TREAT THEM GOOD OR BAD

R

rayz4

Member
 solihull
Had an interesting conversation with some guys at work on how to get the best out of your dealer re servicing/warranty issues. One guy says its either rant at them stamp yer feet and generaly make as big a fuss as possible over the smallest thing you can or, take them in a case of beer and tell em how grateful you are for their wonderful work on fixing your car. Well seeing as i had to pick mine up today i thought i would try the latter, case of beer and how gateful i am for the superb work on getting my problems sorted out with the roof. The look on the face of the guy who actually did the work my car really was something to behold, he truly was amazed that someone would do such a thing and it wasn`t long before some of the other techs in the workshop started to claim that they had actually done all the the work and not him, it was so funny. But it sparked a conversation with these guys and about 1/2 hour later it was time to leave, they were about to close for the day. So the thinking behind this for me is " treat them well and they will treat you well" :thumbsup:
 
I completely agree. For me though, I contacted BMW UK and picked out the names of the team that helped me. The dealer rang me the same day and thanked me as they don't often get clients saying thank you never mind BMW UK head office calling to tell them well done.
 
I left a bottle of wine in the car for the tech that worked on my Golf for me. He fitted a K&N air filter and did some other diagnostic work on stuff he really didn't need to and no charge to me. That bottle of wine was repaid ten fold in getting the car first through the service bays when it was a "service while I wait" etc
 
Maniac said:
I completely agree. For me though, I contacted BMW UK and picked out the names of the team that helped me. The dealer rang me the same day and thanked me as they don't often get clients saying thank you never mind BMW UK head office calling to tell them well done.
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Yes i`m going to do the same tomorrow and call bmw uk, tell em how this guy went the extra for me, his name is Dean and he is the senior tech at sytner in coventry, top bloke. :thumbsup:
 
Maniac said:
I completely agree. For me though, I contacted BMW UK and picked out the names of the team that helped me. The dealer rang me the same day and thanked me as they don't often get clients saying thank you never mind BMW UK head office calling to tell them well done.
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x2 - I do this whenever I can, in my private life and also at work. So few people make an effort to say thanks properly when a job is well done or an experience is great, and yet moan forever and a day when something is not up to par. I made a point once of emailing a distribution depot manager because his guys delivered something to me well out of their way and at 8pm at night because delaying beyond the due date would have been massively inconvenient to me. They could have just said no - and what would i have been able to do about it ? He was genuinely shocked I had even bothered, and very grateful that I had done so. When I asked the drivers for his contact details they thought I was going to complain about something :D
 
Totally agree. I always go out of my way to praise good service/work. Even down to the customer service lady in sainsburys. I told her boss the other day he should give her a raise!
 
I treat them as I would any other service provider and leave my judgement until they do something wrong, or something right, and then treat them accordingly. My first response will always to be polite, then firm, but after an hour of them not recognising/rectifying the problem I will start to get a bit angry at them, and will sometimes walk out (after paying under duress) and calm down and write a initial letter to their service manager & DP pointing out the issues in a brief, non-ranting manner and the expectations I have.

I'm yet to find a dealer that deserves a pat on the back. I've not had one visit in over 10 years where everything has been done correctly, or where they've not tried to charge for something they've not done or for something I've not been asked about.

It might only be something as simple as not resetting the OBC, washing the car against my wishes, not supplying me with inspection reports (tread depth, pad/disc thickness, valve clearance measurements) but they can't expect a 10/10 or 5-star rating on my feedback form if they're not doing a proper job.

I've had such lackadaisical service over 10 years that I just expect it, and if they've got a couple of small things wrong I'll just smile and ask them to rectify it.

Sometimes the service agent/manager can't seem to comprehend why I'm concerned that they've missed something (such as not putting coolant in, or leaving the oil filler cap off, or not tightening the wheel bolts). But when you realise that the work has been carried out by an experienced technician, or an apprentice, and then signed off by a supervisor, you wonder whether they're doing the checks at all. That's why I started UV marking some service items (the parts themselves, or where that wasn't feasible I'd mark the bolts/gaskets).

My ///M specialist does get beer/wine/cognac now and then though - especially when he'd spend an hour fixing a problem that BMW wanted £1000 for. So it only goes to BMW for warranty & servicing - general maintenance (brakes, interim oil changes, interim brake fluid changes, etc.) is done by my specialist in deepest, darkest Essex. As he's the boss I know where the buck stops.
 
We have 5 BMWs, ranging in age and models so we tend to have regular visits to a local BMW shop that's usually booked up one to two months in advance. They've always done the best they can for us, but they went above and beyond when the differential in my M5 snapped, taking it in the very same day and having it on the road the day after I got the replacement diff.

I was very thankful and happy (despite the insane price for the diff), so I bought them all a bunch of Icelandic easter eggs. They're big, made out of chocolates and filled with candy - insanely popular around here during easter. They were very happy, but I felt that they all deserved it and I do hope that they enjoyed their eggs.
 
I thanked the guys for fitting a set of 452''s the other day,, they were very helpful and arranged some tyres for me to place the loose alloys on so they didnt sit on the ground and finished them off with chrome caps and chrome weights (the latter is not seen against the polished alloy).

the look on the guys face was priceless,,, dont think anyone had said thank you to them before..
 
I appreciate good service as much as the next man, and have in the past shown it with wine etc, but the shame is, some times good service just isn't provided! Is it good service when they can't rectify a fault, even though you think the guys are trying hard...the fault remains?

Also pisses me off when you get the DP being all smiles, when behind the scenes you know it's all crap...that make me think he lies!

However, I do believe you should always be polite and couteous, and that shouting doesn't help.
 
I think the biggest issue is that you don't get what you pay for with BMW dealer service departments. You pay a premium price and you don't very often (if ever) get a premium product out of them. It's a highly profitable part of a dealership (along with parts) and subsidises the new and used car sales business. That seems to make them extra keen to increase the invoice size which is at the polar opposite to what the paying customer wants. Always a recipe for poor customer relations.

The EU, bless their hearts, are slowly getting to grips with this, because as I understand from a post on a thread a few weeks ago, even Mondial (BMW insured warranty provider) has confirmed to a Forum member that provided you use BMW parts you do not need to get the car serviced in a BMW dealer to maintain warranty. Previously it was widely understood that this was the case if you were on the manufacturer warranty but that the Insured Warranty was more restrictive. If this is indeed true it will mean that customers do have a choice now and that the guaranteed cash cow from servicing work having to be done through a dealer for warranty purposes, will no longer exist. Therefore dealers will have to focus much more on customer needs and wants rather than their own desire to fleece you as much as possible.

I'd praise and reward if I thought they had gone above and beyond but i'm not going to do that for them doing what they should've in the first place.
 
original guvnor said:
You pay a premium price and you don't very often (if ever) get a premium product out of them.
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I wonder who 'them' is? All too easy to lump all dealers together when an individual receives bad service. Praise where it's due and rather than a bland 'them' statement identify the dealer so we all know who is good or bad.

I saw a Zed driver driving badly on the motorway but I don't assume all Zed drivers are bad.............
 
maybe the beer should have been given to them first, do you think they mechanics will recall your car next time they see it?
 
Taz x said:
maybe the beer should have been given to them first, do you think they mechanics will recall your car next time they see it?
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Thinking the same myself. I treat my Dealer the same as any other Tradesmen.
Do a good job and I thank them......"F**k up" and I give 'em hell.
 
AlanJ said:
original guvnor said:
You pay a premium price and you don't very often (if ever) get a premium product out of them.
Click to expand...

I wonder who 'them' is? All too easy to lump all dealers together when an individual receives bad service. Praise where it's due and rather than a bland 'them' statement identify the dealer so we all know who is good or bad.

I saw a Zed driver driving basdly on the motorway but I don't assume all Zed drivers are bad.............
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The original post clearly states I will praise for going above and beyond. I have praised dealers on this forum before (Williams Manchester body shop for example).

Mine was a general point deliberately because i was trying to highlight what i think is a flaw in the model. Because used and new cars make insufficient profit to pay the rent on the shiny showrooms BMW insist they have they need the margin on service, parts and body shop to pay the bills. That makes the whole business model much less customer focused than it should be on aftersales. Perhaps if BMW ran more dealerships it might improve? Not sure if anybody has any experience of Park Lane (BMW owned) or of any of the dealers owned by Mercedes Benz? Are these any better?

Since you ask though, I have been impressed so far with Soper Lincoln (parts) and will have my oil service with them this time because they have been competitive on price first time of asking and dealt with my enquiry in a professional way. Stratstone are patchy - Chesterfield not bad and fair pricing but a bit inefficient, Derby not so good, Sytner Nottingham used to be good, recent experiences terrible - rip-off pricing, "don't care" attitude to complaints and a ridiculous customer satisfaction survey policy where they hand you a sheet to mark them and then you give it them back so they can see it. Puts the customer in an unnecessarily difficult position. I also note that the lady from Sytner who used to monitor these forums and try to rectify issues has long since departed. My experience of other Sytner branches is also less than impressive and their central reservation call-centre is rubbish. You ask for specific parts to be ordered and you turn up to collect your car and they haven't done work you asked "because we need to order the part" - left arm not knowing what right is doing!
 
Good response OG - specific dealers identified as good bad etc. More objective and gives others a chance to make an informed decision. As for BMW Park Lane - purchased a new vehicle from them 4 years ago and service was good. Kept updated on delivery date and handover of vehicle was good and business like - no experience of service.
 
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