BMW Owners

[marine]

Anybody in here own a bmw automobile? If so, could you please enlighten me on your take on their customer service?
I just put my fist thru the store owner's desk this morning in a fit of rage at them.

To make a long story short, after 4 weeks of them dragging their feet to fix my car and having me drive there and back numerous times and still not even putting my car in the garage they finally fixed it for me yesterday.... And to make up for all my troubles they offered me a discount on the price of repairs to help keep me happy.

The bill came out to $600 and the manager was ever so kind enough to give me a THIRTY dollar discount to make up for my troubles.
AND then he said "You should be grateful I gave you this much"!!!

needless to say, I went through the roof.

 

[Felonious Monk]

Where's Elegant Lance when you need him? :shrug:

 

[marine]

dunno who Elegant Lance is my man, but when the guy I dealt with told me to come back tomorrow and talk to Mr. Service Rep I told them that him and Mr. Chainsaw were going to talk tomorrow.

Then again, the more I think about it, maybe my standards are just too high. Perhaps I should not be expecting bare minimum service from large business.

 

[Gmarco]

Marine,
I own a 528 and I live in Delaware. I think it depends from which dealership you buy it. There are three in my area, and when it comes to service, only one actually comes to my house or business and picks up my car and brings it back when its ready. (I.G. Burton) The other ones don't offer this service. Thats one of the biggest reasons I went with them. All in all, I think you dealt with an ignorant manager. In my business if someone or something is wrong, we comp them alittle more than a mere $30 bucks. That should have at least comped for $100 - $200 off. Talk to you soon.

Gmarco

 

[Palmetto Pimp]

i think the question here is....what kind of pos desk do they have that you were able to put your hand thru it???:shrug:

 

[marine]

L* They offered me to leave the car there for them to fix it last month...but when i asked for a ride home they said they would not since I lived 40 miles away.. nice guys eh?

and the desk...

Not sure what it was... but i been workin out a lot lately and boy was i steamed! two hits and i went right thru the top of it. My hand hurts like hell still... but it was worth it!!!!

 

[marine]

Here is the unadultered story for anyone wanting a good laugh.

Sep 2000 - buy the car in RI, they take 5 full months to get me registration and license plates... every two weeks i need to see them to get new temporary plates. Halfway thru this time they tell me they can not give me new temp plates because it is only supposed to be given out for the first two weeks while i wait for license plates and registrations. I missed my date to ship the car to hawaii with the military and end up having to pay $1000 out of my pocket to ship it at a later date now.

Sep-Jul... numerous problems and confrontations with BMW occur.

July 2002 - I go to the airport to pick my wife up in our shiny cool Z3 from BMW. The car dies on me in the airport parking garage. Just stalled out for some unknown reason. I go to call BMW Roadside assistance for a tow to their shop. Roadside Assistance informs me that they do not have my warranty on record and I will have to pay for the tow myself. I take care of the problem myself instead.

Aug 5th - I take the day off work to head down to the service center to get the oil changed and drive belt replaced at 0700. (An appointment I made 3 weeks prior to this) They tell me to come back at noon and it will be done. I show up at 2:30 PM and they inform me that they couldnt get to it today, sorry, its not our fault. I asked who's fault it was and he said they were backed up from 3 days ago yet and they cant get to my car today.
I guess its my fault for not being responsible enough to ask if they were backed up, eh?
So the service rep tells me i can leave the car there and they will do it later that week. I ask for a ride home and he tells me i live to far away. Just set up a new appointment and they will take care of me and hook me up with a discount to make up for my troubles.
Aug 28th - my wife takes the car in, gets the repairs done, in record time for an oil change... four hours. and a bill for $500 with a whopping 30 dollar discount.
When i found out about this, I called the little weasel, he told me to be happy he hooked me up with teh 30 bucks.
So I called the manager and told him what went on, the manager assures me he will handle it quickly and will call me back in 15 minutes with an answer for me on what the hell just happened.
15 minutes later I am sitting by the phone like a fat teen on prom night and he never calls... 3 hours later I give him a call back, his secretary was kind enough to let me know that he took off for the day 2 hours ago.

Then I went on down this morning and went nutso on them... :shrug:

Is it just me or am I dealing with monkeys at this joint? It is a frickin BMW dealership.
And to top it all off, looking at the bill from these clowns, they charged me $110 bucks an hour labor to install a new drive belt. Whereas my full day wasted by them was worth 30 dollars.

 

[Neemer]

rEMEMBER,.....you could have always bought yourself one of those nicely crafted AMERICAN vehicles! Gets quite expensive traveling to Germany to kick a little ass!

 

[z2000]

Wow, that really sucks.

I have really been fortunate with mine. I dont know the reason why. It may be dealership, it may not, but I sure hope it is.

Here is a brief summary of the service I have received since I bought mine:

Bought in Aug 1999

Airbag light wouldnt go off Oct 99, they fixed it next day. Picked up car & it was washed when I picked it up.

Was driving home in March 2002 & thermometer was indicating the engine was too hot. Called for service, the had it towed in on a flatbed. Fixed the thermometer. Picked up car. No cost for anything.

Called Aug 2002 regarding noise going over bumps & steering wheel shimy when braking on freeway. Called on 8/9 with waranty expiring on 8/12. Initially told they couldnt get it in until 8/15. Explained my waranty problem. They found an opening for the 12th. Ended up needing several things including new front brake pads & rotors. Was told the cost was $1,200 but the waranty covered it .

Hopefully it is the dealership you are using. Are there any others in the area?

BTW, do you get the call from BMW NA after each service call asking you to rate your visit? The dealer I go to seems to want to get high marks on that survey.

 

[marine]

Z2000.. i am from new berlin originally.. right next door to you. I didnt buy the car there tho. by the sound of it i wish i would have.
It's good to read this stuff from other bmw owners, i am printing it out and taking it down to the dealer tomorrow for one of our arbitration meetings. Going to show him that it is OK to not be a tightwad and take care of people.

Man, they wash the car for you??? shit!!!! They didnt even wash it for me the day i bought it!

Hey Neems.... this is my wife's ride, not mine. MY Car is a classic vintage 1971 Dodge Charger. 100% American. BMW despises me every time I drive it on the lot. I make sure to park right in front of the main doors so people have to walk around it to get in the place.



:thefinger


On a more legal issue... how difficult is it to change a purchase with monthly payments into a lease contract? Reason I ask is that Friday I am sitting down with some weasels who claim to be in charge of the store, and tele conferencing with HQ in New Jersey and we are going to attempt to settle matters. I want this car and bmw themselves out of my life forever. The suggestions I am making are
1. buy the car back at blue book.
2. Convert the contract to a 2 year lease from the day i bought the car, then recompute all the payments and settle up. Then it would expire next month and I could take the car back and walk away from it all. I dont give a hoot how much money I would be losing, I just want BMW gone from my life.
or the last option, which I am betting it will come down to...

3. BMW tells me NO DEAL, suck it up kid. I put 50 cents in my pocket, drive the car through the showroom window, then hop on the bus and go home.

But hey, now I am freakin jealous at you guys who get good service!!!!