I purchased a new Clubman S in March from a local dealer, and five weeks ago placed an order for a "protective boot space cover" to keep my shedding dog's hair from matting my carpet on a planned cross country trip this coming week.

It's been FIVE WEEKS, and I have gotten nothing but a stalling technique from my dealer parts department. They say that the Ontario distributor has 17 of them in stock, but they will not ship them to the dealer. The parts worker at the dealership has talked to four different people at the Ontario distributor ship with nothing happening. I have already cancelled my plane tickets and since I will not have the cover by this Friday when we are leaving, we will have to take my wife's older car.

I AM VERY, VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS WHOLE SITUATION ..... thought that BMW/MINI had a better system and was more customer sensitive. When I called MiniUSA customer service, I was told that they do not "get involved in part orders". I am happy with the car, but might not have purchased it if I knew that service and order responses was going to be this poor.

Anyone else have this type of response from what I thought was a first rate company that was concerned with owner's problems?

 

You can order parts from different dealers - may even save some money. There are several which are NAM vendors that offer discounts for online orders. You can call and inquire about availability and shipping costs, then place an order online.

Or, just get an old blanket and throw it down in the back of your Clubbie and hit the road.

I'll spare you the details, but yes, I've gotten that sort of response from a dealership about a problem I thought would be that simple to resolve.

 

Well, how about cancelling the order and buying from someone that wants your business? I'd check out

http://www.poochstyle.com/

I've never bought from them, but have recommended several MINI friends with dogs and they were super pleased.

 

I second the poochstyle recommendation. Absolutely FABULOUS customer service, lightning fast shipping, high quality product.

 

How about tossing an old blanket in the back till you get this sorted out. Don't let the corporate idiots stall your travel plans.

Then again, you could line the boot with US dollar bills. They're worthless!
Ba-da-Bing! Try the veal.

 

Mini rule #1: Don't buy anything from the dealership except the car or something that you can't get anywhere else (which isn't much, if anything). Even oem Mini parts can be ordered from Morristown Mini in NJ cheaper and faster then your local dealer.

 

Sorry you've not had a good experience getting your stuff...that just plain stinks...

But as a few others above have posted, I've seen quite a few good things posted about the poochstyle vendor...

Donna

 

+1
Poochstyle is fantastic about responding to questions and accommodating you. I had already bought the liner from my dealership the day I picked up my Clubby or I would have gone with Poochstyle.
So far the Scottsdale MINI dealer has had whatever I want in their parts department. They even went downstairs and got the things for me so I didn't have to go down to ask.

 

buckbs - I ordered the boot protection as well when I placed my order back in April. I got a call from my MA Thursday to schedule a Friday pickup, and he told me the bad news that they didn't have the boot protector in stock and that it was on a national backorder . I asked how long it would take to get it in, and he didn't really have an answer for me. It's very frustrating!!!

I have been looking at the mats on poochstyle.com and am thinking about ordering one...but the one thing that I really liked about the MINI protector was that it protects the sides of the boot as well. I'm ordering it for my Dalmatian - Dalmatian hair has a way of sticking right into everything and it ridiculously difficult to remove. I was hoping to be able to use both of them together to get maxium coverage...

 

Clubdal or buckbs... PM me, I have the checkered Protective Boot Space Cover that I just ordered and I no longer need it. Its bran-new, in box, directly from MINI. Haven't even opened!

 

I'm with MINI USA. I've passed this message on to a MINI National Customer Relations Representative who will be in touch with you soon.

 

Just a sidenote to this thread...use a pair of latex gloves to get that dog hair out of your carpet. Even with the best of covers, mats, etc, you are bound to still get some dog hair stuck in some carpet. I've tried everything else and nothing works as good as putting on a pair of latex gloves and just brushing off the hair...works almost like magic.
Just my 2c's.

 

That's a good suggestion I haven't tried. I use a pet hair brush that's basically a hair brush with rubber fingers instead of bristles. When you brush the mat, the hair is pushed together into a little pile. I use a shop vac to such it up. So it's a process of brush and suck. Goes very quick, and gets the hair without too much effort.

This brush was discontinued but if you can find something like it, I don't know of anything better.

 

One of my MINI friends, a magician, hauls around rabbits, birds, etc. in his new MC. He bought about 4-5 yards of velour type fabric and covered the back seats and boot interior. So far it has worked really well. That may be a good temporary solution. Good luck!

 

The Clubman is still a new model and spare parts/accessories haven't made it to the pipeline, yet. I ordered a simple plastic part at the beginning or March for mine and had to wait 8 weeks for the dealer to get it.

BMW has an annoying tendency to release new models without proper parts support. It doesn't matter what dealer you go to... All of them get the same parts from the same source: "Germany"

 

MiniDivision,

Thanks for your concern, but I have already talked to Mini Customer Service, and when I explained what was going on, the "blew me off" like I was bothering them instead of calling about a legitimate problem.

They acted like they were not concerned at all, saying "we do not handle parts or accessory complaints or problems". Actually really hurt my feelings and ego as a mini owner.

I cancelled the order from mini, and ordered the merchandise from another source, which I will do from now on. No more orders from Mini.

 

That's a good suggestion - I'll have to give that a try! I had to take my dog to the vet yesterday so I covered the cargo area and back of the front seats with sheets - it wasn't perfect, but it helped. Once I pulled them up I used a lint roller (the tape version) to grab the stray hairs, and it worked remarkably well (much better than in my previous vehicle). Of course I found a few hairs today that escaped me...but that's just part of having a dog!!!!