I just got back from a wasted trip to my dealer. Since my "local" dealer is about 100 miles away from my home, I made a specific appointment with my MA to discuss some delivery questions in person. After confirming the day/time, I told him to let me know if anything came up. I try to be considerate, as I realize I am not his only customer.

Well, the short version of the story is that I showed up at the appointed hour (no conflict had been brought to my attention) -- and he wasn't there. According to another salesman, my MA had taken off to attend to another customer with a very fat wallet. No message had been left for Yours Truly (aka The Sap).

At this stage, I'm not going to mention the dealer, as I want give him the opportunity to be civilized an explain this to me. This type of behavior is not polite in any situation.

Thanks for allowing me to vent...

 

Just remember this stuff when given the survey about your "experience" with the dealership, and their pitch for giving them all fives. I don't understand such rudeness. Why couldn't he have at least left a message for you?


Clover

 

Indeed. A simple message left with another salesman would have smoothed the waters considerably.

This survey will be interesting to fill out. Unfortunately, this dealer has made stratifying their customers a high art form. MINI is one of their "volume" brands amongst several high-end brands. The result of this situation is less than stellar service, as many of the customers are worth several hundred million and like to throw their weight around.

My salesman was breathlessly returning a local billionaire's (no exaggeration) BMW to him after it was serviced. Hard to compete with that, it seems...

 

Address your experience to the MA's manager if you don't hear from him, they should take care of you. not using names is good, you did the best. sorry for the inconvenience, happens, and happens very frequently.

 

Make sure to get some nice "freebies" out of the dealer the day you take delivery of your new MCS.

An apology from your MA is definetely in order....

 

only wish you were close to memphis and you could see what i mean when i say - ROADSHOW MINI IS THE BEST! never had any problems with MA or SA ..... sorry about your bad experience though

 

I'd consider cancelling the order, if I drove 100 miles, and my MA missed his appt. You might want to give Classic MINI a call, they're in the Vendor Directory. Classic Auto Sales as a whole sells quite a few brands, but the folks at Classic MINI are MINI-only, and proud of it!

Didn't get a warm fuzzy from my local MA's and dealerships either, and went with Classic based on feedback here. I'm in MD, so this was a bit of a jump. Had a touch of buyer's remorse, but promptly rationalized it as one tankfull of gas, and all went well.

The service at Classic was OUTSTANDING, and they discount dealer-installed options for NAM members.

Give Mike Kost or Julie a ring, they'd love to get your business!

Cheers,
Matthew Z.

P.S. If you DO call Classic, tell Mike I said "hey!", wouldja?

 

That's good advice.

 

Unfortunate for your experience. Before you take your business elsewhere, I would let your MA know how you feel. This may come to your advantage. Tell him honestly that you were really upset over the ordeal and may cancel. He may say fine, or maybe try to make it up to you. It may be worth it in your wallet. MINI's are worth it, even though salespeople usually aren't.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words, folks.

I'm keeping the order cancellation idea in mind. My MA responded to an email I sent after I got home; a "sorry I was not there - another customer needed attention" response. Not a direct quote, but you get the idea; a classic customer vs. CUSTOMER differentiation. The aforementioned CUSTOMER probably buys two very expensive cars per month from this dealer (must be nice) -- I'm considered lower on the totem pole. Although I'm not going to try to push my MA around because of this, I guarantee you that the delivery will go without a hitch and any questions/concerns will be attended to at the point of delivery.

Incidentally, it was my MA that referred me to NAM, so he may actually read this thread (and recognize the situation). If this is the case, be advised, my anonymous MA: I'm not going to accept anything other than excellent service from now on.

 

The writting is on the wall

 

I hope that everything works out for you. If it were me, though, and I was treated with such disregard and lack of basic respect for my time and trouble I would take my money elsewhere. Really, you are coming from quite a ways and in spite of the prior commitment he made he could not even take the trouble to contact you to reschedule or do something better then leave you hanging without any consideration?

In the least he should take find a way to give you a worthwhile upgrade to your car, even if it comes out of his commission.

Best of luck

 

I would have dealt with the MA's manager. Especially if you are in the pre-sales stage. You should go up the chain and get the satisfaction you deserve as a potential customer. No excuse for being treated like that. Im sure there are others at the dealer who could have worked with you.

 

See if you can get him to swap out those "extra-heavy S-Lites" for something nicer.

Good luck!

 

The best thing you can do is give him a 4 or less on his point rate of 1 to 5. This is their bread and butter and if you grade accordingly, it will pinch him with the overall score at the end of the month.
PS: I gave mine all 5 because of pitty. ( I cant see my salesman doing anything other than selling minis...nevermind he was flooring the demo cars like crazy!...thank god mine came right into the dealer when I was there so he had no chance to take it for a "friendly" spin.

 

I'd call the manager and demand to switch MA's. Don't take the chance that your experience is an indication of this MA's MO* --especially since you're so far from the dealership.


*approach to customer service, that is -- couldn't resist!

 

Kevin,

I think the suggestion to cancel the order and take your business to Classic MINI in Mentor, Ohio is an excellent one. I see nothing but happy customers post about Classic here on NAM.

In fact, there have been two group-buys of MINIs by Californians who didn't want to pay over MSRP or wait a year for their MINIs. Those folks had their MINIs shipped out on a covered truck and were very pleased with the whole transaction. Please consider this alternative. The other place sounds HORRID!!


Clover

 

I have to interject and give credit where it is due, I'm in Northern California and got my Mini at South Bay Mini in Socal/Torrance, the wait was not long (factoring in the long boat trip to get to this coast), I paid MSRP and they did not even harass me about the survey

{There probably was a mention of the survey but nothing big at all so I don't even remember it, not like the strong arming some go through (and I've gone through with BMW service).}

Anyway, I hate to see all California dealerships painted with the same brush, so to speak; South Bay did a great job and even went above and beyond to try to help with the stupid windshield situation I went through 400 miles into ownership.

 

Your MA is an AH (you can guess) - unless he had a broken arm... there is NO excuse for not calling your... even if it was after you were in route. That is nonsense. I wouldn't stand for it. I would have talked to the sales manager.

Good luck with them.

 

Again, thanks for the support. An interesting fact is that my MA is also the sales manager(!)

I'm going to let this situation sit for the time being. Hopefully this type of behavior by this dealer will not be repeated. I'll file this episode in my memory for when the inevitable stress-cracked-windshield-situation comes up and we're "discussing" if it's covered by the warranty.

Thanks for pointing out Classic MINI as an option. I checked their inventory thread and didn't see anything in stock that met my requirements. As I'm so close to getting my MINI anyway, I'll stick with my current dealer. Six weeks of waiting is plenty. If this deal somehow collapses, I could make due with other options.

Thanks for the help, and I'll let you know how it all turns out. I'm hoping delivery will be within the next few weeks.

 

I notice you are in Western Ohio - I too am in Western Ohio area. Assuming its a dealer in Ohio (not necessarily a good assumption) - I have you narrowed down to 2 dealers. I have been servicing my 2002 MC at one that is approximately 100 or so miles from me. Service department I am OK with - however I am waiting on delivery of my 2005 MCSa and I can tell you I am not thrilled with my MA. I thought maybe it was me, but my wife is not impressed either. I hope for his sake the dealer installed options are perfect and the car is immaculate - otherwise delivery will not go smoothly!

I wonder if we are have more in common????

 

You're correct - the dealer in question is in Ohio. I'd rather not be more specific, as this episode has been more of an inconvenience rather than a real problem. One of the many things in life that "need not happen", as I like to say.

Your expectation of a car in perfect condition at delivery is certainly reasonable. You've paid a lot of money for a new car -- it should be perfect. Almost a shame to subject it to the real world after you've bought it.

I'm afraid my little experience is all too common with in-demand products or services.