Wigs and the quality of Job Done (in the name of repair) will be exposed.

I am done with this FORD FIGO. I do have only one choice left now. I am seeking consumer court. These guys are constantly making fool of me and treating me like freaking animal. "Sir, Come here, go there etc.. no problem sir, you are mad sir, you`re delusioned sir" i have heard it all from these people.

I want justice. I have paid a lot of money for this thing. In recent month i have contacted everyone who is involved in this auto industry and most of the magazine reps. Leave alone helping me out, many of them did not respond and few who did, responded only once and later just found it easy to ignore my tweets or mails to them.

I feel really low after going through all of this. Can someone in T-BHP help ? we are an auto enthusiast community right? can anyone help me fight this bullish ford creatures ?

Please guys. I detest going at courts. India`s not a good place for litigations.

warm regards
Dinesh Malhotra