Sometimes good help is hard to find. Sorry to hear about you being jerked around.Q

 

It is not important who it was, just the fact it happened, but unfortunately you are wrong ...

 

Maybe you could send Agro or justaguyinvegas a PM and tell them/him who it was? I respect your wish not to disclose the name of the employee to the general Forum...but keep in mind, Agro and justaguy know these folks. The power of personal influence shouldn't be dismissed.

G/L resolving this. Seems a shame that a MINI is "cooped up" in a garage, when it should be out living its life to the fullest!

 

As it's the weekend, can you go the your local DMV or DOT in the am and get a 3 day tag/trip tag? I've gotten them all over the west coast, just not NV. Up here in WA they cost $10-20. At least you'd be able to play with your toy for the next 2 or 3 days.

God, I hate red tape compounded with 'I don't give a .....'

Best of luck.

 

He said Agro was wrong about him saying that it couldn't be either of the two people mentioned. That means it IS one of them. If they are both married and if one of them has a gf, he could be having an affair???

 

This dealership, Dessert MINI in Las Vegas, is the real culprit. This kind of treatment won't happen in a dealership where customer service is given high priority.

In the past when I owned other European sports sedans the dealerships always bent over backwards to make sure I was a happy customer. They always got me back as a repeat customer and I always referred others to their dealerships. That customer loyalty is what they strove for, it's what kept them in the successful column.

MINIs are hot sellers right now. Someday that 'hot seller' mode will pass and dealerships like Dessert MINI will woe those days when they didn't bother to solicit customer loyalty.

 

I guess it just goes to show how different people can have different experiences when buying a car at a certain dealership. In my experience Desert Mini has gone above and beyond to make me happy. They know me and they know my car. They always treat me with respect and always return my calls.

With all of these negative posts aimed at Desert Mini, I felt that I should stand up for them as a HAPPY customer.

 

Well, I for one, certainly hope that day is pretty far off.

 

Well, the morning update:

The license to drive the car (not the physical tags, but a temporary drive permit for 3 months) showed up this morning at my doorsteps, together with a set of floormats (which I told the MA would be ok to compensate for the rental - safes him money and makes no difference to me).

to add insult to injury, the extention was dated 4/26, thus it was sitting for more than a week at the dealer without them bothering to call me, deliver it or just plainly put it in an envelope and send it to me ...

While I can sort of understand that the MA just dropped it off in the middle of the night to avoid a discussion with me, it is telling that the Mini Manager did not react or response to my phonecall, either ...


Well, done deal, certainly left a sour note with Mini, but hopefully it is happy motoring from now on ...

 

Apparently some customers are more equal than others.

 

I guess they told you wrong, eh? Like I said they probably can print one of those in 30 seconds anytime they want (they do it for brand new deliveries). Sounds to me like they don't have their stuff together there. I mean dropping it off at night? WUWT?

 

Just so everyone knows... I was this gentlemans MA.

For starters, I take my job very seriously and personally. I lose sleep over stuff like this... the people that know me, know this.

No excuses, this registration issue was a nightmare and, unfortunately, we cannot control everything here. We have no control over the shipping company from the UK to Port Hueneme, we have no control over Waggoners Trucking, who ship our MINIs to us and we have no control over the DMV. Sadly, however, we have had great relationships with customers go bad over delays not related to the dealership. (Hold-ups at the Port, shipping and registration, etc.) The problem is, the customer doesn't see them, they see us, the MAs... so we are responsible. I have been here for over 2 years and have never had a registration issue go this sour. I could get no info from the DMV and, in turn, could not give my customer any decent info.

To clear things up... the registration arrived at our store on 5/2, not 4/26 like the paperwork suggests. Why did it take so long to get to our store? I do not know, nor could I control it. I could not get it to his house because I could not leave the dealership. I took it the following evening when I got off of work, and got to the house areound 9:30 PM. It was dark, so I left it by the gate near his front door, per his instructions.

Mistakes are made. We're human. I am not making excuses here, just presenting my perspective. I understand the customers grief.

I do not know what else to say.

 

I think we should give this MA some slack. It sounds like he's done all he can.

 

"I'm very sorry this happened" is a good start.

You took a pretty hard knock or two here and I am sorry that happened, as well. Miss one curve in a race and the whole day goes bad. Sucks, but thems the breaks.

One bit of advice.... in fire/rescue work if they have a person pinned or trapped they put a fireman as close as they can to talk with the victim. He ain't really helping get the fellow out at all, he's just there to ease nerves and bolster spirit.

Guess who gets their neck hugged first. Every time.

You got a customer in a jam. Call him. Even if it is "I got no news", call him.

Good luck!

 

wow... what a rollercoaster!! this was a GREAT thread! it had everything... emotion, drama, suspense, violence, and a soft happy ending...

I'm sorry yo that u had to go through so much, this missed road time, however, will make u appreciate the rest of the time that much more...

MA: it speaks very highly of you to get on a open forum and explain and applogize like u did... *applause*

 

Donovan, I agree, I am sure you went through hell for this one at your job and having the issue discussed here does not help either.

Its done, lets forget about it and move on - I am sure it will not happen again and if it does, I am sure you will be all over it (and for all the other MA who are reading this - I think we all got a job where mistakes happen that we are responsible for, if we caused it or someone else did. Open communication always help, disarm your customer by saying sorry and offer options & alternatives - I guess the most frustrating thing was not getting responses or answers ...(and not just from the MA, same from his boss)

But as I said, no hard feelings, its done, I vented my frustration and finally spend two hours motoring today (which will result in another thread titled "can not stick to other NAM members suggestions of staying below 2500rpm", it just does not work, it is not my fault, it is the car that wants to run and run and run ..., it seeks out corners, finds tiny gaps to fit into and ensures a big old smile when finally switching off and exiting STOPSL!)

Have a great weekend everybody




PS: stay away from a Chevy Malibu - there is nothing in the car that causes anything but sadness

 

Donovan,I think you are a stand up guy for responding to this thread.We all know their are two sides to every story,unfortunatly the other side is not often explained.Thank you for your version.Q

 

+1 I hope everyone learned from this.

 

Both Donovan & John are great guys. I have been looking at the Mini for several years. Everytime I stopped by Desert Mini I was taken on a test drive.

Time goes by one day I am at BMW buying touch up paint & the parts counter guy introduces me to Donovan as he was showing a customeer around.

Eventough I bought my Mini used at another dealer, Donovan asked me if everything with the car was going o.k. He also said stop by service and they may be able to give you some history about the car.

I immediately thought, well that MA is an alright person.

Laters

 

+1 WOW! I'm impressed.

 

I think something worth way more than a set of floor mats should be given to this customer for what he went through, whether he ask for it or not. and no matter were the fault was.

 

Wow! NAM has turned into a lake full of piranhas that can't spell.

Guys! Here we have a MA who drives a Mini. He was president of our club. He knows how much our Minis mean to us. Because of a small misunderstanding, he is thrown to the wolves to be torn to shreds. Compared to some of the dealership horror stories I have read here on NAM, this circumstance is nothing. I feel lucky to have an MA like Donovan.

Personally, I think that in a situation such as this it is rather stupid to sour your relatonship with the dealership that you will probably be going back to for service.

Kudos to Donovan for his input. He has a tough job.

 

Good post The make or break point in life is often as simple as good communication whether or not the issue at hand has a resolution; it is the major difference between good customer service and someone left with no information and feeling neglected.

 

There still to seems have been a complete lack of communication post-purchase. Which doesn't say much for for that MA. Also, the "girlfriend story" is really not a good way to tell a customer why he can't have something. I mean really, what MA drags there girlfriend into a customer-MA transaction?

 

When we bought our new 05 MCS out of state, the dealer actually gave me two 30 day temps when we picked it up to drive home, because he knew delays with getting paperwork on time through the various DMVs is not uncommon. Sure would have seemed like a simple fix to me, but then it seems like you had a hard time getting a response early on to begin with, and not returning phone calls is just unacceptable in that business.