Hello to your all!

I have been a member of these forums for a while and have found the information within very helpful.

So i am posting this question due to a very disappointing experience (one of many) with a local dealer (can you call local a 60 mile away dealer?).

i have recently purchased a '06 Mini Cooper GP, and it needs the passenger's side motor mount replaced and some other minor items. when i first contacted the service adviser and mentioned that i have a Mini Cooper "GP", she did not know that a "GP" was? so i explained to her what a "GP" was!

Is this acceptable coming from a "MINI" Dealer?
i Personally would expect "The Service Advisers" to be familiarized with all the different variations of "THEIR" product! is not like the BMW/MINI has had hundreds of models over the last "6 years"?

Has anybody experience this type of ignorance at their local dealership?

Thanks for attention,

 

Sounds pretty typical of the dealerships. Part of the reason why I don't take my car there. I pay out of pocket for warranty repairs .

 

i see you are in Agura Hill, so you most be familiar with the bad service from Bob Smith Mini!

thanks for the advice, sad that it has to come to this. Mini cars are great little cars and if we only had responsible/honest dealers to complement our motoring experience......

 

Indeed I am. They wanted my car for a week to FIND OUT why my window wasn't working. I told them why it wasn't working. The motor was burnt out. I bought the motor from another dealership and had Danny at MINICORSA install it in 30 minutes.

How they expected me to get around for that week while they kept my car to diagnose why the window wasn't wokring I have no idea...

 

Im not tooting any horn or anything ( why would i ? i dont work on minis ) but the BMW store in Cincinnati is a great customer oriented dealership. dont take my word for it check out www.cincyminis.com or check out the cincinnati section of the forums and see what people say about it. I know this doesnt help you too much out there, i just want to chime in that not all dealerships blow ballz

 

No, there are definitely some dealerships that are customer service oriented, but the majority of them out there just don't care unfortunately.

MINI of Peabody does it right. They were recently featured in MC2 magazine for their customer service. When the customer would rather wait for their car than get a loaner, you know you're doing something right. The sad part is, they don't have a loaner car program there!

If other dealerships would follow suit and focus on customer service rather than keeping cars for a month for something stupid, they could drop their loaner car program and save some money!

 

I will keep MINICORSA in mind, i am in Santa Barbara, Calif. so it is not easy to find good Mini Mechanics up here. i would not mind driving south to a good mechanic. Thank for the tip!

 

if Mini Dealer would be more customer service oriented, i personally wouldn't mind much to pay the ridiculous 3K over window sticker!

 

and management does not give a s@*&%! i tried to talk to the Sales Manager about the lack of knowledge (had to talk to sales manager due to after 3 voice messages the service manager never did call me back) his first response was that this serv. adv. was a breath of fresh air to the service department. how does one thing relates to the other? i have no idea!

believe it or not, that was his response to my concern

 

we get in serious trouble in Ohio if a vehicle is in the shop more than a week. If it has been in more than two timesz for the same issue then we can get a write up. carelessness and laziness are not tolerated. we have a loaner car program that consists of ALOT of BMWs and Minis, and when those are used up we have contract with enterprise to get more cars. We even drive to your house and pick it up and drop off a loaner for nothing. and when its done we can even bring it back! pretty hastle free and with 35 BMW bays and 8 mini bays we take care of alot of cars everyday. I understand some dealerships dont care but please dont toss all of them into the mix, thats kinda stereotyping, and we all hate that

 

Well your dealership may be an exception to the rule, but here in Calif. i have yet to find a Mini dealership that actually CARES about their customers, and based on my experiences i can really say that pretty much ALL mini dealers don't give a rat's a@*& about their costumers, once you have written that 30K+ for that precious Mini you are on your own!

 

let me finish by saying that i envy you for having a GP and i wish you all the best. possibly try contacting customer service at miniusa. I personally have seen pretty miraculous stuff from higher ups. aside from that forget the service advisors and talk ( in person ) to the service manager. if he/she doenst want to help you, something is wrong.

 

Ralph Schomp is the ONLY MINI dealer here in the Rockies for about 4 states so somebody has to drive...Ralph Schomp ROCKS! Robert and the rest of the service team KNOW ALL ABOUT A GP so call them for advice if you ever need it! They provide A+ service.

OR: Move to Denver or sell your GP to Devin in Schomp MINI service!! He wants a GP!

GOOD LUCK! I feel lucky to have Ralph Schomp.

 

I know bad service really sucks and I'm very fortunate that my Service Advisor is excellent he makes sure to put his best mechanic on my GP and knows it is not to be washed. My dealership used to have a pretty funky customer relationship history but for some reason they have had a 180 degree turn and I must say I'm very pleased!

 

I wish my dealer ( Bob Smith , Calabazas Calif) would also do the same

 

I live 130 miles from the closest Mini dealership and it happens to be Bob Smith. I had a 2003 MCS that I had to take there a few times for recalls. I was never a good experience. I need minor warranty work on the GP and have been putting it off because I do not want to deal with Bob Smith Mini. I try to do all my own work on my Minis.

Amilgarcia,
Since you live in Santa Barbara, you might want to try Central Coast Coopers in Ventura. However, I notice that there webpage is not working so maybe they have closed.
Since you are in Santa Bar

 

i will try them! i am so disappointed with the service at Bob Smith (isn't a considence that the initials would be "BS" ).... and am sure that contacting BMW/MINI USA will do nothing!

 

If the SA doesn't know what a GP is no big deal just make sure the mechanic has seen one before yours .

If makes you feel any better 1 year ago a new SA at my dealership asked me: "what year is the MINI, automatic or standard trans ? " at the third "stupid" question I got up and went to the sales mgr (same room) and told him " Would you pleeeease educate the new SA? "

Congratulations and welcome to the Great Perfomers club !!!!