Another unsuccessful trip to the dealer thread.

[328xi0wner]

Went to get my seatbelt handover fixed on my drivers side because it would no longer grab the belt. Dropped it off at 1:30 on Friday. Car was only ready on Monday at 4:00. Yes 4 day total. Annnnnddddd guess what!? I get in my car to see if it's working.... of course it's not. Same exact scenario. Shop foreman comes to take a look. This idiot opened and closed my door 10 times to see it not work 10 times, bends the seatbelt in a way that got it to work a couple times, turns to one of the SAs and says "Umm it's going to need a new seatbelt" and walks away. The technician was nowhere to be found. Ironically the part came in at about 3:30 the tech "installed it" and left all in about 20 minutes before I got there. Man he's quick! My SA tries to act sympathetic, but he could care less. The Shop foreman wouldn't even look at me he seriously would look the other way when I was around him.

Now they have to order a seatbelt that will only be here on Wednesday, they cannot offer me a loaner because they are booked 2 weeks out and I'm here 4 days later back to square one.

Not to mention my steering pulls to the right. Technician was "unable to duplicate". So another thing that wasn't fixed. My car was due for a new micro filter and a brake service flush how can I even believe that was done with this kind of work?

Sad part is my wife has a Honda Civic and gets the best service in the world at her dealership. When BMW of Bloomfield is supposed to be number 1 in service.

These dealerships are a damn shame.

Thanks for nothing technician, SA, and shop foreman. Will be on dealerrater.com later tonight for a nice little review.

[Philz BMW]

sorry to hear about your experience....hope you get it resolved.

Although it is funny, most people only post up when things go badly. When they get great service they rarely say anything...because it is expected. I've posted several threads about my dealership, the best service I've ever received from any dealer. Too bad they all can't be that way.

[dbubs]

sorry to hear about your experience....hope you get it resolved.

Although it is funny, most people only post up when things go badly. When they get great service they rarely say anything...because it is expected. I've posted several threads about my dealership, the best service I've ever received from any dealer. Too bad they all can't be that way.

I have never had a bad thing to say about my dealer- if they don't have a loaner available they will rent a car for me... And they have always given me a loaner even when my previous bimmers have been and are out of warranty. Pretty sweet gig they offer there; if you buy a new or used from them- you get loaner privileges for the life of the car- even for oil changes. Do all do this?

328xi0wner- sorry to hear about your luck. One would think with all the issues from these hand overs they would know exactly how to fix it the first time.

[mryakan]

I have never had a bad thing to say about my dealer- if they don't have a loaner available they will rent a car for me... And they have always given me a loaner even when my previous bimmers have been and are out of warranty. Pretty sweet gig they offer there; if you buy a new or used from them- you get loaner privileges for the life of the car- even for oil changes. Do all do this?
No they don't, it varies from dealer to dealer and you should be very thankful for that. I am personally ok with the shuttle service they offer, since unless they need the car overnight, a loaner is really redundant. Oh and they make you pay for gas on loaners here and pay for loaners (unless it is a warranty issue).

[robroy72]

OP

Not sure which dealer you went to; I always had good experiences with BMW of Morristown when I lived in NJ.

[328xi0wner]

I went to BMW of Bloomfield. Morristown does seem good.

[in transit]

Bummer about that. Did they at least compliment your newly painted calipers?

[anpmech]

The steering issue is just an alignment. You hit a pothole or something. That's hardly ever covered under warranty unless the car has like 100 miles on it. I have found you really need to just suck up and get the car aligned once a year. Look for coupons at your local BMW.

[328xi0wner]

In transit: No they were too busy nit doing their job to notice. Lol

Anpmech: I got the car 200 miles ago and noticed this now so I thought they would do it for me. I know it's not covered. They charge like $189.99.

[MPRs]

I know its a pain but just try a new dealership in the future. Luckily, my local BMW service department is good but sales, not so much. If I buy another BMW it will certainly be from another dealership.

I use BMW of Atlantic City and have had a decent, not perfect, experience so far. No issues on the single service visit I had and I got a loaner with no fuss. My 'problem' stems from things that needed to be addressed on my car after the purchase (dings and a few scratches, both noted and agreed upon in the contract). Now it is 4.5 months later and only the scratches have been addressed which was about 2 weeks ago. Every time I call my CA about arranging the repairs he says he will arrange the repairs with their vendor and call me back with appointment details but of course no call back is ever made. I had to drive there multiple times to organize the scratch repairs myself and now I'm playing the same game trying to get dings fixed. I know it'll get done but im just annoyed how once they get their sale/commission they consider the transaction complete. At the close of the purchase he asked me to fill out a survey based on my experience. Once this is finally settled I"ll be sure to do their survey and a review at dealerrater.com.

Sorry for the rant but thought I would share my dealer experience.

[mryakan]

No offense guys, but what makes you think used cars salespeople care about you anymore once you have signed/paid? Sure in an ideal world they would be customer focused and try to make your ownership experience as pleasant as possible, but reality is that they are sales focused, and looking for the next sales opportunity as soon as they are done with you. Chances are they will never see you again in their lives and they do not care (again unfortunately) whether you are happy or not. Most of them will not be with the same dealership when it is time for you to buy your next car, so they do not care about repeat business either.
I know it sucks, but it is reality with 99.999% of car salespeople. And when you find that 0.001% that are good, they are gone the next time you go in to make a purchase. So in short, it is all about the money, to them and so should it be for you (i.e. saving the most). The sooner you realize this, the better, because then you will make sure you do not make assumptions about aftersale support form the sales people and make sure you only take delivery of the car and pay when you are completely satisfied. Lessons learned I guess, and sorry for your troubles.

[MPRs]

If I bought my car from Joes Used Cars then I would expect no after-sale support. Having bought from a BMW dealer, which is striving for great customer satisfaction, I expect to atleast be satisfied even after papers are signed. It says on their paperwork and service receipts "If you are not 100% satisfied please contact the GM Joe Blow and tell us why" and they push all customers to complete a BMW dealer survey so it appears that they do care about customer satisfaction. I think the dealership expects the CA's to follow through with owed services like this but the CA personally doesn't care once they get paid.

I did learn a lot from this car purchase transaction and I will definitely be doing things differently next time.

[mryakan]

I think the dealership expects the CA's to follow through with owed services like this but the CA personally doesn't care once they get paid.
Exactly my point. To them you represent no perceived additional income, even though to the dealership as a whole it makes sense to keep you as a satisfied customer to get future service and sales business. I am not saying I like it or condone it, quite the contrary, unfortunately that is how it is most of the time. Same thing if it were a Kia, Mercedes, or Ferrari (unless you are a very well known/affluent or long standing customer, then things are different).

[328xi0wner]

MPR: I know what you mean I had a couple things I asked them to address (small scuffs and such) they only addressed a few. Then when I brought it home I found more stuff, but I don't feel like driving 40 minutes in traffic to have them say they can't do anything about it. Live and learn.

Mryakan: Sadly, nobody cares about the next person anymore. As a technician myself I strive to always make customers happy and I go above and beyond. I follow the "fix it right, the FIRST time" motto, but in this field of work nobody really does that. It's more of a what can I get away with atitude. I'm sure the technician didn't do anything or even care and just went home. In a way it helps me build on myself. I see other people do such careless work and it motivates me to do my job better and do everything I can to make my customers happier.

On an update this is the email I received from the Service Manager (which I never spoke to about this so I don't know how he found out)

Good Morning,
I am sorry for your recent experience regarding the seat belt. Please let me know when you are coming in to have it repaired I will make sure you get a loaner. If need be I can make arrangements to have it picked up and drop off a loaner.
Sorry once again

---------------------------------------------

Should've never happened, but at least he's trying. I'll go tomorrow and update you guys.

[dbubs]

On an update this is the email I received from the Service Manager (which I never spoke to about this so I don't know how he found out)

Good Morning,
I am sorry for your recent experience regarding the seat belt. Please let me know when you are coming in to have it repaired I will make sure you get a loaner. If need be I can make arrangements to have it picked up and drop off a loaner.
Sorry once again



nice.. that sounds like good customer service. Manager didnt know who you are, but heard of your issues and wants to make it right. Too bad the tech didnt know what was going on originally.

[mryakan]

Mryakan: Sadly, nobody cares about the next person anymore. As a technician myself I strive to always make customers happy and I go above and beyond. I follow the "fix it right, the FIRST time" motto, but in this field of work nobody really does that. It's more of a what can I get away with atitude. I'm sure the technician didn't do anything or even care and just went home. In a way it helps me build on myself. I see other people do such careless work and it motivates me to do my job better and do everything I can to make my customers happier.

Great attitude and I agree with it 100%. If everyone took as much pride in what they do, the world would be a much better place. All we can do is lead by example and hope others follow.
That being said, do not accept mediocre service even if you anticipate it. Stay after them and play nice and hopefully karma will be on your side. Good luck.

[in transit]

Score one for the manager at Bloomfield BMW!!