BMW of Springfield's Shady Service Experience - Need Advice

[Spaxe]

Originally Posted by thebmw

Dealerships have a bad reputation, and it is well earned. But they have every right to protect their property and refuse service. You are not "owed" anything. It is a private business.

I do believe, based on the word choice you have used here and in your communication with the dealership, that you are probably in your 20's, a little rough around the edges, and need to treat people a little more professionally and respectfully. I used to live in Jersey and people were either sophisticated (few and far between) or acted like punks. Don't take this as an insult, but rather, an opportunity to look in the mirror and ask yourself how you project and appear to other people.

I bet that if it was someone else driving the convertible, like me, they may have been fine with it because of how I treat others, how I speak, and how I present myself. They absolutely had the discretion of looking the other way when watching the video, but chose not to cause you didn't rub them the right way (figuratively...and maybe literally LOL).

Also see what the user said here as they summed it perfectly:

The whole driving the loaner in the rain is just weird. If there is a problem with the car they should point it out. In any case, it is completely irrelevant to the warranty work.

The work order clearly describes that there is a reproducible problem with the car. It also appears that whoever wrote that work order is pointing a finger at the
"manager" as stopping work without resolution. Distancing themselves.

This makes me think that the manager realized this was going to eat some time and they were not going to be compensated enough by BMW for their time and effort. So, they are attempting to get rid of you. Maybe they want to make it another dealer's problem.

Now they have the whole "modification" red herring to hang their hat upon. This is another irrelevancy to their addressing the warranty issue. This doesn't strike me as honorable business. Hopefully, the GM has more honor, but I have my doubts.

This is exactly how I feel it went down...

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by Spaxe

I appreciate your perspective, but I think it's important to clarify a few points about the situation:

Yes, I was angry, but this was after the fact and was a result of my frustration with how I was treated. The dealership sent me a satisfaction check asking if I was satisfied with their service, to which I replied honestly that I wasn't and didn't want to return to their dealership.

In hindsight, I have already acknowledge I could have been more professional in my later communications. However, this was after they had already told me they wouldn't work on my car and demanded I return the rental immediately, without listening to my side of the story.

The world is indeed a unique place with different personalities, and I'm usually extremely calm. I've never had issues like this in the past. Their abrupt refusal of service and accusatory tone caught me completely off guard and significantly upset me.

Consider the situation: I was at work when they contacted me, refusing to clarify if my car was fixed or why they wanted me to pick it up. I had to take leave from work to go home, pick up the rental, and drop it back off to them. Is this really the right way to treat a customer?

Prior to this incident, I had been nothing but respectful, thanking them for squeezing me in and for providing the loaner. It was only after being treated poorly that my tone changed. While I agree that professionalism is important, I believe it's a two-way street. The dealership's actions and communication were far from professional or customer-friendly.

I understand dealerships have the right to refuse service, but I also believe customers have the right to expect clear communication, fair treatment, and for safety concerns to be addressed. My frustration stemmed not from entitlement, but from genuine concern about my vehicle's safety issue being dismissed without proper explanation.

It seems like something ticked them off from the beginning and the video was just ammo to cut you off as a customer. It could be anything from demeanor, language, age, race, demographics, etc. I don't know...I'm just looking at this with an outside perspective who has experienced some of the worst people in the world right there in the Newark NJ area (armpit of America as it was called). It takes almost nothing to set people off over there. Some seriously angry people there.

All I'm saying is try not to give people the opportunity to make your life hard. In this case, maybe it had nothing to do with you as a person. It is very frustrating at times to work with dealership service advisors, who are absolutely incentivized to increase repair bills and have a chip on their shoulders and act like they are too good for us customers. The reality is, they have substantial power when it comes to warranty work and they know it. The worst part is, they don't have to explain anything to us. There is no law that forces them to do so and they know that very well.

But thank you for sharing your experience with this dealership. The best justice is to let other know so they don't have the same experience.

[Spaxe]

Originally Posted by thebmw

It seems like something ticked them off from the beginning and the video was just ammo to cut you off as a customer. It could be anything from demeanor, language, age, race, demographics, etc. I don't know...I'm just looking at this with an outside perspective who has experienced some of the worst people in the world right there in the Newark NJ area (armpit of America as it was called). It takes almost nothing to set people off over there. Some seriously angry people there.

All I'm saying is try not to give people the opportunity to make your life hard. In this case, maybe it had nothing to do with you as a person. It is very frustrating at times to work with dealership service advisors, who are absolutely incentivized to increase repair bills and have a chip on their shoulders and act like they are too good for us customers. The reality is, they have substantial power when it comes to warranty work and they know it. The worst part is, they don't have to explain anything to us. There is no law that forces them to do so and they know that very well.

But thank you for sharing your experience with this dealership. The best justice is to let other know so they don't have the same experience.

Thank you for understanding my situation. I will say it again, I have been nothing about absolutely respectful to them up until they did all that. I am very self aware so I tend not to talk much about anything or try to chat someone up for updates or any small talk. I mind my own business.

Also, I went there from a contact who put in a good word for me to skip the appointment so I was so confused that they are doing all this.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Spaxe

Also, I went there from a contact who put in a good word for me to skip the appointment so I was so confused that they are doing all this.

That probably is part of it. Businesses HATE when people don't follow the process. So someone getting you in without an appointment, then getting you a loaner car, probably ticked off management hardcore. Especially if there was a customer who set up an appointment for a rental and they had to eat crow on it. If your dealer is anything like mine, loaners don't grow on trees, they're in high demand and you make an appointment specifically for one when they have one scheduled to come back. If I was the guy who lost his spot I'd give the service manager an earful after waiting 3-4 weeks to get my car looked at (thats the typical wait forba loaner at my dealer).

So that's my guess. The whole sidestep of the appointment probably got the service manager yelled at by a customer who had waited, and then the video thing (was this ever confirmed? Did they show you the video? Or is it maybe just an excuse?) was just the justification to try to undo it all and fix it as quickly as possible. That's my wild ass guess anyways.

[Spaxe]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

That probably is part of it. Businesses HATE when people don't follow the process. So someone getting you in without an appointment, then getting you a loaner car, probably ticked off management hardcore. Especially if there was a customer who set up an appointment for a rental and they had to eat crow on it. If your dealer is anything like mine, loaners don't grow on trees, they're in high demand and you make an appointment specifically for one when they have one scheduled to come back. If I was the guy who lost his spot I'd give the service manager an earful after waiting 3-4 weeks to get my car looked at (thats the typical wait forba loaner at my dealer).

So that's my guess. The whole sidestep of the appointment probably got the service manager yelled at by a customer who had waited, and then the video thing (was this ever confirmed? Did they show you the video? Or is it maybe just an excuse?) was just the justification to try to undo it all and fix it as quickly as possible. That's my wild ass guess anyways.

You would have been right if I asked for the loaner the same day I dropped the car. I made an appointment for Saturday 28th but had my car looked at on the Monday 23rd. I only picked up the loaner on Saturday around 3 pm, drove it home and parked it and Monday I get the message about come to pick up the M3. Yes I might have gotten in without an appointment but I didn't demand a loaner immediately, I waited for my appointment time to come first and then I picked it. I hope that clears it a bit

[TurtleBoy]

I think you are wasting way too much time and effort on this. Just take it to another dealer and have them look at it. By your own admission you were driving it in wet conditions. Whether it was raining or not really doesn't matter at this point.

Move on and don't worry about it, why continue to aggravate yourself?