Yeah I'm going to call him shortly. The thing is he wanted a reply via email back to his email with the order details attached stating whether we were good with the order or not.

 

two reasons:
My '02 MCS had "sport" runflats and my wife has hated the ride for years.
"All season" tires will work better in rain/snow/slush than sport - we intend to take the Countryman out to see a lot of snow...

 

You may not notice much of a difference since the suspension is a little softer than say my '03 S.
I can tell you from experience, the performance tires will get noisier and will ride harsher as they wear down. That is the inherent problem with performance tires.

 

My MA must really be a monkey in disguise. Isn't the point of being a Motoring Advisor to "advise" your customers? I have the $750 turbo fan anthracite rims, the $100 bonnet stripes and the $100 white turn signals. Total is $950. For $50 more I can just add the Sport Package and get Xenon headlights! He didn't "advise" me of this at all. In my opinion it's his job to catch little things like this and make suggestions to me such as to just upgrade to the sport package. Am I asking to much of my MA? Am I ticked for no reason? My MA is off today so I'm waiting for the sales manager to call me back to see if my order can be changed. Just trying to get some perspective on whether or not I should be ticked and mention something to the sales manager or whether I am overreacting....

 

One would really expect someone who sells a product to certainly know that product. Seriously, with any time with the configurator, you learn this stuff. Probably more than half of us obsessive people know these things inside and out, and it's not our job. Further, MINI has a very small product line that should be easy to learn.

 

Yeah the more I think about it the more ticked I am. It's not like I'm buying a sofa or something cheap.

On top of this he initially forgot one option that I emailed him about and talked to him in person about. I had to send the spec sheet back and TELL HIM what the code was for the option. I was supposed to get the original order sheet Monday night and was going to have until Tuesday at close to make changes. Well we heard nothing from him Monday night and didn't get the order until Tuesday at 6:30 and he had forgotten the option I talked to him in person about. Not happy with this guy right now.

 

I'd ask for another MA, and if it's any consolation, if your experience is anything like mine, you'll be able to change your specs with no problem. My build date has apparently already slipped :-( I was able to add the anthracite headliner on the intended build date with no issues. My MA just put it in the system then emailed me the VIR and had me sign, scan, and email back. It's now even showing up with the new option in the OL.

 

Wish I could change MA but with my order already in the system and a Production Number established I don't know that I could do that could I?

 

Agreed 100%. This story is becoming too frequent it seems as many here have had similar experiences. I still have my day job and have learned more about the Countryman than many people whose job is to sell them. That is disappointing.

 

It's a shame that a majority of us know more about the cars than the MA. It's not like they're busy all day long. Hop on the internet and learn a few things like we do. If they're so passionate about the cars they sell, then they should know these things inside and out.
I put an application in for an MA as I am currently unemployed. I've been a member of our MINI club in PA since I bought mine used almost 5 yrs ago. I've done a great majority of my research online and purchased the Bentley manual to help with mechanical work I do on the car.
I consider myself an avid MINI owner and would love to help customers through their purchasing experience. I think some of these MA's are just in it for the money and don't have the passion they claim they have.

 

I think you would make an excellent MA and I would line up to buy a car from you. Really.

Here's the rub... and this is not directed at you. More to those of us in general that think we can do the MAs job better than they can.


Sorry if this is just stating the obvious with an air of discovery, but being a product expert does not automatically make you a good salesperson. Even with the supposed MINI culture and buying experience, dealers want to sell cars. As many as possible and at the highest margin possible. A good sales manager looks to find the sort of coin-operated person that can actually follow up and close deals without giving away the shop WHILE stll being knowledgable and professional.

Ever been to a technology demo for a high ticket item (ERP software, CRM, etc.)? Usually the salesperson brings along a "sales engineer" who does the demo and dutifully answers the technical questions. This person knows EVERYTHING about the product. The salesperson knows far less about the product but understands the nuances of the relationships, who the key decision makers are, what their buying criteria is and is responsible for closing the deal (which is not an easy task). The sales engineer is in their role for a reason, as is the sales person.

In the auto dealer world, you generally find one type or the other. The knows-everything sales rep that doesn't try to close deals or the knows-little rep that wants you to sign as soon as you walk in the door. Worse still are the reps that know-little and never follow up. Every now and then you find a gem of a rep that is knowledgable, stays current and informed, is a proactive communicator AND understands the sales process and sells cars at a price higher than you probably wanted to pay, but still feel really good about doing it.

My guess is that 03-miniS is the last type I described - a gem that can get it done. But don't underestimate the pressures and complexities of a sales position. Sales is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately profession where every month you start at $0 and last months success is now irrelevant.

Sorry for the soapbox.

 

Left a message for the sales manager twice today since my MA is off. Last message left at 12:30. No call back from him yet. Going to head down there in person as that is the only way I think this will get resolved. Good times.

 

Lindsey...

I was able to add the anthracite headliner even with the production number established. We had used an existing slot. It seems as long as the car isn't actually in production, you can still make the change. It worked in my case. They changed it, sent us the updated VIR, and then a couple days later, the change was reflected in the Owner's Lounge. I've had a production number from the beginning, but it's still not showing with a set production date.

 

You are right, I was able to change it. Sales manager said I was scheduled for production in week 4 but got bumped up to week 3 so it may be produced around Jan 20 or somewhere in that time frame. Added the demons and adaptive headlights and it's only added $150 to price.