Ford versus Greg

Eve was in Jury duty last week. During her lunch break she went out to the car, popped the lift gate of her Ford Explorer to put her purse in the back of the car and when she went to shut the glass and it "exploded." Glass shot out into the parking lot.

She escaped major injury, but had a few cuts on her hand. She drove directly to the Ford Dealership and asked them to fix it under warranty (car is only 2 years old). You would have thought that this was the first time someone asked for warranty coverage. They said they would call Ford for guidance. Eve rented a car and returned to jury duty.

Enter Greg, the "never say die" consumer, who is famous for fighting MCI Worldcom for 9 months over a $5.46 discrepancy. Ford called back to say that they would NOT cover the repair under warranty because Ford doesn't cover glass. Estimate = $1,800 plus a week to order the product. Not acceptable.

I drove down to the dealership to have a little chat. I heard the "we don't cover glass" mantra way too many times. I protested that a 100 pound 5 foot 2 inch woman should not be able to break the glass by simply shutting it. They agreed, but Ford doesn't cover glass. Would they cover a door if it broke? Yes. But a lift gate wasn't a door, it's glass and Ford doesn't cover glass.

The only way this could have happened, I protested, was if there was a defect in the car. No, there are a number of ways you could have done this. Did you leave the car parked in the hot sun? That had to be the dumbest question I have ever heard implying that Ford Explorers should not be parked in the sun!

At this point the Ford Rep had coincidentally arrived for a previously arranged "fleet day" on the lot. I had her and two service managers inspecting the broken glass. Based on the testimony we had, it was clear that "exploding" glass could have only happened if the window was poked out from the "strut" or "lift arm" that the window is attached to. This is not a part that is supposed to come loose.

"You can't prove that it came loose and Ford doesn't cover glass," Ms. Ford said.
"There is no other explanation," I said.
"There could be many explanations," she said.
"Only if you don't believe the testimony of my wife and her witness," I said.
"Ford doesn't cover glass," she said.
"This isn't a glass problem it's a strut problem, does Ford cover struts?" I asked.

She didn't want to answer this question. She repeated her mantra a few more times and said she didn't have any more time to talk. I asked her to simply answer one question: does Ford cover struts under warranty? Finally the answer was "yes."

I looked in the back of the car and found the broken strut. It was in two pieces (my evidence!). This proved my case (at least I thought so). Nope, not according to the three clowns I was dealing with. Half an hour later I got them to send the strut into Ford for analysis. This was a small victory designed to simply get me off the lot, nevertheless it was progress.

As I was leaving the lot, the senior Ford Rep arrived for Fleet Days. He looked at the part and left a message on my answering machine before I even arrived home. "I've reviewed this case and Ford will not cover this under warranty under any circumstances, because Ford doesn't cover glass."

At this point I was left with little choice but to refer the incident to my insurance company. I encouraged them to challenge Ford, but of course it is cheaper for them to just pay it. Ford obviously knows this. But I was pissed.

I got the insurance company to say that they would do additional investigation to decide if they would challenge Ford. Another small victory. I created a list of questions and kept calling the Dealership and the Senior Ford Rep with my questions designed to slowly pick at them and let them know that I was a friggen pain in the butt and that I wasn't going anywhere (one of my talents).

The car has now been fixed and paid for (our credit card). The check from the insurance company arrived in the mail today. I got a call today from the Senior Ford Rep, "Ford has decided to cover your repair."

There is a lesson here. The system assumes that people will give up. But yelling and screaming in public at dumb employees is my favorite form of exercise. It gets the heart going and draws attention to myself at the same time. So, there is a lesson here--even after five separate "No's", it's still possible to get a "Yes" even if it is glass.

October 3, 2003