My BMW Customer Service Experience
76The Surprising Arrogance Behind a BMW
My Wife and I were out looking for a new car one Saturday afternoon, so we decided to stop at our local BMW dealership. The cars look amazing. The car we were interested in buying was a BMW 3 Series. Like all shoppers, we had a ballpark figure of what we wanted for monthly payments. First things first, lets take this car for a test drive. Upon the first acceleration, my wife fell in love the with the way it drove, cornered, and overall driving experience. One of the key selling features for any prospective BMW owner is the free maintenance. This is a tough luxury to come by and provides the consumer with the added assurance that their car was worth the investment.
After the point you fall in love with the car, the BMW salesman sits you down at his desk and begins to talk price. Being an avid car shopper, I am familiar with how BMWs can be priced high, at the expense of the free maintenance, so I was prepared to the hear the number based on KBB and Edmunds. What I didn't come to expect is the amount of arrogance from the dealer.
Once numbers were discussed, I presented my trade offer. I was planning on trading in my Infiniti G35x sedan for a more midsize family sedan. In comparison, the 3 series has dramatically more backseat legroom then my Infiniti. The dealer chuckled and implied that my car was inferior in every way to the BMW 3 series. I mentioned that it was a fully loaded 2007 G35x with navigation and all the extras which was purchased out the door at under 45k. The BMW I was currently looking at was based at 40k out the door. This however did not include many of the luxury options I was looking for, but were included in my Infiniti as standard. As I was going through all the options available, I began to laugh inside and think 'Oh, you want wheels with this car, thats going to cost you another $1k'. It has since become a joke with my wife whenever we talk about cars, 'oh you want a steering wheel and gas pedal, well thats going to cost you an extra $5k'.
After all the hassle and pain of searching through options, I finally got a bottom line figure from the sales associate. Obviously it was much more then what I was expecting. I asked to speak to the sales manager to see if there was anything that we could do with the price, or even my trade. Again, BMW arrogance reared its ugly head again. The sales manager came out and said "Well this is a BMW you're looking to buy. What do you expect us to do, match the price of your Infiniti?" I was completely taken back and just floored at the fact that they just basically slammed the Infiniti class and put them in a low class league, when in reality, they are in the same competition class.
Since my wife would not agree to an approximate $700/month car loan, we were presented with the option of leasing at $500/month. My wife would be the primary driver of the vehicle and she commutes approximately 60 miles per day. Obviously we would be over the mileage limits very quickly and that was not a feasible option for our situation. The arrogant BMW associate decided that we were attempting to "steal" the vehicle and would not negotiate the trade price or come down on the sales price. We were left at the associates desk to discuss the purchase of the vehicle amongst ourselves.
My wife was intent on leaving as it was an unjustified expense and when we weren't presented with any counter offer, we left. The sales manager and the associate were very much shocked when we got up (after 2 or so hours of "negotiations") to leave. We were again presented with the sales pitch that what we would be buying was a luxury BMW, not just any car, as if owning a BMW put you into a category of pure integrity, wealth, and superiority. We decided that we didn't need to go into a wealth of debt (right before the economy collapsed) for the sake of the status a BMW would bring.
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I recently bought a BMW from David Aviles at Russel BMW in Baltimore, MD www.russelbmw.com and would like to educate others about my experience so that they don't have to endure what I've gone through. Not only does David Aviles NOT know the product he sells the customer service is non existent. Once the sale is complete and they have your money they forget you bought a car from them and are a customer. This explains why the Better Business Bureau has given the Russel Automative Group an F rating - the worst you can get. Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself before you consider buying from Russel BMW.
I negotiated a purchase over the phone for 2008 750 LI with BMW Manhattan in NYC for a BMW Certified Car with 17k miles. Salesman knew i lived 1,700 miles away and was planning to inspect the car before finalizing deal. I wrote him list of questions to confirm. Among them that the car had no prior body repair work on it. He confirmed in writing that it had no work. (you can see where this is going.) I flew to NYC next day. Met him at the dealership. As soon as i looked at the trunk, rear qtr panel, and rear side door, i could tell that the car had an after market paint repair. Salesman and his manager at first claimed that they knew nothing about the repair. They had charged my AMEX for a deposit, they had my drivers license, they knew that i flew across the country solely for purpose of inspection and purchase of the car. They refused to let me drive the car one block to the nearest indie collision repair shop for an inspection. The sale mgr then admitted that the repair work was done by BMW Manhattan. He refused to allow me to review the collision repair file! A WASTED TRIP OF TIME AND MONEY. THESE GUYS PUT A BLACK MARK ON BMW BRAND. BUYER BEWARE IF YOU DO BUSINESS WITHIS DEALERSHIP.
Woah! That was rude. Anyway I hope I don't get to experience the same with our service center we're planning to do a check-up / maintenance for our 2 year old BMW.
I very closely compared the G35X to the 335Xi and chose the Infiniti. There is great value and performance in that vehicle - not to mention it goes through snow like a Chevy Tahoe (which I have also owned). I like the BMW service plan hook, but in my opinion, the Infiniti is a better vehicle.
Both are very well made, when I made a buying decision, I chose Infiniti - and still think I made the best choice for me.
Let me start off by saying I switched out of an Audi A4 into a BMW 328i because a friend of mine who has dealt with your dealership convinced me there is no comparison between vehicles. Audi by the way had always given me excellent customer service.
I purchased a 2011 BMW 328i from your dealership on June 29, 2010. I loved it and had no complaints until Monday August 23, 2010 around 11:30 in the morning. I was on Commercial Blvd going down the ramp towards Rock Island Blvd when the clutch wouldn't engage and basically locked up. I frantically had to pull my car mats from under me because I thought maybe they were interfering with the clutch. While I'm trying FRANTICALLY to get the car to go into first gear at the light before Rock Island, it was coasting, meanwhile the SUV behind me is wondering why I'm not able to move off from the light. I was finally able to get the car to the Rock Island light and upon making the left it wouldn't shift into 2nd gear, at which point I had to put on my flashers quickly and coast over to a turning lane (VERY SCARY) on a NEW CAR.
I called my sales agent at your store at that point and he said he had never heard of a clutch and gear box locking up like that on a NEW CAR and to call Roadside Assistance. I waited between 30-40 minutes for the tow truck and was by myself hoping no one would offer to help or try to rob me. (AT NO POINT with my conversation with the sales agent DID HE MENTION TO TOW THE CAR EITHER TO FT. LAUDERDALE BMW or to PINES where I bought the car...DID NOT KNOW ALL BMW DEALERSHIPS WOULDN'T SERVICE A BMW or HONOR A WARRANTY until I got to VISTA BMW in Coconut Creek, FL where I had the car towed because it was one of the closest BMW dealerships...the tow truck driver offered to take me to the CLOSEST BMW and I said Vista would be fine). I think in order to HELP enhance the customer service that BMW is so concerned about, let your customers know if there are any problems with the car to have it towed to one of your dealerships, since I learned yesterday that each dealership is independently owned.
I waited at Vista that day for about an hour or more between seeing the advisor and getting a DIRTY VOLKSWAGEN loaner to drive home. Another lesson learned is it's their policy at Vista not to give BMW loaners to customers who didn't initially buy their car from them. Their loaner department was incredibly SLOW. I thought their policy was strange but took it in stride until I got the call from my advisor at Vista the next morning.
The next morning VISTA calls me @ 9:15am to tell me that due to MISUSE of the clutch on a 2011 BMW with 1500 miles that the fiber was compacted in the clutch and was NOT covered under warranty. They wanted to charge me $1600 for a new clutch. I've been driving a standard car since I was 17 years old and I'm now 35. ALL my previous cars, the car I learned to drive on at 17, my volkswagen GLI, Audi A4 and now this car have all been manual shift. How can I misuse a clutch in less than 2 months on a NEW CAR? Mind you I almost got in a serious accident with this NEW car.
I got to VISTA @ 11:30am that morning to try to resolve the situation. At that point my service advisor Jerry Wagner had to escalate the problem to his service manager DONALD COREY. We waited for about half hour to see Don who proceeded to explain that he saw the pictures of the compacted clutch and that BMW warranty WOULD NOT cover the work due to MISUSE and HE couldn't help me. No compassion, no second option, NOTHING. He referenced my driving to that of an 80 year old man who had the same problem with his car.
I stayed at VISTA from 11:30am till 4:00pm trying to get either a resolution or have my car towed down to your dealership in Pines. The service Manager at the PINES dealership was trying his best to help communicate with VISTA to see why the warranty discrepancy from @1pm till 3:30pm. Finally around 3:30pm it was decided that VISTA would not cooperate to fix the car and a tow truck was sent to pick up the car from BMW Vista. At no point between DON'S TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE and the tow truck driver picking up the car did anyone at VISTA try to help resolve the situation. BMW roadside assistance WOULD NOT HONOR the tow between dealerships because my initial tow truck driver said I insisted to go to VISTA, which was not the case. It was just a matter or whatever dealership was closer.
I finally got down to PINES around 5:15pm where your service guys took good care of me and got me into a BMW loaner within a half hour. Also noting that I would have to cover the $85 cost to have the vehicle towed from Vista to Pines.
ALL of this to say that I'm VERY DISAPPOINTED AND UPSET, especially since this is a NEW CAR and I have had to go through ALL of this. It is inexcusable.
I listened to pretty much the entire conversation.When a mgr has to say no to a customer he gets tagged with poor customer service. Seems the facts that pictures of the clutch were taken and sent to BMW engineering and warranty dept who made that decision and not Vista. How much compassion can one have when the rear tires are less than half the thickness of the front. Question asked-No answer but yet the customer seems to think he has the right to speak to Vista employees like they were second class citizens.Clutchs don't explode by themselves and every metal piece including the flywheel was gun metal blue.If I were the service manager I would have called the police and asked the loud gentleman to please leave. What I always find inexcusable is the conduct of certain people when they all by themselves decide they are sooooo much better than others or should I say Vista employees. Sad but true...................
My story centres around around 2 rear wheels on my new BMW sDrive Z4 35i manufactured in 2009.
After only 18,000 KM both my rear wheels cracked. One was replaced under warranty in Canada the other was not. I was mistreated even lied to in the US on my long planned retirement trip. The full story can be seen here on the little web site I made for my friends in the z-forum.
http://web.me.com/solgain/The_296_Cracked_Wheel_St
I have been a loyal BMW customer for over 20 years, I will no longer purchase a BMW not after the way I have been treated. In fact our plan was to purchase the new x3 to replace our family car. The final decision to reimburse me for the wheel I had to purchase in the US changed that we got ourselves a Mercedes C350 4MATIC instead. Two of my close friends will also get something other then a BMW in future.
Dear Kamal,
As discussed between us about the problem that has arisen in my car, you told me that our seniors have put up the case with the company as they are in agreement that a car which has barely been driven should not have such a problem, post that there has been no response from you guys for close to a week, today you send me a mail very conveniently telling me how much I have to pay to get the problem fixed in the junk your company sold me .
I want ask you all to tell me whether I have bought a BMW luxury car or has the company sold me junk with a BMW badge.
How can a car which is driven 13000 odd thousand km in a liitle over 3.5 years have a driving and Safety failure , are you guys telling me that this is what I paid nearly 38 lakhs for , you want me to dish out close to 2 lakh rupees to get my car repaired for a system failure,
Are you people selling crap or luxury to us Indians , the car has no minor or major accident , for good sake it is hardly been driven , I was better off buying phat phat then this piece of junk.
I am sorry I expect that the company to bear this cost, as I absolutely refuse to pay a dime for this
I think for the reputation your brand carries, the top management of BMW should be ashamed of the way the customer service works and the way that they handle there clients.
I assure you failing a satisfactory response from your end, I intend to take it to whatever level I can to get justice for this uncalled for and shoddy treatment. That is a lot of hard earned money given to your incompetent company for that junk, either rectify the problem or display the junk in your showroom for the JOY it gives to it's customers
Regards
Harmit Chawla
Sent from my iPad of Harmit Chawla
On 30-Aug-2011, at 20:54, "Kamal Sapra" wrote:
Dear Mr Harmit Chawla,
As discussed to you regarding your above mentioned vehicle, please find the attached service quote for the repair job required.
With kind regards,
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Deutsche Motoren
Kamal Sapra
Service Advisor
H -5/ B- 1 , Mohan Co-operative Industrial Estate
Mathura Road
New Delhi - 110044
Tel : +91-11-43090000
Fax: +91-11-41682555
Mobile : +91-9891196060
Mailto :Kamal.Sapra@bmw-deutschemotoren.in
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Sent from my iPad of Harmit Chawla
to BMW AG
I want to show my discontent about that I will describe:
Recently I bought a new BMW Series 1M, and I found myself bring it back to the BMW dealer, in less than 1 month of the purchase, to make a 2.000 km inspection for the changing of some oils; motor oil, transmission and gearbox oils.
The car's iDrive system does not contain any information about it. And in the user manual only states the change of gearbox oil and differential box oil. I was told that I should change the motor oil as well.
I was very unpleased by having to make these changes, in such a short lifetime of the car, and also by having to support those costs. I was told that this is due to the fact that the Series 1M is a high-performance car.
Immensely displeased I was, by the fact that a new car, with a value of around 80.000,00 Eur, had to go back to the dealer to make changes in motor oil, transmission and gearbox oils, in less than one month of the purchase. And having to support a cost of around 500,00 Eur, not including driving expenses.
I know now that your competitor Porsche, which also builds high-performance cars, has no 2.000 km inspection and the first one is in 2 years or 30,000 km.
Highly unsatisfied.
Best regards.
winnielovestigger 3 years ago
Why would anyone want a car like BMW that costs so much and then take it to a grocery store - park it around all those grocery carts!! A parked target!!