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More Warranty Bullshit!

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mchan68

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This Friday past, I was approached by one of our apprentices inquiring about an old recall, 00S31 in particular. Looking at it, and the RO that was written up for it, I promptly informed him that this particular campaign had been updated shortly after its release with 01B85. For those of you who haven't been with Ford that long, 00S31 was a campaign released that involved drilling a hole in the left/rear axle spindle, to be followed by installing a wheel bearing retaining nut cap, and a left hand threaded bolt into the drilled hole. Shortly after its release, it was superceded by 01B85, which involved replacing both rear wheel bearings and installing sleeves onto the drums and seals onto the spindles. In this campaign, it CLEARLY stated that it supercedes the previously released 00S31. I pointed this out to the apprentice.

 

Now, since these are old campaigns I was wondering exactly why this particular vehicle never had them carried out, so I took the time to run the VIN through OASIS, and low and behold I see that other recalls were just carried out recently (00S20, 00S41 to be exact). I turns out that this vehicle was involved in a front end collision a while ago, after which it sat in limbo from used car lot to used car lot. The vehicle was never written off, but remained unused for a few years and that's why these campaigns were never carried out, until some poor sucker just bought this vehicle by a shady seller, who apparently "misled" the buyer into believing there was still Ford "warranty" which applied. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/icon_crazy.gif

 

Anyhoo, I am well aware that "S" campaigns have no mileage or time limitations, and I'm pretty sure that "B" do. With that in mind, I stressed it VERY clearly to the apprentice that he should check with our warranty clerk (who wasn't in at the time) and the advisor before proceeding, just because of this. Well, the story goes that the advisor told him to go ahead with it, since this is the updated fix.

 

Fast forward to today, apparently the claim won't go through and the apprentice is pissed that he might be getting debitted (he is flat rate), and rightfully so. I later hear a rumour that the warranty clerk has the intention of debitting ME instead, for trying to "help" the apprentice. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/mad.gif

 

One of my many questions would be WHY Ford would issue an "S" campaign, only to be superceded by a "B" campaign? And if I do get debitted, should I be punching this woman? Apparently she has it in for me, for reasons that I can't quite determine. Sorry for the rant.

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An apprentice on flat rate???? My Gawd.... Rule number one... let them get good before you try to make them get fast...

 

Rumours are rumours... if you haven't heard a good one by 10:30 - start one... You are gonna have some serious egg on your face if you rip your warranty wench a new asshole and later on find out it is a third person jerking your chain.

 

Simply remind those that need to know, that the final decision was made by an SA.... Avoid theatrics and tantrums...

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Ahhh fuck it, go for the gusto. Just kiddin.

 

Anywho, wait and see what will happen before anyone jumps to conclusions. However, If they do debit you or the apprentice back, print this off and hand it to you Service Manager and Warranty Clerk.

 

What kind of fucking idiot has the right to charge either you or your apprentice back for a piss poor decision that was made by a sevice advisor? This is the kind of bullshit that makes techs leave their shithole jobs in shit hole places like that. If they would pull their heads out of their asses and take a deep breath of fresh air, they may be able to see that this is part of the reason that it is hard to find good techs these days. Idiots if they charge you back I must say. O.K. rant over, beer swallowed and blood pressure declining. All is goooooodddd!

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You know this kind of crap is quite common and I think it is something that you have to stand up and face immediately. I have had to endure warranty issues in the past and I am dealing with one situation now. You see, we have a few TSB's for diesels, two of which are new that supersede older TSB's that have no labor operations. The instructions state to code out labor times for what can be found and the remaining time is M-time. I don't cheat the system. I do a good job on every vehicle I work on and I keep customers happy. My service manager seems to be afraid to pay more than 2.5 hours of M-time on any job. I don't flag unnecessary time or take exceptionally long on repairs as a rule. I am always shorted on these repairs, not a lot, an hour here, two point five there... it adds up and I am getting tired of it. I feel that Ford has bullied us into trimming our numbers. I don't think this is right at all.

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Why would you (or an apprentice) do a recall that was expired and not on oasis?

 

FWIW, it sounds like the SA made the managment decision and he or she should be responsible for that. Not you of the apprentice.

 

I also don't agree that someone that is just learning should be working agianst the "flat rate clock" . That is how you turn a young tech into a "parts replacer" .

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Determining warranty coverage or recall coverage is ultimately not the technician's responsibility. It sounds like the service advisor needs to step up on this one. Those B recalls are "program" recalls that usually do have expiration dates or mileage limits. S recalls do not expire or go away until they are completed--this gets a little sticky when you get one that is really old. Has anyone had a F series in for a fuel tank crossflow concern (needed check valves installed) lately? How about an AWD Aerostar for a transfer case recall? We just had one of the Aerostars get towed in here a few months back and the recall had never been done--it took lots of phone calls to Ford and the Special Support Center plus 6 months of waiting to get parts to get that one took care of. If the S recall shows on OASIS, then at least that can be claimed to offset some of the problem.

 

Keith, I and my other fellow Diesel techs here can definitely relate to what you are saying. It seems like every time they revise these damn 6.0 tsbs that the labor time gets cut even more. They also seem to add more and more operations in hopes of cutting out any M time scenarios. Sometimes I just wish that they would be more generous to those of us who pull their proverbial ass out of the fire! Because when its all said and done, we really are the end of the line for these busted Ford products.

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  • 4 weeks later...

First off the technician does what a service advisor or manager says.....ya right, so it is not his fault if it gets kicked back.

 

Secondly per the ESA Employment Standards Act, an employee can not be held responsible financially, except under negligent circumstances, which this seems like some one else's stupidity.

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First off the technician does what a service advisor or manager says.....

There desparately needs to be some form of checks and balances in place... sometimes referred to as common sense.

 

We can't just blindly plunge into something... there has to be some thought, some air of professionalism and some admissions of resposibility, in some part for the job...

 

If we are told to do <something> and that <something> is inappropriate for what is needed - someone has to speak up - waiting until after the dust settles to pick up the pieces is going to be counter-productive.

 

Think of this.... if the tech can't figure out if a repair is going to be warranty or customer pay (and in most cases this isn't hard)... he needs to find out and he needs to find out fast.... simply because a customer pay repair cannot proceed without the customers consent - if for no other reason.

 

We are drifting away from Mikes original post... but I feel it important that we, as techs, cannot abdicate out moral duties and professional responsibilities - we are that final step in the process - whether it be quality control for Ford while doing a PDI or process control for my store. It is up to us to bring up what is wrong so that it can be made right.

 

A lot of employees (from handyman to middle manager) can lose sight of the fact that this should all be a team effort... Your reputation and the reputation of your store are hand in glove. If the store does good, we all do good...

 

Why does this shit need to be repeated?

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LMFAO!!!!!.....Jim, sorry I guess I was too vague and....I was kidding. Trust me, if you knew me you would know I rarely do what i am told, especially if it seems stupid or doesn't make any sense what so ever and I always try to do what is right, not what the service advisor/manager asks/tells me to do. We have a real issue in our dealership with what is written up when a customer comes in, they don't seem to get it, garbage in garbage out, if you don't ask the right questions, you will definitly get the wrong answer!!

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LMFAO!!!!!.....Jim, sorry I guess I was too vague and....I was kidding. Trust me, if you knew me you would know I rarely do what i am told, especially if it seems stupid or doesn't make any sense what so ever and I always try to do what is right, not what the service advisor/manager asks/tells me to do. We have a real issue in our dealership with what is written up when a customer comes in, they don't seem to get it, garbage in garbage out, if you don't ask the right questions, you will definitly get the wrong answer!!

I have a pretty short fuse for anything that even resembles impropriety, lack of responsibility or any other of the many foibles that our trade "enjoys"... you'll have to pardon me for some of that...

 

A lot of consumers have an extremely low opinion of "us" - and most of them have valid reasons. A lot of things mentioned in jest are like rubbing salt in an open wound - it may be surprising that peoples opinions about this trade haven't changed in the nearly 40 years I've been involved.

 

FWIW, a lot of techs don't even realize that they are a source of concern - I see painted or aluminum surfaces being stepped on - dead batteries because of erroneous or faulty test procedures or just plain leaving the key on because we are too fucking dense to see our error - improper technique for both repair and diag... The list goes on.

 

No, I am FAR from perfect - my only claims to fame are that I care and I try to keep my eyes open. Too many go to work "from the neck down"...

 

Anyway, I am sure you have recognized me as the resident asshoe and curmudgeon /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

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Jim, again sorry if rubbed salt in your wounds, it's nice to see that there are some passionate people out there and actually give a dam. We have 15 Techs and I would say there are only 3 of them that give a dam!

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Oh, come ON Larry... I know I come across as Mister Nice Guy - but I do have an image to maintain.....

 

"Back in the day", the RMS (regimental sergeant major) was the higest NCO rank in the Canadian army. It would be rare for this man to attain a higher rank. He is a "straw boss" and, as such, he will never see daylight as anything other than a pawn in the grand scheme.

 

One of the beautiful things about holding the highest rank available to a non-commissioned officer is that you get to be a "ROYAL ASSHOLE" with little in the way of retribution or impeachment.

 

I AM that asshole. It isn't my job to make you feel good... I am here to mske sure you have a steady stream of trusting customers.... And you know how I operate...

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