What a disappointment. As consumers, all we can do it make a stink. Mini has a big intro coming and I'll rain some truth on their parade until they step up and make this right for all the disappointed buyers. Probably won't have an affect, but it beats getting walked on.

Motoring File is the goto place for Mini news, I'm taking my story there.
http://motoringfile.com/2007/01/31/u...#comment-90662

 

FWIW, I'm going out to the MINIUSA press launch for the R56 this weekend in Arizona and I will bring this up. I'll let you know what I hear out there.

JMO though, based on how things have rolled out in the past, not much is going to happen on this. It's much like what has happened in the past when dealers have messed up inputting a spec and the car shows up not to what the customer was expecting. Make a decision to take it as is, or re-order. Some dealers may do something to make you feel a little better about it (like perhaps a free set of mats), but that's the dealer trying to make the best of a bad situation. Based on 5 years of watching MINI operate, I would be absolutely shocked to see any kind of retrofitting of the MFSW offered to those affected.

 

was wierd that the S at the houston car show didn't have mulit function wheel.....now I know why....

 

hmm the guy i talked to at mini-usa called me back and said i am stuck in this problem so i called my ma and he said he would take care of it...whatever that means...

 

Ok I guess I am confused, I ordered the premium package which came with a multi function wheel, when I just looked at my order on MINIUSA it says Sports Leather Steering Wheel, are these the same steering wheels or different? I will be pis**d if I do not get the multi function, can someone please clarify?

 

Thats great of you to do Dave. Much thanks.

That is my expectation as well. They have short-sheeted the dealers. They put the ordering tools out there to an untrained sales force, and then they did not carefully review the orders for mistakes. Then they go ahead and BUILD cars that can not even be configured on the USA configurator. Now you have a car that nobody was expecting - people are bound to be disappointed to receive a car they did not configure. What were they thinking.

I'm not faulting Mini for the mistake - that can happen to anybody. Rather I'll judge them on how they deal with the mistake. Pointing a finger at the dealer, and leaving your customers unhappy is bad practice. Mini set them up to fail here - they need to own this and act to satisfy people. They can be the hero in this, or the goat.

This whole thing makes me hesitant about the purchase. YEech - what a bad taste that will leave. It just pulls the curtain off of the whole "motoring" feel good persona that Mini promotes - its just a sales pitch and I'm the latest sucker.

 

cooper - from all accounts if you ordered it within package it should be ok for you. This seems to be only affecting the MFSW ordered outside the packages.

 

What a way to end the month...so close, yet so far away from my new MCS.
My MA was nice about it when I got him on the phone today after emailing him late last night. I have simply been waiting and not bugging anyone about dates, etc. My car IS on a boat. I put a one grand deposit down very early on and this car is part of the very first batch of owner spec'd cars that the dealer will recieve. I picked what I wanted individually...no packages. My car was built using code 255 for the wheel, and does not have cruise/multifunction...which was the whole reason for my buying the three spoke black leather wheel. So my car will not be my car, but someone else's. I have reordered the exact same car. My MA could give me no approximate date for the new MCS' arrival. The car I ordered initially will be here SOON. So if someone wants a fairly stripped down pepper white MCS with sport suspension, 16" S-winders, LSD, DSC, stereo upgrade, everything black in the interior (anthracite headliner/piano black dash) with black/grey leatherette and chrome line...it will be waiting for you soon at East Bay Mini in Pleasanton.
BTW, cars ordered with the package containing the mf wheel as part of the package...the correct wheel awaits you...my MA assures me that this is correct.
This is a letdown. But I'm not blaming anyone. I just feel like a tire with the air all leaked out. SSSSSSSSSSSSS I just lined out the VIN on the build sheet. I need a cold ale.

 

I do fault MINI!!! I can understand supply issues and mistakes based on a reasonable judgement. But this is ludricous. Instead of building a model that nobody wanted and probably having in all likelihood to eat the 300 dollars, they would have been much better off upgrading the 'wrong orders' to MFSW and eating 250. Everyone would have walked away satisfied. The lack of logic is astounding. I personally believe someone at MINIUSA's head should roll. The launch should be rained on!! I agree with you lava, go for it. But I will have to congratulate my MA and dealer in Nashville. They have been nothing but curteous, upfront, understanding, apologetic, etc. in regards to this matter. I give him and the dealer an A+, MINI USA F-.

 

I feel your pain as well. My Mini had actually made it across the ocean off loaded and I assume at the VDC, with only a couple of weeks to launch. Now I'm in the que for 3/07 build. I decided since I had to reorder to do a few things different and wait for 3/07 build when certain things become available. So I'm looking at April? Mid to late April I suspect.

 

Thanks for that. All I can think is I'm not alone. The MCS that would have been here VERY SOON now is probably going to be here even later than yours. What a bummer.
The other thing is; this whole fiasco will quickly be swept under the rug. It's not going to bother the dealers much; they simply have a nice variety of owner spec'd cars (all without cruise/MF wheel) awaiting all the interested parties who will be interested in driving and buying the new 07 model. Hey, no waiting! Oh, there will be NOISE from us NAMsters, but life will go on. Ah, I gotta go have a beer. It's time.

 

Great thanks for the info Lava I got a little worried there. That sucks for you other folks who ordered it without the package, hope that you are able to get it all fixed


Surfblue: Who is your MA at East Bay? Mine is Robert, I might see the PW MC cause mine is in the first batch too.

 

The problem is that they did not know they were wrong. Yes, a mistake was made somewhere in the USA order process. The reason the mistake carried through was that a 255 in the UK means a 3 spoke leather wheel. I'm sure it looked like a perfectly valid order at the factory and so it was built. The logic is very sound. The results suck... for us and MINI. No winners.

But perhaps MINI or your local dealer could make some small gesture to compensate those that choose to re-order despite this problem. Then we have all winners.

 

Yep...Robert Mathews. Tell him you want to see the car Tom in SR ordered. I was planning on making the rollout. Now I don't even want to see the cars. It'll just make me crazy.

 

Let me see if I understand this. Did the configurator say $300 for the MFSW when you ordered? Or did it say $550 like it does now? I ordered earlier in January and it said $550. Am I safe? Mine won't be built until March, so I'm sure I can get it fixed if it is still a problem.

 

The explanation is sound, but it only points out the failing. If Mini is not going to offer that spec in the US then they have to design their order system to lock-out an incorrect order. If they can not provide that, then they have error check the orders. That's Mini's responsibility.

What's happened is they have enabled their dealers to enter an incorrect spec, and then left them to deal with the unhappy customer who has to wait, again, or take the wrong spec car.

What should happen? How about putting these rebuilds at the front of the queue, finishing them next week, and getting them here by mid/late Feb? How about making up a harness mod the VDC could install to put the MFSW on these cars? Too hard? Easier to just make us wait again? They'll sell the other cars anyway... That doesn't sound like the Mini ethos to me. How about doing the right thing Mini? How about coming through for your customers instead of doing what's easy? Why don't you turn right, when you should turn left? How about you forget about all your assumptions about how to handle a problem? How about being the bigger car company? How about going the distance? How about seeing mistakes as a chance to shine? How about sweating the details? How about taking care of us?

 

This sucks cant even find out If i am involevd in this or if I am not
the sheet I gave to my MA had MFSW with MF Hopefully he didn't type
it in wrongimpatient

 

Agree with Lava on all accounts. It is totally MINI's responsibiltiy. Nobody who ordered, including the dealer saw a 300 steering wheel option. That's why I stand by the assertion, they would have been better off automatically upgrading any 'wrongly' entered order number and eating the difference. Somebody should have known that was not a US option in the configurator. They are going to lose bundles on this. Just the time all these cars will have to sit on the lot, when the money could have been in the bank. How many people are out there on the fence for buying a MINI, who might stroll onto NAM and go, egad!!, and run away.

Yea, lets put the cars in front of the que, I like that!!! When I used to work retail sales, the customer was always right, i guess not with MINI.

 

Configurator said $550, and the build sheet listing my car spec which was faxed to me by the dealer says $550. The sales reps had no clue. They did their best, but they were untrained and uninformed on the fine details, it seems. That build sheet is dated January 8, 2007.

 

GB Mini blog has covered this:

http://www.gbmini.net/wp/2007/01/r56_mfsw_hiccup/

 

Thanks. Now I know I definitely need to speak to my MA.

 

Here's my status:

I exchanged email with my salesman yesterday - and at that point I felt like I knew more about what was going on than he did. So today I called Ask Mini and tried to get past the customer service rep without success.

The message I gave to the rep, and wanted to give personally to a Mini USA executive was that 1. Mini screwed up here, not the dealers, and 2. so far Mini has not indicated that it will make any accommodation to the customers who's orders were mis-built. Going to the back of the queue for a re-order is No accommodation. Buying a $300 steering wheel you did not want is No accommodation.

I suggested that there were two paths - 1. to offer a retrofit solution, a harness mod, whereby the dealer could install the MFSW in a few weeks after delivery, or 2. to accelerate the re-build of these orders, as in RIGHT NOW.

The Rep indicated to me that the "Mini Specialist" (what ever that is) said that the engineers in Germany have not responded as to whether or not they will make dealer installable solution, and she also indicated that it may be possible to accelerate a re-order. (and it just pissed me off that they might be willing to oil the squeaky wheel instead of coming through for everybody)

I told her that I was not calling to get just my car rebuilt faster, and that Mini needs to make a policy announcement about this pronto. I also told her that they should have done that in the first place, not issue a bulletin dropping it on the dealers lap.

I insisted that she let me speak to someone at Mini in a position of responsibility, and she would not let me through to anyone else. I told her that if not, I would return to the internet message boards and blogs and continue to share my experience with others. I told her that when I received my survey of my purchasing experience that I would give Mini very low marks. I told her that others would be sure to do the same, and that all of this would go on right on top of their North American intro of the new car. I left her with my phone number and told her to have them call me.

And so here I am. I would suggest that everybody affected or interested take 5 mins from their day to call Ask Mini and let them know how they feel. Speak up on the message boards, and I'm sorry - spoil the party until they step up with a policy that at least makes some accommodation to the customers who have had their orders built wrong.

And all of you with no stake in this - fellow Motorers. If there really is anything to this Mini ethos that we have all bought in to, if it has any real meaning and we are not just pawns of a good marketing campaign, then you too should get on the phone to Mini and tell them how you feel about it. You have all put a lot of effort into promoting their product. This is not just something they are doing to this group of buyers, but to the Mini Community. I promise that I will come through and stand up for you the same way.

 

It seems a bit early to have everyone give MINI a call.

Do we know how many cars are effected by this? Are most of the orders with #255 coming back with the leather wheel only or are just a few? At least one person has mentioned here that they did get a #249 placed on their order with their #255. How do we know the screw-up is with MINI not the dealer?

 

Another issue is emerging. The Bluetooth package is supposed to include the MFSW. The dealer ordering software did not automatically include that in the order when the Bluetooth was specified, so the factory may have built cars equipped with Bluetooth and no MFSW.

Some dealers caught these issues, and some did not. The bottom line is that manufacturing did not catch these. Are we to assume that they will build whatever the dealer places as an order? Well then, step up - lets order some of those europe only colors, why don't we.

 

I'd have to say that there are alot affected. There are several in just this thread. One of the things that prompted MINI to realize the problem was the number of people ordering wheel ala cart. Agree with Lava