I disagree with the statement of "mass produced verses limited floor traffic dealers" !

I purchased two minis in a very short time period (months apart). The first dealer we went to in our area treated us like crap and the place was crap. We tried that dealer a couple times with no luck. That was enough for me to say forget mini all together. We waited a little while and decided to try Eastbay MINI. That was a totally different world. They helped us by the ton and bent over backwards to make us happy. We stopped by several times to make sure what we wanted would work out to our liking. The day we went back to order the car, the sales person (his first time working for mini) and sales manager reviewed our order and told us to wait. They (3 people) spent around 4 hours searching all their lots (computer system was down for upgrades) and records and found my exact car had just came in the day before. It was everything we wanted and spec'd on the order, no compromises at all and no wait !! Not only did a get my new car the same day with only 4 miles on it, I got a discount (no msrp) and good freebies deals. There was a ton of people on the site that day, they could have taken my order, charged msrp and said see ya. Instead we got treated with white gloves and so did our kids.

That service was so good, we went back and got a second mini for wife and again, they searched everything and found that exact mini my wife wanted sitting in receiving and it also came in the night before. Again no compromises, got a discount and lots of free stuff for the car .... No msrp.

The services at that dealer is so good, that our friends have purchased/ordered car from the same MA with joy (that is 8 additional minis sold and many more pending). I can walk into the place at any time and they remember my name and our cars, damn !

I do not care if its a high volume dealer or specialty dealer or an ad in craig's list, I am paying my hard earned money and I want top service ! No if ands or butts about it. I am a classic vehicles collector and have a stable of 28+ currently (lost count a long time ago), all running, all rare. Every time I ran into someone with an attitude, I dropped the deal and went elsewhere. Even rare stuff can still be found elsewhere if you know where to look and I am well known in that circle.

If you do not get the service you want or at least treated like a human being, go elsewhere and complain to MINI-USA. Times are too hard and WAY too many dealers and cars to choose from ! Buying a mini should be fun and a great a day, not a pain in the *** and regretting every moment !

Long winded but my 2 cents on the subject

 

XuhohX- Where in germany did you order your mini? I ordered mine at pentagon car sales in Mainz Kastel.. similiar experience as yours.. in fact when the car was delivered to Karl & Co, they wouldn't tell us where the car was, we had to wait until it was in the showroom.. 2 weeks after it was already in country.
Our saleman didn't worry so much about the sale.. but we did.. and we love our car.. and didn't let any of the hassles.. such as the paperwork not being done by the dealership and the german gov't holding us up by a month.. or his snide behavior when we took delivery, from him not showing us anything about the car.. to him slapping the plates on backing it out.. and running to the next customer..
Not all salesmen work on commission.. I think mini of Charleston does not work on commission.
The sad thing is.. the overall state of customer service in any industry here in the US has declined.. and thats sad.. whatever happened to common courtesy.. Mini of Charleston certainly was awesome to us, I would recommend them to anyone... from the sales process.. to paying off the mini loan.. to the after care.. you can't get any better then that! Kudos to mini of Charleston