Hi all. Bad report of Robert Stern MINI/BMW in Worcester. It is quite possibly the most incompetent, lazy, money hungry garage I have ever been to. Around 8/9 months ago I hit something at around 2mph creasing the bonnet and scratching paint off the corner of the bumper.

A few weeks ago the front arches came off, and recently the bonnet catch has snapped (both quite common according to this forum). I took it in when the arches came off and they said that they wouldnt repair it under warrenty as the collision had caused BOTH sides to come off! The cheek of it. Also, while it was in there they did a quote on repairing the minor damage that was. They said i needed:

2x Front Fogs (which i dont even have, and the side lights both work, no cracks etc)
2x Wheel Hubs
1x Front Bumper
1x Bonnet
2x Viper Stripes (@ £40 + VAT each, mine cose me £35 for the whole car!)
2x Wheel Arch Trims

I took it to an indipendant garage and they said all i need was filler and paint on the bonnet and a minor touch up on the bumper. I really take offence to the fact that all they are after is quite blatently ripping me off and if they would do it to me, how many vounrable people (who dont know much about cars) have they ripped off? People tent to trust dealers, 'they know the cars better than anyone' so people tend to trust what they say.

This is not the first bad experience I have with this dealership either, it has been in 4 times for the same problem with the clutch (which is not fixed yet) and twice for the centre console heating up to ridiculous heats, and the woman on the service desk told me to come back if it got hotter?!

Overall, a rubish dealership and very negative feedback from me.

Hi all. Bad report of Robert Stern MINI/BMW in Worcester. It is quite possibly the most incompetent, lazy, money hungry garage I have ever been to.

Eek... I pick up my Mini from there on March 1st... They are just over the road from me.

And it seems they got dealer of the year in 2005 and 2006 as well.... strange....

MINI Dealers Invest Millions And Robert Stern Wins<br>'Dealer Of The Year' (http://www.carpages.co.uk/mini/mini-dealer-27-02-07.asp)

Not the first time ive heard a bad report of them!

You have my sympathy. We have two minis and the older is now out of warranty so he goes to a local tame proper garage. The two year old is now collected and delivered back to me by Cotswold Cheltenham free of charge, a service that Sterns charge £10 for, even from the Hospital which is where I work and less than a mile away, and I intend never go back to Robert Sterns again. Cotswold say they get a lot of business from Worcester.:eek:

Any kind of dealing with Sterns is bad for my health and sanity - far far too many issues with them. I can only think that Minis come a poor second to Real BMWs

Dealer of the Year indeed:mad:

Yea, I agree, I have started going to Nick Whale in Stratford which is a dedicated MINI garage with no other BM's in sight! YAY! They are really good and have a good knowlage of the car. Oh yea, and actually fix the warranty problems under warranty! woop


And it seems they got dealer of the year in 2005 and 2006 as well.... strange....

MINI Dealers Invest Millions And Robert Stern Wins<br>'Dealer Of The Year' (http://www.carpages.co.uk/mini/mini-dealer-27-02-07.asp)

I wonder why they didn't get dealer of the year in 2007.........

I have a Mini One Diesel - the head gasket went under warranty (with previous owner) and was fixed at Robert Stern Worcester.

Around October time (my ownership and warranty lost) I was having problems with the engine overheating etc. Took it to my local dealership - Synter Sheffield and was told the head gasket had blown!!!!!

Having paid for the item to be fixed I now have 12months warranty.

IMHO I think a head gasket should last a lot longer than about 6months - approx 10,000miles!

Robert Stern - you should be ashamed!!

Robert Stern - Worcester, have to be the worst dealership. i bought my mini cherished from their and its been nothing but trouble since. almost all parts of the streeing went in the 1st few days, the exhausted mainfold broke, exhausted backpart its almost rusted away, all the electrics failed due to a major leak in the boot, the list was so long when i took it in i cant rember it now. all fix under warranty (luckey) a week later the exhausted fell off and the streeing was all miss-alined, fix again. now it booked in again for a major knocking this monday, looks to me its the clush/gearbox.

Robert Stern are no better than a back street garage. their attitude stinks and the sales tactics in my case were very dishonest, but thats another long story. i dont no how they got best dealer of the year 2times running.

Their attitude does stink. All they are after is to make as much money as they can out of anyone who walks through the door. I am just turned 19 last week, and have to say i look kinda young for my age. But when i went into the garage they all look at you asif to say 'why the hell are you in here' and ignore you until you go up to them and pester them but as soon as you say 'i have an R56 MC' they get their calculator out!

I wonder why they didn't get dealer of the year in 2007.........

Actually Robert Stern are best MINI dealer 2007. They also have the best salesman in the Midlands, as awarded by MINI at a competition held in January this year (John Evans).

I have to say that I have had a few problems, but only with the service department at Robert Stern, and these have been relatively minor. My dealings with Rydale Central (now Sytner) have been far worse - the car came out of a routine service there with an oil leak it didn't have when it went in, and MINI Assistance told me I was lucky to get the car home! :eek: Robert Stern have also collected my MINI for free in the past, and said they will do the same in the future :)

MINI sales at Robert Stern are absoultely fantastic. Always do what they say they will, when they promise. They have never let me down, and always make me feel welcome when I'm there, even if only there to steal a brochure. They have also always tried to provide assistance on the occasions that I've had problems with the service department. Knowledge of the MINI product seems to be second to none. I really can't fault them!

MINI dealer of the year is awarded on quality of the sales department, and not on the service department, and on my experiences I would say they deserve the award:)


Anyone who has any problems with the Service department at Robert Stern should ask for Dave Addis, who did all he could to assist with a bad experience I had last summer :)

MINI sales at Robert Stern are absoultely fantastic. Always do what they say they will, when they promise. They have never let me down, and always make me feel welcome when I'm there, even if only there to steal a brochure.

I must admit that I have found the sales team excellent also over the last couple of months. I pick my Mini up in 2 weeks so I guess I'll find out what the service department are like in the future.

. They said i needed:

2x Front Fogs (which i dont even have, and the side lights both work, no cracks etc)
2x Wheel Hubs
1x Front Bumper
1x Bonnet
2x Viper Stripes (@ £40 + VAT each, mine cose me £35 for the whole car!)
2x Wheel Arch Trims

I took it to an indipendant garage and they said all i need was filler and paint on the bonnet and a minor touch up on the bumper. I really take offence to the fact that all they are after is quite blatently ripping me off
Thing is, to do the job 100% as a dealer should, they're not going to fill and spray damaged parts, they're going to replace the damaged parts with new ones. Same as most accident repair places when doing insurance claims.

Thing is, to do the job 100% as a dealer should, they're not going to fill and spray damaged parts, they're going to replace the damaged parts with new ones. Same as most accident repair places when doing insurance claims.

I agree, a dealer should repair properly and do a proper job. However, when they try and charge me for things i dont even have i.e 2 fog lights when i dont have them i start to get a little annoyed! I have had my sidelights out since and there is not even a scuff on them. Also, a new bumper when i got 99% of the scuff off with t-cut, and repaid with a pen that BMW sell for ouching up things like that. Also, why both fog lights? and both wheel hubs, when the hubs wernt damaged either? They are just out to rip people off. How can you chage someone/supply something that someone doesnt even have? a quote from a sales person at the garage i go to now after showing them the quote (i now ravel 37 miles to my garage apposed to 8)

'they are jus trying to squeeze evry penny they can'

Also, my centre consol got reeally hot, i took it in 2 times to get this looked at. Then the 3rd time i took it in they said they didnt know what to do so i should go back if it got any hotter. bearing in mind that it had burnt my girlfriends leg on the way to the lake district!

For people who say its a good garage and have had good experiences, well, i dont know what to think really. It must be because im young with a nice car. Its pathetic if it is but i cant think of another reason why they would be nie to one person and the next they decide to dislike.

One saving grace for the garage is Bret, who works on the parts desk. Really helpful chap, friendly and came out to look at a few things on my car that i wasnt sure of. But the other parts people didnt know their head from their feet, had to go and check on the computer for every question i asked. In the end they took me to the back and had to sit at the computer with them to try and find the right part as he didnt know what i was talking about - i was trying to order the upper aero grill surround.

Always do what they say they will

Totally disagree:

Spare key - i had to phone 3 times to get them to send the spare key they told me they would send two days later when pick my mini up.

Clean the inside - far from clean, i bet they though the leek in the boot would do that:angry:

FULL safety check - i dont think a broken steering system would have past that.

2nd hand car, 2nd class service. when i do buy a new mini i will not be heading to the best dealership. what its the award based on anyway - sales figures (as everthing only come down to one thing - money).

as regards the damage repair all bmw garages will do the same with massiave labor charges, its just the BMW way. the work is always going to be top notch, if not they will put it right.

as regards the damage repair all bmw garages will do the same with massiave labor charges, its just the BMW way. the work is always going to be top notch, if not they will put it right.

Labour costs isnt really that important, and main dealer have massive labour charges (my mums Mercedes last service cost £900 which has 50% labour!) its the trying to sell me something i dont have and dont need! I dont care what anyone says, you cant say that it is okay to try and sell people things they dont need? can you?:confused:

Totally disagree:

(as everthing only come down to one thing - money).


totally agree with you. all they want is peoples money - which yes, thats business, however business is also about customer service and customer satisfaction which, iv'e had neither from Robert Stern.

Eek... I pick up my Mini from there on March 1st... They are just over the road from me.

Astilla, don't panic. Sterns in Worcester have been dealer of the year for 3 years in a row!

Adam is very much in the minority I think you'll find. He has been unfortunate I think in the staff he has had dealing with him, as Sterns is my dealer and they are usually great (apart from parts, who never answer the phone :rolleyes:). Sterns are so good that many members of the miniaddiction and dbrally forums travel to use a Worcester dealership when they live in Birmingham!

TBH if you have had a prang, however small, I can understand them refusing to do the repair to the arches under warrantee. It is plausable that even a small impact can loosen or break the clips holding the arches on, which then over time work thier way off. You can only hope that on occassions like this that a dealer is sometimes really kind and does the repair FOC as a good will gesture, but they are IMO well within thier rights (and it makes better financial sense) to refuse the work FOC due to the damage possibly being as a result of your fault (the accident!)

All dealers will charge large amounts for repair work. They will always quote for replacing parts, not repairing them. Also bear in mind Sterns have not got a paint shop, so any body repairs are either outsourced or are done by fitting brand new from factory painted panels!

The clutch problem is also a problem that many dealers have had issues with, Sterns are by no means the only one to have failed several times to completely fix clutch and flywheel problems on the MINI. However I realise it can be frustrating.

Good luck with getting your new car mate!

Oh and Adam good luck with getting your problems sorted by either Sterns or anouther dealer.

Well said Richard, I think that Adam needs to try speaking to the dealer rather than posting things like this , yes they have made a few **** ups over the seven years i have had MINIs , however all have been dealt with no problem , remember its good to talk !!!!!!

Not the first horror story ive heard of sterns service department tbh. On the other hand i know a tech that works there an hes very good

I have had good dealings with Robert Sterns myself. Warranty work was all done fine.

Got to admit that Cotswold MINI in Cheltenham were very good, but I was with them for a while mind.

Well said Richard, I think that Adam needs to try speaking to the dealer rather than posting things like this , yes they have made a few **** ups over the seven years i have had MINIs , however all have been dealt with no problem , remember its good to talk !!!!!!

TBH I don't have an issue with slating dealers online, but in fairness the issue adam has had are not the easiest things to fix first time round, and Sterns are not the only dealer to have a poor record in regard to gearbox, clutch and flywheel issues on the MINI.

Like you say its good to talk. TBH I had one thing have to go back to them as not fixed first time! However as long as I get a courtesy car and they are pleasent about taking it back till its right I don't have an issue. Its not the fact they get it wrong (everyone gets things wrong, even the pros) its how they handle the issue!

R1 ... I have to agree, I always got greeat service at Cotswold Cheltenham... my first dealer! I can't say I found Gloucesters to be as good though...no bad, just not as good as Cheltenham.

Well said Richard, I think that Adam needs to try speaking to the dealer rather than posting things like this , yes they have made a few **** ups over the seven years i have had MINIs , however all have been dealt with no problem , remember its good to talk !!!!!!

you think i havent mate? it IS the worsed MINI garage i've been to

TBH if you have had a prang, however small, I can understand them refusing to do the repair to the arches under warrantee. It is plausable that even a small impact can loosen or break the clips holding the arches on, which then over time work thier way off. You can only hope that on occassions like this that a dealer is sometimes really kind and does the repair FOC as a good will gesture, but they are IMO well within thier rights (and it makes better financial sense) to refuse the work FOC due to the damage possibly being as a result of your fault (the accident!)


You sound like a salesman lol. I'm not bitc*ing about them quoting for a new bonnet or stripes. everyone seems to be totally missing the point there its the face that they quoted for 2 fog lights, when i dont even have fog lights?!?! and ive had the side lights off tonight while fitting a new bumper, and there is no scratches, cracks, scuffs or anything wrong with them.

Im shocked at this thread!

I take all my minis there and to date every issue I have had with any of the cars has always been resolved first time.

I also recall when all other dealers were saying a noisy LSD was just "how they were" Sterns went the extra mile and actually fixed the fault on my car and reported the findings back to BMW which resulted in known fix which is now done at all BMW dealers around the world!

Additionally the common fault on the mini cab of the only one rear window closing was also fixed by sterns.

When I fist had the car I did attempt to use another mini dealer but as none of there techs actualy had or drove minis themselves I felt I would get better service from a garage whos techs like the cars they worked on enough to buy one themselves!

I went to the service desk asked do you have any techs who drive minis? it was that simple.

I now ask for the same chap buy name each time and I would not take my car anywhere else.

In fact I even take my non BMW cars to Sterns as I rate there workmanship highly.

PS I know Mr Stern reads this forum so Im gonna get real good service now!!! :biggrin:

I use a MINI garage i am totally happy with now. Have to travel an extra 30 mins to get there but its worth it!

I am aware of a BMW bike dealership who found a customer giving them a real bad write up on a owners forum, and the customer had, how shall I put it...... laid it on a bit thick!

The guy was taken to court, he tried to blame the forum for allowing it, but in the end the guy had to pay the dealership damages an amount based on the viewings of the post!

Forums are dangerous places to speak it would seem!

Surely thats not right? Freedom of speach and all that??

Surely thats not right? Freedom of speach and all that??Reedom of speech, what's that?
Anyway, not if it's slander. I remember the Mitsubishi Lancer Register being closed down a few years back, after a tuner got slated on there.

wow serious stuff eh