Totally miffed off .......BMW main dealer

D

Dads203

Member
 North Wales
Took my car to the Stealers last Wednesday for the Sat Nav to be replaced, so far 14 days in the main dealers to try and find the fault which is covered under warranty. It took them 3 days to do the work and I picked up the car on friday. I thought all was well until getting back home. The new nav screen is not fitted flush to the dash on one side was the first noticable issue, and then after drying off the car in garage I noticed a nice 14 inch scratch right across the top of left front wing :x

I'm now fuming !! It was raining when I picked up the car so I didn't notice the problem. Thinking that I better have a good look around and check for more damage I then found a chip in the paintwork under the drivers side mirror down to the metal :thumbsdown: .........This is now not funny at all and its gets worse....I decided to hoover the inside of the car and found that the two covers for the screws that hold the Transmission cover are broken, one missing and the other I found under drivers seat, didn't notice this as the seat in in the way, only when i moved the seat fully to the rear to clean under it did it become noticed.

I paid last year to have the key programmed for a few functions like roof up and down and the blipping of the alarm, this was done at my local indi and cost me £32, now none of these functions work and the car has been taken back to default settings.

Before I forget the Satnav is still not working :x

Is it too much to expect a BMW main dealer to respect its customers cars? I have called them and am now waiting for a call from the service manager...I'm just not sure on how to react? Last friday I was in the " Targets will fall when hit "mode...feel a bit calmer now


Regards

Dan

I'll not name the dealer in question at the moment, pending their reaction.
 
keep your calm with the dealer, point out the facts and try and keep professional, if conversations don't work then put things in writing
 
Taz x said:
keep your calm with the dealer, point out the facts and try and keep professional, if conversations don't work then put thing in writing
Click to expand...

Thats my plan Taz, it's just so frustrating :x

Is it too much to ask for a bit of quality work? These guys used to be very good a few years back.
 
i recall you now, with your wife

ok, scrap keeping calm approach, tell stealers you have 22 zed buddies who are going to come and kick the eff out of them lol
 
Taz x said:
i recall you now, with your wife

ok, scrap keeping calm approach, tell stealers you have 22 zed buddies who are gotting come and kick the eff out of them lol
Click to expand...

:rofl: :rofl: Now thats a good approach !! :rofl:
 
Dads203, sorry to hear that, it's a pain when companies get it that wrong! Sounds like someone has done a shoddy job, the measure of the dealership is what they'll do to sort it. Be nice if they'd done the job properly in the first place, but sticking with it generally pays off.

Good luck!

Taz, take your medication.
 
Really annoying when this happens.

I suggest you don't raise the issue of the indy programming the car. They can only use that against you in respect of other issues like the Sat Nav and it demonstrates your not really dealer loyal. Of course they should recode to anything you want that's dealer available if they zeroed it.

Scratches - you'll also need to consider how you will prove they did it and it did not arrive that way and you just noticed. They shoudl have done their own examination first and noted them on arrival.

Good luck
 
cj10jeeper said:
Really annoying when this happens.

I suggest you don't raise the issue of the indy programming the car. They can only use that against you in respect of other issues like the Sat Nav and it demonstrates your not really dealer loyal. Of course they should recode to anything you want that's dealer available if they zeroed it.

Scratches - you'll also need to consider how you will prove they did it and it did not arrive that way and you just noticed. They shoudl have done their own examination first and noted them on arrival.

Good luck
Click to expand...


I normally inspect the car when its collected, just goes to show that the one time that I didn't due to the weather I get stiffed ! I will not be taking the car to them again thats for sure. A hard lesson learned !
I'm not confident that it will be resolved to my satisfaction TBH.



Dan
 
Dads203 said:
I normally inspect the car when its collected, just goes to show that the one time that I didn't due to the weather I get stiffed ! I will not be taking the car to them again thats for sure. A hard lesson learned !
I'm not confident that it will be resolved to my satisfaction TBH.

Dan
Click to expand...

Cooper Reading completely screwed up the bonnet on a mate's Z3 years back. Light swirling (probably sponge grit) but lots of it. His wife collected the car and didn't notice it. Initially the garage stood their ground, but did relent and had the bonnet re-sprayed - the fact that they didn't have a sign in / out sheet worked against them in that instance. Cooper are quite good at fixing mistakes, just a little too many for my comfort over the years. I'd hope that your dealer does the same, but it can be painful to get what you want. If it's not too far go to the showroom to speak to them about it, they don't like dis-satisfied customers on the premises in my experience.

Keeping quite about the indi work, if it's not too late, is sound advice.
 
Morning,

Some good suggestions above.

Can I ask, ask for the condition sheet that all dealerships use when cars are dropped off.

This should state any blemishes that exist.

I always walk around the cars with the dealer service manager and we agree on the condition.

I then always ask for a copy.

I make it clear that this is not because I don't trust them, it is to avoid any issues. Afterall, I worked hard for my car and do my best to keep it mint.

If i am paying the thick end of £500 for a service or having warranty work done (like your case) I expect the car to come back in the same condition as previously.

Remember, the warranty work is still a money spinner for franchised dealers as BMW will pay them a fixed percentage of the usual labour rate back - I think its 70 -80% so don't ever make them allow you to feel like they are doing you a favour.

With regards to the Sat Nav replacement and the half baked workmanship - this is something that they cannot deny. The reprogamming is another thing that they could easily rectify in relatively quick time.

I guess you just need to hope the service manager enjoys the path of least resistance approach as your issues are worthy of rectification.

Good luck.
 
Good pointers guys, :thumbsup: I've not mentioned about the indi doing the key programming fo and as said its a 5 min job to do, just annoying. I was going to get the car detailed ( Paint correction) soon, just as well I've held off for a month or so. I would be after blood more so If I had it done last month.

The Issue is that the Nav system is still crashing so It will have to go back to them to be fixed.
I guess that I'll be really anal when I have to pick the car up next time from them.


Cheers

Dan
 
Please guys why on earth don't you ensure a complete check of your car with the service receptionist/manager (or whoever) before you hand it over and a complete check before you take it back - takes minutes and saves such a lot of hassle. Standard practice here in the Middle East (yes we can learn something from others) and you have to sign on handover and collection that all is OK - form they use is just like a hire car handover sheet with all dents, scratches or whatever marked on the receipt. Insist on it when you go to the dealers I do and now they just do it as the norm when I go in.
 
It is the usual practice.

There will be a sheet somewhere as its there to prevent issues like this from occuring!
 
In future I've decided to use these diagrams to mark any existing issues and agree and sign it with the garage I take it to...

CarPaintdepthmap.jpg
 
Dads sorry to hear about this, it's everybody's worse nightmare. I ask the dealer to go around the car with me and confirm conditon etc. I explain that it's because I've had a problem in the past with another dealer. I like Peddys car diagram, looks like it has Woots' wheels on it though :)

I'd give them a letter stating all you have mentioned here, ask them to put it right otherwise you'll consider legal action (small claims court) and ensure they receive the maximum bad publicity including a letter to Auto Express and plenty of exposure on these web pages. The threat might be enough to get them moving.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom