Brother Mike
08-19-2003, 08:04 PM
The following is a true story and it does not bode well for Ford Motor:
This is going to be a very long winded post and I will try to keep it polite so that Logan does not have to delete it but I understand if you do! :D Since I have not posted often on this board let me tell y'all that I have been driving L/M products all my life and that my family has probably purchsed over 40 NEW L/M vehicles (Grand Marquis/Town Car/Continentals) over the las 30 years. Not a single non-Ford product in all that time. I bleed Ford Blue. I even live and work in Dearborn and to us you work for Fords- not Ford. It is a family first and company second. My mother even worked at the "Glass House" for 15 years until my parents started a family. Wish we still had A plan!
This past Saturday I was co-hosting a party celebrating Dream Cruise. The other host, who shall remain annyonmous, happens to also work for Ford and lives quite close to Woodward Ave. Among the attendees of this fashionable soire was a FoMoCo employee named Bill.
Bill is an engineer in VO (Vehicle Operations) and works on the Focus. Bill even proudly admits to owning a Focus SVT. A Focus SVT is IMHO aimed at the "ricer" market but it is a Ford and not all bad. I hope that in another 12 plus years when I am 50 and having a middle aged crisis like Bill I do not find myself in a Focus but that is another story.
Being a gracious host I engeged Bill in conversation and we chatted for abit about the Focus and some of the quality & reliability problems that Ford had experienced. To say the initila lauch of the vehicle was less than stellar is akin to saying the Detroit Tigers are having a bad year!
I then told Bill that I owned a Marauder and solicited his opinion. His response was and I now quote, " The Marauder is a rebadged Grand Marquis with a few more horsepower. They are killing it off next year. It should never have been put it to production."
Because his wife and child were there Bill was spared an early retirement from life. Notwithstanding the fact that any person with knowledge of the Marauder can easily prove the significant differences between it and a GM is his comments to an owner of the vehicle were offensive and stupid.
Bill, do you realize that I am a CUSTOMER of Ford Motor? That my vehicle purchases over the years have paid your salary and funded your 401(k)? Your derogatory comments reflect upon your employer and felow co-workers! Pissing off a customer is never a good idea. My Marauder purchase adds a hell of alot more to an already shaky bottom line than a sale of a Focus SVT ever will. Maybe YOU do not personally care for the car Bill; but as an employee your comments represent and negatively impact the
company. For God's sake your livelihood is dependent upon people like the members of this forum. You owe Bill Ford and the hundreds of thousands of Ford employees more respect and loyalty than to bad mouth what happens to be a very fine vehicle in spite of your ignorant opinions.
If you worked for GM or Dodge I would not give your comments a second thought-partisan loyalty is something I understand and even respect. But you work and even prosper personally because of the success and sales of the Marauder. Does the term "MARKET SHARE" mean anything to you? Your company is in the business of SELLING CARS dumbass! Just so we are clear on one thing - pissing moi off is not going to help you sell more cars. Fewer sales means no raise or bonus. Am I getting through to you now?
Sorry Logan I just had to rant. My only consoloing thought is that for every jerk like this there is a guy like Steve Babcock. It is not just the fact that he put down me and the Marauder- it is how poorly his attitude reflects on what I have always believed was a great company.
Bill I will end my rant with this. In the spirit of the 60's we should settle this like men (not sure you qualify on that point)
:flamer: Bring that Focus SVT out to Woodward and I will bring my Marauder. May the best car win and I am certain we all know who that will be.
P.S. Even in my rearview mirror your wife is ugly!
This is going to be a very long winded post and I will try to keep it polite so that Logan does not have to delete it but I understand if you do! :D Since I have not posted often on this board let me tell y'all that I have been driving L/M products all my life and that my family has probably purchsed over 40 NEW L/M vehicles (Grand Marquis/Town Car/Continentals) over the las 30 years. Not a single non-Ford product in all that time. I bleed Ford Blue. I even live and work in Dearborn and to us you work for Fords- not Ford. It is a family first and company second. My mother even worked at the "Glass House" for 15 years until my parents started a family. Wish we still had A plan!
This past Saturday I was co-hosting a party celebrating Dream Cruise. The other host, who shall remain annyonmous, happens to also work for Ford and lives quite close to Woodward Ave. Among the attendees of this fashionable soire was a FoMoCo employee named Bill.
Bill is an engineer in VO (Vehicle Operations) and works on the Focus. Bill even proudly admits to owning a Focus SVT. A Focus SVT is IMHO aimed at the "ricer" market but it is a Ford and not all bad. I hope that in another 12 plus years when I am 50 and having a middle aged crisis like Bill I do not find myself in a Focus but that is another story.
Being a gracious host I engeged Bill in conversation and we chatted for abit about the Focus and some of the quality & reliability problems that Ford had experienced. To say the initila lauch of the vehicle was less than stellar is akin to saying the Detroit Tigers are having a bad year!
I then told Bill that I owned a Marauder and solicited his opinion. His response was and I now quote, " The Marauder is a rebadged Grand Marquis with a few more horsepower. They are killing it off next year. It should never have been put it to production."
Because his wife and child were there Bill was spared an early retirement from life. Notwithstanding the fact that any person with knowledge of the Marauder can easily prove the significant differences between it and a GM is his comments to an owner of the vehicle were offensive and stupid.
Bill, do you realize that I am a CUSTOMER of Ford Motor? That my vehicle purchases over the years have paid your salary and funded your 401(k)? Your derogatory comments reflect upon your employer and felow co-workers! Pissing off a customer is never a good idea. My Marauder purchase adds a hell of alot more to an already shaky bottom line than a sale of a Focus SVT ever will. Maybe YOU do not personally care for the car Bill; but as an employee your comments represent and negatively impact the
company. For God's sake your livelihood is dependent upon people like the members of this forum. You owe Bill Ford and the hundreds of thousands of Ford employees more respect and loyalty than to bad mouth what happens to be a very fine vehicle in spite of your ignorant opinions.
If you worked for GM or Dodge I would not give your comments a second thought-partisan loyalty is something I understand and even respect. But you work and even prosper personally because of the success and sales of the Marauder. Does the term "MARKET SHARE" mean anything to you? Your company is in the business of SELLING CARS dumbass! Just so we are clear on one thing - pissing moi off is not going to help you sell more cars. Fewer sales means no raise or bonus. Am I getting through to you now?
Sorry Logan I just had to rant. My only consoloing thought is that for every jerk like this there is a guy like Steve Babcock. It is not just the fact that he put down me and the Marauder- it is how poorly his attitude reflects on what I have always believed was a great company.
Bill I will end my rant with this. In the spirit of the 60's we should settle this like men (not sure you qualify on that point)
:flamer: Bring that Focus SVT out to Woodward and I will bring my Marauder. May the best car win and I am certain we all know who that will be.
P.S. Even in my rearview mirror your wife is ugly!