Marshall BMW Hampshire (Hook)

In my experience (of buying over 10 BMW's, both new and used from different dealers) this was the worst dealer experience I've ever had.

They lied to me. Admittedly they have now rectified that, but only cos I sussed them out.

They have poor aftersales service, and although 1 person eventually helped sort things out, the rest were useless...they didn't return calls, they left me hanging whilst the "guy" dealing with it went on a weeks annual leave (which is when I complained and got onto the person that sorted it, I think he was some top manager, but I had to go through several people to get him to help me).

There are other issues, but I won't go into those here.

Nice big dealership with nice cars, and perhaps my experience is very rare, but in my opinion (and thats all it is) they are very poor with after sales service. I wouldn't go back.
 
I had a similar unpleasant experience last year from the Bournemouth dealership. Salesman very helpful and pleasant at time of purchase BUT none of the work requested and agreed was done prior to collection despite being told that it was completely ready. On collection I had car booked in for the work to be carried out, on arrival on the due date there was no booking for the workshop but a courtesy car had been booked for me . Second attempt only went slightly better in that the work did get done eventually, 4 days to complete a few hours of work. There seemed to be a force field between the workshop and showroom which are on different sites, I feel that only my persistent telephoning to both sales and workshop teams got the work done. It must have cost the dealership a fortune, unless the ploy of course is that doing the work this way they can get paid by BMW for it as warranty work ! Not sure what they are like now but my customer feedback which was polite and mapped out the issues in full never prompted a response which I did find odd at the time. Have now started to use another dealer which is a much more pleasant experience.
 
Most of the used ones I’ve had all had issues on collection that were easily sorted under warranty, so I agree, I think they leave such issues till after the sale, because to fix before comes off their profit but for the customer to bring it in afterwards gets paid for by warranty (i think).
 
So almost a year round and these cowboys have been hassling me to book in for an MOT! Yeah, like i’m gonna drive from Devon for an MOT by a garage that I wouldn’t trust. A good place to go though if you know your car “should” fail, cos they probably don’t do the proper test anyway!

(Based on my car having its mot the day before delivery and then finding out the brake discs were below bmw tolerances!)
 
Basically they told me all 4 wheels had new brakes. Luckily I took it to my local dealer for a "once over" and the truth was this:

Rear Disks below BMW tolerances for new pads. They had fitted new pads, but had skimmed the disks to even them out (or something like that) and sprayed the hubs silver. Unfortunately, they hadn't let the paint set or cleaned the cutting agent off, so there was paint sling and the pads were contaminated.

Front disks within tolerances with new pads. Same issue with the silver paint on the hubs...had contaminated the pads.

Had its MOT the day before collection, so its possible they noticed the brakes then and did a quick bodge job.

Lucky that I had it checked, otherwise I would be looking at £600 for new discs/pads all round. As it was, they "eventually" paid for the work.

Are the xenon washer jets an MOT check? They were clogged - unlikely to have become clogged overnight, so if they are an MOT test, then it was an incorrect pass!

Typical sales tactics as well when finalising the deal...."comes with alloy wheel insurance and a 2nd year warranty and paint protection"...saw the detailed bill and found all those had a charge, so not included in the deal at all. Left the Alloy insurance as I was worried about cracking alloys and also the 2nd year warranty...for obvious reasons.

When I got the car I found an old "life shine" warranty leaflet...so the car had already been done previously - they would just charge for nothing (I know its overpriced anyway, which is why I declined it).

Checked the alloy insurance...doesn't cover cracked wheels, only scuffs. Cancelled that.
Checked warranty - not a BMW warranty, but Marshals own warranty. Only Marshal group garages near me are Skoda and Volkwagen! Also, doesn't cover roof issues. Cancelled that!

disclaimer: these are just my opinions of the service I received.
 
ihadablackdog said:
Basically they told me all 4 wheels had new brakes. Luckily I took it to my local dealer for a "once over" and the truth was this:

Rear Disks below BMW tolerances for new pads. They had fitted new pads, but had skimmed the disks to even them out (or something like that) and sprayed the hubs silver. Unfortunately, they hadn't let the paint set or cleaned the cutting agent off, so there was paint sling and the pads were contaminated.

Front disks within tolerances with new pads. Same issue with the silver paint on the hubs...had contaminated the pads.

Had its MOT the day before collection, so its possible they noticed the brakes then and did a quick bodge job.

Lucky that I had it checked, otherwise I would be looking at £600 for new discs/pads all round. As it was, they "eventually" paid for the work.

Are the xenon washer jets an MOT check? They were clogged - unlikely to have become clogged overnight, so if they are an MOT test, then it was an incorrect pass!

Typical sales tactics as well when finalising the deal...."comes with alloy wheel insurance and a 2nd year warranty and paint protection"...saw the detailed bill and found all those had a charge, so not included in the deal at all. Left the Alloy insurance as I was worried about cracking alloys and also the 2nd year warranty...for obvious reasons.

When I got the car I found an old "life shine" warranty leaflet...so the car had already been done previously - they would just charge for nothing (I know its overpriced anyway, which is why I declined it).

Checked the alloy insurance...doesn't cover cracked wheels, only scuffs. Cancelled that.
Checked warranty - not a BMW warranty, but Marshals own warranty. Only Marshal group garages near me are Skoda and Volkwagen! Also, doesn't cover roof issues. Cancelled that!

disclaimer: these are just my opinions of the service I received.
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Sounds like you received terrible customer service.

It’s funny because that sort of experience would put some people off the BMW brand altogether.

I’m not a fan of main dealers in general, however I have a couple where I’ve never had any poor customer service.

I really think it depends on the dealership and the tone set by the general manager too.

Hopefully you can find one too. :thumbsup:
 
Yeah, was a nightmare.

Had a bad (worse) experience with my local dealer in 2012...had a brand new Z4 and within the first week it leaked. 40 days in the dealership over several visits and they couldn't fix it despite trying everything. I managed to reject it and get a replacement, but the dealership were hopeless, shifted it all onto BMW!

Very nearly stopped buying BMW after that but ended up going back.

That was Westerly Barnstaple. They seem ok now, and in general are ok, but overall service over the years has been a bit hit and miss.
 
ihadablackdog said:
Yeah, was a nightmare.

Had a bad (worse) experience with my local dealer in 2012...had a brand new Z4 and within the first week it leaked. 40 days in the dealership over several visits and they couldn't fix it despite trying everything. I managed to reject it and get a replacement, but the dealership were hopeless, shifted it all onto BMW!

Very nearly stopped buying BMW after that but ended up going back.

That was Westerly Barnstaple. They seem ok now, and in general are ok, but overall service over the years has been a bit hit and miss.
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Exactly this!

But it’s a shame because BMW’s are cracking cars!

I also highly doubt that the BMW dealerships in Germany provide shitty customer service either!
 
I hate dealerships in general. Just called the local one and they can’t fit the car in for 4 weeks for a fault that needs to be rectified under warranty. :headbang: :cry:
 
-Tom- said:
I hate dealerships in general. Just called the local one and they can’t fit the car in for 4 weeks for a fault that needs to be rectified under warranty. :headbang: :cry:
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Tell me about it!

Had a full service on my car when I got it cos I didn't trust the Marshalls had done it (they didn't stamp the service book, but then neither did my dealer until I pointed it out!).

Within a week of that service, I had an error and the car would only work in reduced power. Straight into the dealer the following morning - they read the error codes and said it needed further investigation, 2 week wait. I asked if it could be something from the service and they (obviously) said no.

So, had to crawl around for 2 weeks only really managing 40mph (embarasing in a car like this!). They had it in and fixed it. Service lady wasn't going to tell me what it was, when I asked she said it was a pipe had come loose and they must've nudged it during the service! (I don't think she was meant to tell me that!).

Anyway, I didn't make a fuss and kicked myself later cos they screwed up. OK, a simple error but when we pay top price for top quality workmanship I'd expect better. Should've pushed for part refund on the service!
 
-Tom- said:
I hate dealerships in general. Just called the local one and they can’t fit the car in for 4 weeks for a fault that needs to be rectified under warranty. :headbang: :cry:
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hah exactly the same problem - tried a few local dealers and all had ~4week waits for some brake fluid. Went to my most local for a quick 'fastlane' appt. I'd been avoiding the place because it sucks.. a lot. It did suck, but so far the car is still in one piece.
 
-Tom- said:
I hate dealerships in general. Just called the local one and they can’t fit the car in for 4 weeks for a fault that needs to be rectified under warranty. :headbang: :cry:
Click to expand...

Ask them to book you into another one with earlier availability.
 
We’re all singing off the same sheet, it’s crazy.

I share your pain “ihadablackdog” ... the problem with mine I’m almost certain stems from some work they did on it last year, the service adviser as good as agreed it was likely on the on the phone.

I know and agree with advice that keeps coming back about going to a decent indie instead. I totally agree, I’ve just had many years of using the warranty and being too scared to lose it.

Certainly coming to decision time though ...
 
My car’s in my local dealer right now for mot and they let me take the new Z4 out for test drive (fully aware I can’t afford one but I guess it’s sowing the seed)!

So can’t complain about them now! (Westerly Barnstaple, not those twats in hook)
 
Missed a trick last week.

Got a settlement figure from BMW Finance (just for info, not looking to change) and sure enough, later that day the Hook twats rang saying they'd been contacted by BMW Finance to say I'd requested a settlement figure and they were ringing to check it was genuine!! :rofl: :rofl: the bullsh1t never ends!

He said he could see that when I got the car I had a few problems with the brakes!!!

Stupidly I told him I wasn't changing and only wanted a guide to what the figure was. Kicking myself that I didn't say I was considering one of the new Z4's and reeling them in :roll:
 
I've no idea why anyone on here would be thinking of going there anymore, now that Bowser134 has opened RBM in Hook! :?
 
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