Cooper BMW - buyer beware
Discussion
I recently purchased a new BMW for this dealer. Have bought seven new cars - Minis and BMWs - from this dealership in the past ten years with no complaint. But for this purchase the salesman tried to slip three insurance products - alloy wheel cover, minor damage cover and gap insurance - under the radar. Actually said "I'm going to give you these benefits as part of the deal".
When I looked at the sales document later I found all had been added at full cost £1,800. Of course I deleted all three products when I picked the car up. Mentioned this to the sales manager, who seemed embarrassed, but I got the impression he was not surprised!
After taking delivery of the car I was promised the usual follow up call - that was six weeks ago and I'm still waiting. I did receive a separate follow up from a call centre enquiring about my "customer experience", which I explained in some detail. They took the complaint seriously and said I would receive a call from the Dealer Principal at
. That was a week ago . . . . nothing but silence.
ETA
You know the rules about NO N&S on the site!
When I looked at the sales document later I found all had been added at full cost £1,800. Of course I deleted all three products when I picked the car up. Mentioned this to the sales manager, who seemed embarrassed, but I got the impression he was not surprised!
After taking delivery of the car I was promised the usual follow up call - that was six weeks ago and I'm still waiting. I did receive a separate follow up from a call centre enquiring about my "customer experience", which I explained in some detail. They took the complaint seriously and said I would receive a call from the Dealer Principal at
. That was a week ago . . . . nothing but silence.ETA
You know the rules about NO N&S on the site!
Edited by Big Al. on Saturday 8th April 20:53
I don't think you should have named the dealer. Anyway this was my complaint / moan with a different BMW dealer:-
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
They also tried to 'slip in' the same extras which I declined. I still don't see any point in gap insurance for a new car which is usually covered 'new for old' for the first year anyway.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
They also tried to 'slip in' the same extras which I declined. I still don't see any point in gap insurance for a new car which is usually covered 'new for old' for the first year anyway.
I also think you don't need to name the dealer as I expect the dealer training is common to all, and aimed at getting the customer to buy more than he wants or needs.
That'd be the same training that sends a letter after one year "celebrating" the anniversary as if it had been a wedding, not the purchase of a mass-produced car - that's a follow-up to the many unnecessary e-mails sent between placing the order and taking delivery (several of which did not address my question which they seemed to be answering)
That'd be the same training that sends a letter after one year "celebrating" the anniversary as if it had been a wedding, not the purchase of a mass-produced car - that's a follow-up to the many unnecessary e-mails sent between placing the order and taking delivery (several of which did not address my question which they seemed to be answering)
Riggie said:
What's the point of posting experiences of dealers (good or bad) if we can't know which dealer it was?
Knowing of other people's experiences would make me want to use/avoid a dealer judging on reviews - name and shame, or name and praise as appropriate !
I agree however the rules of the site are clear - no name and shame and you like everyone on here agree to those posting rulesKnowing of other people's experiences would make me want to use/avoid a dealer judging on reviews - name and shame, or name and praise as appropriate !
Plenty of other sites do allow name and shame just not this one
OP needs to add some originality to his thread title!
I bought a pre-reg in 2008 from a dealership whose name rhymed with "Pooper" in a place where I expect the "Don of Croy" may live!
They also tried to bolt me up with alloy insurance, GAP insurance, tyre insurance and probably other stuff I didn't want! The only thing I did want but wasn't offered was a Service Pack!
(Bought that later through the dealer I used for servicing).
Salesperson was a complete f*ckwit! I arrived to collect it with a pre-arranged appointment, but the car wasn't anywhere to be seen! The f*ckwit came to meet me with the tax disc in his shirt pocket and the floor mats draped over his arm! He then brought my silver 123d down from the parking area, but I spotted the 120d badge on the back (although it was actually silver)! Off he went again, and came back with the right car but then he had to go and put some fuel in it (tight b*stards only gave me half a tank)!
Total contrast to my previous pre-reg experience down in the Portsmouth area! Went for the pre-arranged collection. Car was sitting by the showroom doors, mats in, tax disc in screen, full tank of fuel - how it should be done!
I'll never have anything to do with pooper scooper again!
I bought a pre-reg in 2008 from a dealership whose name rhymed with "Pooper" in a place where I expect the "Don of Croy" may live!
They also tried to bolt me up with alloy insurance, GAP insurance, tyre insurance and probably other stuff I didn't want! The only thing I did want but wasn't offered was a Service Pack!
(Bought that later through the dealer I used for servicing).Salesperson was a complete f*ckwit! I arrived to collect it with a pre-arranged appointment, but the car wasn't anywhere to be seen! The f*ckwit came to meet me with the tax disc in his shirt pocket and the floor mats draped over his arm! He then brought my silver 123d down from the parking area, but I spotted the 120d badge on the back (although it was actually silver)! Off he went again, and came back with the right car but then he had to go and put some fuel in it (tight b*stards only gave me half a tank)!
Total contrast to my previous pre-reg experience down in the Portsmouth area! Went for the pre-arranged collection. Car was sitting by the showroom doors, mats in, tax disc in screen, full tank of fuel - how it should be done!
I'll never have anything to do with pooper scooper again!
Firstly, apologies for breaking the rules on names - I should not have done that.
Just felt massively disappointed that an excellent brand like BMW should be so let down by one stupid sales person seeking only to make his month end targets. It is the company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, not the individual sales person.
It is equally disappointing that the dealership in question does not seem to care.
Just felt massively disappointed that an excellent brand like BMW should be so let down by one stupid sales person seeking only to make his month end targets. It is the company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, not the individual sales person.
It is equally disappointing that the dealership in question does not seem to care.
They are unable to show insurance products FOC on an invoice as it breaches FSA regulations (if you get it for free, why can't I?) so they would have taken margin out of the car to give you the deal.
Dealers have to offer these packages for FSA reasons. These extras would have been detailed on the order form you signed when you placed your deposit and would not have been hidden. I know this as i've literally just gone through the same process this afternoon buying a new BMW from a Cooper site. Instead of blaming others you should just be more careful signing such documents.
Dealers have to offer these packages for FSA reasons. These extras would have been detailed on the order form you signed when you placed your deposit and would not have been hidden. I know this as i've literally just gone through the same process this afternoon buying a new BMW from a Cooper site. Instead of blaming others you should just be more careful signing such documents.
Butter Face said:
Did the salesman give you £1800 of discount (or equivalent to the cost of the products)?
I was wondering that too? MB Direct did that to me on a smaller scale - invoice total was as agreed but they'd included Starguard (MB's paint protection) and reduced the car price. I refused to sign the Starguard paperwork and they said I couldn't take the car!My approved used 535D came from a Cooper dealership (in a place just south of London 
).
Shocking customer experience to be honest, should have walked away except it was near enough to the exact specification I was after along with a very low mileage and a decent price. Would certainly have to think long and hard before using them again.
).Shocking customer experience to be honest, should have walked away except it was near enough to the exact specification I was after along with a very low mileage and a decent price. Would certainly have to think long and hard before using them again.
I got stung by the 'reduce car price and add extras on invoice' once.
The (non-BMW) car I bought was a dog from day one and after much messing around, I eventually got a refund. Only it was less than what I paid for the car. They pointed to the invoice, where they had listed a £250 charge for the 'free' warranty and said that wasn't refundable. Having signed the contract, there wasn't much I could do. Learnt a valuable lesson from that.
The (non-BMW) car I bought was a dog from day one and after much messing around, I eventually got a refund. Only it was less than what I paid for the car. They pointed to the invoice, where they had listed a £250 charge for the 'free' warranty and said that wasn't refundable. Having signed the contract, there wasn't much I could do. Learnt a valuable lesson from that.
Butter Face said:
Did the salesman give you £1800 of discount (or equivalent to the cost of the products)?
They tried to do this with a mate of mine did a dealer.They offered him three things and said they "had" to offer them. They included:
-"GAP" Insurance
-SupaGuard care package
-BMW's finance at 7.5% when most places offered 3.7%. You could however walk out of the BMW one part way apparently.
With either of us never having bought a car from the dealers (I've probably only twice bought a car through a trader at best) this experience was different for sure! My friend was asking me what I would do (awkward!) but none of the above were taken up by him.
In short;
-They tried to sell him GAP until the very end of the deal
-I convinced him there are better and cheaper methods of Supaguard despite them trying 'to throw it in for free'.
-With low interest rates we both decided that the bank's loan was better in all honesty
But I can see why car brokers do so well like Palmdale Motors. You'd have thought that going to a dealer would be a stress free experience compared to going to a trader or buying privately!
T25UFO said:
Firstly, apologies for breaking the rules on names - I should not have done that.
Just felt massively disappointed that an excellent brand like BMW should be so let down by one stupid sales person seeking only to make his month end targets. It is the company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, not the individual sales person.
It is equally disappointing that the dealership in question does not seem to care.
Cooper are Inchcape, widely renowned for being sJust felt massively disappointed that an excellent brand like BMW should be so let down by one stupid sales person seeking only to make his month end targets. It is the company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, not the individual sales person.
It is equally disappointing that the dealership in question does not seem to care.
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