Over the past few years, Ford dealers have ranked below average on J.D. Power’s annual U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, which is designed to measure customer satisfaction with service at franchised dealers or aftermarket service facilities after they have had maintenance or repair work performed on their one- to three-year-old vehicles. That was also the case in the 2025 installment of the CSI Study, as Ford dealers remained below the industry average, yet made progress, regardless. However, one particular poor customer service experience suffered by a Ford Escape owner prompted a response from the automaker itself – and an admission that it needs to do better.
This incident was documented by the Ford Escape owner over at The Atlantic recently, who was driving the fairly new crossover when the steering wheel suddenly locked up and the brakes stopped working. Considering the fact that the driver was nearing an embankment and couldn’t steer or stop the vehicle, it was rather terrifying, but luckily, the Escape drifted to a stop a mere 10 feet before the road curved. After more than one mechanic was unable to find the root cause of the problem, the owner decided to contact Ford customer service.
The first representative opened a case and said they’d call back the next day, but several days passed with no response. After several attempts at speaking with someone, the owner was told that if a tech couldn’t replicate the problem, the warranty wouldn’t apply. Weeks of back and forth ensued, leading the Escape owner to come to a bit of a realization – he was seemingly dealing with what’s known as “sludge,” or “tortuous administrative demands, endless wait times, and excessive procedural fuss,” which ultimately result in one wanting to give up on seeking a solution.
As I shared by e-mail with The Atlantic, there is more we could have done to make Chris’ interaction smoother. The customer service process Chris experienced involved 3 separate teams – Ford Customer Service, the Ford dealership where Chris’ vehicle was serviced, and the Ford Vehicle Buyback team.
— Mike Levine (@mrlevine.bsky.social) June 30, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Ultimately, around 100 days after Ford was first contacted about this issue, the automaker wound up buying back the Escape. Ford North America Product Communications director Mike Levine told The Atlantic that Ford does not “encourage or measure ‘sludge,’” and that “there was zero intent to add ‘sludge” to his interactions. Levine “said that the teams I spoke with had needed time to see whether they could replicate the problem with my car, though to my mind that suggests a more concerted effort than what I perceived,” the Escape owner noted.
Comments
A big part of brand loyalty is the customer experience, and if Ford wants to continue their high brand loyalty history, they would be well advised to improve in the customer experience arena. Maybe tracking numbers of calls, time to resolution and other metrics may be too intrusive, then maybe having a corporate customer center as a backup to the dealer may not be a bad idea. Most of know that big warranty item fixes require corporate approval anyway, so why not expedite these scenarios?
I requested a quote on replacing a wiper reservoir on a 2016 Ford escape. The operator told me the service department was busy but would call me back. That was three weeks ago and no call back.
Just because the Engineers and the development teams have not seen the issue or even replicate it does not mean there is an issue. In any investigation someone has to be first with an issue. as the Japanese have a saying in any investigation “the 2000 kilometre walk has to start with the first step”