You beat me to it! My boss came by to chat and I didn't have a chance to post it!

 

Haha, they're lucky they only have to deal with me and not you on the rampage. Then they'd really be screwed

 

It was probably this guys fault. They told him NO ONE gets to touch the JCW's until the 14th.



Don't ask me how they fit the cars through that door

 

Haha! Well even if they didn't start working on it till the 14th I'd still have got it either today or tomorrow. I know lots of people go through much worse like MINI sending their cars to the wrong VDC or whatever but still we've been looking forward to this for so long and it's just annoying that we can't take delivery of our baby because of some bufoon's incompetence down at the VDC.

 

It's a MINI.... they can fit two across through that door!

 

They deserve an earth shattering kaboom!

 

The mile is the same. The distance of the yard was standardized between the US and Britain in the late 50's.

 

It's the gallon measurement that's different. The UK gallon is bigger (imperial), just like the pint. We get hosed in pubs here when we order a 'pint'...16 ounces...pfft.

 

Dude, I had NOTHING done at the VDC and my MA told me that the VDC has not yet proccessed the car (that was at 10:30 this AM). She also told me that I might not take delivery until next week. Mini REALLY screwed the pooch with this one. I too am not a happy camper.

 

I just called my local dealer to see if they were going to have a dealer car to showcase, and he told me they would probably not have them in until the first part of August.

I think MINI needs to go back to the drawing board on how to launch a new product.

 

I remember when I got my M3 3 1/2 years ago. That was painful waiting for it to leave VPC. Then when I took delivery I drove it off the lot 10 minutes before I had to arrive to teach a 3 hour class for the evening. Talk about delayed gratification.

There's a chance my JCW could show up just as I need to leave for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. I'm hoping it gets here soon enough that I can get it clear bra'd and take it with me. Going on a one week road trip knowing my MINI sits at the dealer would be painful indeed.

 

That's for sure!

 

Wow, this whole business is insane. Not that it matters but it looks like I still might be the first to take delivery and that's on Thursday! Totally agree Danyes, MINI has made a complete botch job of this release. They should have made it their business to get as many JCW's as they could to the dealerships and ready for delivery on the launch date of July 14th and made a big deal about it too. It's all very amateur hourish. As somebody in a different thread just pointed out if this happened in a lot of other businesses then heads would roll.

 

Something's up, my MINI is MIA too...I didn't need any options installed at the VDC...sounds like they're all being held up for some reason. I hope its for a good reason like they're installing some special thingamabob and not because they discovered a issue.

The saga continues.

 

Right? Back home a pint is 20 ounces! That's 25% more!

 

Apple's MobileMe/iPhone 2.0/iPhone 3G rollout was botched pretty good...and they still managed to sell a million phones by the end of the weekend.

 

Sometimes new models get held up at port (VPC) pending DOT approval. I remember when I took delivery of a BWM back in 2002, the VPC had a bunch of new 7 series waiting to be released by DOT. I think it had to do with certification of fuel economy, and if you look at the MINI site, those figures are listed as "Not yet rated" for the JCW.

 

Interesting, but wow you would think they would get all this stuff taken care of before launch date. Call me crazy but that sounds like a good idea.

 

I just reamed by MA and then escalated to the manager (fffft.. some escalation). The manager called me back after talking to the regional director. I pointed out that nobody said anything about a hold on 2009 JCW when I ordered this on 5/5. I calmly let him know I was led to believe it would be a four of five week process.... 10 days in production 10 days on the boat .... a few days from VDC to dealer, a 2 more days for dealer prep and viola! No such luck! I didn't complain when my MINI was slipped from Week 21 to Week 25 when my MA neglected to input my Factory Aero order on a Saturday when I placed the order. She hadn't input the change when I stopped in on the following Tuesday. She did key it while I watched... and say the production date slip. I didn't complain when my JCW got to port on 6/23 and sat there because MINI put a "hold" on 2009 JCWs until 7/14. But being told last week that the car was scheduled to be released on 7/12 (thinking I should have it by 7/15 at the latest) ... and then my MA couldn't be bothered to get back to me... but I had to call her .... thought I was going to have a brain hemorrhage. I called my MA for a status report at 4PM... expecting to hear it was there at the dealer.... and that I would have it in a day or so. Nope.. its still in Charleston.. Scheduled for release to trasnport but no further status...... its seems nobody is watching the store. These people should excoriated.

 

Same thing happened when I took delivery of my first 07 MCS - it was held up slightly for the Maroni stickers - dealers can't sell the cars unless they have em and if the car is just getting EPA certification then it will cause delays.

And it's not really fair to "ream" out your MA or your Dealer - it's not their fault - they can't control the VPC.

 

And the VPC can't control the DOT and EPA. I'll bet the first production examples have to arrive before fed. certification of a new model can occur, and MINI can't do anything about moving the process along any faster.

 

Don't you think they would build one and get it over here a month or so before release to work out all these issues? Usually that is part of the manufacturing process, get all the certifications etc. Maybe they should build a factory here so we would not have to worry about all this, that would be nice.

 

lol.... my MA warned me about the good chance of the EPA delay last week, and not to expect the car for, well, she couldn't say. I e-mailed her today and got nothing back. Was hoping to be surprised to pick-up Friday, but nothing yet.

 

I understand the process (that sucks) and not the people. That said, I don't excuse my MA for failing to keep me apprised, and failing follow-up so she knows when expectations are missed. Someone at the dealer, the MA in my opinion, should own the process and the results. I can't even get a call back... she's not good at delivering bad news... simply sings the "Its not me" song.

 

You're saying MINI should tool their line to create one car, and then wait a month to ramp up regular production? I don't see how that makes sense. The government wants to examine regular production models. That means the first examples get delayed at port while they are inspected and certified.