Paul (my husband) was helping out in Frederick this weekend for the driving school. He met (I think) the service manager from Towson, who claims that all the trained MINI mechanics at Tate have left.

Now, I don't know if this is just someone trying to drum up business for his sevice dept. by spreading rumors about a rival dealership. It could very well be the case. But it's disturbing, none the less.

I'm not quite sure how to verify this. I could go to Tate and ask, but that does seem weird. They coud just lie...and I'd be none the wiser. I mean, it's not like the MINI mechanics get tattooed or something to differentiate them.

This might explain my airbag light going off 9 times in 2 years, tho Tate claimed they replaced the wiring harnesses said to have caused the problem. The Towson guy said he could fix the problem permanently, in one visit.

So, my quandry is this: Do I go over to Tate and make noise? After all, by being involved with their MINI sales dept(i.e. the breakfasts), the club might seem to be somehow endorsing Tate. What do I say to a prospective MINI buyer and possible club member if they ask me about the service dept. at Tate? I've never been happy with Kelly (service rep at Tate). She's nice enough, but brain dead when it comes down to the nitty-gritty stuff. The few times I've asked to speak to the manager, he's always "unavailable". I've stuck with Tate service out of sheer convenience...they're less than 10 mins. from my house.
Do I lie and say the service is ok? I can't do that.....

So...thoughts...suggestions...solutions?

 

If anyone asked me, I'd say I heard from another MINI dealership that the mechanics at Tate had all left and not try to make any more or any less out of it. Regardless, if the mechanics all left, Tate would have to hire new staff. I expect that BMW requires that all staff be properly trained/certified.

I've never met any of the shop staff, and I doubt I'd realize the personnel had changed when I go back. (I have 2nd insp & service due in ~3K miles) I'm not stuck on anyone in that area. And like you said, as an SA, Kelly is nice, but she's no mechanic. But she does at least know what a CVT is. When I called for my first service and for a software update, the GUY service advisor I got on the phone had no clue what a CVT was and I doubted he knew anything about MINIs. So sometimes a change in staff can be a good thing. :^! -=Mike=-

 

I can't offer any explanation about the mechanics being there or not, but I can answer your airbag light question... The problem with the light is not the wiring harness, although quite a number of uninformed service depts used to think that was the problem. Rather, it's the connectors under the seat not being properly secured. Once that problem is taken care of (with a couple of cable ties), the problem is fixed "permanently."

So yeah, maybe the guys at Tate are/were bozos... Or at least they never spent any time talking to the other MINI mechanics who figured out this problem some time ago.

 

I would do the same as Mike suggested. By just stating what you have heard you are not making any valve judgements on it and you could be doing them a favor by alerting them to a rumor they might not otherwise hear. I wouldn't tell them where you heard it from, but just say that you were concerned and, by the way, has there been any turnover with your service technicians lately?

You may also want to give Towson a try for service. Each time that I have been there, the same tech has worked on my car and at least for right now they seem to be stable.

 

I had the airbag issue. A Chicago dealer tried to fix it several times, but it kept recurring. I took it to Towson and they fixed it on the first try. They told me it WAS a wiring issue as the service bulletin had come out indicating that the old wiring was rated for the wrong load and kept triggering a switch. They replaced my wiring on both seats & it has not recurred. I'm not sure why wires being improperly secured would continue to trigger an alert (no offense jsun, but that's what I was told the service bulletin said), but I'm no mechanic.

Anyhow, Katie... not sure what to say about Tate. I would be totally blunt and put a call into the service manager. If he's unavailable, ask for his voice mail. If they won't give you that, ask for the dealership manager. Just said you've heard a rumor and would like to know the truth rather than deal with hearsay.

I think most reasonable businesses would like the opportunity to correct an issue. If the techs truly have left, you can just ask when they expect to have new ones on board. If they avoid the question, you probably have both the answer and some important information about the dealership that it's best to know sooner rather than later.

You could also call MINIUSA - I would imagine they must know the status of service at each dealership. Personnel does change and sometimes the timing of several people leaving just sucks. I would only hold things against Tate if they lied or tried to mislead you. Honesty is always the best approach IMHO.

 

As a client you and anyone else has the right to question the dealer about its mechanics and their training. It's true that since I used Tate the first time its mechanis changed and there is a new face everytime I go there.
As far as Kelly (who was the one to screwed me up with the loner the last time I was there) she is not very friendly and not particulary interested in sharing her knowledge. Then again, she doesn't really work on cars but writes down the symptons. The service manager is a bit arrogant but so is the sale manager - Rick who I don't particular like ... but after the experience at Sterling ... The dream location: Townson. They are just perfect and they are customer oriented, too. Maybe Towson treats its employees better than Tate.
Sadly, a Mini is a car that sell itself and poeple just put up with more sh.. that hey should have.
MD STREGA2