I should have learned: My dealer experience

[JBHashem@xxxxxxx]

They say the first time you go somewhere and encounter bad service "shame =
on
them", but if you return there "shame on you/me".  Well, I guess "shame on
me".  

I have copied and pasted a letter I sent to the General Manager of a local
Minneapolis Dealer expressing the poor attention to detail at their
dealership. I haven't heard back from them, so I conclude they joked about=
 it
and threw it away.  I can't express enough that little things mean a lot,
especially when you are paying $70/hour for expertise.  Here is my letter
(sorry for those who don't care and I wasted some bandwidth):

General Manager
Motorwerks BMW
1400 West 79th St.
Bloomington, MN  55420


General Manager:

I have owned a 735i, 728i (gray market), 635csi, 535is, 2 x 525i=92s, 528e=
,
528i, 325I over the past 9 years so you can say I like the BMW automobile.=
  I
have had my BMW=92s serviced from a variety of small-specialized shops to
dealers such as yours.  In the many many times I had my BMW=92s worked on,=
 I
have had only 2 unpleasant service visits and both are from Motorwerks.  T=
he
first unpleasant visit is from my 88 635csi which I brought in maybe 1 =BD=
 years
ago with an ECM-transmission failure.  I was quoted $1,200 to fix the prob=
lem,
which included $300 to install the new ECM.  I bought an ECM from a wrecke=
d
635 and found it only plugged into a socket underneath the steering wheel.
The whole thing cost me $150.00.  But this had a happy ending for me and t=
his
is not what I am writing about.

I have never complained about service in as so far to prompt me to write a
letter expressing my dissatisfaction.  The service I am talking about is w=
ork
done to my 95 525iA that was brought in the morning of 29 October 1998.  T=
he
car was returned to me on 4 November 1998, a total of 7 days at Motorwerks=
.  I
brought the vehicle in for a few things; most importantly the climate cont=
rol
system was only blowing hot air.  The problem was fixed and seems to work
well, but was not completed.  I had asked that the A/C be recharged since =
that
was part of the system.  I told the service rep the system had no refriger=
ant.
My receipt for the service said nothing about the system being recharged, =
and
the service rep (one week later now) has not called me back as he said he
would, to tell me if it had been recharged.  I asked for a front-end
alignment; not done.  I asked for a consult on changing all my fluids; not
done - except the invoice said the coolant was clean (what about brake flu=
id,
transmission fluid?).  I only received one call from the service rep that =
was
on 4 November 1998 to let me know the car was done.  I did talk to the ser=
vice
rep each day though.  Everyday I was put on the reps voice mail and asked =
him
to call, but everyday I would end up calling again near (service) closing =
and
holding the line until he could take my call.  29 October I was told servi=
ce
was too busy to look at it.  30 October I was told they looked at it for a=
bout
2 hours and did not find the problem.  2 November I was told they found th=
e
problem and what the price would be.  I never questioned the price to fix =
the
climate control system problem.  4 November I was told the car was complet=
e.
When I picked up the car, the radio =93code=94 light was on.  I spoke to t=
he
service rep on 5 November about this and the reply was, =93the person perf=
orming
the service did not have the time to reset it=94 (as we all know, the car=
=92s
power and radio must be on for a complete hour before punching in the code=
).
I asked about the refrigerant-still no answer.  

As you can see my primary complaint is over the =93service=94 part of the =
service
department.  I am happy to have (at least much) of the problem solved with=
 the
climate control system.  I am not happy that the car stayed there for 7 da=
ys.
Over that period, there was a potential (8hr-work day) of 40 labor hours o=
n my
car.  Was my car placed =93on hold=94 to service other, better customers? =
Was it
neglected?  Was it forgotten about?   It seemed that the service departmen=
t
forgot about me.  Why did I have to make 2 phone calls a day to the dealer=
ship
to get an update on the car?  The service department made one unsolicited =
call
to me, and that was to tell me it was done.  Why don=92t I have an answer =
on the
refrigerant?  Must I call again to =93pull=94 this info?  Is there no foll=
ow-up?
Why wasn=92t their care enough to reset my radio?  Little things mean a lo=
t,
especially when the car was there for a week.  If I could leave the car th=
ere
for a week, I would think you could have the courtesy to do the job right =
and
reset my radio code.  Why wasn=92t the rest of the work done?  Again, it w=
as
there for a week.  I had to rent a car for that period of time at a rate o=
f
$50/day.  I am not happy I had to do that when it was simple lack of urgen=
cy
on the service department=92s part.

I had the vehicle the day prior to my appointment at Motorwerks at a diffe=
rent
service company.  They had the courtesy to tell me right away they could n=
ot
diagnose the climate control system.  They took the car to you guys for it=
s 29
October appointment.  They called me a couple of days ago to see how it al=
l
worked out.  That is great service!  A phone call and going =93the extra m=
ile=94
is what it is all about.  The $70/hr labor rate charged by Motorwerks I sh=
ould
think includes employing service technicians as well as service reps.  I c=
an
say my service rep is a very nice person, but there may be too much work
coming in to your service that he and the other reps can keep up with;
consider this.  I think my regular technician charges $45-50/hr.  He knows=
 me
well, I know him well, and he is an excellent, almost exclusive BMW
technician.  His service is unquestionably great.  He is up front on time
constraints and goes =93the extra mile=94 for me.  He does not work on A/C=
 and
Climate control and told me Motorwerks was the best place to take it to; h=
ow
is that for integrity and honesty.

Motorwerks BMW is close to my home and has been convenient to take my car =
to
when I needed dealer support/diagnostics support.  I will have to reconsid=
er
my choice of dealerships the next time.  Also, I drove the new 328I with o=
ne
of your sales reps about a month ago.  I was fixing the climate control sy=
stem
on the 525iA so I could sell the vehicle and in turn purchase or lease the=
 new
328i.  I will now reconsider this purchase or at least where I do this
business.

Sincerely,



John B. Hashem 

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End of bmw-digest V9 #535
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