update - got home and spoke to my wife - she got a message from Mike/SA and was informed they didn't have time to look at her car today, even though her appointment slot was 7am this morning. That also means they haven't ordered parts for her car, so fat chance her car will be done this week.

Looks like I'll be calling Brian tomorrow and having the same conversation as last week. Anybody have any advice besides 'grin and bear it'?

 

Yes seriously. Walk. Take your business elsewhere.

Checking Mapquest its 77 miles to Towson. I have shown up there in the past as late as 4 PM, dropped of the keys and they worked on the car ... no appointment. (I would call in your case FOR an appointment because of the distance involved).

At this point, if I were you, I would seriously question if the aggravation of dealing with them is worth not driving an hour to Towson.

 

As horrible as the drive is up there (and I drove up from Alexandria, VA, so I feel your pain), I gotta agree. Last time I had a MINI issue, I called Towson for an appointment on a Monday morning, and they said just bring 'er in. I got there with enough 'toys' to keep me busy in the waiting room, but no need - they gave me a loaner for the day. A few hours later, I was back at the dealership and on my way in my MINI.

Best dealership experience ever.


-Paul!

 

my job keeps me on the road around DC/MD/VA many days of the week. seems the prudent thing is to plan a trip over that way next time around.

 

Would Crown MINI of Richmond be an option for you? I have been dealing with them since I took ownership and have had no real complaints.

 

my company has their HQ there and I have many friends there....I'm down there somewhat regularly, but Towson is more convenient to be sure.

 

I'd love to get down to Crown Mini one of these days. They forced me to pay 500 bucks in detailing when I bought my Mini and I haven't gotten to take advantage of it yet. Driving almost two hrs to get detailed isn't worth it.

 

No. Dealerships really don't care. The largest BMW dealership in the area has the worst reputation for service, yet they are the biggest in sales. Until dealerships have problems selling cars, they really don't care.

Yes, what I meant is that they are under enormous pressure to pump numbers. If they don't perform, they are out. Profit is where it's at, not customer satisfaction.

BMW NA/MINI now charges dealerships extra for overnight parts. Normal delivery is I think 2 days. Most dealership owners do not want the parts department to carry a big inventory. So what happens? Cars stay for days waiting for parts. And they are not going to pay the extra overnight charges, even for warranty.

You really need to develop a relationship with the techs. The SA may be gone tomorrow. When I'd bring my BMW to Passport I always got excellent servive. I also always brought bagels and cream cheese for the techs. I'd bring stuff for the service advisors too, but it's the techs you want to treat right.

 

Ok, after reading this thread, I'm pretty amazed. I've kept very quiet on the subject, but based on this comment, I will say I totally agree with 1996 328ti, and I really hate to have to agree. The last time I was in for service at MoS, my SA, (left recently) actually told me, "the people on those forums [NAM] are full of sh*t".

I totally agree. When I was growing up, I went to a lot of shops with my dad, we always just walked into the shop and talked directly to the mechanics, (referred to as techs these days for whatever reason...). Anyway, they didn't talk back like you didn't your *** from your mouth and were always pleasant and willing to help satisfy your request. I'll admit this was a small town that wasn't so busy, but still, that type of contact makes me feel really good about having service done. Nowadays, insurance reasons prevent us from barely looking into the service bays. SA'a are supposed to be the "middle-men", but they don't seem to be very effective.... So, getting to know a tech and giving him confidence that you really do know what you're talking about when you walk in spouting part numbers and engine specs leads to a better relationship, IMO.

 

Numbers, numbers. numbers...what happened to taking care of the customer? I wish the stealers...err..umm dealers would take a good look at what checkered flag mini is doing.

 

The last thing someone wants to hear, I read it on the internet on some message board. I am in electronic service and hear that every day. It gets old after awhile.

I was the only customer allowed to walk in the service bays at Passport. SAs come and go but the techs never had a problem with me. In fact, a new tech was working on my car. When I asked the mechanic who I usually use if this guy knows what he's doing, he went over to my car along with another mechanic I knew. I had 3 techs working on my car.
I'll probably be buying a new BMW in 2008 and the first thing I'll do before putting in my order is visiting the shop and smoothing things over for when I have to see them. A little kindness goes a long way.

Edit: I have nothing against the SAs. It's all about the buck. Dealership owners are at fault.
Fortunately I have people looking out for me at Towson. And if we go to Sterling, I'll have someone looking out for us there too.

 

Or you might try Chuck Joffee who is the Overall Service Mgr for both BMW & MINI at MoS. He was at MoS when I bought my MINI through them, then went to Towson (where I take my MINI now), and he now is back at MoS. He's a great person to work with. He's a no BS kind of guy and gets things done!

I got my MINI back in 2003 at MoS and they were good, but because of changing my job, it became a little more convenient for me to go to Towson, where I have been taken VERY good care of. I love my SAs, who are keenly aware that, on a good day, it takes me around 1.5 hours to drive to them, so they try to take care of issues within 2 visits and I find that acceptable--after all, I knew of the limited number of dealerships when I bought the car. The Parts people love to see me coming and will take orders over the phone and have it waiting for me. All-in-all, I think Towson has it together.

 

Yes, I've met Chuck a few times - seems like a nice guy, but I haven't talked to him too much yet... since he came back to MoS, he's been a busy man (no surprise there!). The first time I met him was at my first DCMM event in early March 2005 - it was the Towson "tech night" that they have. I talked to him for several minutes back then, but of course I didn't expect him to remember me 16 months later! Heh. That tech night was the first and only time I've ever been to MoT. I would have gone to their tech night this year, but they just HAD to go and have it on a Wednesday night again. Stupid idea - a Saturday afternoon would have made far more sense. Oh well.

With the reputation that he carries with him, I'm glad he's back at MoS... but it takes time to fix a bad track record, so there's obviously plenty of work ahead!

 

update - email sent last night to the Svc Manager (bounced back twice even with the address Edge gave me), MA, and GM. Wife just got a call this morning - her car is ready for pickup. Hopefully that means they fixed it and not waiting on parts.

still no word on mine - last I was told by Mike and Brian, it would be ready yesterday. I'll wait until mid-morning and give them a ring, to get past the morning rush.

Beyond the issues already stated here, there are some things I will be speaking to Brian about. My wife was met with less than stellar treatment yesterday when dropping off her car for service.

 

And there leads to the stupid customer service index survey. Anything below excellent is a 60%. The dealerships sees who gave them low marks and they remember it for the next time. You would like to think that they would work on trying to improve a fair or good, but it just doesn't work that way. For warranty service, we are all stuck. I pity those in areas with one MINI dealership and the next closest one is 200 miles away.

Edit: Excellent is 100%, Good is 60% (fail)

 

I just called for status. got passed around a bunch then the call was dropped. called a second time...passed to two people, then told it's not ready since 'we are waiting on parts'. I asked to speak with Brian....I was told he was with a customer. "Fine, I'll wait". 2 minutes later I was transferred with no notification to Chuck Joffee's voicemail.

Now, I wait. In an hour, I'm driving over and not leaving until I get to speak with someone who can move past patronizing apologies and get my car back to me in the condition it should have been delivered back in July.

 

Chuck could well be the person most able and willing to address your issues... I hope you left him a VM. Good luck anyway!

Dan, if you get this before you leave, PM me your cell #. I may be driving to MoS at lunch today to take care of something small, so it would be nice to meet you while I'm there, even if it's under less than ideal circumstances.

 

She might want to call and ask specifically if the car is indeed completely done or if there are parts still on order so there are no surprises. If still waiting on parts she could speak to the SA and see if it is worth her time to even pick it up.

On the other hand if she goes to the dealer it might be a good idea for her to check out the state of your car - ask to see it. The delaying on it would make me a bit concerned as I have known of circumstances when something happens to a car to damage it at a dealer and they try to cover that up and have it fixed without notifying the owner (and this is bad since you can't hold them to warranty a repair unless you know about it).

I don't mean to make you paranoid, but my caution reflects experiences we have had.

 

eVal - I know that game all too well and that's not what went down. MoS is apparently so busy they have a second evening shift of techs....wife's car get fixed after hours last night.

I went by and spoke with my MA and with Brian the svc mgr at lunch. We had a fair discussion of what should have happened and what actually has happened with both my situation and my wife's. My wife is owed a phone call with an apology from the gentleman who treated her so rudely when dropping off her car yesterday. Brian assures me my car will be ready tomorrow so that I may still get to the tint and graphics install on Saturday.

Either way....my car is getting picked up tomorrow. If it's not ready, my next call will be to MINI USA and I'll lodge a formal complaint there. Every issue the car was in for was an initial quality one - something they should care about.

 

I just want to add a minor clarification to Dan's post... it wasn't Mike Creason that was rude to his wife, but another employee. It still shouldn't have happened, but I feel it necessary to clear Mike's name, since he wasn't even in the building at the time! He is away on MINI training (through Friday).

 

No need to clarify...I never said who it was publicly. PM = private message, remember?

 

True, but it could have been a case of guilt by association... since it wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption for someone to think Mike was the person your wife spoke to (unless they paid full attention to the "he's in training" stuff!).

My first impressions of Mike after meeting him on Tuesday morning are very good... I'd hate for him to get an undeserved bad reputation when he's just starting out of the gate!

 

Although I appreciate you wanting to look out for him, Mike is still the one that dropped the ball with my car - he was always reactive, never proactive so any rep he earns from me sharing my experience here is far from 'undeserved'.

Training the last few days is no excuse. That's this week, not last week when my car was scheduled. Besides...none of that is my concern. The service manager should have coverage planned for those out for training...you can't just stop serving customers.

 

Point well taken. My defense of Mike was intended for his character, not for his real actions (or lack thereof).

 

I give two thumbs up for Chuck. He was very helpful when my convertible was leaking and no one was willing to help or fix the problem. He even used to take my car to work with him (since he lives close by) then bring it back to me when it was done. Great guy!