Not impressed with BMW service furious help

[pritchp]

am i being unreasonable??

I bought my 120D m sport coupe from BMW last august (2011). A few months ago a noticed all the paint on one of my wheels had cracked and looked like it had "smashed" (thats the only real way of best describing it). I took it back to BMW as it would be under the years warranty and in fainess to them they agreed to refurbish the wheel.

I dropped it off at 8 am and at 4:30pm i had still not heard from them so i called them asking how they were getting on only to be told: "o yer its been ready ages, didn't anyone call you?". Not impressed really.

Anyway, i go to the dealership and inspect the wheel as you do, it looked fine and i was happy. Drove off thinking that was that.
Less than a month later i'm washing the car and i noticed all the paint on that wheel was peeling off really badly. I drive back to the dealership (30 mins away) and speak to the service manager who looks at it and agrees to redo it. At the same time i mention that my windows don't seem to seal properly as when i drive at 65mpg+ there is alot of wind noise/whistling coming into the cabin. He says he will have a look at it (i've seen others on here complaining about it too).

I once again drop it off at 8am and it gets to 5pm and i've not heard anything, so once again i call up chasing them. Im told to come down as my car is ready for collection. I arrive at the dealership (again) and go to inspect the car as usual, the wheel looks horrid. its all scratched, the paint is all bubbly, the tire is covered in paint, the rim is a complete mess. I go into the service department and go to the manager who gives me my keys back and tells me they didn't have time to look at my windows and that if i wanted them looked at it would cost me £140 (an hours labour on my car) (even though my car is under the years warranty?). i said that im really unimpressed with the quality of the work and he comes and looks at it. he disgruntly agrees to have the car back to redo the wheel and says that i will have to pay for them to sort the windows.

He then says to me "you may want to go home and ask mummy and daddy if the cost is ok". Im 20 years old (21 in 20 days time) and i funded the car myself and all work on the car myself, i was very insulted by this and said that i cover it so just do the work.

Am i wrong in thinking that it's a bit out of order and that i shouldn't have to pay for the windows?

any advice would be great.

 

[JMR]

Tell him to either sort the fcuker out or youll report him to the dealer principal with regard to the insulting manner in which he addressed you.
I wouldnt have him speak to me that way. No chance.

Then again im old enough to be your dad lol
Chance of him talking to me like that would be slim unless he had a time machine.

 

[JMR]

Btw.

Yes if its a genuine problem with the windows, you should reasonably expect that its covered in your warranty.

 

[DrDrew]

That sounds pretty darn sucky, in terms of both workmanship and service. Could also be worth putting in a complaint to BMW, and writing to what car/auto express help desk etc.

 

[maggi200]

I'd be onto the dealer principal and expect a full apology for his smart arse comment tbh

This is the issue with BMW I'm afraid and I've seen it before. Cousin is 25 but looks a bit younger. Went in for a new car. Ended up walking down the road to merc and getting a c class coupe with all the added Amg lookalike extras. Not looked back. They're terrible

 

[ECG1000]

am i being unreasonable??

I bought my 120D m sport coupe from BMW last august (2011). A few months ago a noticed all the paint on one of my wheels had cracked and looked like it had "smashed" (thats the only real way of best describing it). I took it back to BMW as it would be under the years warranty and in fainess to them they agreed to refurbish the wheel.

I dropped it off at 8 am and at 4:30pm i had still not heard from them so i called them asking how they were getting on only to be told: "o yer its been ready ages, didn't anyone call you?". Not impressed really.

Anyway, i go to the dealership and inspect the wheel as you do, it looked fine and i was happy. Drove off thinking that was that.
Less than a month later i'm washing the car and i noticed all the paint on that wheel was peeling off really badly. I drive back to the dealership (30 mins away) and speak to the service manager who looks at it and agrees to redo it. At the same time i mention that my windows don't seem to seal properly as when i drive at 65mpg+ there is alot of wind noise/whistling coming into the cabin. He says he will have a look at it (i've seen others on here complaining about it too).

I once again drop it off at 8am and it gets to 5pm and i've not heard anything, so once again i call up chasing them. Im told to come down as my car is ready for collection. I arrive at the dealership (again) and go to inspect the car as usual, the wheel looks horrid. its all scratched, the paint is all bubbly, the tire is covered in paint, the rim is a complete mess. I go into the service department and go to the manager who gives me my keys back and tells me they didn't have time to look at my windows and that if i wanted them looked at it would cost me £140 (an hours labour on my car) (even though my car is under the years warranty?). i said that im really unimpressed with the quality of the work and he comes and looks at it. he disgruntly agrees to have the car back to redo the wheel and says that i will have to pay for them to sort the windows.

He then says to me "you may want to go home and ask mummy and daddy if the cost is ok". Im 20 years old (21 in 20 days time) and i funded the car myself and all work on the car myself, i was very insulted by this and said that i cover it so just do the work.

Am i wrong in thinking that it's a bit out of order and that i shouldn't have to pay for the windows?

any advice would be great.

I would have shoved his face through the f**king window for saying that. The cheeky c**t! My blood is boiling after reading this. I've got half the mind to come into BMW with you and tag team the tw*t :x
I've had sh*t service from BMW before and have been very rude to their service managers because of it. I was about 20/21 at the time. They just think because you're young they can outsmart you and push you about. They are very mistaken!

If I were you I write a letter addressed to owner and manager of the dealership outlining exactly what happened. How you've had the wheels done twice and both times they've been sh*t. BMW are a premium top of the range marque, their products/work should be faultless.
Mention the service managers name and exactly what he said to you and how offended you are. Especially due to the fact you work very hard to afford the car. Say how he lied to you saying you'd have to pay for windows when it's 100% a warranty issue. He was probably just trying to cover his back so he didn't have to spend more money on BMW's account for his cock up.

Now say that you want the whole situation rectifying. I'd almost go as far as making the service manager kiss my feet!

Anyway get the letter typed up and well laid out on some decent paper, make sure your facts are solid.
March into the dealership and give the letter to the service manager making him read it.
When he's done say you would like your wheel redoing and your windows sorted all under warranty and furthermore a grovelling apology.
If the wheel comes back wrong one more time and the windows aren't sorted you will actually give the letter to the owner and manager and make sure they come down on him like a tonne of sh*t!

RANT OVER.

Forgive me if I'm being extreme but I can't stand snotty tw*ts who work at dealerships thinking they are king dick and can manipulate a customer! They should be bent over backwards helping anyone and everyone out, not being rude and obnoxious.

Take him to the cleaners Pritch! Hope this has helped

 

[Araf]

My daughter had a similar problem with a car dealer. Be polite, but firm. Don't go higher up the chain of command than you have to in any one go - you'll upset people with your 'petty' problems, and you'll have trouble appealing to a higher authority if there is none. :lol:

Here's a copy of the e-mail conversation with the dealership general manager (though if that hadn't worked, we could have escalated right up the food chain).

Dear Mr xxxx,
On Thursday 28th July I booked my car in with the service staff to have a water leak investigated today, as I have been worried about the amount of coolant that my car has been using. I made arrangements so that I didn’t have to work today, and drove the car to your garage for 8.30am as agreed.
I was therefore very surprised to be told that these was no record of my booking, and that due to a member of your staff being off sick, the car wouldn’t be able to be looked at until at least 2pm, if at all. I wondered what I was supposed to do for the six spare hours, and so reluctantly re-booked the car with the service staff for next Monday, and will now have to make arrangements to again not be at work.
Even though I live in Dover, I choose to use your garage over my local Vauxhall dealership as I have greater confidence in your garage. However, today has caused me an inconvenience that I would not allow to happen in my own workplace, so do not expect from yourselves.
I sincerely hope that today’s experience is not repeated on Monday, and that I can once again rely on a company associated with motoring in Kent, as my parents and grandparents have often done since the early 1960’s.
Yours sincerely,

----------

Dear Miss xxxx,

Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to write to me enabling me to investigate the reasons for your bad experience with our Service Department this morning.

Please accept my apologies, as you are aware from your family’s experiences this is not the way ...... usually does business. I unfortunately have no explanation for there being no record of your booking, human error is as you can appreciate unavoidable; however it is how we deal with these situations which make us different. I have spoken to Steve and am confident that going forward if a similar situation where to arise we would deal with it differently.

I have checked and confirm your booking for Monday, if I can do anything to lesson your inconvenience by lending you a courtesy car or collecting your car please let me know.

Once again thank you for bringing the matter to my attention. It’s only when we receive feedback that we can take action.

Assuring you of my best attentions at all times.

---------------------


Thank-you for taking the time to reply, Mr xxxxxx. It has, in a little way, started to restore my faith. Time is a great healer, and I sincerely hope that this becomes a minor hiccup in a long relationship with your company.
Thank-you for the offer of a curtesy car or car collection, but as I have made arrangements to take Monday off, this will not be necessary.
Once again, thank-you for your time. Please do not feel you have to reply to this e-mail, as far as I'm concerned, the matter is now closed.


The result of the second booking was that there was a pinhole in her radiator (probably from a stone) but it was replaced FOC.

 

[singlespeed]

Theres a few possible reasons for the sarcastic comment-
Bad day at the office
Jealousy that your too young to afford a nice car
Snobbery its only a 1 series
Just plain rude

None of the above would be acceptable imo and the comment just shows contempt for yourself.

As for the wheel and windows, Dazza had a good looking refurb within a day at his Renault dealer, so BMW should be able to equal that level of service. I'm sure that quality of panel fitment is one thing that bm should be good for... Shouldnt this apply to the windows as well.

 

[pritchp]

Ill get a picture of the wheel tomorrow as its too dark now to see it properly.

so unimpressed but ive calmed down a bit now.

 

[weebob]

As others have said, time to give the dealer principle a bell, maybe better to put it in a email, maybe even for the "sledge hammer effect" cc in BMW UK customer services.

I once walked into Derek Woodmans BMW Blackpool looking at buying the wife a 1 series, 15k in my back pocket.

Had spotted a really nice one just over six months old and went to speak to a salesman. Two of the sales men "didnt deal with second hand" and fobbed me off on someone else. Spoke to Mr second hand sales about the car I was interested in, he handed me a sheet of paper with a list of the cars in stock to look at and said something along the lines of "come back when your serious"... I screwed up said paper, told the sales man I was far from impressed and left.

Went to Halliwell Jones BMW Southport, bought a 116i SE and a 318ti for myself.

 

[Dubz]

That's really not right. Write a letter of complaint and go along the lines at some point of how you'll tell other potential customers to go elsewhere.

Where did you get your car's wheels and other warranty work done? If your anywhere near the northampton area I'll find where my dad gets his work done as the service there is amazing. Warranty work on 2 cracked alloys got him a day with the managers M3 as he needed a car for work :twisted:

 

[pritchp]

following on from here: other-vehicles-motorsport/not-impressed-with-bmw-service-furious-help-t6610.html

now the suns up here are some pictures:

thoughts?

this was their "perfect job"

 

[singlespeed]

that's been very badly prepped. Scratch marks showing through, inclusions of dirt/dust, posible moisture reaction dowh the bolt holes and a shedload of overspray


its *****

 

[DrDrew]

That's definitely not a a quality finish. Certainly not how it should be.

 

[gavin-h]

I suspect the dealers attitude is something along the lines of:

"But, Sir, we want to sell overpriced tonka toys to the local apemen. We haven't time to waste on painting a trivial wheel on your pipsqueak 1-series"

 

[waitey]

If I was you id go to another dealer, that's a quick touch up job by the looks of it.

 

[jra3d]

What the hell that is horrendous back to dealer and seek advice elsewhere

 

[Araf]

I think this would have been better attached to the original topic.

 

[Araf]

In that case, I apologise, and have removed my remarks.

Maybe I was just upset because his naked torso wasn't next to the wheel.

 

[singlespeed]

In that case, I apologise, and have removed my remarks.

Maybe I was just upset because his naked torso wasn't next to the wheel.

Mine (and your quotes) have gone too

And I've merged the posts... Happy now :lol: