[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

All I can say is phew!!

Bought my 05 S off the original owner a year ago, extremely high spec, very low mileage, unmarked condition - paid 60% of the (insane) original price, I was one very happy bunny!

I like the business relationships that form with loyalty and so decided to stick with the original supplying dealer who are aprox 45mins drive form where I live in London.
I always take exceptional care of my cars so they had got extra business out out me in addition to TLC and warranty work but I had failed to be impessed with them over time, just shoddy to be honest - trim damaged when taken apart, then not reassembled properly, jobs not done, interior filthy, alloys curbed etc etc.
After complaining they did reluctantly replace the damaged items.

Worst case was that after they did the Service Bulletin work regarding the flywheel and clutch it was constantly difficult to get into gear, jerky when changing to 2nd and just felt wrong - I love the feel of the S box (when it's as it should be)..

Finally after 4 return trips being fobbed off each time I'd had enough and took it to another main dealership (who I can walk to) - talk about night and day!!

Within an hour the service manager called to advise the head tech agreed with all of the issues I had listed (I always give them a detailed document in order to try and make their job easier) and that most importantly of all the gearbox and clutch needed to be replaced!!

I now have the car back and it feels fantastic - they have 1 part to fit on Monday (trim) that didn't arrive in time so I'm going back and the tech has asked for 20mins so he can explain the work he did..

Now that's the sort of service I'd expect from BMW!!
So glad I decided to believe my own opinion and go elsewhere!

Cheers, Geoff.

[johnlondonw3]

Could you let me know which dealer you now use ?
Cheers

[S33BBY]

I've also experienced how different dealers can be, Geoff. I'm glad you got the result you wanted in the end.

[iain cooper]

good you have found a dealer you are happy with.

you should name the good dealer, and also name and shame the other not so good dealer.

good publicity for one and bad for the other !!!.................also very useful for some forum members.

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Hi,
I'm not so keen to shame the other dealer as the front end end were always really nice just the actual techs who were rubbish.

New service dept is BMW Battersea on Stewarts Road- part of Mini Park Lane.

Whole approach of this place is just refreshing - first thing when you arrive they do a walk-around of your vehicle which you sign off on, communication while the car was in was great also.

Cheers, Geoff.

[Randall Raines]

The loyalty issue (which is linked to reputation), in this day and age as with many other other things, has been forgotten about or overlooked by businesses & customers, In My Opinion, just because people are focused on making & saving money (everything isn't about Money £££££).

The shoddiness & damage to the car issue (you won't believe how many people try it on though eg, my radio doesn't work since you did the brake pads (and want you to fix it)) , there is no excuse for shoddiness or damage at all really, again some businesses don't seem to realise that doing a good job (respect someone else's property, do a job properly etc... etc...) for a customer can make them return. This then returns back to the loyalty issue ie, the customer may then return (loyal), but yet again they could just go somewhere else (disloyal) because it's a few pounds £££££ cheaper, but sometimes this is because they (somewhere else) cuts corners, uses cheaper part's, uses cheaper labour (someone who doesn't know what they're doing) etc... etc... plus the excuse of "He's a new employee" or "It's the 1st time we've used them" (the people / business that have done the job) etc... etc... shouldn't be an excuse for shoddy workmanship as they the Main Dealer, Employer, Garage, whoever is getting paid for the job (putting their name to it) should check everything before it goes out (back to the original customer).

So then eventually all the places that do a good job, do things right & provide quality (costing them more Money) eventually end up closing down etc... etc... in favour of somewhere else who doesn't do such a good job, doesn't do things right & doesn't provide quality (saving them money) and they can make a good living as they don't always pass the whole savings to the customer, hence they can make a good living not actually knowing what they're doing or providing an inferior service, you then end up with only 1 choice, the inferior quality cheaper service in the end as the others have to close, shut down etc... etc... or they themselves end up not providing as good a service as they would have liked to, because they have to cut corners, start to use cheaper labour, cheaper parts etc... etc... just to compete , and it's all down to Money £££££ (cutting corners doesn't always save Money ).

The real businesses (Money earners £££££) cut the corners but still charge the high prices or provide something so cheap / inferior that everybody takes a chance and doesn't care what they're getting, it was just cheap, so they make little profit on each item but loads of profit in the long-run eventually getting rid of the quality competition.

The the way the warranty and Main Dealer side of things is set up, the customer is getting the job done for nothing (Under warranty), the Main Dealers are getting paid whether they have done the job right or not, whatever service they provide and you have to go back to a Main Dealer anyway whether your happy or not, because you have to (to keep your warranty etc... etc... you don't actually have to but you know what I mean ), and they don't seem bothered if you go back or not as someone else will.

[Randall Raines]

I'm a mechanic (I work on MINIs all the time mainly the 1st Gen BMW MINI) but in the case of warranty work even I have to take cars back to Main Dealers to have warranty work done for one because you have bought a product and if it's not right you should expect it to be sorted out providing it's not your own fault, secondly because sometimes the cost of part's & labour can cost thousands £££££.

Bearing in mind the above comment, I can diagnose a fault myself and be confident in my diagnosis that I'm right, only to take it to the Main Dealer for warranty work to be then told it's something else (they are the experts), normally the cheapest thing that could be wrong 1st, I can under stand this as it's common sense, but so frustrating when you have to go back with the same fault time & time again (as many of you do), until the fault is eventually cured (normally my diagnosis), but this is normally because they have only allowed time for the quick fix 1st hoping that that will cure the fault .
You also mentioned that you had the Gearbox & clutch replaced, this again is another quality of workmanship, cost £££££ issue as it is or can be false economy to replace the Gearbox and not the clutch etc... etc... especially if both are suspected and one or the other can't be ruled out without replacing the parts..

Quote: Originally Posted by drainaudio (original)

(I always give them a detailed document in order to try and make their job easier)

So bearing the my 1st two comments in mind I find that you're fighting a loosing battle trying to tell them what is wrong (they are the experts) and in-fact it can sometimes get them annoyed sometimes making them try & find something else at fault that they can say it was, proving you wrong, but you are right to leave a list (document), because what you tell the receptionist won't necessarily get relayed to the technician doing the job no matter how accurate your diagnosis was .

I find that you are sometimes better of making sure that they know you know enough about cars to know what you / they are on about, enough to know what has been done once the job has been completed, but let them find / diagnose the actual problem.

The main thing that annoys me about the Main Dealers is, I could take a couple of different MINIs to the same dealer with the same fault, eventually end up with the same outcome (fault fixed, same problem) and then go in with another different MINI with the same fault and the same receptionist tell you that they have never had that problem before trying to make you believe that you're the only one it's happened to, or because you've been in there regularly you have heard someone with the same fault before and again they tell you that they have never had that problem before making you believe you're the only one it's happened to (but saying that, just because you have the same symptoms as someone else that doesn't necessarily mean that you have the same fault or you find MINI2 with a tread about the fault).

Being a mechanic I can understand their (Main Dealer / technician) side of things as I have to deal with people describing faults to me wrong or I'm not clearly understanding them or their diagnosis can be wrong, when I can have an idea of exactly what is wrong sometimes nothing at all to do with the diagnosis of the customer.

Sorry! for the long posts Zzzzzz! I'm in a ranting mood .