MNMike

Took my F150 in for warranty work. (IWE issues documented on my cellphone. that thread is here: https://www.f150forum.com/f38/iwe-noises-video-314625/)
Dealer had my truck for 5 days, and could not recreate the issue.
Now they want to charge me since they didn't find any issue.

They say Ford won't pay them for the time spent, so I must pay before they can release my truck back to me.

Is this common practice at dealership service departments?

Ricktwuhk

Looks like you explained it well in the other thread, and Ford Customer Service owes you an answer if you ask them, no?

Tothemax

I'm sure you signed some paperwork when you dropped it off, What did it say?

Fireimp141

I manage a shop. You can't charge someone a diagnostic fee if they failed to diagnose it...

soaringfalcon

iTrader: (1)

Call Ford Customer Service and see what they say to do, it's an independent dealership, so they probably can't force them to do anything, but they might have some pull.


A Dodge dealership tried to pull that, on a 6 month old minivan with 7k on the ticker. I called BS and asked them to show me the paperwork where I agreed to the charge, they could not provide it as I checked "Call for estimate" and they never called. But they still refused to release the car.
I threatened to call the cops. Not that the cops could have done anything, since it was a civil matter, but it worked, they "ate" the bogus charge and released the car.

I called Dodge and complained, they could have cared less. I never frequented that dealership or bought another Dodge again. About six month later, that dealership closed and a year or so after that Dodge declared bankruptcy, so my boycott must have worked, lol.

130428

Usually the SA will clearly say that "hey, we'll look at it, but if we can't find the noise / issue you're talking about, we'll charge you a diagnostic fee. If we find it, it's under warranty, no problem"

That's what they told me when I mentioned Sync was acting up last year. Since it was an intermittent glitch, I just told them not to bother since they had a 50/50 chance of not replicating it and I didn't feel like forking out $150 for nothing. Not saying it's right, but it's most likely the way it is.

MNMike

I never did hear back from the Ford Customer Service Rep. He might be out of office.

I DID just get a call from the dealer. They will not be charging me for the troubleshooting, after all.

My point for this thread was to find out if this is common at dealers. I don’t use dealers much, because most of my vehicles are older. (My wifes 2012 Camry, and my 2010 truck are/were the exceptions)

If the dealer had pointed out that there would be a charge if they didn't find anything, I wouldn't have left my truck there. The IWE noise is intermittent, I knew there was less than a 50/50 chance they would hear it. And I could apply the $139.00 to actually replacing the vacuum lines, solenoid, and check valves.

I will check the paperwork I signed to see if it says anything about diagnostic work not covered by Ford warranty will be billed the owners.

Lesson learned.

Thanks for the replies.
After (if?) I get it fixed myself, I'll update the other thread.

TuxBlackFX4

They can't hold your car. They can send you to collections or small claims, but can't keep your car as collateral.

sigma pi

You showed them!

FordService

Hi MNMike,

I see you spoke to your regional customer service manager today about this concern. Please let me know if I can add any additional information to the case.

Chad