Back in May I needed some service done on my '06 JCW as I was selling the car (and since have). I took the car to my normal dealer and service dept. They did a small thing or two and returned the car to me. The next time I drove the car a bunch of warning lights came on. I decided to bring it to Mini of Manhattan as I live in NYC and figured I'd give them a try, as I'd never been there before. They sold me on having a full detail done as I needed one anyhow. As it turned out in a rare state of affairs my regular service dept. missed a broken strut mount! Manhattan eventually agreed to fix this under warranty and all was well, until I had to pick up the car.

I went in to pick up the car and paid for my detailing. I inspected the car and they had done a good job of detailing the outside and an okay job on the inside. At this point I pushed the plastic covering from the drivers seat aside and drove directly home. On my way I noticed a retractable blade box cutter in the driver side door cubby that had not been there before. When I got home I stood up out of the car and immediately saw a nearly 2" cut in my driver side seat. This was not there before I dropped the car off.

I immediately contacted Mini of Manhattan and after getting in touch with the service manager their response was: "MINI/BMW of Manhattan cannot take responsibility for any damage found once the vehicle leaves the premises. I do not know where the box cutter came from but I can assure you it did not come from anyone at BMW/MINI of Manhattan, since we do not use them or even have any in the building." I told him it was too bad because I was in the market for a new Clubman. I went in to talk with the service manager and "he was willing to do leather repair because it was a way to make the problem go away, but replacing the whole seat was going to be costly and he was not going to take responsibility for the damage." His leather guy said from where the cut was it was not repairable. The service manager then offered that he could replace the seat and pay for the part but he was done giving me favors and I would have to pay for the labor. I repeated what he said to make sure I got that he wanted me to pay something to fix the damage created by them. He said that "it could not be proven how the cut happened so it wasn't his responsibility." He never outright said I must have done it but it was heavily implied. I asked if I had found the cut before I left the garage if they would have taken responsibility for the damage. He said "he honestly didn't know if even then would he have taken responsibility for it." At this point I left empty handed.

In the next few days I made several attempts to contact the GM of the dealership but to no avail. I did make a complaint to Mini USA though. Ultimately another dealer stepped in and helped me out. Unfortunately, Mini of Manhattan never took responsibility for the damage they caused and didn't seem to care that they alienated a customer for life.

 

May, that was 4 months ago ? And you no longer have the MINI ? You either have a slow fuse or something recently set you off to write this today ?

Sorry to hear what happend, but in IMO your beef is with your "normal dealer"......

There have been a few times where I had bulky items in my front side pockets only to end up on my drivers seat, and then sat on for some time before noticing. Including but not limited to my cell phone, pens, keys, sunglasses.....and I am by no means a beefy guy at 5'9" and 160 lbs.

And they are correct in stating what they did. A MINI tech or detailer carrying a box cutter would be much like your dental hygenist being in posession of a 4 inch wide paint scraper. Unless they are painting their house, you would not find one in the pocket of their smock.

IMO, the MINI detailer probably found the box cutter in the crease of the seat while cleaning the car and merely placed what he thought was your personal property in your door's side bin.

So I would suggest that further investigation is warranted before resting your case with MINI of Manhattan. I would be looking at your "normal" dealer for a solution to this problem. Which leads me to my last question. What is that exactly ? You no longer have the car and it was 4 months ago, so difficult for a rebuttle by MINI of Manhattan as so much time as passed ? Don't you think ?

My 2 cents.

 

Ever wake up from a nightmare of a dream, only to be pissed off at someone you dealt with 4 months ago? I have not. I take a pill for that.

But seriously now, I was at the dentist yesterday, and let me tell you, my dental hygienist made me feel like she was in posession of a 4 inch wide paint scraper in addition to a pick ax during cleaning. OUCH !

 

I have to agree. That's sounds like the most likely event. The box cutter was simply found tucked away somewhere out-of-sight during cleaning, and moved to better place.

I would give this MINI dealer an A+ for stepping up, and offering you anything simply as a "good will" gesture.

 

"You no longer have the car and it was 4 months ago, so difficult for a rebuttle by MINI of Manhattan as so much time as passed ? Don't you think ?"

I was not posting this looking for a rebuttle from Manhattan. I was merely sharing my experience with a service dept. that I will never be going to again. I am not one to point a finger at someone else when I have caused damage to something. The simple matter of it was that the cut wasn't there when I dropped it off and it was when I picked it up. The way they handled me like I was a problem that needed to go away, not a customer that needed to be spoken to like one.

The box cutter in question could not have slipped down into the seat, it is housed in a yellow handle that is 5 inches long and 3/4" thick. I would think that most of us might remember if there was a yellow handled something floating about our car somewhere.

I hope no one else has to take a bitter pill with an experience like I have had.

 

I can see a box cutter in use in an auto shop, open parts boxes for one, cutting hose, ect.

 

It was odd to me that they "didn't even have any in the building". I mean how did he know there weren't any in the whole building?!

 

Because buys all the tools, and knows he never bought any with a yellow handle?

 

Sorry, I was trying to be cheeky about it. Guess it didn't come through.

 

Make note of what I highlighted from your first post.

Now make note of what you wrote here.....for the sake of clarity.

Techs and mechanics are not handed boxes of parts taped up....the parts are pre inspected by the parts department before they leave the parts desk....there is no purpose for a MINI tech to have a box cutter in their tool box. It would be about as useful as having a toilet plunger in there.

 

Detail guys get paid minimum wage for the most part. Who's to say that he didn't have the box cutter in his pocket and was scraping something off the car (gum, tree sap, etc...) and it was in his back pocket and put a hole in the seat?

Either way, who knows....

It could definitely happen though. Stranger things have happened. Heck, stranger things than that happen every day here. Just yesterday, I was taking out the headlights. I dropped 2 of the nuts that hold them in. 2 of them! I have taken the headlights out about 5 times and never dropped 1.

 

LOL - Detailing Shops using sharp tools like box cutters to remove sap gum from a MINI ?

Please don't post their links here....thank you

 

Ha ha ha.... I am laughing out loud after that one. Thanks!


Sorry about that. It just reminds me of my brother (who thankfully isn't a detailer). For anything that gets stuck or needs to be slightly pried off or even steel slivers, he will pull out a Husky "knife" with a razor blade in the front. He uses it for everything.

Just made me think that a lot of people carry things like this on their person at all times. My brother is one. I carry a pocketknife and a pocket flashlight at all times. Just thinking out loud.

 

Yeah I know what you mean. I find stuff from my pockets on the seat all the time.

I just get a sense for many reasons, including: I have never read any instructions in a Bentley or from MINI USA which has "Box Cutter" in the list of tools for any task, and: What would the point of leaving the box cutter in the door cubby after cutting the seat.....

I also never heard of any MINI shop putting plastic covers on a car seat while having service. Most I got anywhere was a disposable paper floor mat. And that was not while at a dealer either

Just seems hinky on a few points and I am responding to merely clarify as the story seems to change a little from one post to the next. The "normal dealer", who performed unmentioned tasks just before was also pretty much given a pass....

Combined with the timing of this OP's post, some 4 months afterwards....even if someone from Mini of Manhattan wanted to chime in, just makes it a bit difficult if not impossible to do so.

Anything is possible, but as an observer one has to weigh the possiblities along with the facts, and so far I am just not conviced MINI of Manhattan did anything here other than maybe making right something they had no hand in.

 

I agree completely.

Ours has a burn hole in the driver's seat that I didn't catch (it is on the bottom, near where the back meets the bottom) when we purchased it. I would have definitely brought that up because they said it was a non-smoking vehicle.

Later verification from VIN proved that it came with a Smoker's Package, so it was definitely not a smoke free vehicle.

Kudos to MINI of Manhattan for fixing the problem. Heck, I would have installed the seat myself. It only takes about 10 minutes for a swap.

 

Mini of Manhattan didn't fix my problem.

Raven: The original dealer who didn't catch the broken strut mount did end up fixing the seat at there cost, no questions asked. So if it seemed before like I was giving them a pass it was for good reason.