duhtroll
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Howdy all -
Well good news and bad news, such as it seems to be so often. I really want to know how I am an absolute grandmaster at attracting shysters.
Finally got my tune from literally *the* head engineer at Ford Performance. Apparently my truck and only my truck needs its own specific batch code written for it and that is what took so long. OK fine, finally got it to load so I did literally everything except program it, which "T" the engineer tells me is ~10 minutes from the finish line and I should be in and out at the dealer.
You can guess where this is going. I go to the dealer and summarize what Ford techs told me. I have also loaded tunes in the past that didn't require a warranty so I knew mostly what to expect. They told me it could take up to 2.5 hours and their estimate was up to $410. I laughed and said, "no it won't - you'll know in the first 30 seconds after punching the button whether it is going to work or not. Don't wait long. If it goes past a a half hour including doing all the connecting and disconnecting, I'll go back to the drawing board." This had desk guy visibly annoyed.
If they had said, "we'll take $200 for the programming" as a flat fee I would have paid it and just let them be, but no, I'm guessing Ford has everything billed by hours and this is how the fight started. I was told by engineer "T" to expect the truck to go on and offline several times during the tuning, which it did as my android auto notification kept popping up on the screen while I was in the waiting area doomscrolling. Also, my Ford app notifications were going on and offline as well. After about 10 minutes of this, it all stopped. The truck was online, undisturbed for an additional 22 minutes or so (according to the app) and I hadn't heard anything so I went to check at the desk.
"Sure I'll go check on him in a few if I don't hear from him," was the reply.
I go walk about for 10 minutes and go back.
"Oh yeah I just spoke to him - he says your truck is just in the cooldown period to make sure everything is running OK."
"Uh, sorry, what?"
"There needs to be about a half hour resting period for the truck so we know it is working properly."
"There is no cooling down period or rest time for a solid state drive flash," I tell him.
"Well this guy is a FORD MASTER TECH so he knows what he is doing."
"Oh, beg pardon. I'm just telling you what the head engineer at Ford told me. Go get my truck, please."
"OK well you're rushing out of here and I told you it could be up to 2.5 hours."
"And the vehicle has been online uninterrupted now for 38 minutes and I told YOU to not wait this long. You are aware I get notifications at pretty much every step, right?"
They still charged me $200. I paid it, however I am going to leave them a very detailed review.
If they are going to lie to my face they should choose something that isn't blindingly obvious to anyone who has ever used a computer. They are padding hours. It was done about 20 minutes after I got there and I didn't leave until almost an hour later.
I did check the file name before I left and it was the FP file number so it was programmed. Shifting under normal driving was a LOT smoother and I was looking forward to the auto-shutoff not happening---
At the first red light, the truck shuts off. I pull over and check the file again, see that FP tune number and just assume mine is going to be "that one" that doesn't get what others get.
At least it's done and I don't need to deal with them anymore. Oh except for my daughter's vehicle recall next week.
I'm sure they will be delighted to see me again.
Well good news and bad news, such as it seems to be so often. I really want to know how I am an absolute grandmaster at attracting shysters.
Finally got my tune from literally *the* head engineer at Ford Performance. Apparently my truck and only my truck needs its own specific batch code written for it and that is what took so long. OK fine, finally got it to load so I did literally everything except program it, which "T" the engineer tells me is ~10 minutes from the finish line and I should be in and out at the dealer.
You can guess where this is going. I go to the dealer and summarize what Ford techs told me. I have also loaded tunes in the past that didn't require a warranty so I knew mostly what to expect. They told me it could take up to 2.5 hours and their estimate was up to $410. I laughed and said, "no it won't - you'll know in the first 30 seconds after punching the button whether it is going to work or not. Don't wait long. If it goes past a a half hour including doing all the connecting and disconnecting, I'll go back to the drawing board." This had desk guy visibly annoyed.
If they had said, "we'll take $200 for the programming" as a flat fee I would have paid it and just let them be, but no, I'm guessing Ford has everything billed by hours and this is how the fight started. I was told by engineer "T" to expect the truck to go on and offline several times during the tuning, which it did as my android auto notification kept popping up on the screen while I was in the waiting area doomscrolling. Also, my Ford app notifications were going on and offline as well. After about 10 minutes of this, it all stopped. The truck was online, undisturbed for an additional 22 minutes or so (according to the app) and I hadn't heard anything so I went to check at the desk.
"Sure I'll go check on him in a few if I don't hear from him," was the reply.
I go walk about for 10 minutes and go back.
"Oh yeah I just spoke to him - he says your truck is just in the cooldown period to make sure everything is running OK."
"Uh, sorry, what?"
"There needs to be about a half hour resting period for the truck so we know it is working properly."
"There is no cooling down period or rest time for a solid state drive flash," I tell him.
"Well this guy is a FORD MASTER TECH so he knows what he is doing."
"Oh, beg pardon. I'm just telling you what the head engineer at Ford told me. Go get my truck, please."
"OK well you're rushing out of here and I told you it could be up to 2.5 hours."
"And the vehicle has been online uninterrupted now for 38 minutes and I told YOU to not wait this long. You are aware I get notifications at pretty much every step, right?"
They still charged me $200. I paid it, however I am going to leave them a very detailed review.
If they are going to lie to my face they should choose something that isn't blindingly obvious to anyone who has ever used a computer. They are padding hours. It was done about 20 minutes after I got there and I didn't leave until almost an hour later.
I did check the file name before I left and it was the FP file number so it was programmed. Shifting under normal driving was a LOT smoother and I was looking forward to the auto-shutoff not happening---
At the first red light, the truck shuts off. I pull over and check the file again, see that FP tune number and just assume mine is going to be "that one" that doesn't get what others get.
At least it's done and I don't need to deal with them anymore. Oh except for my daughter's vehicle recall next week.
I'm sure they will be delighted to see me again.
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