In July of I purchased a 99 Ford Mustang from Keith Hawthorne Ford and I also bought an extended warranty to cover any defects up to 75,000 miles. I have had problems with this dealership in the past trying to take money from me on warrantied items but was able to call Ford and they helped me remedy the situation. I was happy with Ford until now.
Last Friday on my way home from work, a grinding noise started coming from my rear passenger side tire. Thinking it could have been caused due to worn brake pads, my fiance's brother, who is a mechanic, offered to change them for me on Sunday. When he took the tire off, he noticed that the brake pads were barely worn and realized that I must have a frozen caliper, due to the fact that the brake pads were not worn much and the type of noise that the tire was making.
I take the car home and wait until Monday morning so I could bring it to the dealership. My fiance's brother said that if he did anything to them himself that it would void my warranty, that I had no choice but to take it to the dealership. I could not take time off work as I am in a Temp - to - Perm position at my present place of employment and have only started my current position two weeks ago so my fiance took the car in for me at 8am on Monday to be serviced.
At around 11:30, I recieved a call from David Horne who is a service dept. Employee at Keith Hawthorne Ford. He informed me that they checked the tire and that it was NOT the caliper that was frozen, that it was due to worn brake pads and I just needed new brake pads and to have the rotor turned which was going to cost me $345.00 as these items were not covered under the warranty. I can have my brake pads changed for $80.00 and the rotor turned for $12.00 so I told him not to make the repairs, that I would have it done elsewhere.
I run home from lunch, get my fiance and take him back to the dealership to pick up the car (keep in mind that this is already causing me to lose an extra 15 minutes at work because I was on lunch). My fiance stopped at Auto Advance beside the dealership on his way home and bought brake pads that have a lifetime guarantee, thinking that if this was indeed the problem, that he would simply change the pads and we'd get the rotor serviced and problem solved, not to have to worry about it again. Not quite.
He gets my car home, takes the tire off and notices that on the bolts that are in the caliper, that they are covered in thick grease and brake dust. He called the dealership and asked if they took the caliper off or if they have some type of caliper test. The person he spoke with told him they took it off and when my fiance asked how did he know that, the tech said because thats what it said in the computer. Hmmm... Ok.
My fiance asked to speak to the technician who did the work on my car, he was already gone for the day? My fiance made three more attempts to speak with someone about this and was told he would recieve a call back from Rick Farmer, Service Dept. Manager. I sit here writing this at 6:55 pm and still no call from Mr. Farmer. On my side of things, I get a call at 4:30 at work from my fiance telling me about all of these things going on of which I was unaware as I am at my NEW job.
I immediately called Ford and spoke with a man by the name of Brenton, Customer Service ID #2982. He kept telling me that I would have to pay for the pads and rotors and that if the caliper was so much as touched by anyone other than someone who works at the dealership, the warranty would be voided and I would have to pay for the caliper regardless of whether it was covered under the warranty or not. I ask to speak to a supervisor.
He says his supervisors name is Shauna but she is not there at the time. He continues to ask me stupid questions such as "what is my opinion of the car and what was the best thing I liked about it???" Ummm, I like being able to drive it? Seemed like a trick question to me. I finally talk Benton into getting a supervisor (Sharon) on the phone at about 15 minutes to five. I tell her that it is late in the day already and
I would have to have the car towed back to the dealership, that I would need a rental car to be able to get to work the next morning. She tells me there is nothing Ford can do, that the technicians at Keith Hawthorne Ford's claim that the caliper was NOT froze is all they know and that the dealership would have to be the one to make the call as to whether this was covered under my warranty.: Note: On my warranty list of items covered, it plainly states under brakes, that pads and rotors are not covered but calipers are and any damage caused to un-covered parts due to a covered part would also be covered.
I sit here now at 7:03pm with a broken vehicle and I am going to have to be late in the morning for my NEW job (thanks Ford and Keith Hawthorne) to go take care of this situation which should under ANY circumstances have been taken care of today. Anyone reading this has at some point started a new job, so you can imagine my anger and embarrassment at having to take time off two weeks into having my job over something like this.
My car is sitting in my driveway with a FROZEN CALIPER. (Of course.)
To any new or used car consumers, do not purchase a
Vehicle from keith hawthorne ford in belmont nc or any
Ford vehicle for that matter. They claim that customer
Satisfaction is their number one priority, but they are
Indeed lying. The technician did not even take the
Caliper off of my car!!! The bolts are covered in grease
And brake dust so there is no possible way that the
Caliper was removed from the vehicle for testing. These
People are ripoff con-artists with no regard for helping
customers once you have purchased a vehicle. As soon as you sign the papers and the loan goes through, you are forgotten. I was promised at the time of purchase, that
I would be provided with a spare key and an owners manual, NEITHER OF WHICH I HAVE RECIEVED TO THIS VERY DAY. I am telling you this as a working class person, do not let these people rip you off too. They are the nicest people in the world if they think they can take some of your money but I am not rich and do not have extra to give them for items covered on a warranty that I am already paying for.
Please dont find yourself writing your own rip off report with your own Keith Hawthorne / Ford problems months from now. BE A SMART CONSUMER AND DONT BUY ANYTHING FROM THESE PEOPLE!!! I would not even purchase a skateboard from them at this point. Just wanted to warn anyone who was thinking of buying from either of these companies to beware, you WILL be taken for a ride but not the kind you would like. Dont become another victim of these people yourself. I wish I wouldve had someone to warn me about them in advance.
Wendy
charlotte, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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