I have heard a lot of good things about Patrick and saw someone mentioning their good experience with a MA named Maria, so on the order of my new MINI I went to Patrick and got Maria as my MA. I first called Patrick and Knauz to see where they were at in terms of production weeks, the difference was of about 2-3 weeks. I asked my MA about it and was told that she believed the plant holidy was for the weeks that Knauz was offering me a spot in. Unable to clear anything up, I foolishly believed Knauz was wrong and that I would get it at the same time no matter where I ordered. This was my fault.

So I go in July 11th after having already discussed production weeks with Maria the previous day and order my car. The following is the line of communcation I had with her:
====================================
July 12th:

Hey Maria

I was wondering if you were able to get a production number yet. Also, I have a question regarding the plant holiday. According to the NAM forum, the holiday is the last two weeks of August, week 34 and 35, the fact that Knauz would have been able to get me into week 30 and 31 seems like a confirmation of this fact. Are you not able to get me into that week because of filled spots or what? Please let me know as this is different than what you were previously saying.

Michael

==================================


July 14th:
Michael,

We are trying to get you in an earlier production time.

I will keep you posted.



==================================
Hey Maria,

Thanks for replying. Please give me a call if you get an update, 847-XXX-XXXX, I am very anxious to get the car and we are in need of it, so the earlier the better. Also, please give me the specs of the car that you are building for me, I just want to double check that everything is correct.

Regards,
Michael
===============================================
July 16th:

Hey Maria;

Still waiting to hear back from you in terms of what options you have for me. I have made a few changes and would like to add them to the list. What is the status in terms of production number? What are the chances you will be able to get me into an earlier production? As far as I know, week 30 is starting up. I would also appreciate a response in regards to the plant holiday, I just want a clear answer as to why I am at a later production date to begin with. Finally I would like to know if the supposed plant holiday for week 34 and 35 will in any way affect my order if I am to stay at week 32. Please respond to me when you get this message, I will also be calling Knauz tomorrow to see where they are at in terms of production week.

mike
=================================
July 17th:
Michael,

Your car will be week 32. The MINI will be built that week therefore when the plant closes down it will not effect your MINI. It will already be at port waiting for transport.

We are still working on getting you into the week 31 production, but nothing is set yet…worst case you are confirmed for week 32.
====================================

Maria,

Could you send me the specs you have for me as there are some things I have changed. Also, is now a good time to fax the financing papers?

====================================
Order specs sent.

For the most part everything else goes fine until we're in the middle of week 32 and my status has not changed at the owner's lounge or ASKMINI.

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August 6th:

Hey Maria,

it's week 32 yet my car has not entered production, at least as far as the Owner lounge and MINIUSA tells me. Please let me know what is going on, the owner's lounge gives me a status of on order, while 866-ASKMINI says scheduled for production with no confirmed production date. Week 32 ends this saturday and I should be complete by then to be in week 32, I am in very urgent need of the car and it will be a big hassle if I am not able to get it by mid-Sept as promised. Please look into this and get back to me.

================================

August 7th:
Michael,

At this time you are scheduled for week 35. You will get it towards the end of September.
============================================
I am VERY disappointed at this turn of events. I was originally promised a delivery date of mid-September. What is the reason for this delay? And what can you do for me, in terms of any discount, now that you are unable to deliver on your promise? Please get back to me ASAP.

mike

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Michael,
I gave you an estimated date. The reason for delay is our production numbers were for that week and I told you that when you ordered. You even questions it cause the dates you felt fell on a week they would be closed.
I will not discount this car for you-as I didn’t do anything wrong with the ordering. Sometimes that is what happens and we have no control over that.
You can try to get an earlier production number from another dealer if you’d like however we are all in the same boat and have always been in that same boat.
Let me know what you think.
Maria
==========================================

Here is what you told me.. I am quoting your email:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Michael,

Your car will be week 32. The MINI will be built that week therefore when the plant closes down it will not effect your MINI. It will already be at port waiting for transport.

We are still working on getting you into the week 31 production, but nothing is set yet…worst case you are confirmed for week 32.

Maria
Happy Motoring!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I apologize for initially using the capped letters, but please understand based on the quoted email why I am frustrated at the turn of events I feel like I was really blindsided by this and when you emailed me to tell me of the change, there was no apology, no explanation offer, the change was rather stated as a matter of fact. You tell me that you only advised me, but words like "will be built," "will not effect," and "confirmed for week 32" gave me a sense of something different.

Regards,
Michael
========================================

That was if I was able to get you week 32 from a trade.
Sent via BlackBerry
Maria

=============================================

Our week 32 was pushed back by MINI. Not by us.

Therefore we HAVE NO CHOICE but to accept what they do as far as production status.

Like I said. Feel free to call knauz and transfer your order with them if you are unhappy here.
I am sorry this happened Mike, but you were not the only MINI affected. We had several others in the same situation with you.


==================================================

Please feel free to accept my apology and if you need to go elsewhere to secure a sooner production date, the by all means do what will make you happy.

I cannot control what MINI does with our production dates. Those are out of our control.

Thanks.
Maria

================================================== ==

I'm not sure what you mean by a trade, you were trying to get me into week 31, but I was confirmed as week 32.
Mike

================================================== =====


We were going to do a dealer trade with another dealer in another state to obtain a spot in the 31 week spot. No one had one, and our 32 week spots got pushed to off.
Maria



=========================

For the most part this ends converstations and I place my order with Knauz. overall I'm pretty disappointed that she never responded to my initial question to her about what she told me in terms of the factory holiday. Also, when I was told about the change, that no apology was initially given, and even when it did, it only came after I confronted her about that and after she gave me an excuse about a trade for production week. I have to admit that I did not see those two apology responses till now, it got lost somehow in my mail and mabye I shouldn't have asked about a discount; however, can you blame a guy for trying? and was her response appropriate? That with having to find out about the change in production week myself really disappointed me. I figure, if MINIUSA was pushing a dealerships' production week back that they would get some form of notification before the week was already ending and I would have been contacted.

Overall, my experience was subpar. Sure, mine might be unique, she might have had a bad day, I might have a had a bad day, but things just weren't handled well. I felt like I was being given excuses or my question dodged instead of getting straight answers.

I am happy now though that I placed my order at Knauz for week 34 with my old MA, David, and was able to get a very small discount (my second order with him), something I wasn't even able to get at Patrick after this whole fiasco. I just wanted to post this so the different experiences with Patrick are noted and nobody gets to thinking that Patrick is so much better than the other dealers.

 

thanks for sharing... I am going with Christina at Bill Jakobs havent actually placed the order yet - will be doing that in the next week or so - but this is all very very helpful... good luck with your 2nd order

 

I've had such a good sales/service experience with Patrick that I've bought two MINI's from them. I've had nothing but positve experiences with Maria, both with service and sales. I think you were a little optimistic about trying to get an earlier production date. Maria is right. Patrick has no control over production dates, and Maria shouldn't be held accountable for a factory production schedule screw up beyond her control. Hope things go smoothly with delivery.

 

By reading your post, it doesn't even seem like they wanted your business at all. I bought my mini from maryland (just moved up here) and all the dealerships around the dc area wanted your business. I bought my car used (2006 MCS) and didn't notice there was a crack on the windshield. It was a Saturday and he said he'll have it in the shop and it'll be ready by Monday morning. I came in that they, but he was off, so I spoke with the sales manager who was pretty rude and said it wasn't going to be ready. I was pretty pissed because the drive was pretty far with traffic. Later that day though, my salesman called me up to apologize for the miscommunication and told me he'd drop the car off at my house for me, which he did. He even still emails me to see how I'm doing up here in Illinois. <---- Now that's a place that wants your business.

 

I'd like to know what dealer in Maryland you got your MINI, if you don't mind. Because MoS has been the most unresponsive, unknowldgible dealership I have ever dealt with (although they seem on par for MINI).

The emails posted here from Maria seem very curt and unaplogetic. However, since we are not privy to any of the initial or supplemental conversations, it's hard to draw a conclusion. Nonetheless "confirmed" is supposed to mean confirmed. If MINI's version of "confirmed" means "maybe" --- and I have no doub it does --- then the OP should have been advised of the same.

 

got it from mini of towson and evan was my salesman, yeah i kind of avoided sterling because they did seem pretty unresponsive.

 

I have to agree with mataku. Unfortuantely, I had the "pleasure" of dealing with Maria too. I'll try to keep my story short, but I have never been treated so badly by anyone.
Here starts my story...
I planned on ordering a MINI, but my Grand Prix was starting to worry me. My trade in was my only down payment, so if something substantial broke, I was out a down payment. I wanted the Astro Black, S Conv, black int, H/K, and limited slip. I was having a VERY hard time finding the AB, so I started to look for the DS, the only other color I liked. Patrick had one in stock, so I called and was passed on to 3 different people. However, I gave them my build sheet to see if they could locate the car I really wanted. After a week of them shoving comepletely different cars in my face (including filling my email box with offers for $60k BMWs!), I made an appt to see the DS with Maria for the following evening. On my way home, I decided to stop by Knauz just in case they had something new. Within 30 seconds, Danny found my perfect car on a boat... be here in a week. SOLD! I told him to hold off on securing the car until I talked to my BF that evening. We decided to get it. The next morning, I called Maria to cancel my appt (I could have just let her sit waiting, and I should have...) and told her that Knauz found my car. She asked a bunch of questions and tried to get me to come in. I then called Danny and said, get the car. An hour later, my phone rings and Maria excitedly tells me that she has secured my car, it's on it's way to Patrick. WHAT?! She had all my info for over a week! She could have done her homework previously and found my car. Knauz took the time and found my car. When I said I already talked to Knauz, she said too bad, it's our car now. Then she proceded to scream at me, tell me that Knauz didn't go the "extra mile" for me and secure the car right away... I didn't ask them too. Then she told me she didn't want to sell the car to me and that I never intended to purchase a car from them. Of course I did! The DS one, or if she found the AB, but after being treated like that, no way! We got in a huge argument, and as soon as I hung up, I called Danny at Knauz and told him what happened. He called MINI to see if she really secured the car... she did.
I work in the autmotive business. I work in Parts. At the time I bought my car, I was a parts manager for Chevy (we've since closed, and I moved to our Caddy store). I deal with salesman everyday. I understand they can be a little sneaky to get a sale, but I have NEVER been treated like that or seen a salesperson do something so shady. I wanted Knauz to get the sale. They went above and beyond for me- did their homework immediately, and gave me a demo for the weekend when I was deciding on what kind of car to get. They deserved it and I asn't going to let this lady get my business. I called MINI and asked to talk to their regional rep. He called me back within a 1/2 hour. I told him what happened and he said he'd get back to me. He spoke with the GM of Patrick, who called me, appolgized profusly, told me he would take a ton of money off the car, reprimand Maria, send me flowers... blah, blah, blah...
Evetually, he agreed to dealer trade the car to Knauz. Everything was set. The day my car arrived, Knauz called and said they sent someone to pick up my car at Patrick. A few minutes later, Maria called me and said "Your car is here! Are yous till interested?" I quickly said, it's already purchased and is not your car and hung up. WHAT?! she called thinking I was still going to buy the car from them! That tells me the GM didn't tell her anything about the regional rep or my phone call. Apparently, after hearing mataku's story, they are letting her continue to treat people like crap. I am VERY happy with Knauz and everything they have done. My car has been in for servie twice now (just little stuff) and they have been wonderful.

 

Sorry for all the typos... tried to type too fast