What kind of service do you expect from Jessica, Chester, Eunice, Billy, and Corinne??

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075584

 

I quote the wise sage Eazy-E from 'Boyz in Da Hood'

 

The only thing saving Sterling's service department from being the worst IS Tate, so combining them would hardly make a decent dealership.

 

My experience? Are you talking about my DPSM upgrade?

Marina - that job is so far out of the "norm" as far as service tasks are concerned. It is work they would not normally do, and I doubt they'll ever agree to do it again. They basically took the job on as a favor to me, in a way... and back then, neither they nor I fully realized just how complex it would turn out to be.

It has never been done before (to a perfectly functioning car, anyway), and it will never be repeated again - by them or any other dealership that has paid attention to the job... that much I am quite sure of.

The point being - it isn't fair to MoS to judge them on that job alone. Some people may have had valid concerns with MoS's service, but please don't use my DPSM upgrade job as some kind of "proof". It isn't. I should know. I'm the one who has gone through the trials and tribulations of this process, and I'll still defend them on this point.

If Tate or Towson had attempted the same task, I almost guarantee that they would have had just as many problems - if not more. (it didn't help matters that my MINI is completely loaded with practically every option available either... that's a lot more electrical stuff to mess with!)

Judge them (good or bad) for normal service work, the types of things you are having done - not my project!

 

*** Shhhh*** It's supposed to be a secret. What I heard is that someone is in the process of negotiating the purchase of the Tate property, plus the MINI and BMW dealerships (but not the Chevy franchise). I was told that most of the MINI players would remain the same, but it would be logical that the top management might change to reflect the new ownership. We can hope for a more supportive atmosphere, can't we? As previously stated by Marina, lots of the players there are good guys, but they've had to work in what appears to be a difficult environment. Maybe this will fix some of that.

There was also a component of merging the two surviving marques into one building, at least temporarily. Perhaps to accommodate some construction?

Stay tuned for more breaking news

 

If Tate MINI IS sold... I hope they consider renaming it too. It would be in the new owner's best interest to completely disassociate the dealership from the old name.

How about BMW of Annapolis and MINI of Annapolis? Makes the most sense!

 

+1 But if and only if, they make a serious effort to improve their image. Perhaps put together a focus group to examine their perceived shortcomings and offer constructive suggestions. Anyway, it's all wishful thinking until a deal is finalized. And they've been okay for most of us to deal with. but for some when they went wrong, they went WRONG

 

Well at least you guys have a dealership within 70 miles of you. I am about 1/2 way between Richmond and Sterling. 73 miles to MoS and 75 to MoR. They need to put one in Frednecksburg!

 

Having to choose between those two dealerships, i think i'd drive the extra 2 miles to Richmond (based on my experience so far at MoS).

 

A quick update on Luna

After almost 2 hrs of waiting, Rose - very nice SA- told me that my Clubman software voice command is not working because was not programmed correctly- as I suspected 2 hours ealier.. We also found out that the real time traffic option was not installed - BTW the tech did not figure this out; it was Rose and I while working the GPS together that we discovered this additional problem - One might think "why the tech did not do a complete software test (??) " In any case : after they will find where Luna's original configuration is (somewhere in Oxford ???? ) I will go back in to get it fix - approx 2 wk time frame.

A big disappointment was to find a scratch - dent type on the door/ window of the car. It was not there this morning and I noticed it as soon as I got to my destination after I left MOT - The call to Rose to inform her of the situation wasn't returned. The car has only 400 miles and she was washed for the 1st time today at MOT- someone should tell the guy that washes MINI that thew Clubman is 9 inches longer as her back was left pretty dirty.


Edge, I respect your loyalty and defense of MOS but to me 11 months is 11 months !!! - I don't want to start a long discussion about this, I am stuck to the 11 months w/o MINI

To my knowledge the TATE deal is already a done deal. The new company - not a local one- is now working on the logistics as MINIUSA has to have its say as well.

 

So sorry to hear about Luna's troubles, Marina. Best wishes for a speedy recovery

 

Thanks !! At least she runs well, so far...

 

Marina, next time I see you (and Luna) I will take a peak at your scratch and see if I have anything that can help to fix it (if MOT doesn't.)

 

Marina, it's still not a fair comparison... what Mr. OEM has gone through is the equivalent of a human having every single vein in their entire body transplanted.

It was an unbelievably complex and painstaking job, and I am very thankful that the tech working on it never gave up, even when some really weird issues popped up. He really went through hell and back with my car... all for an entirely optional job... since there was nothing wrong with it when I dropped it off.

That's why it's not fair to judge the entire service department on my project... and yes, I will continue to get service done there, although I'll never again do anything as crazy (and yes, stupid) as this project was!

MoS is not perfect, I never said they were... but in the grand scheme of things, I have been a satisfied customer.

 

Perhaps the MoS service department has not been so good for about 11 months, 1 week and counting.....

 

Why didn't TATE figure that out ? And why wasn't it ordered by TATE sales when the car was ordered ???

 

Well, if you're going to play it that way...

At least you have more than one dealership to choose from within 3000 miles! You can go to any dealership in the states, meanwhile I can only go to a dealer in the Asia region who sells USA Spec cars but limits them to Asian warranties. (No routine service like oil changes, and warranty isn't bumper to bumper)

So now that the sillyness is out, can we refrain from it?

 

And by the way ............... this really BURNS me ............. the ONLY reason you went to MOT is because TATE couldn't figure out your problem so you figure that MOT would fix your problem and you hoped that NO ONE would find out that you went there !!!!!

And then when we all found out .............of course you find problems with their service department !!!!

I have brought my two Mini's to MOT close to a HUNDRED times and NEVER had a problem with ANYTHING and they washed my car every time and yes they sometimes don't get the back clean and I CALMLY let them know and they take it back and clean it !!!!

SOOOOOO .......... I suggest you should bring your Minis to Tate for your service and sit on their plastic chairs in that small room they call a waiting room and I will sit on a comfortable sofa and have a Panera bagel and watch the BIG screen TV and wait for my car to be serviced by the BEST SERVICE DEPARTMENT in the area !!!!!

 

someone needs to drop from 3 cups to 1 cup stat

 

This brings up an interesting question: does MINI have any kind of club liaison program? Is there someone at MINI we can bring our gripes to?

 

no, but I have a phone # and a name at MINIUSA.
Unfortunately, I doubt if the current admin at Tate gives a darn about any complaints we owners might have with their service dept. They didn't when they sabotaged my car in a such a manner that could have hurt or killed me or someone else. Oh, they probably shaped up and flew right for about a week after corporate HQ contacted them about this, but then they went back to their old ways.
We'll see if the new owners are any better...

 

'sabotaged' is a strong word and implies intent. you sure you don't mean negligence?

 

no, I mean sabotage. Negligence implies forgetting...this was willful.

 

Were criminal charges filed?

 

yeah...I don't think I've heard this story. I had a Subaru dealer intentionally take an air hammer to the studs on my turbo, but that's a PITA, not a safety issue. This one has me