Attack of the Cubicle Zombies from Ford - Part 2

In April of 2010, I wrote a post entitled Attack of the Cubicle Zombies from Ford over on another blog, which you can read here. In short, I and many other Ford owners, are stuck with bad paint jobs, which Ford has refused, and continues to refuse, to remedy.

To pick up where I left off, as we all know, Ford is a Big Dog Corporation. In recent months, they have been taking their bows for posting record sales and profits, something they attribute to Ford's excellent customer service and quality vehicles. In addition, most Americans believe that Ford is the Real Deal - a real flag-waving American institution that stood on its own two feet and didn't take a bailout. For that reason alone, people are apparently snapping Fords up left and right. But don't you wonder exactly how Ford managed to pull a profit rabbit out of their hat when almost every other automobile manufacturer is circling the drain?

You may be asking yourself, "Why should I care how they did it?" Because, my friends, it appears some of those profits are likely due to Ford's refusal to address serious problems with the paint jobs on hundreds of thousands of their cars.

Bubbling and peeling paint on Ford vehicles is nothing new, but it wasn't something I was aware of when I bought my Mustang. I didn't find out until it happened to my car and I was given the brush-off by a local Ford dealer and Ford Customer Service.

It didn't take much research to see this is a problem they have been aware of for many years. In fact, one article I found states that, in 1992, the Federal Trade Commission and every state attorney general got involved in forcing Ford to remedy paint-peeling problems on 1985-1992 F-150 trucks. But, since 1994, Ford seems to have taken a "grease the wheel that squeaks the loudest" approach, and the powers-that-be are letting them get away with it. Some owners who complain to Ford will get paid off, but most will be ignored and shooed away with the "it's out of warranty" excuse, which is indicative of Ford's increasingly callous disregard for their customers.

When I took my car to a local Ford dealership to be inspected, as instructed by Ford Customer Service, the "inspector" looked at it, shrugged his shoulders, and said 1) it's out of warranty and 2) it's UV damage.

Just to give you an idea of the extent of the problem, here are some pictures.

This was taken in February, 2010.

These were taken in February, 2011.

Am I disgruntled? Of course I am. But I am not alone in my disgruntlement with Ford. Here are some stories and forums I found online.

Judge Rules Ford Not Built Tough Enough

Ford Fighting Peeling Paint Verdict (and spares no expense)

This is an excellent overview of car paint problems. (It's not just Ford, by the way.)

Peeling Paint No Warranty - Ford Motor Complaints

Ford/Mercury Peeling Paint Complaints on Facebook. Great information and advice about how to fight Ford, plus you can connect with other Ford owners who are dealing with this problem. Although, given the fact that Ford has suffered a few losses in Small Claims Courts, they have apparently decided it's time to bring out their Big Gun Attorneys.

Also, just after I published my first blog post about this last year and started posting it on Twitter, the Ford social media guy tweeted this one day. Venting Online, Consumers Can Find Themselves in Court

Just gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, doesn't it?

Today I was on Twitter and starting seeing tweets coming from a Ford Pep Rally called #FordTrends. The cheerleaders tweeting for #FordTrends were just blown away by what they were seeing - everything from the eco-inspired lunch to how a SYNC user found a song in 4.9 seconds to the yummy new names of their paint colors to how Ford is/will be? using soy-based foam in car seats. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on "green" at this rah-rah session, which leads me to wonder how all that paint which is chipping, peeling and falling off their cars is affecting the environment. That's a legitimate question, isn't it?

As for me, I wish Ford would back-burner all the bells and whistles for 15 minutes and get back to basics. Like how to paint a car. And how to treat customers. You would think after 108 years, they would at least be able to do those things right.

The VA Biffs It Again

If you are a military veteran who travels to a VA hospital or clinic for care and are eligible for payment of mileage reimbursement, I'm afraid I may have bad news for you today.

Quoting from a letter, received May 11, 2011, from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, New Mexico VA Health Care Systems:

"There have been growing concerns regarding the disbursement of cash for beneficiary travel reimbursements. In an effort to address these concerns, we are endeavoring to provide a change to increase the safety, security, and reliability of these payments.

BEGINNING JUNE 1, 2011,we will no longer be disbursing cash for the payment of mileage reimbursement for travel through the Agent Cashier window. Payments for eligible veterans' visits will be disbursed by CHECK, mailed to the address of record. The average processing time for a check payment is 10 business days. Please take this new change into consideration when planning your next travel arrangement. You may also elect to use Electronic Funds Transfer, and enrollment forms are enclosed for your convenience."

SNARK ALERT! Actually, that quote is not entirely correct, because the letter we received says "we will no longer be disbursing SASH for the payment of mileage reimbursement for travel." I took the liberty of translating and correcting their letter, since we have never been given a "sash" when visiting the VA hospital. Of course, anything is possible when dealing with a ball of tangled red tape this big so I could be wrong. If that turns out to be the case, I will happily issue a retraction at a later date.

I am at a loss as to how this change could possibly make these payments safer, more secure, or more reliable. The current system seems to work well. You show up for your appointment, you submit your paperwork, sit around for a few minutes while you wait for it to be approved, pick up your cash and go. And the problem with that is ?

Clearly, this adds at least another couple of layers to the bureaucracy, in addition to the time you will have to wait (at least 10 business days) to be reimbursed for your travel expenses. Some veterans will be okay with this change. Other veterans will be devastated.

On more than one occasion, I have heard veterans at the VA hospital comment that they had barely enough money for gas to get to their appointment that day, and they would not be able to get home without the travel reimbursement cash. For low-income veterans who have to travel long distances for care, this little so-called improvement could very well mean they will not be able to access the care they need AT ALL, especially with gas prices continuing to rise. Well, I guess that's one way for the VA to cut costs.

I once asked a very nice lady at the VA "What has happened to common sense?" She replied, "It's against policy." 'Nuff said.

I checked the VA web site, but I was unable to determine if this is a new nation-wide policy or if it just applies to New Mexico. I would suggest you check with the VA health care facility you are using to determine if they have also made a policy change. Here's a link to the VA web site: http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/division_flsh.asp?dnum=1

If you have additional information on this topic you feel should be shared with other veterans and caregivers, please leave it in the comments section. Feel free to vent, but please keep it clean. Thanks.