My family has had similar issues. We went looking for my car before the second dealership opened in houston. Totally ignored, not that there was a sole in the showroom or anything. Anyway new dealership opened, within 10 minutes we put down a deposit.

Another story: We go out ready to buy a car for my mother. We get snubbed at BMW (diff from MINI), Mercedes, Audi, and lexus. We told every one of them that they just lost a sale as we were walking out. We headed across the street to Infiniti and bought a M on the spot. She ended up liking it more than any of the other cars anyway. Its awsome BTW...

 

[QUOTE=Red_5] Becky and her husband just stopped at the VW dealer because it was on the way! Becky is the kind of person that wants the warm fuzzy and the attention (and that is not a positive or a negative trait)QUOTE]

No disrespect but I have to disagree and say this is a bad trait. Buying a car is a business transaction. You’re friend was "set" on getting a MINI but walked into another dealership. This dealership bent over backwards to kiss her behind and blow smoke up her rear and she walked out with a car because she enjoyed it? It is bad when someone can be swayed into a purchase which could last 5+ years by one hour of butt kissing. Maybe it is just me but someone who will treat you like their long lost best friend because it will get them to your wallet faster sends a shiver down my spine.

 

I completely agree that buying a car is a business transaction. In any business transaction any little advantage is worth seeking, and in this case maybe a simple phone call to the dealership to set up an appointment would have been very helpful. Even if its short notice, they will take you more seriously this way - doesn't make much sense, as you'd think that physically walking into the dealership would grant you that seriousness, but It never works for me that way.

I've always had better luck calling first and setting up an appointment. I'd also say that the person who bothers to pick up the phone is a little more willing to help.

 

I also had a good experience ordering from Mini of the Woodlands (Houston). Momentum Mini is much much closer to where I live than the Woodlands, but I'd heard bad reviews about them and that they add a $500 dealer charge. So I went out of my way to the Woodlands. I went in on a friday afternoon and was greeted by an MA within one minute of walking in. He was very friendly and knowledgeable. Unfortunately they didn't have a single car for me to test drive that day, but he let me have a look around one that was already sold on the floor and answered all my questions. I went back a week later on saturday morning with an appointment and again was quickly greeted not only by the MA, who was already busy at 9:30am, but by the two girls at the reception desk as well. I took a test drive and decided to order right then. The whole process was painless. My MA already knew I'd done my research and that I knew what I wanted so he didn't try to sell any options to me. In fact he even unsold me on a few that I was still on the fence about as well as warning me about installation charges that would double the cost of some options. The whole time it never felt like I was talking to a salesman, but just another Mini enthusiast. I hopefully will be taking delivery around the middle of next month. I can't wait!

 

I seriously doubt that. If she was set on getting a MINI, she would have bought one. If you REALLY want anything, any model of anything, you dont substitute something else for it.

If you walking into store SET on buying a cashmere sweater, do you then buy some ragwool because the saleman sweet talked you???

 

I guess Becky didn't care what the vehicle was, it was all about the strokin'. NFW I'd drive away with a New Beetle if I was ready to buy a MINI. Our experience was good at Tate MINI of Annapolis; we knew what we wanted and had researched the product extensively, yet found the salesman's advice helpful.

 

That is the dealership that i bought my car from. Supposedly the other one has changed... But ill never know.

 

i also purchased mine from morristown mini NJ in feb and great ans similar exp. The sales person just said hello... and than went about his business till i made eye contact with him again, than he came over. He talked to me just about how he liked the car and talked about some modded ones he has seen there that he really liked and we just chatted around as i already knew most of what i needed to know prior. I agree its a business transaction in the end of the day but everyone "thinks/knows" carsales people are always up to something in some way and are always looking for lies or deception even if its not that way. If someone talks to me man to man and says na, dont go for this or people seem to like that, than ill respect his opinions more and be more comfortable while still having my eyes open.
I have worked in retail while in hs & college for the past 10yrs. although mine involves a prof trade, i just say hello, need help with anything? they say na just looking or not yet so i just say ok ill be around if ya need me. And if i dont like something, i tell them, if they can get something better for less there, i tell them. i treat them like i would my mom if she was buying something and they are happy when they leave and come back again and a lot of times say thanks for straight with me. Even though im just a cake decorator/baker at the moment hehe

 

Hey man I whole heartedly agree with you, however, the point of this whole tread was that she "set" on a MINI and was talked into a VW because of some fancy schmoozing. She wanted a MINI but the way she was treated for 20 minutes was more important than what car she will drive for the next 5 years of her life.

 

Agreed, too. Don't forget - "she was set on the MINI - 99% sold", right? But, hmmm, she went ahead and also visited HONDA, TOYOTA & SCION, in addition to the VOLKSWAGON dealers. Becky was likely NOT sold on the MINI and perhaps felt obligated to Red 5 to follow through on a visit to a MINI dealer so she could say "she tried" and preserve the friendship/relationship? Okay, I'm reaching and extrapolating now .

FWIW - the first time we went to MoS, they were closed (early Sat hours) so we went over to the neighboring CarMax and test drove their used MINIs. We were researching the car we wanted after having test drove HONDAs, TOYOTAs and others :smile: beforehand. And despite heaving schmoozing by the HONDA dealer, we knew we wanted a MINI.

Ah well - enough from me already.

John

 

DUDE ... you GOT IT!

Imagine that, a little bit of sweet talking and off she goes ... :impatient

 

good point, but nothing surprises me after a female friend of mine said she would buy a mini just for the yellow blinking windshield wiper low fluid thing that she noticed flashing prior to our drive, and she hated minis before that

 

I don't know...is the saleswoman in the ragwool section really hot?

 

Not true. I got mine below MSRP AND because of the way I financed the car they cut me a check back. It was a very nice deal. Wound up being about $1100 below MSRP. So what if the mats were on the invoice!!!

 

I have to disagree with some here a little. In this day of crappy customer service, when you get crappy salemanship you have to wonder what kind of service you will get. That being said, you have to put everything together in the package. It doesn't matter if everything is perfect if the car falls apart. But lets take my case with my previous car, an Audi. The car was fun, mostly worked just fine. The dealer where I took it in Jacksonville was super. AUDIUSA treated me like a red headed step child and like they never wanted my business again. Guess what? That is what they will get.

 

a few weeks back when i was home on leave i stopped by northwest mini in WA state. being its the only mini dealer in the state and a saturday i figured no help just look (maybe) and be ignored. but how wrong i was, i was there maybe 2 minutes and the sales guy looked at me to let me know hed help if i needed i looked for a few minutes and went to talk to him about trading in my 03 mc on an 06 because, well hell there cute, he answered all my questions and then some. he was really good to work with.

 

People who make generalizations are all devil-worshipers.




…there.



Now that I got that out of the way (I hope you caught the irony), I wanted to share my two cents. I went through MINI of Sterling to buy my MINI this past March, and the experience was nothing short of fantastic. I could go into this long, drawn-out version of my story, but I’ve done that before; if you search hard enough on these forums you’ll see my full post.

Anyhoo, the short version is thus: Two years ago I drove my 1966 Cadillac up to the lot and one of the senior managers in the office dropped the paperwork that he was doing to see me. I basically told him that I have nowhere near enough money to buy a MINI yet, nor even in the near future, but I was simply interested in taking one for a drive to see how I liked it. I expected a cold shoulder after that, but I didn’t want him to get his hopes up that he would make a sale right then and there. He treated me like ROYALTY.

I promised I’d make this short, so I’ll fast-forward to purchase time.

The guy that I had spoken with a couple years back had been re-assigned to a customer relations position over both the BMW and MINI dealerships right there in Sterling, so I was unable to give him the sale. His nephew was actually the one that sold the car to me, and he was amazing as well. Laid-back, knew when to ask probing questions and when to let me talk, etc. He did not look desperate to make a sale, and yet he was eager to help when I needed it. I gave him all fives and had no concerns doing it. Side note: Regarding the $1000.00 ordering fee, I never had to pay it, so I do not believe that is a valid complaint.

It is really frustrating to read threads like this because it starts a “Bash XXX Dealership because I don’t like them” thread. First of all, Autologic, I’m sure that you trust the account your friend of 20 years gave you of her encounter at MoS, and I am not calling her a liar, but is there even the slightest chance that she over-exaggerated things? Beyond that, there could have been other external issues preventing her from getting the attention she believed she deserved. No, I’m not plopping this in her lap as if she did something wrong, but I know that there are at least two sides to every customer service encounter.

Making generalizations about a dealership because of one occurrence that was negative is simply obtuse. Granted, I know that there have been many issues like this with MoS, just like there have been with MINI dealerships all across the country. If you take the number of actual negative customer service issues at MoS and compare that with their total number of sales transactions, I’m sure you will find that the negative experiences happened a very slim percentage of the time. It’s just like the people who read this forum and worry that they bought a car that is rife with problems and gremlins. It’s a product of the fact that those who have had problems are vocal about them. I loved it when the user (and I can’t for the life of me remember who it was; sorry!) here posted about each problem-free day or week he had experienced with his MINI. Such a positive outlook! But I digress.

Am I staunchly defending MoS and all it stands for? Heck no. Do I recognize the fact that some people have had bad experiences there? Heck yes. Did I have an absolutely fantastic experience there? You bet your life I did.

So please, guys. Let’s be careful about what we say in threads like this.

Sorry this was so long.

 

Ancedotal experience is not what 99.9 percent have experienced.