[lillapoyka]

Has anybody dealt with Ferman MINI in Palm Harbor, Florida? How was the price you got? Did you get any extra's (floor mats, window tint, etc) out of them for free. Did they try to rob you with extra crap that you could go get done for yourself cheaper?

[jmwfl2000]

Hey lillapoyka, I see you ended up getting your Mini from Ferman. What did you think about the service at Ferman? Anyone else have any experience with Ferman?

[lillapoyka]

I have been pleased with ferman. I did have a tiny scratch on the bonnet that they had me take in so they could fix it for me. The plastic trim on the right side of my drivers seat popped off. I popped it back in but later found a screw type thing on the floor. I called Victor in the service dept and he booked was real helpful and said he would fix it no problem or order the parts he needs.
20 days after I bought the car i was rear ended at a stop sign and the woman took off. I have a dent in my hatch and the bumper is cut and torn. I called again and he was real helpful and sympathetic telling me that they don't do body work there but when I come in monday he will get in touch with the ferman body shop in tarpon springs and tell them I am coming in.

I did call once though because I wanted to buy a cd holder that fits on the visor. I knew mini makes one because I have seen it at mini usa. When I got parts the dude told me we don't have that stuff you can go to walmart or target. I ended up buying it from miniusa.com along with a travel mug.

My right speaker of my HK seems to be not sounding too good all the time. I don't know if it is the speaker itself or it is just loose. I figure I'll have them take a look at that on Monday also. I think that will be the real test as I believe anything to do with a stereo/speakers they can say "hey you did it yourself by playing it too loud" or something

I'll post more on monday

[jmwfl2000]

Hey lillapoyka, any follow-up on your recent service from Ferman. I would love to hear how things went, satisfied? Thanks

[lillapoyka]

things went well. Victor took me around to the service bay while the dude was working on my car. He fixed the seat (although the trim has popped off again. Happens when I put my hand on the inside edge of the seat as I'm getting in). The tech also ran through some tests on my HK and explained what was going on. Everything checked out. I still get the noise from my speaker though. It seems like a few people have had the same problems. I'm trying to log what songs it happens too so I can bring it in and duplicate it.
Following working on my car the tech and I were talking about the dent were I was rear ended (see woman hit my mini... AND RAN). He then took me around to see the front bumper of his Ford (F150 I think) where it hit the back end of a MINI. The big chrome bumper had a heck of a dent.
He then was telling me about his cooper s and how he and his buddies race them.
Before I left I wanted to buy a sunshade. I went to the BMW parts dept where the sold everything and I told the guy I wanted to pick up a key chain also. He asked if I bought the car there. I told him yes and he said "here you go" Getting the $10 keychain for free made me feel a little better about spending 40 something on a sunshade. (it is a quality sunshade though, probably the best one in my neighborhood.)
No complaints. No complaints about the Ferman Collison center either, except that the stupid adjuster from the insurance co. left off some scratches below the right taillight. so... the didn't get fixed. I'll be calling him to re submit with that on it. Good thing I had Ferman give me and estimate and the scratches were on it so It shouldn't be too much problem.

Yours in MINIdom,
lillapoyka

[tylast]

2 things:

1) Victor is severely overworked. I've called literally 14 times over the span of 3 days ...only got him on the phone 3 times. He is the ONLY service manager there. Even when I was there personally, I had to wait for other people in front of me. I just filled out the drop key envelope...otherwise I'd be waiting an hour for him.

2) Ferman Mini does NOT give courtesy cars even when there would be hardship on the customer getting to the dealership. I live 45 min away & had to beg for a ride. The last two dealerships I used gave me one with out hassle at all.

Positive ~ the staff does care...but I think the owner needs to not be so greedy, hire extra people, & give out courtesy cars.

[darbmark]

Ferman doesn't care about customer service!!!
I emailed them after I had a poor experience with my local dealership . . . Ferman NEVER emailed me back! Well, I wasn't going to waste my time with another poor dealership, so I ordered my Mini from Lauderdale Mini!!

I guess I couldn't leave well enough alone, I emailed Ferman and told them they just lost a sale and I couldn't believe that nobody emailed me or called after well over a week.

You know what happened? Ferman called me the next day and left me a message. Well it wasn't "we are sorry we didn't get back to you", it was "we got your email and so you are interested in a Mini". They never owned up to the fact they got my second email or the fact that they screwed up. The MA also wanted me to know that all the other dealerships in the area were charging over MSRP and that I shouldn't buy from anybody else. (This is not true and I would have paid lots more with Ferman due to doc fees and accessory charges)

So, Ferman doesn't get high marks from me.