Business Profile

New Car Dealers

Northside Ford

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Northside Ford's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

Customer Complaints Summary

16 total complaints in the last 3 years.
0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

Initial Complaint
Date:04/15/2024
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
On 09 Feb 2024, I had my oil change completed at the Quick Lane of Northside Ford. They broke my dip stick during the oil change and at first wanted to charge me for a replacement. I did not agree to that and they finally agreed to order one for me. However, after I inspected my vehicle and found broken pieces of the dip stick left in the engine compartment (not in the oil dip stick spot), I went back inside and asked for reimbursement for the dipstick because I did not want to continue to do business with them and went and got my own dipstick. I was told I would be mailed a check for the dipstick replacement. After six weeks or so, I still hadn't received a check and I went back to inquire about it and was told that it was not processed. At this point I asked for a full refund for the entire oil change because of this wasted time and I was emailed by Quick Lane manager ********************* that I would receive a full refund. Then this past week I was emailed that their service director is not authorizing a full refund. I am seeking the full refund of the $88.70 since that is what I was promised.
Business Response
Date: 04/18/2024
Thank you for reaching out with this concern. The check for the amount of the oil change will be mailed to the customer at the address listed on this complaint. There was some confusion regarding a receipt, but the refund in full is being sent due to the inconvenience the customer experienced. Our apologies and thank you for letting us know about the situation.
Customer Answer
Date: 04/19/2024
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

*********************
Initial Complaint
Date:04/12/2024
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
I agreed to purchase a car on 4/11. I expressed disappointment that the manager ************************* was willing to let me walk over $500. I stated that it would be reflected in any feedback requested of me. So ****************** decided he would be best not to sell me a car even though I had a verbal agreement with one of his sellers to do so. His seller had him contact me on the premises we would discuss it. He decided the call was to let me know he wasn't selling me car and he had nothing to discuss because he he stated "he couldn't make me happy". He stated he gave me his best deal and expected me to be naive enough to believe it. He even admitted he knew not all customers are satisfied with their sales price but that most were. I have never been treated so rudely by someone who is supposed to display a level of professionalism. I would like contact by his boss.
Business Response
Date: 04/18/2024
The customer came to the dealership to look at vehicles, after he had contacted the dealership via the internet. The assigned salesperson was not available, so another salesperson assisted the customer in choosing a vehicle that would meet the customer's needs. The customer did negotiate at our dealership and left without purchasing. (The customer indicted that he was going to lunch and was going to try and then try to get a better deal at a dealership approximately 120 miles away.) The original salesperson reached out to the customer the next day to check on his experience at our dealership. During the course of that second day, when the customer was present at yet another competitor's dealership, he continued reaching out expressing dissatisfaction with the competitor. The customer continued negotiations with us while at the other dealership. He requested an additional $500 discount and the removal of his trade-in from the negotiation. Both requests were accepted. However, when the customer asked for a second $500 discount, the request was not accepted/approved. The customer then expressed via email early the next morning, that our refusal to give a second $500 discount bothered him both the day before and that morning. He let us spoke highly of our competition and their willingness to continue negotiation. He also let us know now that feedback he would be providing would reflect his disappointment.
Our Fleet Manager, in a phone call, then spoke to the customer and let him know that customer satisfaction is important at our dealership. Our dealership strives to make the purchase enjoyable for the customer, as we view the sale as the beginning of a long-term relationship where we have the opportunity to meet the customers vehicle needs in Sales, *************** and the ***************** As such it did not seem that the customer could be satisfied by this purchase, as expressed in his email early that morning. Given that, our Fleet Manager conveyed to the customer that we were withdrawing from the negotiations. The customer wanted to continue to disagree, after a short time the customer was informed that the call was not meant to be a discussion or an argument, we were simply no longer going to pursue sale of a vehicle to the customer.
A member of our ******************** team reached out to the customer via email the next morning, in a response to an email the customer sent. In addition, our General Manager did so also. Our General Manager reiterated in his email the decision from the dealership to withdraw from negotiations with the customer given comments in the customer's emails. Finally, the ******************** team member had a long phone call with the customer. In that phone call the Management member agreed to forward two purchase order to the customer for a vehicle similar to what the customer had originally considered. Two purchase orders were forwarded, and the customer declined to accept either one of them. Therefore, we wished the customer well. Unfortunately, we will not be able to come to an agreement with every customer for purchase of a vehicle.
Customer Answer
Date: 04/21/2024
Complaint: 21566479

I am rejecting this response because:
This response is primarily for the BBB to evaluate if Northside Ford is operating in a manner consistent with your standards of accreditation. The dealer need not respond as they cannot provide an acceptable resolution in this particular situation. The summation was accurate for the first 7 sentences up until the sentence that started "He requested an additional $500 discount". I'll correct as best I can and fill in any omissions. While at another dealer ****** asked me to give her a number, so I threw out a number and told her an additional 2k off. Northside Ford came back with $500. I asked to split the difference at 1k and was told no. I did not ask for any other discount after that. I agreed to the number with ****** and scheduled a time to come back the next day. See attachment 1 pages 1&2. It wasn't until the next day when an unsolicited email came from Korbie at 6:47 am that everything took a turn. See attachment 4 page 3. This after I ran my credit at ******* request. See attachment 1 pages 2&3 and Attachment 4 page 1. I did express disappointment as is my right,but also stated I was still coming. See attachment 4 page 3. Apparently, I should've kept it to myself and just left feedback after the deal was done. All communication from me on 4/12 were as responses to Northside Ford. They initiated contact and I kept replying to them.

***************** did call me for a grand total of 2 minutes and 56 seconds. See attachment 1 page 8. The call was supposed to be a discussion. See attachment 1 pages 6&7. Yet when ****************** called it lasted 26 minutes and 46 seconds.Now which one was a discussion? There was no reason for ****************** to call other than some twisted enjoyment at my expense.

************* did reach out via email and came to the conclusions he wanted to and not based in fact. See attachment 4 page 5.

Now I could fill a lot more in; however, I'll skip to some main points. The dealer discount on the vehicle was $4,490. See attachment 2 page 2. Yet on the purchase agreement after the military discount was added the dealer discount changed to $4,090. See attachment 2 page 1. They want to say I requested an extra $500 all the while they were taking $400. Then after telling ****************** that on the phone the website listing was updated to have the dealer discount removed from that vehicle only leaving the other 3 with the discount. See attachment 2 pages 3&4. ****************** did send me 2 purchase orders. See attachment 3 pages 6&7. He knew when he sent them it was in a way I would have to decline. Same issue as the first purchase order. He listed the sales price as $49,700 after $1250 discount $48,450. Yet the web had it listed at $49,300 before discounts. After $1250 discount $48,050 again taking $400. See attachment 3 page 9. Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern. There's no telling how many people this happened to unnoticed. They are offsetting the manufactures discounts by lowering their own discounts. If they sold 100 cars and skim $400 from each one thats $40,000. Then they have mandatory optionsthat cost $2,842. For 100 vehicles that would be $284,200 of needless options.Options consumers should have the ability to decline. I'm sure they'll come up with a way to explain this all away.

Now as for the most appalling actions. The prior day on the call with ****************** I had said I didn't know if I was allowed to purchase a vehicle. The next day when he called, he said he wanted to make sure that I didn't think I wasnt allowed to purchase a vehicle. Yet I wasn't allowed to purchase a vehicle. Before he sent the 2 purchase orders, he let me know that he had 3 conditions for us to do business. 1. For me to remove any and all negative feedback on social media. 2. To meet with him and his assistant if I came in so that they could respond to the BBB and for me to close the case indicating a positive resolution. 3. I would have to leave perfect feedback regarding the dealership/salesperson. Now I'm sure he did this on the phone so he could deny it later, however it is the terms referenced in his email. See attachment 3 page 5. All while saying I'm entitled to my opinion and they value feedback.What they're doing is trying to skew their ratings/customer satisfaction scores.

In all actuality if ****************** had not seen fit to get involved for what is still an unknown reason, we would not even be at this point. Yet here we are. Now I would have tried to contact the Dealer Principal as suggested by ****, however after dealing with 3 levels of management I can only conclude it comes from the top.

In my opinion in regards to the BBB standards by their actions Northside Ford was not honest, did not tell the truth, did not honor promises especially verbal representations, and did not embody integrity by intending to do what is reasonably expected. A car dealership refusing to sell a car. Does not make much sense. They ended their response with Unfortunately,we will not be able to come to an agreement with every customer for purchase of a vehicle. Yet at a minimum we had a verbal agreement and an appointment to finish up. They keep failing to include that tidbit.

They will however point out nothing was signed, and that is the hill they will die on.

After this experience with Northside Ford, I am glad this deal did not get finalized. The BBB may close this case.An agreement will not be able to be reached.

Regards,

*****************************
Business Response
Date: 05/01/2024
There are no "gotcha" moments about the dealership in our response. Going through the customer's response, we'll address his main points:
1. The $400 discrepancy - Dealerships pay a lot of money to have an online advertising presence. As such, we ensure that the vehicle prices change with market conditions to get the best impact. As you can see by the attachments provided by the customer, we sent the customer purchase orders on 4/17/24. Our attachment shows price changes on one of the Explorers we have in stock. There were 23 changes in pricing on Explorers during the time period 4/3/24 - 4/24/24 alone. One of those was on 4/17/24. The price on all Explorers went down by $400 on the evening of 4/17. The price we gave the customer at the time of the purchase order was based on what was online at the time. The printouts the customer provided were printed out after the price change took effect. No sneaky actions here, just the everyday actions that happen in businesses.
2. The additions the customer saw on his purchase orders were for accessories that are on the vehicle. If the customer had continued along with the sales process, those accessories would have been discussed with him when in the financing office. As such, we never got to that step of the process with this customer.
3. There is only semantical difference when we discussed the discounts requested. We did give the customer a $500 discount, we didn't give him the $2000 he originally requested, nor did we give the $1000 discount he wanted to settle for. The difference between the $1000 discount he wanted to settle for, and the $500 we agreed to is $500. And remember, the dealership paid large amounts of money to advertise vehicles online at the lowest price we could offer, in order to attract customers. Therefore, the $500 discount we gave him was over and above what our sales management had determined at that time made financial sense to offer customers.
4. The customer was asked to close his ******************** complaint if he purchased the replacement Explorer. It is only logical to do so. The original complaint requested contact from the business and "finish the job". If he purchased the replacement vehicle then the complaint would be closed as he had received contact from the dealership, and it can be assumed that "finish the job" meant complete the purchase of the vehicle. It was also logical to assume the customer's purchase of the vehicle meant that he was satisfied with the replacement vehicle and price, or the customer would not be purchasing it. If he was happy enough with the price and vehicle to purchase the vehicle, and his complaint was essentially that he did not finish the purchase procedure, therefore the social media comments should be removed. Finally, the customer had indicated his satisfaction in the way the salesperson interacted with him, it is logical to request this satisfaction is reflected in his feedback about the salesperson.
The foundation of this disagreement with the customer is this. ********************** is a multi-year **** President's award winner and a multi-year **** Triple Crown winner (****'s most prestigious award). We view vehicle purchases as the beginning of a relationship with a customer where we have the opportunity to meet their maintenance, service, and future vehicle sales needs. The customer made it clear he was not happy with the price of the vehicle, and he could get a better price from other dealerships. And, that he was offended at the management here not agreeing to his purchase terms. We withdrew from the purchase process and did not continue with signing paperwork and contract. We were being offered no possible future maintenance, service and vehicle sales. We were being offered only bad publicity despite our agreement for an additional $500 discount. We gave the customer the opportunity to purchase at one of those other dealerships he was happier with. We did not withdraw from the process earlier, as he only indicated his unhappiness in an early morning email the morning he was to return to the dealership. Again, a purchase is complete when both parties agree, and sign the paperwork signifying that agreement. We sincerely hope the customer will find that dealership that will meet his future maintenance, service, and sales needs, and he is personally satisfied with in all aspects of their interactions with him.
Customer Answer
Date: 05/07/2024
Complaint: 21566479

I am rejecting this response because: You can spin it, explain it away, and blame the customer all you want. Its what I said and knew you would do. Its easy to get awards when you do your best to manipulate/skew your ratings/reviews. Bottom line youre a car dealership who failed to perform the only reason for its existence. To sell cars and you cant explain that away.

Regards,

*****************************
Initial Complaint
Date:01/05/2024
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
I took my car to have a regular routine oil change back in October. There was nothing wrong with my car and it had never been in the shop for anything other than Oil changes since 2019. I also did all of my maintenance and upkeep their as well. A few weeks after the oil change my oil light came I was given an appointment and I returned and was told that I needed a new engine that would cost ********* dollars. I took my car to the ********* on ************ and that's where they discovered that my oil was overfilled by 3 1/2 quarts. They told me to take my car directly back to the dealership and that's what I did. I took my car in November to have the new engine put in. The next day my check engine light was on. I took it back to Northside and they said I now need a catalytic convertor. I was also told that it has nothing to do with the oil over flow from the extra 3 1/2 quarts of oil from October. I did a lot of research and found that it can effect it, if the oil leaked out which it did because it was too much. The Service Director said he could get the price down to ******* from ******* dollars. He said it could wait until next year when I could afford to fix it. Nothing was wrong with my car before the routine oil change from October. Well now its December and this past weekend my car made a funny sound and the alert came saying Transmission Failure Code and now my car is in my garage. Who knows where the oil leaked in my car when it was over filled and now no one at the Dealership wants to fully take responsibility for that mistake. Tuesday I had my car towed to Northside Ford and I received a call yesterday saying that I now need a new transmission and that cost is ******* dollars. I am currently in a rental car waiting for resolution. All of this is because Northside Fords Service Tech over filled my car and no one at Northside Ford wants to take responsibility or wants to admit the consequences of that error and what it has caused.
Business Response
Date: 02/07/2024
To answer this complaint, the dealership had to check with several vendors and pull many documents, to give an accurate response. This, and several absences of key employees, did delay our response. The customer did utilize our ******************** for standard maintenance approximately every three months. For most customers this would mean the customer would be visiting us every ******* miles. However, this vehicle was driven approximately 8-10,000 miles every 90 days for a large part of that time.
On 9/26/2023, the customer did get an oil change with the vehicle having ******* miles on the odometer. On 11/15/23, the customer returned with an oil pressure light on and ******* miles on the odometer. At that time, the ****************** personnel told the customer that her oil pump had failed. The customer later told the Service Manager that she had been told by a repair facility on a military base that the oil had been overfilled by 4 quarts. *********** Manager did explain to the customer that the oil pump had failed leading to the oil pressure light coming on, and that her vehicle could not have been overfilled in that amount and driven for 45 days and **** miles with no symptoms. However, since the customer had been getting maintenance work here at our facility for years, he secured a large discount from us (thousands) and had intervened with BG to get a much larger amount of funds for her new engine than he had ever seen before (approximately $3000).
The customer returned several weeks later complaining of a catalytic converter problem. At that time her vehicle had ******* miles on the odometer. Again, because the customer has regularly utilized our ******************** for years, our Service Manager offered her a large discount. The price of the replacing a catalytic converter for a regular customer would be around $3000. *********** Manager told her that we would do the repair for the wholesale price of the parts alone, no more than $1100. We would "eat" the cost of the labor, as we still have to pay the technician who does the work. And, we our parts department was not charging any profit on the parts either.
On 1/3/2024, the customer returned. Her odometer reading at that time was *******. At that time the customer was informed that her transmission had an internal fault, clutches leaking due to possible torque converter coming apart, and metal debris contamination in fluid. The diagnosis was done for free, again because the customer had regularly done her maintenance here. We recommended she replace her transmission.
During the years the customer has brought her vehicle here to the dealership, she has been received 10-15% discounts on services many times due to her repeat business. We reinstalled a rear heat shield for her after it suffered an impact for free in order to assist her, as she is a regular customer. As far as we know, her vehicle was not overfilled by 4 quarts. This has been relayed to her by the Service Manager prior to this complaint, when it was explained to her that her oil pump failed, and that she had driven her vehicle for 45 days and **** miles with no symptoms. We prevailed upon BG to give much more funding than he had ever seen offered, due to her repeated maintenance visits. And we gave a discount of thousands on the engine replacement. As there was not a four quart overfill, the catalytic converter replacement therefore cannot be blamed on that. Again, to assist the customer, we were paying the labor to install the converter ourselves and charging her no mark-up on the parts, saving her approximately 64%. Finally, the engine and transmission are two separate systems each with their own lubricants. Although the customer has faithfully done her maintenance, the Escape has very high mileage (*******) for a 2019 vehicle. The failure of the engine, transmission, and catalytic converter were not caused by the dealership. While the Service Manager is willing to extend a significant discount on the transmission also, the dealership will not be offering a free catalytic converter and free transmission to the customer.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/30/2023
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
The dealership has had my truck 5 weeks looking into a warranty issue on my motor. I have been without a vehicle since then. I have asked about a rent car but they say **** needs to sing off on motor replacement every week there is another problem they blame ****. They have offered nothing in compensation like put me in a rent car.
Business Response
Date: 12/04/2023
Thank you for reaching out with this concern. There are some processes that are the same no matter what **** dealership a customer utilizes. The first is that customers who request their vehicle be repaired through an **************** Plan (***) must have the vehicle diagnosed with a problem that is covered by that *** before the *** will fund a rental vehicle. And, the maximum length that this *** will fund a rental vehicle is usually 10 days after diagnosis of a covered part failure. Another constant is the approval process itself. The *** can request pictures of parts that need to be repaired/replaced and may even send an inspector to the dealership for large repairs like engine replacements. Those pictures, and the inspector visiting onsite, are used by the *** to verify the reason for the failure of the part. One more constant is parts shortages. **** dealerships are still experiencing parts shortages for some parts.
The customer brought his 2020 **** F150 to the dealership mid-morning on October 25th. The customer reported that the low oil pressure light came on and it appeared that there was an oil leak behind the vehicle when the light illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed on 11/3 as needing a new long block engine. Please note, there were other customers' vehicles ahead of this customer, awaiting diagnosis and repair that resulted in the diagnosis taking eight working days. These long block engines are in short supply, and there can be a wait of over 90 days to receive the engine. Since that time the *** has required a visit by their inspector (done on 11/27) and several groups of pictures of different parts of the turbo. We have provided those as requested. We have not yet received the approval for the engine replacement from the ***. Our Service Advisor has been in constant communication with the customer, usually via text during this process.
Naturally, Northside Ford would like to start the repair process immediately for this vehicle, and all vehicles. (After all, we do not get paid for the repair until the work is approved and completed.) However, we do have to follow the process set out by the ***, as the customer is asking that plan to fund this repair. We also understand that it is an inconvenience for the customer to be short a vehicle. The customer is free to fund a rental vehicle himself. Naturally, the dealership cannot fund rentals for all their customers. We will continue providing the *** with the items they request in a prompt manner, in order to give them the needed information to decide if this is a covered repair. We will continue communicating with the customer each step of the way.

Customer Answer
Date: 12/06/2023
Complaint: 20938191

I am rejecting this response because you have done nothing to make it right, to say its ok sorry for keeping my vehicle 6 weeks and say sorry is ridiculous. You represent **** but you want to say its not your fault its **** .

Regards,

*******************
Initial Complaint
Date:09/08/2023
Type:Customer Service Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
June 17, I took my car in for maintenance and a faulty switch. Helped by *******************************. Was told the vehicle was in line to be seen.June 28, was told the vehicle was looked at and the parts were on order. No mention of backorder.3 following updates. Still no mention of backorder.July 19, I reach out and ask for an ETA. He responds with, "Shows to be backordered from Ford"I'm out of town from July 31st to August 7th.August 8th, I reach out and ask for my car I arrive at the dealership, talk to him, sign the papers, and he calls for the car to be pulled up.I walk outside and wait until my car comes around, covered in dead leaves, tree sap, and bird s*** along with a flat tire.I see the flat tire as an opportunity to show him the car and maybe he'll offer to have the car wash, which he does not.I take my car home and wash it. Upon washing revealed multiple spots where the bird s*** and tree sap ate through the paint.Spoke to *******************************, Manager of Service.The GM and Shop Manager agreed that the paint chips were "rock" chips.They were going to try their best to buff the vehicle but not reshoot the paint.They worked on the vehicle for about a week and I picked it up on Friday. ****** was out sick and another service writer handed me my keys.I simply took the car and went home without looking. I did not want to waste the time of someone with no knowledge of my car.The repair was inadequate.Now that the vehicle was clean, you can see that around every spot of missing paint is corrosion.Discoloration in the clear proving that this is chemical damage, and not physical.I have been trying to contact ****** for 2 weeks.September 9, at 9am.Could not get ahold of the *** A sales rep attempted to reach out to any manager. None were available.He took my name and number and said he would try to get a manager to reach out.
Business Response
Date: 10/05/2023
Thank you for reaching out to us with your concerns. At this time, the dealership is still interacting with the customer reference his vehicle's paint concerns. Video taken when the vehicle was turned in for service, does indicate some bird droppings already present on it. *********** Manager is reaching out to the customer to arrange an appointment for late next week with the Service Director and **************** Manager to view the vehicle with the customer. (*********** Director is currently on vacation). We hope to reach a consensus at that time about what actions the dealership should take. Our COO, who handles the business aspects for seven businesses is not often available for assistance with day-to-day business matters. However, our ************************* Manager, and **************** Manager are available to assist customers. Our apologies, as it seems that we haven't been as proactive as we should have been in communicating with the customer.
Customer Answer
Date: 10/12/2023
Complaint: 20571793

I am rejecting this response because: I have met with Northside Ford on October 12 on their request. They did offer to repair some of the damage but not the entirety of it (Specifically the hood and the roof but not the deck lid or quarter panel). I refuse to accept anything less than the whole because my insurance will cover it regardless.

Regards,

***********************
Business Response
Date: 10/12/2023
Our representative did meet with the customer today. Together, the customer and the Service Director inspected the vehicle. *********** Director explained in detail that there were rock chips on the vehicle and prior bird dropping ****s on the vehicle and showed those areas to the customer. We declined to paint the areas where there were rock chips. We also declined to paint those areas where our video, taken when the vehicle was initially dropped off for service, shows that the customer had pre-existing bird droppings on the vehicle. This left two areas that we agreed to paint. Those areas were the hood and the roof. (Although the hood had rock chips on it and pre-existing bird droppings, there was also a bird dropping spot that the video did not originally show.) And, as our video did not show the roof when the vehicle was dropped off, we could not conclusively say whether that spot happened here or not. We agreed to either paint the roof or do a spot repair on the roof whichever the customer preferred. The customer declined to accept to accept the offer to repaint either/both of those areas (hood/roof). He explained that his insurance had agreed to paint his vehicle for him, and the customer stated he already had arranged for a local collision center/garage to do the painting. We offered to assist the customer by taking care of his deductible if he brings his vehicle to our collision center instead. (We have a highly rated collision center.) The customer declined. Then we agreed to give him $500 worth of free service at our service department as a customer service. The customer declined that offer also and said he was advised not to accept anything from us. Finally, the Service Director told him that all **** dealership service departments are currently backed up/overcapacity, and if the customer ever needed service in the future, he should contact our Service Director and the service Director would arrange for him to avoid a wait for an appointment. Before leaving, the customer praised our service manager for his communication since he lodged his complaint. Northside Ford feels that its offer to paint the customer's hood and customer's roof were more than fair. Given, that the customer's hood has rock ******************* and prior bird dropping ****s and the bird dropping **** on the roof cannot be conclusively tied to its time on Northside Ford. We feel we have offered the customer other fair options also-taking care of the deductible if it is painted here and $500 in free service even if it isn't painted here.
Customer Answer
Date: 10/25/2023
Complaint: 20571793

I am rejecting this response because:

I would like to put this entire thing behind me. It has been 4 months almost to the day since first leaving my car with Northside Ford, so let's recap. I first left my car with Northside Ford for ****** mile maintenance and a faulty switch. Through their own miscommunication, the car was held for 2 months. While there, the car was parked under a tree in the dead of summer when it reached 105 degrees daily. They delivered the car to me as seen in photo 1.

The extent of the damage is difficult to capture in picture, but I got some good examples. Keep in mind that this damage is everywhere topside on the car. Everywhere. This includes hood, roof, deck lid, and the 2 quarter panels. The type of damage found is small pits in the clear, contaminated paint, paint wrinkling up, paint chips and a dent that was found on the quarter, which they PDR later.

I brought this up to management sometime around August 18th and took my car in on August 22nd. They informed me that the paint chips are rock chips and that's prior. They would do their best to buff the rest. They spent a week with it and delivered a very shiny car with ruined paint. I tried reaching back out the following week only to have my calls and texts ignored for the next 2 weeks. This is when I got the BBB involved on September 7th. Thanks to them, I was able to kickstart the argument again, explaining the possibilities of the type of damage proving that in most cases, the damage is not prior. After a time of taking pictures, phone calls, and debating, I was told a definitive "No" for the second time.

I was ready to walk away. I typed up a review and reached out to my insurance. I was finally going to put this all behind me and move on with my life. I reached out to the service manager who helped me, asking to verify some details for the review. To which he responded that his director wanted to meet and have everything reassessed. I was hesitant but if it meant I didn't have to pay a deductible, I'm all for it.

What a false hope. I met with *******************, director of service (cue superhero music) and this man would not stop saying how "This is our fault" "We should have been more diligent" but yet still not offering to fix the entirety? No, I don't agree that the offer to only fix my hood and roof is "more than fair" because my car's appearance went from ****** miles to ******* miles. Their excuse is rock chips were prior and bird droppings were on the car when brought in. I'm fine with that. However that only excuses a few spots out of 5 major body panels.

I was not satisfied with their offer because I just want my car fixed. I don't want store credit, help with my deductible, or to cut in line for service. I also didn't want to accept anything besides full repair because I want to post a review with a clean conscience. Please keep in mind that the review was written before the meet up on October 12th. I am intentionally leaving it out because the meet up was ultimately a waste of time. They still stand strong that they do not intend to perform full repair.

My review of Northside Ford is as follows:

Buying a car from Northside Ford is great. They treated me well and aside from being a little pushy, which every dealership is, it was painless. Although I imagine anyone with a decent credit score and willing to put 10k down will be treated well. The problem lies within the servicing afterwards. If you want to talk with someone friendly, they got your back. However, if you want your car to be cared for and treated just, I cannot recommend you come here. I will share with you my story of how lack of diligence and miscommunication turns into a really big problem and a really big problem goes unfixed by management.

On Monday, June 12, I took my car in for maintenance and a faulty switch. Helped by *******************************. Was told the vehicle was in line to be seen.
On Wednesday, June 28, was told the vehicle was looked at and the parts were on order. No mention of backorder.
An update that Friday, June 30, and the Friday after, July 7. Still no mention of backorder.
On July 19, I reached out and asked for an ETA. He responds with, "Still no ETA on that part. Shows to be backordered from Ford"
-Side Note- I was already planning on being out of town from July 31st to August 7th.
On August 8th, I reached out and asked him to give me a call because we need to work something out so I can have my car for the time being.
-Result of the call- I may go get the car, it will be ready within the hour.
I text 3 hours later making sure if it's okay to go get my car.
I get a response the following day, at 9am, from him, saying, "Yes, it is"
I text at 3pm, I will be there in 20 minutes.

I arrive at the dealership, talk to him, sign the papers, and he calls for the car to be pulled up.
I walk outside and wait until my car comes around, covered in dead leaves, tree sap, and bird droppings along with a flat tire.
I see the flat tire as an opportunity to show him the car and maybe he'll offer to have the car washed, which he does not.
I take my car home and wash it myself the best I can on a time limit. Upon washing revealed multiple spots where the bird droppings and tree sap ate through the paint.

At this point, I've only dealt with *******************************. I was not happy with his performance and started typing up this story to present to his superior and have my car repaired. I don't hold too much against ***** because despite his shortcomings, he was friendly, attentive, and warrants no ill will from me.

This is where text based communication ceased and most conversations took place over the phone. Dates and details are a little fuzzy.

Spoke to *******************************, Manager of Service.

****** was very kind and, to my knowledge, fought on my behalf to do proper repairs. The ** and Shop Manager agreed that the paint chips were "rock" chips.
They were going to try their best to buff the vehicle but not reshoot the paint.
They worked on the vehicle for about a week and I picked it up on Friday. ****** was out sick and another service writer handed me my keys.
I simply took the car and went home without looking. I did not want to waste the time of someone with no knowledge of my car.
Once I got home and started poking my nose around, I realized the repair was inadequate. Even looking past the "rock" chips, the clear was in rough shape.
Now that the vehicle was clean and totally sap free, you can see that around every spot of missing paint is corrosion.
Discoloration in the clear proving that this is chemical damage, and not physical.

I have been trying to contact ****** for 2 weeks.

******************* is the general manager. I am reaching out to him on September 6, at 9am.
Could not get a hold of the **. A sales rep, whose name escapes me, attempted to reach out to any manager. None were available.
He took my name and number and said he would continue to try to get a manager to reach out.
It has been 2 full days of more waiting to hear from people who I feel are actively ignoring me.

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (Sept 7) and within 10 minutes of the BBB returning my email, Northside Ford reached out (Sept 8).

The fight began again by explaining to ******************************* that I would like them to reconsider their decision not to fix my vehicle because of some holes in their reasoning.
I explained that most of the damage appears to be the paint lifting and wrinkling. He goes on to make requests of taking pictures at a distance, at specific angles, to map out the car.
I played along and sent 21 pictures. None of them capture the full story.

I received a call on Sept 19 informing me that they will not be doing anything to repair the vehicle but offer $200 in store credit for my trouble, which I do not accept.

$200 dollars in store credit for a $5000 repair is such an insult. It felt like 200 middle fingers. From June 12th to September 19th, the story is finally over. I would like to believe that ******************************* truly cared for the solution of my situation but ultimately was only the messenger between the higher *** and myself.

So after a month and a half of trying to resolve this in a civil way, I have given up. They win. I struggled with the haunting thought that even if my issue was resolved, will I look at my car the same again? Will I be reminded of how I was treated and how I felt being denied what I thought was right? I'll never know because I have to go through with my own means of repair so I will definitely remember how I felt each and every time I look at my car. I have never experienced such regret in a purchase and selection of where to take my business to. I wish your luck to be better if you choose to go to Northside Ford.
Initial Complaint
Date:07/07/2023
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
We bought a used Dodge ram for $42,000 from Northside Ford on San ***** on or about 3/16/23. We took it to ************ for recalls and other minor work. Worked with ***** the service manager. 6/13/23 took it to ************, two days later he called to say that they couldnt do any work on the truck because it had been "deleted". Meaning all the DEF system had been removed and deleted from the computer system in the truck. ***** told us that this was federally mandated, and he wasnt able to work on the truck because if they hooked up their computers to it to do the work it would lock the truck down and would be useless. He said that they could fix all the issues and hook everything back up to factory specs, and that would run us approx.. $10,000+. He also reiterated that since this was a mandated piece of emissions that **** should have never sold it to us. That afternoon we took off work early, and went to ****. The guy (************) that sold us the truck came up and asked how we were doing and how the truck was running. We told him about the problem and you could tell by the look on his face he had no idea what was going on. We explained the whole thing and he proceeded to tell us about how the service team was different and that once they clear the truck then they sell them. He went and got a Sales Manager (*****). This guy was a piece of work. He explained that just because the truck had been deleted didnt mean it wasnt usable, that in fact it would run better and get better milage. I asked about getting it tagged next year, his answer to that was to find someone that would cheat the system and pass it anyway. He went as far as to call a ***** of his that has two diesels that are deleted and that he has a guy that does his inspections. We asked about the fact that we couldnt get the recalls completed his answer Oh everything breaks at some point. We could fix it and then it will break anyway.
Business Response
Date: 07/12/2023
Unfortunately, the customer did purchase a truck that unknown to us had been "deleted". Our manager have met with the customers in person for several hours and have kept in telephone contact several times with the customer. During our meeting with the customer, the customer did voice concerns about the ability to repair service concerns on his vehicle. It was discussed that the vehicle is nine years old, and does have approximately ******* miles on it. ***refore, when mechanical items failed on the vehicle, the age of the vehicle and the miles would be the reason. We called the Dodge dealership that the customer had visited. *** Service Advisor communicated that there were recalls non-emissions and non- safety recalls to be completed on the vehicle, but the Dodge dealership does not have the parts to complete the recalls. *** meeting the manager had with the customers was impromptu; the manager did not know that the vehicle was deleted. ***refore, the information conveyed to the customer was not planned in advance to "sell" the customer on anything. *** Manager sought to convey to the customer that vehicles that are nine years old with ******* miles may have things go wrong related to age and mileage. Similarly, there are recalls that cannot be completed, due to lack of parts, not the "deletion". *** Manger did call another person who does have several "deleted" trucks. Unfortunately, many individuals have their diesel, Dodge trucks "deleted". *** Manager offered to the customer the option of us looking for a different vehicle to meet their needs (payment needs and vehicle needs) or repairing the truck. *** customer chose to have us look for another vehicle for them.
We did telephone the customer several times since then to let them know we were still searching for a used diesel, Dodge truck to meet their needs. Unfortunately, we have not been successful in finding them one. On our last phone call, we spoke to the customer about bringing the truck in and fixing it instead. We will continue working with the customer to get the truck's deletion reversed.
Customer Answer
Date: 07/15/2023
Complaint: 20288184

I am rejecting this response because:
The sales manager ***** did speak to us and the ****** dealership. While on the phone, it was mentioned that a couple of the problems needed parts they would need to order, however the main issue (the transmission) was not able to be fixed due to the deletion. Secondly, if the truck was thoroughly gone through, as was stated to us on day of purchase as well as the reason we had to wait another few days for the service crew to go through it and top everything off and double check the truck, then **** would have had to have hooked up their computer system to the truck to get the diagnostics off of it, and would have seen the deletion. As it is illigal to sell a truck in this condition and are (as we were told on multiple occasions) sent straight to auction, then looking for this deletion would be part of that screening process before sale. We understand that a lot of trucks will be deleted, and we understand the value of doing so, the difference here is we were sold a truck that we did not have the availability to make a decision on our own as to what we wanted to do with or truck.
Thirdly - We were never given the option of fixing the truck back to factory until after this initial letter was sent. While sitting there in the office we were told we could either pay for everything out of pocket to get it fixed, or wait for them to locate a new truck. We were also told the other option was that they would buy the truck back, however they would deduct the depreciation value of us having the truck for the time we had it in our possession.
They now have our truck and are working on fixing it back to factory. We were told 3 weeks from July 12th to have it fixed, which will be around August 2nd. They gave us a loaner truck for us to drive around while we were waiting - however I received a text yesterday July 14th, stating that they had someone there to buy this truck and we had to bring it back. They are expecting us to take time off from work (again!!!) to drive a truck that we signed for back to them becuase they sold it and are going to give us something else.
This is horrible service all the way around. First sentence - sold us what is technically called an ILLEGAL vehicle to sell - Second sentence should have been - We apologize, it was a mistake, here is a loaner vehicle, your truck is going in to be repaired, all on us and we will contact you as soon as it is done, this will be a priority. Thank you for being loyal customers.

Instead we are having to go through all of these hoops

Regards,

*************
Business Response
Date: 08/07/2023
Thank you for reaching out with your further concerns. As stated, in our initial response, the dealership was not aware the vehicle was a deleted vehicle when it was sold to the customer. The customer did agree to purchase the vehicle before it was serviced. When servicing vehicles other than **** vehicles, we do not hook them up to look for codes. The reason for this is simple. The diagnostic tool that we "hook up to look for codes" is only used on preowned **** vehicles, as the diagnostic tool is programmed to work only on ****/Lincoln vehicles. (We are a **** dealership.) *********** inspections/work done on other manufacturers' used vehicles is not based on use of the diagnostic computer tool. It is based on checking items - like tire tread, brake wear, oil changes, preventative items (filters, fluids, lights, windshield wipers, etc...). Again, it is our policy to send diesel vehicles that have been deleted to auction and not offer them for sale at the dealership.
We did provide a loaner (a new vehicle) for the customer to use while his truck was being worked on. The customer is correct that the vehicle he was driving was sold, requiring him to return to get another loaner. Our Service Director, reached out to the customer since our last response. It is my understanding that the customer was put into contact with an outside vendor who we agreed to pay to put the vehicle back to factory specs. As a customer service for the customer, before returning the vehicle to him, our Service Director insured the vehicle's fuel filters were changed, the vehicle was detailed, and the vehicle was topped off to help offset the inconvenience the customer described.
Customer Answer
Date: 08/07/2023
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. The truck has been returned and we are satisfied with the work and conclusion of the Service Manager.

Regards,

*************
Initial Complaint
Date:06/19/2023
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
On June 7, 2023I took my vehicle to Northside Ford for diagnostics and repair . The dealer informed me that it was taking at least 5 days for vehicles to be serviced. Considering the cost of obtaining a rental vehicle and having to pay an Uber for transportation to my home, I was reluctant to accept the wait but accepted. I obtained a rental in hopes that my vehicle would be ready within the time frame stated. I called 3 days in a row on the fifth day to be told that a mechanic had not yet been assigned on day 8th I was told that my vehicle would be next to be seen and on day 9th, their answer again was, still awaiting for a mechanic to be assigned. I was very upset by then, and told them that I was picking up my vehicle, which I did (it was drivable). The car rental ended up costing me over $300.00 dollars after my All *************** paid their coverage; money spent for nothing. What I find suspicious is that its taking so long to repair vehicles, for a supposed increase in the number of vehicles in need of repair. I suspect that the company is trying to operate with a minimal crew to save money, passing the cost to the consumer. The consumer is footing the cost of a rental or the inconvenience of not having a vehicle for far longer than necessary so that **** can save on paying for a more adequate crew of mechanics. The explanation I received from a supervisor was, the cost of buying a new car is so high that people are opting to keep their vehicles, longer, and this is generating a large amount of vehicles in need of repair I dont believe this is the case. Id like to have an investigation of this companys operating practices.
Business Response
Date: 07/12/2023
Thank you for reaching out. There seems to be a misunderstanding here. The dealership and its technicians do not receive pay until/unless vehicles are repaired. Our technicians diagnose the problem, and then a computer program stipulates how many "flag hours" the technician will be paid. So, of course, our goal is to repair customers vehicles! Just like other dealerships though, we do have challenges. One of those is labor. We recruit **** technicians from tech schools in *******. Unfortunately, the program at the local community college to train **** certified technicians closed down, due to lack of interested students. We attend veteran job fairs to recruit, and post openings on job boards like Work In Texas, and Indeed. We have costly programs offered by **** to hire qualified technicians. If the customer knows any qualified **** Technicians, we would be happy to speak to them about employment. The second hurdle plaguing the industry is parts shortages. As I am sure you are aware, many industries have experienced supply chain issues. Many parts needed to complete repairs are delayed. Third, logistical hurdles do exist. We have increased shop space in our Quick Lane, even going so far as opening another facility to reduce wait time. We have experienced a large rise in service business, that again, only benefits the dealership and its employees when repairs are completed. It would be illogical for our dealership or any other dealership to delay repairing vehicles, in order to inconvenience our customers/reduce customer satisfaction and reduce repeat business and make less money.
Initial Complaint
Date:05/09/2023
Type:Order Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
My wife and I have purchased three vehicles from Northside Ford. First in 2016, second in ****************** 2020. We had to purchase these new cars to help lower our monthly payments due to the fact that we are both disabled and needed to lower our payments to keep our home and needed to have a reliable vehicle for numerous doctors' visits each month. During the negotiations on monthly payment and credit approval process the sales and finance department informed ** that **** Credit would only accept our approval if we purchased an extended warranty and extra ************** They claimed this was due to the lengths of the loan which were 72 months. They were very insistent. This occurred for all three cars. On May 5, 2023, we visited another dealership, *************, to see if we could once again lower our payments as **** was having special incentives. During this process we were informed by the finance person of this dealership that Northside had lied to **, and that **** never had any conditions of purchasing these extras to be approved for credit. We immediately called **** Motor Credit to confirm this information and they confirmed this as well. We were also informed that due to the fact that we traded in our vehicles to the dealership they should have offered to either transfer any existing warranty and gap insurance to our new vehicle or refund the unused portion of theses extras to **. **** Finance informed ** that this was a **** policy for dealerships. This was never mentioned or stated to us by Northside. We estimate that we were duped out of approximately $7000 that should have been owed back to ** on the three vehicles. We are in the process of trying to obtain a refund for both on the 2020 Escape we traded in at Southwest. According to a **** refund calculator we should be owed $ ***** and $428 for the prorated return on this vehicle. We are requesting a prorated refund from this dealer on the previous two vehicles that they deceived ** on. Please help
Business Response
Date: 05/18/2023
As this complaint has been made in both the review section and the complaint section of BBB we will respond in the review section.
Customer Answer
Date: 05/18/2023
Complaint: 20035606

I am rejecting this response because: I visited the dealer to get some paperwork they omitted. While there I spoke to a sales manager, and He was unsympathetic and very dismissive of our issue. They will not take any responsibility for their deceptive practices.

Regards,

***************************
Business Response
Date: 05/19/2023
Thank you for forwarding this concern. The customer and his wife did visit our dealership in August of 2020 and purchase a 2020 **** Escape requesting to lower their payment. As we had sold them several Escapes before, the 2020 **** Escape was sold to the customer at approximately a $5000 loss to assist them. During the course of the sale, both the Fleet/Internet Manager and the Finance Manager spoke to the customers and detailed several things. (Also, the customer recently visited, and we explained the following points to the customer again. First, that their refund from their **************** plan on the 2017 was used as a down payment on the 2020 **** Escape. Second, that they received a special rate from **** in lieu of rebates. Finally, at no time did the Finance Manager or the Fleet/Internet Director tell the customers that they "had" to purchase *** and/or an **************** Plan. However, the Flee/Internet Director does recall that the customers chose those items and signed the contracts for those items because their financial limitations did not allow them to pay both a monthly payment, and an expensive repair or the balance of a totaled vehicle should either of these things occur. The customer does have a refund coming on the *** insurance he purchased on the 2020 Escape. That refund should automatically come from his prior lienholder. We do not determine the amount of the refund, his prior lienholder calculates the amount. To receive a refund on the extended service plan for his 2020 Escape, the customer merely has to complete a form, enclose a copy of the odometer statement from when he traded it in, and return both to **. The refund will take 4-6 weeks to process. If the customer can give ** the *** number of the ******************************************************************************************************** gap on that vehicle.
Also, in addition to selling the 2020 Escape to a great loss, when the customer claimed they had a service concern with his vehicle, the manufacturer (****) sent one of their Field Engineers to examine the 2020 Escape. After a thorough exam and use of diagnostics, the ********** Engineer could not find that the vehicle experienced the service problem the customer alleged. In addition, dealership management personnel and a service technician test drove the vehicle and did not experience the problem the customer was relating.
As you can see from what is related above, we have been more than fair with these customers and went to great lengths to assist them for years.
Customer Answer
Date: 05/19/2023
Complaint: 20035606

I am rejecting this response because: They are flat out lying. They never told ** they were using the balance of the previous extended warranty as a down payment. On all 3 vehicles they told ** that **** would not accept the loan unless we purchased the extended warranties and gap insurance. We wanted t5he gap insurance anyway so that was fine. The reasoning they gave ** for insisting on an extended warranty was that we had only fair credit and **** wanted assurances due to the length of the loan. We did not want any extended warranty as we drive very little, and all our cars had very low milage at time of trade in. They also told ** we were receiving the 0% interest incentive and the $4000 rebate to make the deal due to negative equity on the 2017 Escape. On visiting the dealership to find out the previous milage on the 2017 car, which they did not indicate on the contract. I spoke to a sales manager. He was very condescending and dismissive. His apologies were very insincere. He showed me that they had also discounted the 2020 Escape $2700 due to hail damage. The car had no hail damage when we took it home, and we never signed any paperwork showing we acknowledged this damage. He showed me a copy of a signed paper on the hail damage, but we never signed this during the finance process and never received a copy of this. As most of the signing of contracts was done electronically, we believe they added this after the fact and used our electronic signatures to forge this paper. We would never have bought any car that had previous damage. We don't believe that they lost $5000 on this deal and are making up a number to look good. If we had been properly informed of what they were doing, we would never have purchased any of our cars from them.
As to the vehicles mechanical issues. We had pictures of a fault message that would continuously pop up on our dashboard. We still have the pictures. The vehicle has an auto brake system that allows the driver to take their foot off the brake when stopped and the car would hold until the accelerator was engaged. When thi9s fault message came up the auto brake would disengage, and the car would accelerate on its own. It was very random, and I explained that to them. After 3 visits to service they could not find any issue. Less than a week after the last visit they auto brake disengaged, and the car lurched froward into a wall causing $3400 in damage. We had to pay out of pocket to have the car repaired. WE later found out from another ************ center that this was a common issue with the auto brake and all that needed to be done was to have the cars computer reset and the issue would resolve itself. We now believe Northside did this while the car was being repaired as the issue disappeared after the car was repaired.
We discovered this dealer has a bad reputation for ripping off customers. They pull many of the old car sales tricks of fudging and hiding numbers to make it look like customers are getting good deals. Many find out later they were scammed. Since it is always their word against others they get away with these deceptive practices. They are thieves and greedy. They repeatedly took advantage of 2 disabled people, and we will not accept any of their excuses for their treatment of **. We will seek legal remedy if not satisfied with their response.

Regards,

***************************
Business Response
Date: 05/19/2023
Thank you for your rapid response. Northside Ford is an eleven-time **** President's ***** winner, and a five-time **** Triple Crown Winner. These awards are based on customer satisfaction. We stand by our response. Besides the discussion that the customer had with the Fleet/Internet Manager when purchasing his 2020 **** Escape reference the percentage rate for the loan and the lack of rebates, that special rate and lack of rebates are noted on numerous documents signed by the customer(s) at time of purchase. Simply put, the manufacturer (****) offered a special rate OR rebates, not a special rate AND rebates. We have documentation signed by the customer acknowledging the hail damage. As hail damage is not a daily occurrence, such forms are not required on every vehicle purchase. Therefore, those forms are not loaded into the software and signed electronically. Also, the amount of down payment, that includes both the customer's downpayment and the refund from the extended service plan, are noted on many forms. The allegation that the sales manager was condescending and dismissive, is puzzling. As, the customer had a pleasant discussion with both the sales manager and the Fleet/Internet manager several days ago. Please see the prior response reference the service concerns the customer had. Please feel free to let our competitor's service department know that **** sent a Field Engineer to diagnose and examine the vehicle. It is puzzling that the other dealership, and the customer, imply that their expertise exceeds ****'s (the manufacturer of the vehicle). I didn't notice anywhere in the customer's response, acknowledgement that free loaner vehicles (new vehicles) were provided for his use during some of his service visits as a customer courtesy. The customer has alleged many things in his response that are simply not true. It is unfortunate that our efforts to assist the customer(s) have been twisted in this manner. It is the customers(s)' right to retain an attorney, of course. However, other than processing the cancellation for the extended service contract on the 2020 Escape when we receive the completed forms and researching when we receive the *** number of the 2016 Escape from the customer to determine if a refund is owed, nothing more will be offered.
Customer Answer
Date: 05/22/2023
Complaint: 20035606

I am rejecting this response because: We seem to have no recourse with this dealership. Since it seems to come down to our word vs. theirs, we have no way to prove that they lied and continue to do business in unethical ways. As to the supposed hail damage we were never given a copy of this notice at the time of purchase. I was shown a copy of this by the sales manager when I went into the dealership to complain about their tactics.
As to the 2016 ***** It was not an Escape. It was a **** Fusion. We have no records left from this vehicle. I was involved in a serious car accident 3 days after purchasing the car. After many attempts to fix the car that Northside should have records of, the car was completely unsafe to drive, and we turned it in to the creditor and purchased a 2017 Escape. We were assured by both our insurance agency and Northside that our GAP insurance would be applied to cover the balance of the loan. This did not happen. The loan company, Flagship Credit first put it as a repossession. After many months of fighting with them they changed it to a charge off. Again, all conversations with our Insurance and Northside were verbal so we have no proof in writing of what they assured ** of. Flagship credit went bankrupt a few years ago and they have apparently lost all records of our loan. We did not receive any refund of the extended warranty or GAP insurance from this vehicle. We only had this car for about 8 months before turning it in.
In conclusion we have to take some responsibility for not asking more questions about their fudging of numbers and insistence of purchasing add-ons we did not want or need. W trusted them and they took advantage of us. Shame on them.

Regards,

***************************
Initial Complaint
Date:04/04/2023
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
Re: Northside Ford ***********, ***** **************. Account #******, Invoice FOCS286640, DOS 4/15/21. Total Cost $1603.89 + part $52.53 I purchased the part at the ************* on 3/17/21 as there was limited inventory and long wait time for servicing. I brought in my vehicle on 4/13/21 (per invoice). There is a 2 year warranty for parts and service. The same issue has occurred...the heater is blowing cold air, again, only on the drivers side. I called for service; however, to get in there is at least a 3-4 day wait just for diagnosing. I was told ******** Dealer can Dx and they would accept. I took to ****************** for Dx. They Dx the same issue and requiring the same part. I called *************, now their won't warranty, because they didn't Dx and the part purchase date is just past the 2 year ***** Again, the part is theirs and wasn't used or installed until 4/15/21. I called **** headquarters and their response was it's the dealerships decision as they are individually owned and operated. Again, because the part was not installed until the time of service, which is within the 2 years, I'd like this to be resolved within the warranty period. Note: Service is...leave car for 3-4 days before anyone can even get to it isn't reasonable.
Business Response
Date: 04/04/2023
Thank you for forwarding this concern. Usually, the parts used for a repair, are purchased at the time of the repair, when the vehicle is fixed at the dealership. In this case the customer purchased the part from our wholesale parts counter about three and a half weeks before she brought the vehicle and the part in together for the repair. It is unknown during those three and a half weeks, whether the customer wanted to try to install the part themselves, take it to another shop for installation, or a have a friend/relative install the part. Installation of this part is a very labor-intensive task.
Unfortunately, the warranty on the part is based on the date that the part is purchased, not the date that the part is installed. Therefore, the replacement of the part and the labor associated with that will not be complimentary whether done at our dealership or another dealership. We can offer the customer a significant discountat our facility, as a courtesy. In addition, we cannot guarantee same day service for the customer. Other customers whose vehicles have AC concerns, and are currently being repaired, cannot be taken off the lifts, or other vehicles that are in line for AC repair cannot be moved back in line for the customer's vehicle to have priority. That would be unfair to our other customers. As a practical matter, since the weather is getting warmer, wait times for AC repairs will be getting lengthier not shorter. Please let us know if you would like to proceed with the repair at a discounted price.

Customer Answer
Date: 04/04/2023
Complaint: 19893233

I am rejecting this response because:
I received the response. What is the proposed discount? The part isn't the issue, it the cost of the labor.

*************************

Regards,

*************************
Business Response
Date: 04/04/2023
The Parts and Service Director has agreed that if the same part (l/s temp blend door accuator) is faulty, then we will split the cost of the labor to replace that same part.
Customer Answer
Date: 04/17/2023
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

*************************
Customer Answer
Date: 04/17/2023
I have attached the Dx invoice previously submitted. There is a description of the Dx process contained within the invoice.
Business Response
Date: 04/17/2023
********************** has reached out to this customer via email. We have requested that she bring the vehicle to our dealership for diagnosis. As noted on our previous response, her vehicle would not be seen immediately, it would need to wait 3-4 days until it is her vehicle's turn for diagnosis. As also noted on a previous response, we will not be removing another customer's vehicle from the lift for our AC techs to diagnose and service her vehicle. In addition, we will not place her vehicle in front of other customers' vehicles awaiting AC work as that would be unfair to our other customers. Once our shop does a diagnosis, if it is the same part previously replaced, we will split the cost of the labor involved with replacing that part. (A check of the ***** event view/****'s vehicle history for this customer's vehicle, does show the vehicle was seen on March 23, 2023, not March 18, 2023 at the other dealership. In addition, it does not show that the *** was attached. Therefore, the code noted on the customer's other invoice is not listed on that event view/vehicle history).
It is important to note that the warranty on the part has ended. The warranty is not provided by us, it is provided by ****. In addition, in order for **** to warranty the labor, the part must have been purchased on the repair order. This part was not purchased in that manner. It was purchased separately. However, understanding the customer's frustration, the dealership, as a customer service, has volunteered to split the cost of the repair with her in the event that the same part, AS DETERMINED BY OUR DIAGNOSIS. This is a generous offer, and again is not subsidized by ****, and is not covered under any warranty. This is simply offered as a customer service. The customer is free to accept the offer, or refuse the offer.
Initial Complaint
Date:02/28/2023
Type:Billing Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
I purchased my car in July 2016 and purchased ********************************* Plan, covering transmission mounts with a term of 96 months/100K miles, for $725. On May 20 2019 I brought my car in when a transmission mount failed; service tech ******************************* told me this part was not covered under warranty and charged me for the install.In the time since I I contacted Northside Ford in January 2023 asking about this and they said the ExtraCare was never activated. They then activated it and ******** said he was still not going to refund the amount charged.On March 9 2018 My car had the head gasket replaced under recall; afterward my car display would occasionally quickly flash ENGINE FAULT SERVICE NOW" on startup. Concerned this was related to the head gasket issue and having a reasonable expectation that ************* would guarantee their recall work, I asked about this during my next oil change on March 8 2019. ******** told me the message was not due to the recall and charged me $130.33 for the diagnostic. I also mentioned the rear hatch button stopped working and ******** quoted me over $500 for a new hatch release module, despite numerous reports of other owners having this part fail and have their dealers replace it under warranty. I eventually replaced this part for $82.45 from another vendor and installed it in about 10 minutes.I brought these issues up to *************************, Finance Director, and *******************************, Service Director. ****************** told me the claims weren't submitted in a timely manner (I went through a military PCS move and deployment in the time since) and the claims were denied. After I pointed out Bexar County allows four years in a breach-of-contract small claims case, they stopped responding to me. I also requested to speak to *************************, COO, leaving a message with his office on Feb 23, 2023, and have not received a response since.I am seeking a refund of $937.78 for the ExtraCare, unsolicited diagnostic, and hatch module cost.
Business Response
Date: 03/08/2023
Our apologies to the customer. The customer did purchase an extended service plan that was not registered due to a clerical error. It has since been registered. We went through all the Repair Orders attached to the complaint. We found that Repair Order ****** would not have been covered by the extended service plan. In reference to repair order ******, had it been registered at the time, the extended service plan would have covered the rear hatch switch. The extended service plan would not have covered the battery or the diagnosis. ******* change was a ************ change, as was the inspection, and topping off the tires.
While we understand that the customer thought the warning light was caused by a prior recall, that warning light can be caused by a variety of items. Included in that are battery problems, sensor problems, spark plug problems, emission problems, gas cap problems, etc... Unfortunately, the only way to determine both the reason for the warning lights and the non-locking rear hatch is by having a technician diagnose the problems. All customers are informed of the diagnosis fee, and the diagnosis fee is not charged if repairs are done.
However, due to the inconvenience the customer experienced when the service plan was not registered, we would like to offer the customer three choices to choose from to resolve this complaint. We believe all three choices are fair outcomes.
1. $340, plus the customer retains his extended service plan until the date or mileage it ends. This allows the customer the advantage of using the *** should further covered items need repair or replacement before the *** ends. The $340 is for payment for the repair of the hatch. OR
2. $340 plus the balance of the funds from canceling the extended service plan. The balance would be a prorated for the time and mileage used from when the extended service plan was purchased. This choice would not allow the customer to make any further claims of his extended service plan. OR
3. $725 - cost of the extended service plan. Since the customer would receive all the money paid for the extended service plan, the dealership would not provide the $340 reimbursement of the switch repair. (If receiving a full refund for the ***, it would not have been in place to fund the repair of the switch).
Plese let us know which of these solutions the customer chooses, and if the check should be sent to the address on the complaint.
Customer Answer
Date: 03/08/2023
Better Business Bureau:

I'll accept Option 3, check for $725.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Please let me know if you need any more information to process.

Regards,

*********************

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