Are all BMW dealers this poor at selling cars

[Smellyfoot]

I am amazed by the poor level of service I've found at my local stealer.

I called in on Saturday after phoning in advance, ready to buy a car, I asked about options, finance, service, test drive etc and was given very little information. "Options are as in brochure", finance, "well we can do a PCP", service, "we can't say much about that until Monday", test drive, "come back Monday". I gave loads of buying signs and there were no attempts to sell to me. I was pretty unhappy at this and offered to come back first thing on Sunday for a test drive.

I arrive on Sunday, the saleman just blanked my wife and I actually had to ask him to try to sell the car to my wife too as she was part of the decision too.

Part way through the discussions he excuses himeself and says he's going to be back in 10 mins, half an hour later he's still not back. We leave, asking for him to call us. We never get a call.

What really p***ed me off was the whole attitude of the dealership to my wife who may as well not have existed.

I know I'm being unreasonable here but not only has it put me off the dealer but BMW as a marque.

It's not just the salesman involved, the whole dealership stank except for the receptionist who had seen how things had gone and apologised.

[taffyracer]

sounds like the ste service I got from barons, totally useless

[pgilc1]

Smellyfoot said:

I am amazed by the poor level of service I've found at my local stealer.

I called in on Saturday after phoning in advance, ready to buy a car, I asked about options, finance, service, test drive etc and was given very little information. "Options are as in brochure", finance, "well we can do a PCP", service, "we can't say much about that until Monday", test drive, "come back Monday". I gave loads of buying signs and there were no attempts to sell to me. I was pretty unhappy at this and offered to come back first thing on Sunday for a test drive.

I arrive on Sunday, the saleman just blanked my wife and I actually had to ask him to try to sell the car to my wife too as she was part of the decision too.

Part way through the discussions he excuses himeself and says he's going to be back in 10 mins, half an hour later he's still not back. We leave, asking for him to call us. We never get a call.

What really p***ed me off was the whole attitude of the dealership to my wife who may as well not have existed.

I know I'm being unreasonable here but not only has it put me off the dealer but BMW as a marque.

It's not just the salesman involved, the whole dealership stank except for the receptionist who had seen how things had gone and apologised.

Why not ring on monday and ask to speak to the dealer principal. Not to complain as such just to say, look this is how things went, is this the way you expect your salesmen to behave? I think you'll find him responsive. If not find the next nearest dealership.

[roofer]

Last 3 BMW's i bought, salesman drove down from Nottingham to London, met me at my local dealer (200yds from work) so the deed could be done on trade premises, then delivered the car personally.

There are salesmen, and there are boys pretending to be salesmen. I had a similiar experience in a dealers, which is why i enjoyed signing the paperwork "on trade premises" in front of the prick who thought he was 'busy'.....3 times

[terryb]

I had an interesting experience from my local dealer recently. I had arranged for back to back test drives of a new X5 and X6 as I was in the market for that type of car and currently own a CSL. This was arranged for a Friday a few weeks ago. I had the day off work and was getting really excited about driving the X6 - so much so that I woke up early Friday morning and couldn't get back to sleep. so downstairs and back on the Net doing more research on the X6.

Then I get a call at about 9am telling me that unfortunately both cars are unavailable and that it could be arranged again for the following Thursday - Not happy at this at all. I leave it asking if there is a chance to drive the X6 later that day then I would take it - the reason it's not there is because the MD drives it and he has been called away on a business meeting - not good enough if you ask me as the car is their demonstrator.

So after thinking about it I decide to ring around and find out who else has an X6 locally as a demonstrator - which was Woods of Odiham. I duly test drove in the afternoon and placed my order after the drive.

I called my local dealer when the salesman got back from a long weekend, and informed him of what I had done - it wasn't his fault (I don't think) - but I wonder if he had the balls to tell his MD what had happened and why they had lost a potential sale.....

[MitchT]

Smellyfoot said:

Part way through the discussions he excuses himeself and says he's going to be back in 10 mins, half an hour later he's still not back. We leave, asking for him to call us. We never get a call.

I'd like to know where he was going that would result in him earning more money than his commission on the sale of a brand new Beemer!

[Andy M]

Without naming and shaming, which city was the dealer based?

I can recommend an excellent contact, but he's based in the north west.

[jamoor]

Why not do your research and buy from a broker, you don't have to waste time and leave home either.

[LittleBro]

I think its all too common with BMW. They are aloof which you might argue was justifiable a few years ago, but its really not today. BMW are not that much better than a lot of other cars for sale today, and indeed fall far short of other brands.

Sadly though, you can't tell them as they just dont listen.

[Smellyfoot]

Andy M said:

Without naming and shaming, which city was the dealer based?

I can recommend an excellent contact, but he's based in the north west.

They are just outside Preston in Lancashire. Can you believe I even had to ask for a cup of coffee.

I am usually laid back but this has left me very annoyed - so much so that I'm tempted to get BMW removed from our company fleet option. Maybe I'm over-reacting with that one and all I'm going to achieve is p*ss off our employees and we don't buy more than 10 cars a year.

I went out on Saturday with a not insubstantial amount of money to spend and the weekend has felt wasted.

[ypauly]

if you eventually buy a BMW from somebody else be sure to go and show the salesman your purchase, if for no other reason than to let him see how much commision he lost.

[Smellyfoot]

It's not so much the "salesman" that wound me up as the whole attitude of the dealership with the exception of the receptionist who could see how we were treated and could do little about it.

I am actually still awake now because I am so frustrated by the whole thing.

I realise that life is too short to get stressed about this kind of thing.

[shadowninja]

Wonder how they are with after-sales...

[Funk]

They're normally even worse once they've got your cash for the car.

[Andy M]

Smellyfoot said:

Andy M said:

Without naming and shaming, which city was the dealer based?

I can recommend an excellent contact, but he's based in the north west.

They are just outside Preston in Lancashire. Can you believe I even had to ask for a cup of coffee.

I am usually laid back but this has left me very annoyed - so much so that I'm tempted to get BMW removed from our company fleet option. Maybe I'm over-reacting with that one and all I'm going to achieve is p*ss off our employees and we don't buy more than 10 cars a year.

I went out on Saturday with a not insubstantial amount of money to spend and the weekend has felt wasted.

I've sent you a PM (e-mail)

[bazking69]

pgilc1 said:

Why not ring on monday and ask to speak to the dealer principal. Not to complain as such just to say, look this is how things went, is this the way you expect your salesmen to behave? I think you'll find him responsive. If not find the next nearest dealership.

My experience tells me that most dealer principals are far to busy to be talking to a 'potential' retail customer about what was probably no more than a maybe in their eyes. Sad but true. He probably won't be very apologetic, but will tell you that he will talk to the person in question (who will just tell him that you were a timewaster anyway)

Mixed feelings on my local dealer. The salesmen are arrogant and ignorant and very fussy about who they entertain and judgemental on how you look (which has already lost them a sale with a mate of mine). It is a struggle to even get a brochure without getting the feeling that they don't want you there...
On the flip side, I have always found the parts department to be excellent and courteous. Nothing is ever to much of a problem. Infact they made me up a number plate on a Saturday morning and even sent me to 'the lounge' for a fresh coffee while I waited. Can't comment on service as I'd rather eat my fingers than pay dealer rates on a car that is outside of warranty.

[VerySideways]

A friend of mine and his wife had a similar experience recently in Farnborough, they were so incensed they sent the dealer principle a letter explaining the behaviour of the sales person.

The dealer principle telephoned them, sent a case of wine to their home, and has been bending over backwards to be helpful ever since.

I think in the current economic climate the dealer management are becoming more aware of the importance of customer service...

[jamoor]

bazking69 said:

pgilc1 said:

Why not ring on monday and ask to speak to the dealer principal. Not to complain as such just to say, look this is how things went, is this the way you expect your salesmen to behave? I think you'll find him responsive. If not find the next nearest dealership.

My experience tells me that most dealer principals are far to busy to be talking to a 'potential' retail customer about what was probably no more than a maybe in their eyes. Sad but true. He probably won't be very apologetic, but will tell you that he will talk to the person in question (who will just tell him that you were a timewaster anyway)

Mixed feelings on my local dealer. The salesmen are arrogant and ignorant and very fussy about who they entertain and judgemental on how you look (which has already lost them a sale with a mate of mine). It is a struggle to even get a brochure without getting the feeling that they don't want you there...
On the flip side, I have always found the parts department to be excellent and courteous. Nothing is ever to much of a problem. Infact they made me up a number plate on a Saturday morning and even sent me to 'the lounge' for a fresh coffee while I waited. Can't comment on service as I'd rather eat my fingers than pay dealer rates on a car that is outside of warranty.

That's very true, I have always found parts departments to be excellent, one of them always gives you the trade price if you ask for it. Execllent.

Although one dealer messed me around hugely.

I was quoted £40 odd for some work over the phone, dropped my car off, went to collect and was asked for £65, I mentioned to the service advisor(WTF??) that I was quoted less, he blamed the "new kid" said he hasn't worked here that long and calculated it wrong.

I didn't have time to argue so I left, he gave me the invoice in a little folder that said "Are you Satisfied? If not call or email"

I called them, service manager said you heard the price wrong on the phone.

I emailed Bracknell, The principal and the service manager with a complaint.

2 weeks passed - Bracknell responded the next day saying they were in contact with the dealership etc etc.

another few weeks - nothing, emailed Bracknell again.

Finally I got a cheque through the post with a compliments slip, nothing else. No apology, nada.

Oh well, at least we're even, won't be inconveniencing them again with my business.

Edited by jamoor on Monday 1st September 09:41

[taffyracer]

roofer said:

Last 3 BMW's i bought, salesman drove down from Nottingham to London, met me at my local dealer (200yds from work) so the deed could be done on trade premises, then delivered the car personally.

There are salesmen, and there are boys pretending to be salesmen. I had a similiar experience in a dealers, which is why i enjoyed signing the paperwork "on trade premises" in front of the prick who thought he was 'busy'.....3 times

yeah agreed, the guy i bought my M3 off drove 100 miles out of his way at 8pm on a friday night to hand over my car, really good service and a great guy, but that's the only time I have encountered that level of care and I have been driving BM's for 10 years

[bazking69]

VerySideways said:

I think in the current economic climate the dealer management are becoming more aware of the importance of customer service...

Definately, but a car salesman will still be picky and devote his time to whatever he feels will be the more profitable cause for hom 'when' he is busy, even if it reflects badly on the company he represents.