u/Ok-Award-4387

Update: item was redlivered.

I've been home all of those days. Seller is being unhelpful and UniUni support is non existent.

I wrote to the seller and he just says continue waiting and that I should call UniUni. Despite it being the sellers problem, I called the UniUni number he gave me, which was disconnected. Then I looked up the number called and you just get a voicemail mailbox to leave a message only to find out that the box is full 🙃

I used the support chat over the last week to send some type of message and left the same shipping address, in hope that it works. Nothing.

I started a dispute in DHGate and provided videos of all attempts (not showing anyone) and told them that I just want it to be resent or refunded.

Mhh, any other ideas folks?

This is my first ever Reddit post, so please go easy on me. No I did not use AI for the entire post, but for the TLDR summary, yes.

I thought I would share a little bit about my Bronco's journey - after lurking in the shadows of the interesting world that is Reddit, this /FordBronco and /Bronco6G subreddits.

TL;DR: I used AI to get to the right people and write the right message. After putting down a reservation in August 2020 for a Ford Bronco, a Pacific Northwest IT professional faced a grueling nearly three-year saga filled with COVID-19 supply chain delays, model year roll-overs, trim redesigns, and dealership visits. The tipping point arrived in January 2023 when Ford sent an automated ultimatum threatening to cancel the fully loaded order unless key option packages were removed. Rather than giving up or sending an angry rant, the buyer used ChatGPT to locate executive leadership contacts at Ford and craft a firm, highly professional email outlining their journey and commitment to the brand. The strategy worked almost instantly: within an hour of sending the email, Ford Corporate reached out to fast-track the exact order into production, leading to the delivery of their Bronco in July 2023—a vehicle they still love and drive today.

Now here is story about my buying experience, what drove me over the edge, and what I did that helped me get my Bronco finally:

The year is 2020, August 17th to be exact, and a young immigrant professional (me, originally from Germany, having lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for over a decade doing IT stuff) decided to switch from driving exclusively German cars (VW Golf GTIs & Rs, AUDIs, BMWs) to his first biiig American car. 🌎

Living the American Dream, with more opportunity than ever, in the greatest country on this green Earth.

For sure, the hype was real. The need for bigger and more exiting vehicles grew stronger and stronger.

Ford's Marketing team did an amazing job and finally convinced me to put down a whopping $100 to reserve "a" Bronco.

Blinded by the amazing looks and marketing materials, I made myself forget about gas mileage, fitting into parking spaces, and just efficiencies in general - sacrilegious, especially as a former recovering German! 😅

Again, the marketing had me - the cyber orange paint, donut doors, trail sights, the vintage brown distressed interior (MARINE GRADE LEATHER!) and you can take all the doors and roof off - that's crazy, I thought, and I told myself I must have it. Surely, I reserve this car and a few months later I get it delivered, right?!

That is when the fun started, at the height of COVID-19, with everyone and their grandma having supply chain issues and humans slowly unlearning what it means to be normal functioning humans.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, months turned into a year - when finally on March 20, 2021 I "got the call" and converted my reservation into an order with Ford. There it was, on paper, a Cyber Orange Ford Bronco Badlands Sasquatch with Lux Package, towing package, GOAT modes, bigger tires than any of my previous cars could even fit in their trunk - all the features I ever wanted or needed. 🥰

In this moment of time, I believed so much in Ford and maybe all the swag the Bronco team sent me had something to do with it too, that I became a shareholder of F (Ford) which also allowed me to use the employee/investor pricing - so I also got a pin number out of it and F is still up and good in my book.

Except, it wont be ready any time soon and I would need to confirm that I still wanted it and transition to the next model year. Fine, I went into the dealership for the 4th time and learned that the distressed brown leather interior (see the original marketing brochure) was not a thing and donut doors either. Alright, can't have everything right?! Black marine grade leather it is and I can figure out the doors later. I felt good since Ford offered price protection and car prices really started to go up, significantly, due to demand and every manufacturer being behind on production.

Nothing for quite a while until September 24, 2022 where I read with excitement that my 2023 Bronco Badlands™ order was confirmed.

I decided to buy out car since my lease that was ending (2019 VW Golf R) and spent the $40k to "bridge the gap" until my Bronco arrives - which surely would be just a few weeks/months, right?! ⏰

Not so fast! Since I wanted all the features, and COVID was still a thing, I had to upgrade the model year again from 2022 to 2023. Oh, and Cyber Orange - yeah that is now discontinued. Regardless, at my 6ths Ford dealership visit I finalized the required documentation (driver's license and signature) for the order.

😧 Now the kicker... January 20, 2023, Ford sends me an automated email stating that if I did not remove the towing packages (ok fine, I can aftermarket it) and if I also do not remove the Lux package (mhh, i can't retro fit that), then they would cancel my order.

It was Friday morning, I already had an exhausting work week with 65+ hours, and almost fell off my chair - how dare they... after everything that we have been through together - you want to cancel on me?!! 😠 💢

I took a few hours forcing myself not to write an emotional response and thought about how I could make a difference...

The dealership just told me, it is how it is, and that they are sorry but it is all up to Ford corporate somewhere in Detroit.

Now, if anyone knows anything about me - a kid from East Berlin/DDR, I don't give up and I will make sure to do everything in my power to reach the right people in hopes to make a change.

🤖 So, I figured out that with the might of the internet, the tools I have available, and the power of ChatGPT/GenAI/LLMs I can research more things, find more efficient ways to do stuff and really I hate writing negative emails - so compiled the following prompt:

"This happened to me: (see everything I wrote above). Write me a professional but frustrated email to Ford Corporate leadership about my buying experience and ask, not beg, to not cancel my order. I am happy to wait another year or two and that all I want is to believe in Ford as a company, as well as ride into the sunset the Bronco I ordered many moons ago. Also find me the emails and names of The Ford Motor Company corporate & executive leadership, in charge of the Bronco Brand/Car Enthusiast, Supply Chain and whichever member of the board you can find publicly available information on. Do not sound overly aggressive, unprofessional, annoyed or "Karen"-like."

See picture #2 of this post, which is the email I scheduled to be sent that Monday at 5:01am Pacific time. 📧

Having talked to the dealership so many times and reading the posts on Reddit, I thought nothing would happen and my email was going to be ignored or I would just get a boilerplate response back telling me that it is what it is... to my surprise that is not what happened.

Monday came, and within 1 hour of the scheduled message being sent, I received a phone call from Ford Corporate in Detroit letting me know that they received my email and will put my Bronco - as ordered - into the next manufacturing cycle and to be built in April 2023.

I also got a call from the dealership a day later, telling me that I started quite a ruckus 😂

March 2, 2023 I was notified that my vehicle was scheduled for production the week of April 10, 2023.

May 6, 2023 I received notification that my Bronco had been built, along with a photo from the factory. 🏢

There it was, in its full glory, so close but still so far away - but at least it was real.

May 29, 2023 I received notification that my Bronco had been shipped.

And finally, right after America's birthday and ready for the PNW summer on July 5, 2023 I received this magnificent machine built by hundreds of people in Detroit, Michigan.

Fast forward 3+ years later, and I love every inch of this vehicle, how it looks, how it drives (yes, I can't take the corners as quick), the community, the overlanding & off-roading experiences along the way - and of course the sunsets I get to enjoy with it. ☀️

Life is good. 😎

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The irony in all of this is that I bought a Bronco to go off-roading, but yet the hardest trail I had to navigate was Ford's ordering system. 😄

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I hope you enjoyed this first post of mine and I hope this story gives at least one person a new idea on how to professionally help themselves, reach the right folks, make a change, and get the right message out.

In the last year, I used this same approach with quite a few other situations when my father passed away and I had to deal with wrapping up his business affairs, family & legal nonsense, and dealing with the bureaucracy that is the (German) legal system - all remotely.