Gullo Ford of Conroe - The Woodlands

I have never had a worse experience at a service department in my life. I towed my 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid to the dealership after the engine stalled in the middle of the Interstate with a „Stop safely now“ sign on. Within a week they told me that I had to replace the DC/DC converter. I trusted them but luckily I bought an used part which saved me over $2000! That did not resolve the issue though. They kept my vehicle for nearly two months w/o any resolution. I even provided them with a compiled list of error causes which I researched for hours on the internet. No success. Most of the time I had to call them to get an status update – what a terrible customer service! After five weeks I wrote an email to the regional manager in order to get Ford Motor Company involved (I asked for the provision of an experienced field technician and a loaner). Both requests were denied by referring to an internal Ford policy which does not provide these services for vehicles older than 10y. Apparently, Ford is not able or willing to resolve security issues of their own vehicles – so much about their comittment to customers and hybrid technology. In the end, the dealership made me still pay nearly $1000 for labor and parts although the vehicle was not running! Scandalous! Brought the vehicle to an independent garage which diagnosed and fixed the issue (series of damaged wiring harness) within 48h for less than Gullo charged me. Also they confirmed my suspicion that the replacement of the DC/DC converter was unnecessary – the damaged wiring harness caused the error code and the DC DC converter not to work. Scandalous! I wrote them an email to ask for a refund but they just evaded by saying how much labor they have not charged me for. Two lessons learned: 1) Ford Motor Company is not comitted to its vehicles once they are outside the warranty period and provided no support despite an obvious security issue and lack of repair progress at the dealership. This was the last Ford vehicle I have purchased! 2) The Hybrid technicians at Gullo are unqualified, discouraged and inexperienced. I never felt appreciated, adequately adviced and supported by Gullo Ford – neither by their “certified“ technicians nor by their service manager and service advisors. In a nutshell:I am highly disappointed and will never return! If edmunds allowed me to give 0 stars I certainly would do so!