Why I’m Surprised Ford Hasn’t Gone Bankrupt

Recently I had to get one of my headlights and the lens cover replaced on my car, a fairly simple repair done at the dealership. But with all the hoops I had to jump through to have a road-worthy vehicle, I’m surprised that Ford is the only one of Michigan’s Big Three not currently in bankruptcy.

When I called the first time to schedule an appointment, I was told they would have to order the part, no big surprise there. But rather than being able to order the part and then be notified that it was in so I could bring in my car and then pay for the part and labor together, I had to pay for the part up front. I was also told to come and pick up the part, and then talk to the service department to schedule the repair.

Upon scheduling the repair and bringing my car in, I found myself waiting as the service rep went back and forth a couple of times with the mechanic to figure out an estimated time frame. I’m still at a loss as to why this took more than one trip. Seems pretty straightforward to me: the rep pulls the car into the garage, walks up the mechanic and says, “Hey Al, about how long does it usually take you to replace a lens cover?” Al scratches himself, pops open the hood, looks at the front end of the car and says, “Oh, about an hour or so.” Simple, elegant, no need to bumblefuck around and go back and forth to the garage several times.

So then I get the call that the part is installed and the car is ready to be picked up as soon as they run the credit card info. Fine, I’m heading back now, I’ll be there shortly. I get there, get the keys, and then go to the cashier to get my copy of the receipt. After asking my last name and the car type she tells me it’ll be $249.67, that my battery was dead and I had to pay for the towing. Um, pretty sure I drove my car here… and I saw the rep drive it into the garage. So, you drove it back out of the garage, left the lights on so the battery would be nice and dead, and then towed it back into the garage?

So it would appear that my evil twin has the same model car as me and has a habit of leaving the lights on or the doors open with the radio blasting when he’s not driving it. That bastard would be the type to try and get me to foot the bill for his towing costs and a new battery. Either that, or Ford has a crack-team of the most incompetent people on the planet working for them. And by crack-team I mean they have team meetings where they go out back and smoke their crackpipes. My vote goes with the blame going to Ford, as far as I know my evil twin is still not allowed in the United States and is safely rotting away in a cell in Brazil.