russellw

It's only really a symptom of the overall malaise (as well documented here) in the Ford Australia organisation but here goes anyway.

Background
The Moostang was in need of new valve stem seals - more a result of having sat on grass for so long and only started every 3 months than anything else.
The fine people at Strapps contacted FPV early in the piece to ensure that there would be no nasty shocks when it came to doing the job and that Ford/FPV would honour the warranty claim. This was about 8 weeks ago.
The car was duly dropped off on Monday for the work to be done and that is when the fun and games started.

Engineers and the DPSG
For those who don't know, it is sometimes possible to replace valve stem seals through the spark plug hole but it seems that there was no one in the entire Ford organisation that could tell the service techs whether this could be achieved with the Moostang. They still don't know.

The next choice is to remove the camshafts so the question was duly asked as to whether any special tools were required to perform this task. Surprisingly no one knew but after several hours it was established that there were. Enter the LEP ......

The Loan Equipment Program
This is a little group within FoA who provide specialised tools to dealers on a loan basis so that they don't have to carry all of the 6,728,009 special tools required once in a blue moon. Basically a tool is booked through them and one is delivered when available.
The couple of tools required for this job were ordered on Monday afternoon - despite being promised on site by Wednesday they had still failed to materialise as of late this afternoon. I gather from a phone call to FPV that they will arrive Friday morning.
Now if this was a lack of availability then I would be reasonably sympathetic to their position but it comes down to no one actually actioning the request until they were hassled on Wednesday by the dealer service manager.
Good enough - no.

The final irony in this whole situation would have to be the mission statement of the LEP (and I quote) ....

1. Fix It Right The First Time On Time - FIRTFTOT
2. Together we provide the best automotive experience to our consumers

Sorry guys but you blew it this time.

Cheers
Russ

mygt

for all those who are thinking about starting a company dont become a company of the Damned... from the very beginining know your program well. Dont let your customers feel the frustration.
it only unlatches disconnection..
cheers.

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Herrod enhanced
hsv ASSASSIN.....

outback_ute

Sounds like the Jerry Seinfeld "take the booking, keep the booking" episode.

CDAA

Well said MYGT. Having said that sometimes it’s easier said than done, especially in a growing business. All companies make mistakes once in a while, but it’s how they choose to manage these mistakes that will make the lasting impression.

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EBXR

Why didn't someone contact Ford in the USA... I thought they would have had the experience with these motors. Phone call, email or even a web search.... and we live in the information age.

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'67 Mustang V8 4sp... what fun to drive!