Brian, do you have a TDTD certificate?

 

I have the certificate. The only reason that I went to the event was because the MA confirmed in advance that I would qualify. We'll see what happens next weekend.

 

Brian, your certificate shows several restrictions, but mentions nothing about cars already on order being excluded, correct? So they offered you $750 off if you attended the event, and you invested your personal time to take them them up on their offer. They can't change the rules after the fact! If they will not accept the certificate, you are doing the right thing by refusing the car. Just tell them that you will call Mini to resolve this...the restrictions on the certificate are very clear, and this is not one of them. I just can't understand why they are being so difficult, as Mini will reimburse them the $750 if you have a valid certificate...jeez.

 

I'm not worried. My BMW SA found me another white CM all4 with more options for the same $$ after the TDTD certificate is applied. AmEx has said they will stop payment. If they do not want to accept the certificate, I am in a good position to walk away.

I am old fashioned, I believe a deal is a deal. Once the deal changes, negotiations start all over.

 

Excellent.

 

My dealer has agreed to give me the $750 discount. I am not thrilled about the promotion. It should be more clearly defined and the dealers should know how to work the promotion.

When I walk into the dealership and the sales event is 3 to 4 weeks away, they should know how to take a deposit and make attending the event seamless.

From a business perspective, I would give this advice. The second the terms of the deal change, the contract is broken. Do not worry about "non-refundable" deposits. Always put the minimum deposit down. You want the least amount of skin in the game. Once things change, start on your contingency plan. Use a credit card for the deposit. American Express is GREAT. One 10 minute call and they confirmed that they would dispute the charge and refund my deposit.

I let my dealer know I had another car lined up and ready to go. Honestly, I could have already been driving the car if I did not want to give my original dealer the chance to fix the issue.

In the end, remember, you are the buyer. You have more leverage than the dealer. You money is far more liquid than a car. If you remain patient, you have the upper hand in any dispute.

 

Brian, I thought it was odd that they were giving you a hard time. You and I have the same dealer, and our MA said all along we could get the discount...he even sent us an email a few days before the event reminding us to attend so Mini would email us the required certificate. (We actually attended the event at the dealer closest to us instead). We are taking delivery Friday, we have already supplied our MA with the certificate, and he assured us we are getting the discount.

 

I am supposed to pick up my car tomorrow, but my MA said I cannot use my coupon on my order, he said MINI told him that the coupon could only apply to in-stock cars. I called MiniUSA, they said if the dealer said so, then I cannot use the coupon for my order. I don't see anywhere on the coupon restrictions stating the in-stock car requirement. Have you guys heard that excuse/restriction?

 

See the Sales Manager and be prepared to walk away. There are many, many examples of people in this thread who have had no issue using their TDTD certificate on ordered cars.

 

Not to be a jerk, but all you need to do is read the first 5 pages of this thread to see this has been an on-going discussion.

 

Thanks MCJoe for your reply. I've been following this thread for a while, but I didn't see anyone mentioned about the "in-stock car" restriction from their MA.

 

It really depends on the dealer. My MA said they couldn't honor the certificate, but another guy on here who ordered from the same dealer but has a different MA says that he could use the certificate, and that his MA even emailed him to remind him to attend the event. My MA agreed to a $750 'in-house' discount instead of the certificate. I didn't care, $750 is $750.

 

Glad to hear you got the $750 'in house' discount. Let's see what my dealer will say tomorrow. Thanks!

 

What my MA said was that he called around, and was told that they could try to use the certificate and MINI might not notice it was an already ordered car, but he didn't want to take that chance. He just said he'd give me the discount anyway, and encouraged me to come into the event for the free food and tshirt. It was a cool event, they had it catered and the food was really good.

 

I told my MA, if I did not get the discount, I would not accept the vehicle. I contacted my MA before attending the event. After the event, I was given excuses as to why I may not be able to use the certificate.

I asked my MA to look into it further. I then located a suitable replacement CM. I then called my MA and told him I had found a suitable replacement and he had 2 days to resolve the issues on his side.

I was polite; but, firm. My situation is slightly different in that I confirmed that I could use the TDTD certificate on an ordered car.

 

Thanks Brian425. When I ordered the car, my MA confirmed that I could use the certificate on my order. But he changed his mind when I asked him last month. I guess he didn't know the event and rules back then, but it's not my fault. I regret that I didn't have him put it on the contract. I called the sale manager today and he said I cannot use the coupon.

 

I would press the issue. I did not get any results until I told them I would not accept the car. My argument was simple. I was told the certificate would be accepted and then was told it would not. The terms of the deal changed materially.

I confirmed AmEx would pull back my refund and started found another car over the phone. I then gave them a reasonable deadline.

You are the buyer, you drive the deal. Do not let them believe they are in charge. Your money can move to another dealer in 5 minutes. They will sit on that car far longer.

 

What's rather amazing here is that Brian, Joe, and I each ordered our CM from the SAME dealer, and we are each getting a different story from our respective MA's. Don't back down. This has nothing to do with your sales contract, and your issue is with Mini, not the dealer. Call Mini directly, tell them you answered their TDTD ad, invested your own personal time to attend the event, have the certificate, that there was never any mention about this restriction on the certificate or otherwise, that you are not going to accept this "undisclosed" rule, you are not going to take delivery of the car without the discount that you are clearly entitled to, you are going to sue them and the dealer to force them to sell you the car with the advertised discount, and that you will go to the news media about this very exceptionally clear example of false advertising by an automobile manufacturer. You will see this resolved very quickly. You are completely in the right and they are completely in the wrong.

 

I agree with you shark715 that this is my issue with MINI, not the dealer. I emailed MINI and described similar to what you wrote. I asked them to send me written documentations of "undisclosed" or "extended" restrictions. I told them I believe this is a fault advertisement to attract people to their dealers for marketing purpose.

 

We went to the dealer multiple times.
We went to the TDC event, we ordered a 'built' car a few days after the even, actually the same day I rcvd. my email TDC cert. #.

The dealer stated I must take delivery of the car before the cut-off date in order for the cert. discount/rebate to apply.
That date is July 2nd.
My CM is currently 'Awaiting transfer to port of exit'. I am hoping I dont miss the delivery date by just a few days because of the transfer from NJ to NY & then PDI :(

I think I will miss it by a week or so :( sucky!

 

I have the TDTD certificate, and had to take advantage of it before 7/2, as mentioned. Problem is, there wouldn't be enough time to order the car, so I am taking the only car in most of the country that has the few required options I wanted. Oh well. I hope to take delivery next week!

 

We picked up our car this morning, and Mini of Monmouth gladly accepted our TDTD certificate, even though we attended the event at a dealer closer to our home. But...I forgot, when we ordered the car back in April, I did have the foresight to write on the contract that "dealer agrees to accept a valid Take Down Test Drive Certificate". I'm not saying there would have been an issue if I had not made that notation, but I would be remiss to not mention a pertinent fact like that. In any event, based on our ordering and delivery experience we would highly recommend Mini of Monmouth and particularly our MA, Christian. He's far from your typical car salesperson. He's a retired exotic car dealer who is an MA because he enjoys it, and it shows. He's very knowledgeable, and we loved that because we just hate dealing with car salespeople who have little clue about the product they are selling. Not only that, we saved about $1500 versus the quotes we received from 3 other dealers, and we did it all over the phone and via email and fax...never needed to go there (more than an hour away) other than for the actual delivery of the car.

 

Happy for you Shark. My story is the opposite of yours, my dealer won't accept my TDTD certificate even though they confirmed "verbally" before I signed the paper, I forgot to ask them to put it on the contract. Called MINI USA, complained about the false advertising, the customer service manager said they would not honor the certificate for ordered car prior to the event and asked me to discuss this with my dealer. Called credit card to dispute, dispute department said since the deposit is "non-refundable", most likely the charge cannot be disputed. Well, one lesson learned, put everything in the contract in case someone 'forgot' what they agreed on.

 

How much of a deposit?

 

I just bought my mini last week at mini of Monmouth and was told I could use certificate on an order if I took delivery of car before it expired. I ended up finding what I wanted at another local dealer so they swapped cars for me and I used certificate.