Wow. This experience has turned from fun to frustrating, and now to outrightly horrible. Here's a recap:

Build started Feb 26ish. Entered production then.
Went to port 3/6/07
Shipped out around 3/19/07
Arrived SC port 3/31/07. Train'ed up to VDC several days later.
(BTW, According to the OL, it is scheduled to be delivered 4/9/07. It is also still at the VDC. My car can apparently be in two places simultaneously!)

Sometime after arriving at the VDC, the JCW Aero Kit was installed, and the glove box liner was found to be uninstalled. (They left it out... great job in QC, Oxford. I thought my car spent a whole day there, and no one thought to look inside the glove box? ) A replacement liner was ordered, from Oxford.
"Work" installing $4 piece of plastic completed 4/16 or 4/17 (not sure).

Car still not scheduled for transport as of 4/19. It's on the list to go, there's apparently no trucks to take it.

Today, I got this email from my MA:

"We have a problem. Now the paint for the body kit does not match the body color. They are having to remix the paint and respray another body kit.

So, here is the play by play.

1. Removing the body kit from the MINI
2. Remixing a new batch of factory paint in Lightning Blue. It will take
1-2 weeks to get the paint, since it is so limited to get. (Remember the
backorder on the paint?)
3. Repainting another aero kit.
4. If it then does not match, they will send it to us w/o the aero kit on it.
5. I am finding out now if I can just have it sent to us w/o the aero kit
now.

I have talked with the sales manager about this and we have exhausted any
resource. It is in your court. If you want to back out, it is understandable. But we will not be able to supply a loaner for that long."

I was supposed to get a loaner for a few days from the dealership today since my car has been sold for several weeks, and I finally owe it to the people buying it. I refuse to back out of that sale, as someone along the line here needs to show some intergity. I appreciated the gesture, although not how rapidly it was removed from the table once things went south on their end.

So I called after recieving this email, and spoke with the sales manager. I have been advised it will be between 1-6 weeks for the paint. And probably not the 1-2 week range. The sales manager has offered to split the cost of a rental with me.

I was floored: the sales manager actually told me he would rather I DIDN'T buy the car, since he will likely get a bad score from me at this point. I couldn't believe that. Wow.

I was also told that if the Aero Kit has already been put on, they will not take it off and replace it with the "standard" one.

So, anyway, what would YOU do? Wait it out? I can also re-order, but that won't arrive any sooner. I am literally frustrated about this to the point of tears... 7 months of waiting, and now some faceless VDC messes things up beyond all recognition. I of course can't actually talk to anyone there to see if something can be worked out. They had the car for 2 weeks waiting for the glove box liner, and now it's a further delay, having finally gotten ready to ship it out.

Does anyone know a way to contact someone higher-up in the BMW group so at least I can express my discontent? I've gotten tired of hearing, "It's out of my hands, there's nothing I can do about it."

Wow am I mad. I am about to be left without a car thanks to these people, and of all the backs being watched, I'm quite certain MINE is the last one anyone at BMW is interested in.

Anyway, your thoughts?

 

I am so sorry to hear about the disaster the process has turned into for you!!! I'm shocked beyond belief. I can only understand your frustration. While I cannot put myself in your shoes, here is what I think I would do.

Talk to the dealership about bringing down the price of the car to sell to you at invoice and you will give them positive feedback in the survey. That's considering you still want the car.

If you want to order from some other dealership, I would write a letter to MINIUSA, not sure how you can get someone high up at BMW, but a very professional and irrate letter should get them to do something about it - I would think/hope. Perhaps they would work with you in getting the dealership to give you a loaner in the meantime and MINIUSA would reimburse them for the cost since it's really their screw up and not the dealer's. If all fails, I would go to a different dealership or get a different car altogether. As much as we all love MINIs if you get this type of attitude and lack of support from them...it would be a big reason for me to go look somewhere else.

Finally, I would also give the dealership a bad review in the Sunshine MINIs forum as well as here because people will read it and hopefully not buy from them. While the mistake is really not theirs, they should never tell you they'd rather have you reject the car than sell it to you, and they could try to work something out w/ the manufacturer.

Sorry this was a little long. I wish you the best of luck and honestly hope you can get this resolved ASAP!

 

So, it has an aero kit with non-matching paint? I'd talk to the dealer about getting a credit for a full paint job and take it as is.

 

I already asked about that. I was told it was a $6000 job and they wouldn't do it.

 

i just suspect you will end up less than 100% happy no matter how this turns out. I do not believe the BMW/MINI really cares much about the individual cases. If the numbers are up at the end of the year (they always are) it is a good thing in the companies eyes. They know you want the car and won't break their backs making you happy.

rr

 

I'd contact a High Mucky Muck at BMW and arrange to reorder from another dealer. Getting the HMM involved will hopefully speed up the process and there might be some token compensation.However, I agree with an earlier poster that BMW has absolutely no concept of customer care.

 

Only you can decide what is the right thing for you to do, but since you asked, I would walk away from the car and the dealer. If I remember correctly yours is a pretty much loaded car and the dealer didn't even throw in mats. The dealer did nothing for you before the sale, they are doing nothing for you now ...will they get any better once you take delivery?

It will be painful, but I'd find another dealer and start over.

dean.

 

I had my share of bungles with my car, but nothing like this. Mine was built with the MFSW missing, with the dealers promise to install it when it came available - who knows when that might be.... And my car came without the dash storage, and while the book is not closed on that one yet its verging on "tough luck, your car came without one and thats all your going to get".

One thing that went right however, is I did not sell my old car until the new mini was here...

 

Hi there. Thanks for your help. Here's the update:

One: I called Mini USA. Spoke with a "Customer No Service" rep, and got no service. I was told that what happens at the VDC is what is expected to happen, and dealers should not give out estimates of shipping. The only thing she said was wrong in the process is that the dealer shouldn't have offered my a loaner car ("Which they are not required to do") to hold me over the few days between the sale of my Honda and the arrival of the Mini.

Two: I spoke with my MA. Clearly better trained in customer service than the sales manager or anyone at MiniUSA. (By the way, the glove box issue did warrant 5 new carpet mats and a Mini sunscreen for the front window, plus a discount on the Simoniz treatment. Yay!) He told me he wants to see if they will just put the original bumpers back on the car and ship it down asap like that, and then I'll get the Aero Kit and driving lamps installed later. That's fine with me, if they'll do that at the VDC. I would love to think that someone, somewhere, is going to be a human about it and realize that they need to get me a car now that I've sold mine, on advice of the dealership. I'll know more tomorrow...

Adding to this is I have planned a road trip in 4 weeks to my summer job (I teach in the winter, assistant direct a summer camp in the summer. Usually I fly, but this year I'm driving. Or, at least, I was. Bummer I did Hotwire to get all my hotel rooms. No refunds.)

Anyone know how to contact a HMM?

Thanks for the support,
JMelrose

 

Man, I got my fingers crossed for you. I know it aint much, but I hope it helps.
I would have already developed tourettes!

 

I do, if you have the name of a HMM.

PM coming, don't want to post or everybody in creation will be calling mini usa...

 

Think Clark Howard would help?

www.clarkhoward.com


It's interesting, and telling, that there is no contact info for BMW/Mini aside from the corporate customer no-service reps.

 

Thanks Greg.

Man this is rough... I gotta wait until tomorrow to find out what the lady at the VDC says.

I can't believe this has happened after 7 months. That I'm actually considering just saying, "No thanks" and walking from the brand. Cuz I can't do this again. Starting over would be like torture. Besides, I have no car. I need to get something off-the-lot or something that would be here in a matter of a few weeks, not months. And I refuse to get a Mini and "settle" for an off-the-lot one, the custom aspect (and the fun drive) is what attracted me to the brand in the first place.

 

You mentioned talking to the Sales Manager, what about the dealer owner?

There was a recall issue with my VW. This was post Hurricane Katrina so all 3 New Orleans area dealerships were out of commission and everyone was using the Baton Rouge dealer.

Anyway, I had received an appointment, arranged to take off from work (dealer is an hour away) to go and get this handled. The day before I called up to check and make sure everything was still kosher since they didn't call me for a reminder. They proceed to tell me they have to push me back weeks. I got no where with the service manager. Asked for the owner of the dealersip. He called me back later and his first words were "bring your car in as scheduled and we'll get you taken care of". Sure enough they did.

Now I know most dealers aren't that good. But I would definitely try going higher within the Dealer.

 

Matt:
Dealing with the dealership owner isn't going to get him any further than dealing with the sales manager. Remember, these are the guys that we had had ongoing problems with from the point of delivery on Patty's car (too long a story to rehash on the boards). Anyway, Fields BMW owns the one and only Mini dealership in Orlando. They really don't care how anyone is treated unfortunately.

Jeff:
I'm going to PM our number. Give us a call. We have some contact information for you.

 

Playing the devil's advocate here somewhat...

Delays during the ordering process happen. They could have shipped the car only to have you discover the paint flaw upon pickup... or worse, days later in the proper light. They found a flaw and are working on it.

The big question is do you want to wait the 2-4 weeks it sounds like it might take to sort it out... or the 2-4 months to order and recieve another car that might run into similar delays?

It's not as if your making car payments and the cars sitting in the shop for the last 3-4 weeks. That's happening elsewhere to one MINI owner right now. Now that would be frustrating.

As far as the loaner car goes... I sold my Volvo before my MINI arrived. I struggled through a wet Washington Winter on a motorcycle and when it snowed, borrowed a POS Buick from an in-law. Never considered asking for a loaner since I techniclly wasn't a MINI owner yet. Maybe I should have tried. Dunno.

When mine finally arrived, it had the wrong wheels (I wanted web-spokes in the sport package). the dealer arranged for a set of web spokes for the $500 package price and I'll pick them up later. I now have to pay for them out-of-pocket rather than having the ability to roll them into the loan. I was disappointed and said so. Got a $100 accessory gift certificate when I picked up the car.

Maybe you can ask for some type of compensation, too? Get those floor mats you wanted?

 

Hi msh,

I think the delay isn't too much MY issue, although I'm certainly not happy about it.

The part that REALLY bothers me is on Saturday, I was told I could expect the car this week. It had been at the VDC for 3 weeks, so that wasn't hard to believe. I said I had to sell my car, as I'd delayed handing it over 3 weeks or so, because I kept hearing the car will be in "real soon." The buyers of my Honda were great, very patient. But that kind of goodwill doesn't last forever.

So I when my MA (a good guy, I maintain) let me know the car should ship out in the early part of this week, my MA even got the sales manager to let me use a loaner for a few days. HIS suggestion, not my request. It was greatly appreciated (and the type of service I mentally associate with the Mini brand).

So today, when this delay came in, and my Honda was to be sold today (it was), the sales manager was quick to revoke the offer of a loaner, leaving me high and dry.

If I'd just decided to sell my car without the assurances of my dealer, I'd say the blame for this lies with me solely. However, I gotta point the finger here, as I'm really put out by this situation, and while the blame doesn't lie with the dealer for the delay, my impression is that the dealer can certainly do more. Maybe i'll get better news tomorrow, I certainly hope so. I hope they can simply but the original bumper back on the car and send it on its way, and I'll get the Aero Kit on later once they straighten this situation out. I am also waiting on driving lamps (and Sirius) so I'm sure I won't be a stranger to the waiting room of the dealership's service area...

 

Hi jmelrose,
After hearing your situation and taking my own into account, it seems that the SC VDC has some serious QC and communication issue. My Mini was/is delayed for 4 weeks with similar response.
First it was "it's waiting for a truck", that went on for about a week. Then it was just "haven't been release for no reason" for another week. Then it was "one of the key was missing and replacement will be here at end of week" that went on for one week. Finally it's now "we need to replace locks, and startup module" for past week. And like you I have to sale my old car and luckily my parents let me brought their car until my Mini gets here.
I can totally sympathize with what you are going through. I think there is major issue with tranparency at the VDC. They are not upfront about issues and are irresponsible in owning up to their error.
MiniUSA was completely unresponsive to my complains and accused me of making a big deal out of nothing and is be unreasonable. I cannot believe a customer service respresentative said that to me
At the end my MA was the one to rectify the situation. You may try e-mailing the regional manager (I did but no response).
I was very close to walk over the the BMW dealer and get a car off the lot, but at the end I realize what I really want is a Mini.

 

Sorry to hear about your situation.........unfortunately sometimes things happen that are beyond the control of the dealer. Believe me the MA wants you to have your car as much as you do and there is frustration on their part. So my question to you, how are you going to score the survey for the MA?

 

I was able to get some contact information for some very folks VERY high in the MiniUSA corporate structure. Not sure if it will do any good, but I've been told they were great folks and very interested in people's Mini experiences while they were involved with MTTS. Business cards are great things. Thanks to the family who helped me at least get the situation off my chest to someone who might actually be able to do something. At least I know I've done all I can about this.

Again, it's not the delay I'm so bothered about... it's that after being told by my dealer to go ahead and sell the car, a mess-up on their end (not the dealer's end, but Mini's end) is now causing me further headaches.

I told my students about the situation today (for the holidays they gave a class gift of a contribution to my Mini fund) and the responses were quite interesting... and quite mature. Quite a few were of the thought that, "They aren't taking very good care of you, Mr. Melrose." From the mouths of babes...

I should be hearing from my MA once he talks with the VDC this morning. From there I have the big decision to make. I'm very much hoping they will simply send the car down as-is (without Aero Kit) and we'll move on from there.

 

Today was a better day.

I still have no idea when the car is arriving from the VDC, but my understanding is some high-ups at MiniUSA are now aware of my situation and have tried to help with getting things sorted out.

In the meantime, MiniUSA is having a rental car paid for for me to use until the Mini arrives. Nothing will likely help speed things along like leaking $30/day on a car rental. This addresses my major concern, since as I said before the big deal was being told Saturday that I could sell the car, and I'd be covered until the Mini arrives, and then the VDC changes the tune and I'm left high-n-dry. That has been addressed, and I go back to merely impatiently waiting for my car to arrive.

Thanks again to all who offered support yesterday. Yesterday sucked, and it was my spouse's birthday. :impatient

 

jmelrose,

I'm sorry to hear that things got worse. Your MINI was in the same production week as mine, yet is still MIA. I think the best thing would be to contact the higher ups, explain the situation, and let them know how you want it resolved, which you've done. I hope that they make things right. Giving you a loaner was a step in the right direction.

The best thing would be if they could just reattach the original bumper and install the aero kit and driving lamps later on. Right now, they should just work on getting you your MINI as soon as possible, then rectifying everything else and adding the details soon after.

This is painful to hear about. Hope everything works out.

 

Thanks Az. I was hopeful we would be Mini brothers, getting our cars about the same time, exchanging emails as we learned about the new cars, etc. We had some nice exchanges going over private messages for a while, and it seemed like we were both of a similar mindset in our interest in Minis. It has kinda sucked to hear about how great your Mini is, and knowing mine is still sitting up at the VDC for reasons unknown. I'm sure SOMEONE can order that car to be sent on to me... the question is, does that someone know about the situation and are they interested in helping rectify it? What you suggest is exactly what I hope can happen: drop the Aero for now, send the car down, and we'll retrofit the accessories as they become available.

The driving lamps is a whole other issue. How hard can it be to get those suckers shipping? Driving lamps are far from new technology, after all!

One thing at a time... where's my car? :-)

 

J,

We are thrilled to hear that things are going in the right direction. As your neighbor we were hoping to see you around the 'hood and get an energetic wave!

Please keep us up to date on the progress as we have our fingers crossed.

 

JMelrose,

I'm so sorry to hear what has happened to you. This whole situation is awful and I truly feel for you. I hope everything works out the way it should and what you want. I wish you the best and keep us updated with what happens! Best of luck!

Becky