Their time management and supply management has much suck. Proof you say?? I'm on day nine without my car. It was due back in for them to finish the armest install (they apparently didn't order all the parts for trip #1). Other items for them to work on for trip# 2: check the alignment (car drifts left), discoloration under the rear badge, scratch on roof at delivery, scratches on door panel at delivery and scratch on dash at delivery.

Here's the kicker - the dropoff was scheduled and the car sat for four days before being looked at. Nobody had ordered parts ahead of time, so the car still sits there while I get to rock a sweet Chevy HHR loaner The message I got yesterday was that the armrest parts still hadn't arrived, which is frustrating since they supposedly ordered them in August. Guess they didn't, eh?

To make matters worse...the glovebox on the wife's Cabrio is broken and it's there now as well. They wouldn't just look at it, order parts, then schedule the fix - they insisted she drop it off. I'm guessing three days for hers. Perhaps we'll go through this weekend with two loaners! Nope...that won't happen.... I've got time scheduled for the tint/graphics event Saturday in MD.

I'm trying to remain somewhat positive about this, but both the SA and Svc mgr were full of patronizing apologies and little action last week when I called to raise a stink. And to think that I thought they were better than the average dealer.....silly me. Even my wife commented about how poor the experience has been, when she used to be a fan.

 

I'll be interested to see how this works out.

 

Part of the problem is likely that they have two new SAs. One of them (Mike Creason) is out today, tomorrow and Friday, in training. He was previously an SA at a Ford dealership (a long time ago) and the HBL Mercedes dealership in Tyson's (until now). The training he is getting is MINI-specific. I'm not sure about the other SA, or his level of MINI experience.

I'm not saying your experience is acceptable, I'm simply highlighting that new faces tend to mean a bit of "adjustment" time. Mike has been at MoS less than a month now, after David Rockwell departed.

 

Edge,

I'm curious what is your relationship with MoS? You apparently have a lot of contact, or inside information on them and (it appears) that you take it very personally when someone posts an issue regarding their service. I'm not saying anything bad about defending a business you like, I'm just interested in your connection.



Patagonian GT,

I too had trouble getting things done in a timely manner. After all, what's the point of waiting weeks for an appointment, if all that means is that your car will wait on their lot while they get to it. I'm an understanding guy, give me a call and change my appointment if you can't take it the day you scheduled for. I fully understand that they are popular and backloged, but they should be able to factor that in when they schedule appointments.

The excuse I finally received was that they had several cars come in on flatbeds that they had to look at. I feel that any car that comes in during the time my car is there for an appointment should go into the que AFTER people who have appointments and have already dropped off their cars. Ok, if the car comes in on fire, they should probably put it out, but then go right back to working on my car

 

I am simply one of their biggest customers (at least for a single MINI) - a "big fish" if you will. I spend more time there than I probably should, and I definitely have spent more money there than I should! (Let's just say I could easily have bought a BMW M3 instead, but I don't regret my decision one bit!)

I tend to talk to a number of people there that I have gotten to know, and I frequently get the "inside scoop" on what's happening, because I have developed a rapport with a number of long-term employees. That of course doesn't mean they will tell me everything, but I do like to know what's going on.

As for me defending them, I simply think that information is good... and if there are particular reasons for problems experienced, then people have a right to know what they are. Since I bought my MINI, I've had problems there too, some of which have frustrated me to no end - to the point where I did involve management. But I have also had very good experiences there.

People tend to speak the loudest when they have problems, yet are quiet when they don't. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't voice their concerns (in fact I encourage them to), but sometimes the "big picture" is missed.

The fact remains that for many of us here in Northern VA, unless we are willing to drive all the way to Towson or Annapolis, MoS is our only option. We have to take our lumps and roll with the punches. MoS is not "perfect" or "all good", but they are not "the pits" or "all bad" either.

If anyone has a serious grievance about their experience, why not call the MINI Service Manager, Brian Latimer? I have before. I don't know if that is the Svc Mgr that Patagonian GT has spoken to already, but if not, give him a try. He seems genuinely interested in helping.

 

here in CA, Mini of Mountain View has had me schedule appointments, and then been unable to tell me when they would work on the car. When I ask what good was the appointment, and what purpose it served, they had no answer!

IT's all fine and good that you get some inside scoop on the ins and outs of the dealership. Maybe there's a way to let them know that absurd treatement isn't getting a good review on NAM. Maybe they'll think about doing things differently if the criticisms come from a freind.

There's no excuse that a car is sitting around on day 9, or the responses about progress in the fact of no parts. You don't need mini training to know that you don't hang a customer out like that, no matter the brand.

Matt

 

I just hate it when they ask for more work when they know they cannot handle the current load.

 

Pardon my comments here but what the SA training has to do with an armrest or any other parts and working on the MINI? . Regadless who the SA is, the mechanic is the one working on the car so the screw up here has nothing to do with the lack of traning BTW Patagonian's MINI is there for 9 days and appears that the SA's training begun two days ago...

I know that people don't like Tate but after reading about Sterling I am very happy with the service at TATE at least, as it happened last week, the new SA (coming from BMW) quickly realized that I bought a MINI and I want to
drive a MINI as a loaner ..

BTW my glovebox also broke last year (what did not happen to Streghina..) and I had to wait a couple of days because they have to program the key as well. When mine broke I was so pissed because my documents and garage door opener were stuck inside...


Proud owner of these two Little Ones

 

Mike is the SA and Brian was the mgr I spoke with (after pushing). Brian seemed peeved at having to call me. I asked Mike to have him call me, instead he decided not to do that. I questioned how long he'd been doing this job, as he seemed not to know what was going on - he got insulted and didn't want to talk to me, so I then got the call from Brian.

Here's the thing - I got calls every day saying 'the car will be ready tomorrow', only to drive the loaner to work instead of my other car. Then, another call 'tomorrow'....I pointed out to Brian that a realistic ETA was missing and that was my frustration. He agreed.

We'll see how it pans out. So far, almost two weeks in the shop after 1700 miles. Not the way I want my MINI experience to be.

 

Mini dealers only see my car for free service, recalls, or parts I need RIGHT NOW! Even though you're still under warranty, start finding a good shop for your aftermarket and post warranty work.

Matt

 

I just requested an appointment for a scheduled service from MoS. I will definitely keep a record of the time from start to finish.

10.11.2006 Requested service appointment via internet
10.12.2006 Still trying to schedule an appointment

 

Fair enough Edge, thanks for the details.



I think that one of the frustrations we have is that our "Free Maintiance" isn't really free, it's "Pre-Paid" when we bought the car. So when it is difficult to get that service, I feel cheated. Now, that's the same for every car out there, if they "give" you 5 oil changes, they really added that into the cost of the car, minus a little since it's pre-paid.

By doing that however, MINI (or any other brand) has little incentive to leverage their relationship with dealers to provide timely service. (WARNING, CONSPERIACY THEORY! ) In fact, it's in their best interest to have owners take their cars somewhere else for this service, since they get to keep the money they collected when we bought the car, and they may still get profit from parts that an independent shop may have to purchace from the local dealer/supplier. (Ok, so that may be far fetched, BUT even the posibility leaves a sour taste in people's mouth). The dealer however gets paid for these simple services. You'd think that they would fall all over themselves to get the easy money (oil, brakes, fluids, filters etc). All of those things are simple, and can be done by the most novice tech.

 

good advice Matt.

I am the shop for aftermarket and post warranty work. There's not much I haven't done on my Subaru and I'm not afraid to take things apart and get it done the right way. I had to learn those skills after relying on my (Subaru) dealer, only to have the car be given back to me in worse shape than when I dropped it off. Having a friend with a lift in his garage is always a plus as well

I actually work pretty closely with the regional factory rep for Subaru of America....he and I are on a first name basis after my experiences with the other car and he'll call me for a no BS assessment on a given situation (I'm a moderator on another forum and have hosted several install days at my house and the house with the lift). I do understand how a dealership operates from my time working for the lobbyist on Capitol Hill for import dealers (www.aiada.org).

I know good help is hard to find, but all my issues are delivery issues...I would have thought this would be a priority given that I still have yet to do the new owner survey. I'm torn about how to answer that based on my experience, as I know it affects the MA too (he's partly to blame here as well as I don't think he communicated well with Mike the SA).

At this point, I just want the car back as it should have been delivered from the factory - in proper working order with no blemishes or visual defects. I don't care to get as 'friendly' with the MINI dealer as I am with the Subaru rep....a 'normal' owner shouldn't need to talk to the factory rep on weekly basis I've never paid MSRP for a car I've personally owned....I guess maybe my expectations are high of MINI given this fact.

 

Service advisors seem to be in a revolving door and often not their fault.

 

I have communicated that at times - I wish the MAs and SAs from the DC area dealerships would come on NAM and participate in the discussion... but they are already so busy every day, and I doubt they want to continue their "work" by going on NAM when they get home.True - I have found through much personal experience that the #1 problem with MoS' service is not the quality of the work, but the poor communication with the customer. I'm sure it has a lot to do with how swamped they are, but a 1 minute phone call to keep a customer informed can make ALL the difference. They could even hire a person whose main responsiblity is to report back to the customers - the SA could just give the status updates quickly to the assistant, and let them handle all the formalities of actually making the calls. Ah well just an idea - I may suggest it (but I seriously doubt a new position will be created just on the basis of my suggestion). On the contrary, Marina, I think the SA has a lot to do with the service on your car. The SA is the one that controls the overall process, and makes decisions such as whose car gets worked on when, what service is approved under warranty and what isn't, and which tech works on which car. The SA IS key, even if they generally aren't the ones actually doing the work. It's quite possible that Patagonia GT's armrest part problems were because the new SA didn't realize the parts that were needed, so not all of them were ordered at first.Marina, I'm glad that you're happy with Tate - that works out very well for you as they are very convenient. But after hearing of the far more scary horror stories from esteemed fellow members like Will (wagnbat), Tate has done far more harm to their reputation than MoS has. Most of the complaints about MoS are to do with scheduling and communication, not with the actual quality of the work (once it gets done).

Have you ever stopped to think that the reason you get such great service from Tate is because they are afraid of you?

(Likewise I will admit that I have probably gotten better service sometimes simply because of my "big fish" status... but I am not immune to their service problems by any means!)

 

communicating a clear ETA is under their control, whether that means saying "I have no idea when it will be done" or "tomorrow", communication and real honesty is a fair way to handle yourself whether you just started or are a seasoned pro. Nothing positive comes from placating or patronizing a customer with a due date based on purely on your imagination (especially when the car sits outside and hasn't been looked at nor parts ordered).

 

this was precisely the reason the car was returned to me after the first visit in August with the armrest installed but no cover installed (and thus no TPMS rest button either!!!). They didn't have the right parts then (somewhat understandable, even though that was a scheduled appt as well). This second trip in was to finish that work and the rest they didn't get to last time (I wasn't willing to leave it over the weekend in August as I had a trip planned).

What's most concerning to me is that as of yesterday, these center console parts in particular had still yet to be sourced. Seems somebody dropped the ball....it took me speaking to the svc mgr (Brian?) on Friday saying "you'll need to order an anthracite door card, dash panel and anything left for the console to get this car finished". Almost five days of sitting and nobody had touched it, much less order parts even though that was supposed to have been done two months ago. If had not have pushed then, the car would be there until next week I'm sure.

 

Wow, what an ordeal for simple things - there is no excuse for not looking at and processing a car ASAP that has an appointment. It is the entire point of scheduling and is completely unprofessional and disrespectful of you and your time to ignore your appointment and not be prepared for it.

As for the delivery issues, your frustrating predicament re-enforces my stance to never take delivery of a car unless everything is all good from the get-go. I've never wanted a car delivered from out of state for that very reason - we always inspect it very closely before driving it off the lot and would want it fixed before taking it or refuse delivery if there was anything amiss that was not something they would correct quickly. Nothing motivates a dealer more then having a car on their hands pending payment, once it is delivered you are just a past sale and get slated in with the other service customers.

Hope your cars get sorted out soon.

PS: Another handy place you can review dealers and help others with your experience is on Yelp.com (if they currently cover your area).

 

I was told last week and again yesterday the car should be ready today. So far, no call. I drove my Subaru today instead of the loaner, hoping reverse psychology would work for me here....

 

Good luck on finding someone to take that job. They couldn't pay me enough nor provide me enough therapy to want to call people to tell them they are out of a car for another day.

 

<sigh> heading home soon...no call at all from MoS

 

While they do not return phone calls nor email, I will defend MOS as well as they have gone out of their way for me in the past ... WAY out of their way.

As to driving to Towson ... I don't think that washes. I went out of my way ... far out of my way (tedious rush hour traffic) simply to deal with Herb and having parts installed the way I wanted (at a great discount). I would see no difference if MOS was a pain to drive to Towson for better service but everyone has different "pain" levels

 

does it take to order parts? I'm still waiting for my new door panels and its been over 2 weeks. When I needed this stuff ordered from Towson it took 24 hrs.

 

good question. that reminds me - I put an order in back in August for new headlight trim rings to paint....no call that they arrived.

So, heading home now to two loaner cars in the driveway from MoS for service that should have taken a day with proper planning. Wee!!

 

If you want to buy parts, try Classic. MUCH cheaper than ordering though your local dealer.

Some parts may not be in warehouses. I know they look up the part and tell you exactly how many are in the US or waiting in Germany.