I have one question for every MINI owner out there.
Why is it that a lot of customers complaint about the long drive to the dealership to get the car serviced??? You drove to the dealership to buy the car, did you noticed how long it took you to get there???

This has got to be the most annoying complaint ever... "well you guys are so far away, i can't belive i gotta drive that far..." Well we can send you the parts or the diagnostic tools and you can fix your own car then.

I'm sorry, i really don't like coming into the forums and complaint about my job, but sometimes customers get to you. I drive 35 minutes to go to work each way(all highway) and i do it because when i took the job i knew that it would take that long(and that's not counting the winter season)

so if you drove hours to buy your car you should know that it's going to take hours to take it in to get serviced... that's all. thanks!

 

Just to point out the irony....why did you take the job if you knew you were gonna be dealing with car owners (who often complain about every little detail )

Just something to think about

 

When our local BMW dealership has factory trained MINI service techs who are not allowed to work on MINI's, that is somewhat annoying. Our local BMW dealership has been telling us that they were going to become a MINI dealership for 3+ years, but hasn't happened yet.

If only the closest MINI dealers would do as you suggested and send me the parts I'd need to fix minor annoying things. Would have saved me a lot of time on a couple occasions if they would have simply sent me the rather inexpensive part I needed. . .

joey, what MINI dealership do you work for, because I will definitely call you when I need a dealer to send me the parts and diagnostic equipment I need to do warranty repairs myself.

Here in Birmingham Alabama, our closest dealer is over 2 hours away, and our closest competent dealer is 3 hours away. . .

 

Every customer related job deals with complaints, that's a fact. But is annoying when a customer who drove hours to the dealership to buy the car and knows that it's the ONLY MINI dealer around gets mad when he has to come back to get the car serviced. It doesn't make any sense at all...:impatient

 

I can totally understand your frustration but BMW decides how many MINI dealerships are allowed to in a specific area. Apparently the BMW dealership by you has not been given the ok to buy the MINI brandname.

as you well know i can't send parts/equipment out to anyone for any kind of warranty repair. that has got to be done by MINI in order to be under warranty. I was just joking when i said that... sorry

 

I think what is annoying to folks is when they make special arrangements for servicing at dealerships that are far away, to insure not having to make multiple trips back, only to discover that their needs aren't always taken seriously.

I travel cross-country a lot, and when I had to make service appointments in advance, meaning traveling 600 miles round-trip to do so, the dealership I used was very considerate in booking me for early appointments, to be sure they got the necessary work done.

I'm lucky to live in SoCal and have many MINI dealerships available that provide service. However, people love MINIs even if they don't have a dealership nearby.

 

no problem, joey. . .

I'm just fine with a road trip to get our MINI's serviced. I knew that was the name of the game when I signed up for the team.

 

Because people love to complain and some people aren't happy unless they have something to complain about. So if we didn't complain you wouldn't have anything to complain about. Plus you know what i hate when people complain about people complaining.

 

Wait huh?

So even though you knew that you would be listening to complaints, it's okay for you to complain about having to listen to complaints.

But it's not alright for someone to complain about having to drive because the knew they would have to drive?

People complain about what upsets them....be it a rational reason or not. It's not hard to listen to the complaints and just shrug them off when it comes to being an employee.

 

So as an employee of MINI, you would recommend that a customer should buy another product, if the alternative are complaints to you that a 2 hour return visit in a few days will be required?

...alrighty then, so if MINI wants to become a mainstream brand, they must expand their reach or even their own employees will recommend buying another brand?

I too was one that purchased an MCS thinking that a dealership would eventually open closer, and 4 years, 3 months later...nothing.

...thanks for the perspective, I will contemplate this on my 160 mile roundtrip to my dealer next time.

 

yeah i know people complaint, we all do. my job is to fix peoples complaints. i.e. "my car rattles/squeaks/pulls/drifts/overheats etc." and i love my job i really do. and when i started working in this business i knew what it was going to take for me to be good at it.

I can't make the drive shorter. I can't send you parts. I can't mail you repair instructions... i can't fix this "problem" of how long you have to drive... so don't complaint to me about it.. there's nothing i can do. I you don't like to drive you should not have car:impatient .

 

I'm not saying don't buy the product. that's your decision. Do you hate driving the 160miles roundtrip to your dealership? if you do and you know that another dealership is not going to open around you, then thats a factor you should consider in your next vehicle purchase.

Like i said, I drive to work at least 1/2 hour each way(we will see how long it takes when the snow starts falling ) all highway and i enjoy the drive. Why? because i love my work and i enjoy going to work each day. I used to work less than 10minutes away(city driving) and i switched knowing that it was going to be more traveling and more expensive with the gas and wear on my car. But i don't complaint about it because i chosed to do it...

 

Joey, you need to learn a bit more about customer service...

 

And we can fix the problem of all owners complaining?

Following your logic:
We can't stop people from complaining, so stop complaining to us about it.

 

Dude if you could send me the diagnostic equipment and parts that would be great. (I know, I know something about "theft" and "equipment" and "felony" and "fired" right, oh well)

I bought my MINI from a dealer 35 miles away, no biggie. Then I moved nearest dealer 75 miles and it was in the center of a major city, only to find out that their service dept wasn't open on Sat. (unlike the 3 by where I bought my MINI) and there techs didn't even have knowledge of car functions explained in the owners manual (the tech couldn't operate my dome light!! And I'm going to let him touch my brakes or airbags riiiight, sorry i don't think so!) So I was left driving to another metropolitain area 95 miles away (ooh was that fun with a tire threatening to blow out) arriving only to find the serivce bay was full so my appointment was worthless come back another time, and they were also closed on Saturdays.

Solution I did the work myself and I paid for the parts and some additional tools that I needed. (or wait 17k miles of driving to have my airbag fixed, turned away from the to 75 and 95 mile dealers cause they couldn't hold my slot for two days)

I couldn't even get the BMW dealer to give a reccomendation on wether or not to rotate my tires, let alone pay them to do it (cause it certainly couldn't be covered under the service plan) and I was asked to get my car off the lot ASAP and not to bring it back, for fear of a higher up seeing a MINI at a BMW dealer that wasn;t MINI certified regardless of wether or not it was being worked on.

I've since moved back to where I bought my car, and let them do the warranty work, until someone in the service dept. got into an accident with my car so now I'm back to me fixing it. Please send me the parts and tools and diagnostic equipment!!!! (what you're not going to bring up the whole "fired" thing again are you?)


But I never complained about the distance to the dealer its not their fault and its not something they can change. I know my tech at my dealer 34 miles away and he has been really helpful, I'll often stop by just to say, and talk cars for 10 min. and let him know how everything is with the car, he put a lot of into getting my warranty work done and done right. (I was at my local dealer almost every week in the month of May and June having a variety of items fixed (O2,airbag,heated seats, drivers door 3 times, passenger door 2 times, clock, 25k service, etc.))

You can't do anything about the distance people travel so let it go. But you asked why people get upset about it so there's your reasoning.

My local dealer did warn me not expect the same quality of service else where, I thought he was just tooting the dealerships horn at the time, when I got back I told him he was beyond correct.

 

thanks, I will follow your advice...live and learn.

For the record, I have visited my dealership on three occasions for service and never complained to an employee.

...and I'm in my 21st year of a 30 mile commute, good luck with yours!

 

hhhuuummmm, how so?
I try really hard every day to fix each and every car that it's given to me at work. I have gone wwwaaayy out of my way to help customers. I have joined this forum to help MINI owners in any way i can. I have gotten a lot of pm's with how-to ?'s, and i have answered everyone of them to the best of my knowledge...

But theres nothing i can do about the "long drive to the dealership". That was a decision made by you when you purchased the car(when i say you i don't mean you you) so don't be mad about it and enjoy the road...

 

yeah the snow is coming, i already switched to Blizzaks.
Not ALL customers complaint about the drive but some do. I just don't understand why get angry about something that they have control over.

 

I'm not mad, Joey, and I absolutely enjoy the road. I've made 10 cross-country trips in my MINI since 2003. Maybe you didn't intend it, but it seems that you started this thread to criticize and/or complain about your customers.

I encourage you to improve your people skills, and learn that as well as technical expertise, knowing how to provide service with a good attitude will take you very far in your career.

 

I would MUCH rather have a talented, surly, mechanic work on my car, that a friendly, grinning idiot. I can't understand peoples focus on the superficial and the ego-massage. Just because someone is passionate and great at fixing cars doesn't mean they have to be great at talking to me. Just like I want the best surgeon, not the most friendly, cuddly one.:impatient

 

I wish I was within a few hours drive of a Mini dealership! There aren't any here in Alaska, and I doubt any will be opening soon. There's a BMW dealership in Anchorage, but they can't work on Minis, as someone has pointed out already. Kinda annoying, but what can you do?

 

Okay lets start from the begining...
My only issue is with customers that complaint about the long drive to the dealership, when they bought the car there. Not others who have moved and have to find a new dealership. I mean the ones who decided to buy a MINI, found that the CLOSEST MINI dealership is 3 hours away, drove the 3 hours to buy the car and then are upset about having to drive 3 hours to get the car serviced... that's all.

I wish MINI continues to expand and be as easily reachable as a Ford dealership(they are everywhere) that way each MINI customer has different options to choose from when they decide to get the car serviced.

And if you knew me well, instead of just from this post, you would know that i enjoy talking with customers, answering any questions and helping the customers as well as my coworkers in any way i can. The reason why i know i treat my customers right is because when they come back they ask for me. They want me to work on their cars since they know that i'm passionate about my job and i try 110% to fix the car right the first time.

 

Well this seems like a no-brainer to me. I haven't experienced that as we have two mini dealers in Houston. I actually choose to drive to the one farther from me. I didn't even buy my car from a dealer here in Houston yet both have been very willing to deal with me and work with me.

 

I'll admit that I have complained about the drive on a few occassions. Why? I knew it was a 100 mile drive when I purchased the vehicle. That's not the problem. The problem is when inadequate service is given making me return on multiple occassions for the same issue. When working on a customers vehicle it is required to take into consideration of what the customer has gone through to bring their business to you.

I have worked in a job where we serviced customers equipement. We try our best to remedy the problem to make sure the customer is happy. Knowing it is a customer from the other side of the state or a situation where it's inconvienient to take the vehicle out of service. We put an extra effort to make sure the problem is correctly fixed before the customer leaves. Not just give an off the wall excuse and say what ever was performed should fix the problem.

I don't believe anyone should complain when going in for scheduled maintainance or an issue that has yet to be looked at. To return because of an issue that has not been correctly fixed on a previous trip or parts were not in stock. Then yes. I can understand a complaint.

 

You're not making a whole lotta sense here.