Jim Keay Ford Lincoln

1. On the morning of 9 May 2012, I brought my truck to 1. On the morning of 9 May 2012, I brought my truck to Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd in Orleans, Ontario. I stated that the cruise control would no 1. On the morning of 9 May 2012, I brought my truck to Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd in Orleans, Ontario. I stated that the cruise control would not engage at all. No other problem was being experienced. I told the service representative that, due to the age of the vehicle (1986), I provided the Ford shop manual with the truck and would leave it on the seat of the truck, which I did. 2. In the afternoon of 9 May 2012 I was informed by the Jim Keay Ford service representative that the problem was found and I was asked to approve the purchase of the part, which I did. 3. Later in the afternoon of 9 May 2012 I was informed by the Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd service representative that the part had been late in arriving and that the truck would not be ready until the following day. 4. In the morning of 10 May 2012 I was informed by the Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd service representative that the ordered part did not fit. I indicated to the representative that I required the truck by noon of that day. The representative offered me the options of ordering another part from a generic parts dealer, which would take several days, or order the part from a “Vintage Ford” part dealer, which would take several weeks. In the first option, the truck would remain at the dealership until the part came in. In the second option, the truck would be reassembled so that I could drive it without the cruise control working and return in several weeks to have the part installed, when it arrived. In light of the previous problem with the part ordering process, I chose the option for the authentic Ford vintage part and to drive the vehicle, without the cruise control working, in the interim, with a subsequent appointment to have the part installed. 5. In the afternoon of 10 May 2012 I arrived at the dealership to pick up my truck. I was asked to approve a part that the mechanic had said I needed - a turn signal switch assembly for the steering column. I approved ordering the part, which could not be returned, trusting the Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd staff. I asked the service representative to explain the steps that had been followed to diagnose the cruise control problem, for my information and so that when I brought the truck back in several weeks the work would not have to be repeated. The Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd service representative was unable to explain the steps other than what was written on the invoice (enclosed). The service representative asked the mechanic who had performed the work to meet with us. 6. The mechanic met with the service representative and myself that afternoon before I left with the vehicle, in which the cruise control was still not working. The mechanic indicated that he had pulled the steering wheel, measured some resistances and cleaned contacts. I brought out the Ford shop manual from the truck to help in describing the problem and what part had been ordered. He indicated that the problem was likely the turn signal mechanism, which is the part I was asked to approve. However, he stated that if this part replacement didn’t solve the problem, he would then look at the speed sensor mechanism. I jokingly asked if this was a “hail Mary play”. I opened the Ford shop manual to the Speed Control section (37-01) to determine what electrical tests had been performed and what results were obtained. The mechanic was vague in this area and was unaware of a simple solenoid test that was described in the manual. After this meeting I was concerned that the Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd service department did not really know how to solve the problem, and I had lost some confidence in their knowledge and experience in this particular area for my truck. However, I paid the invoice (Invoice 435027) for the labour to date and for the ordered part. I did this in good faith as I had been dealing with Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd for about 25 years. 7. In the evening of 10 May 2012, I read Section 37-01 of the Ford Shop manual more thoroughly and found the test steps to diagnose a problem when the speed control does not work. I also went onto the internet searching for this particular problem in my Ford truck. Both pointed to the vacuum dump valve. That evening, I adjusted the vacuum dump valve by hand in a few minutes to the specifications detailed in the Ford Shop manual (page 37-01-19). I tested the vehicle and the cruise control worked properly. 8. In the morning of 11 May 2012, I drove the truck to Cornwall, Ontario for a doctor’s appointment. The cruise control, and the turn signals, continued to work properly throughout this three-hour round trip. 9. In the afternoon of 11 May 2012, I returned with the truck to the Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd dealership to explain what I had done and the result; that is, I had fixed the problem that I had brought the truck to Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd to fix. After explaining the above, I indicated that I felt that the proper steps in diagnosing the cruise control problem were not followed and that I had been billed for excessive work. Furthermore, the part that had been ordered was not required because the cruise control was now working and the turn signals had always worked. The service representative stated that he did not have the authority to alter the amount on an invoice and that I would have to speak with the Jim Keay Ford service manager, Mr. Carey. 10. I met with Mr. Carey in the afternoon of 11 May 2012. From the onset, Mr. Carey was confrontational and discourteous. He was unwilling to listen to my explanation of the events. He stated that he trusted his mechanics, implying that I was wrong or lying. He did say that he would look into the invoice and its associated work. He said that the invoice stood and that I had signed it. I stated that I would be taking this to the next level at which point Mr. Carey replied that I should go ahead and that there was therefore no further conversation needed with him. This all took about four minutes. 11. I met with the Jim Keay Ford general manager, Mr. Anderson, on 16 May 2012, to discuss my concerns. Mr. Anderson was very professional and courteous. He stated his view and allowed me time to provide the facts and my view. I provided Mr. Anderson with an extract of the Ford shop manual that detailed the steps to follow in diagnosing a problem where the cruise control does not engage (enclosed). I also provided him with a wiring diagram extract from the Ford shop manual (page 37-01-7) that showed that the part ordered, the turn signal switch, was not in the wiring of the cruise control system, but only shared a couple of contacts. I explained the sequence of events to Mr. Anderson, as described above. In summary, I stated that the mechanic had obviously not followed the steps in the Ford shop manual and had overlooked the simple inexpensive checks that are to be performed before the more intrusive and expensive electrical checks. That is, the mechanic had skipped Step A7 – Check Dump Valve, and proceeded directly to the more expensive Step A8 – Perform Control Switches and Circuit Tests. It should be noted that nowhere in the Ford Shop Manual – Speed Control Section 37-01 does it mention or suggest that a defective turn signal assembly would affect the cruise control system. 12. At the end of the meeting with Mr. Anderson, he asked me what I expected from Jim Keay Ford. I stated that I would be willing pay for the work that would have been done by a mechanic who would have followed the Ford shop manual, up to and including the adjustment of the Vacuum Dump Valve, which I actually successfully adjusted myself to repair the problem. I told him that I should also not have to pay for the subsequent electrical steps that should not have not been performed and that I should not have to pay for a new turn signal assembly that had been ordered, especially since the turn signals and cruise control are now working fine. 13. On 18 May, I called Mr. Anderson to ask if any progress had been made addressing my concerns. He stated that you had discussed this problem with your service manager and that the invoice would not be changed and that I would be filled for the unnecessary electrical checks, steering wheel disassembly and unnecessary part. When I asked Mr. Anderson if I could meet with you, as the owner of the franchise, to discuss this, he indicated that this would not be possible. I then told Mr. Anderson that I would follow up with this letter. Subsequent correspondence from Jim Keay Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd states that they are firm in the charges that I was billed and paid, even though they did not fix the problem, and would not make any sort of change or concession. More