Wednesday 11/17/04 - My husband was driving my 2000 Lincoln LS to work. On the way home, the car started spewing antifreeze, and left him stranded. Luckily we have an extended warranty, so he called them to tow it to the nearest Ford dealership. The nearest Ford dealership was Ted Britt in Fairfax. When he got there, he spoke to the Service Dept manager Steve who said they would not be able to look at it until the next morning.
Thursday 11/18/04 - Ted Britt Ford called us and let us know that the warranty company won't cover the breakdown because it was a hose that broke, and a hose is considered a maintenance item. They can order the part that broke, and quoted me a price of aprox $30 for the piece. However, they have to order the part, and the part won't be in until Monday.
Monday 11/22/04 - The part was supposed to arrive on Monday. I called the dealership and left two messages. Receive no answer from anyone at Ted Britt Ford.
Tuesday 11/23/04 - I called Ted Britt ford first thing in the morning. I had done some research. The part that actually broke was a plastic hose connector. It is considered covered under the extended warranty company, but Steve claims that someone had changed the hoses, and that is what cracked the part. I have NEVER had any work done to this car that involves the radiator hoses. He refuses to change his report to the extended warranty company. I leave another message, and finally hear back from Steve at noon. He informs me that he ordered the wrong part. The part he ordered is for the V-8 engine, not my V-6. He informs me that the part I really need is going to be $130, not the original quoted $30. I ask him what the total bill has come to. He tells me that the bill is now $475 almost twice the price of the original quoted $250 (including labor). I ask him where those charges came from. He told me that my husband had authorized all the work, including them repairing the air intake hose. I told him that the air intake hose did not need fixed. My husband never authorized any work. Steve lied to me and told me that the work to my car was complete. He lied and said my husband authorized the work. I call my husband.
I was very upset at this point. I ask him to drive to the Ted Britt dealership and try and find out how the charges racked up so high. My husband went to Ted Britt ford and spoke with Steve. My husband told him that I was upset, and asked if Steve could explain the situation to him. Steve's response: I explained all this once already, I don't want to have to go over this again. My husband then asked exactly what work had been completed. It turns out Steve lied to me again. He had done nothing to my car. There was no work completed when my husband got there. My husband requested the keys, and let them know he was taking my car, and would never come back to Ted Britt. They then let him know that there was a $75 diagnostic fee if we didn't get the work done there. My husband paid the fee and went outside to the car. Here's the kicker. He tried to start the car and the battery was dead. The service department had left my key in the ON position the entire time they had the car, and drained the battery. My husband had to jump start the car just to leave the dealership.
Wednesday 11/24/04 - My husband purchased the correct part from Jerry's ford in Annandale, and we replaced the part ourselves.
Ted Britt ford is supposed to be a Blue Oval dealership. This means outstanding customer service and satisfaction. The only thing I got from Ted Britt was grief and misery. They would not help us at all, and in fact, made our situation worse than if we had taken it to another ford dealership. I will never go back to Ted Britt, and I will make sure everyone I know does the same thing.
Ligouri
Waldorf, Maryland
U.S.A.
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