How's the customer service at your dealership?

Starting this thread because of the poor experiences I've had at my local BMW dealership. I live in Greenille, South Carolina about 5 miles from the BMW factory and performance center. One would think that our dealership would be one of the premier dealerships in the country.....not the case. Today, I go in to have my tires replaced. Last week, a bubble appeared on the side wall of one of my run-flats that came on the car. I was told that because the tire was not losing air, it wasn't covered under the wheel and tire insurance. However, I was also told that the tire was not safe to drive on. Guess what, after finding out they didn't have my tires in stock, now it was all of a sudden safe to drive, but they recommended that I have the tire replaced AND since I had almost 20k on my tires and they were over 50% worn, they recommended replacing all 4. Surprise. So I knew already that I didn't want run-flats. They ordered the Michelins that I wanted and told me they'd price match Discount Tire. Go in for pickup with my invoice and the guy acts like he knew nothing about the price match. I wait for about 40 minutes while it gets passed up the chain. In the meantime I go out to look at my new tires. They nicked two of my wheels! Looks like they were either dropped or leaned up against something. Also, they did a realignment. In the process, they added new weights and didn't even bother to remove the black adhesive from where the previous weights were. C'mon! 60k for a car and I can't get better customer service? Finally I get to speak with the manager. I find out he was sent up from a dealership in Texas to try and change things at this dealership because it was so poor. He worked everything out for me and is going to have the wheels repaired and reconditioned. Long day! Is it like this where anyone else lives? Is this local or is this common for BMW?

Just be nice and complain to the right people

My dealer is nothing short of fantastic...always honest, trustworthy and competent. From sales to service I cannot say enough good things about them. It amazes me how variable the service is at dealers around the country/world. Voss Village BMW in Dayton is by far the best of 4 BMW dealerships I have either purchased cars from or serviced my cars at over the years...Love Them!

My wife's 335d is serviced at Russell BMW and my 550 is serviced by BMW of Silver Spring. I don't have any service complaints about either, but BMWSS provides more personal service and has a much better loaner car program. It also helps that they are a Dinan dealer and GetBMWParts is located there, so it's one stop shopping for me.

I only have limited experience but both the sales and service experience at my dealer has been excellent. The sales experience was outstanding, my CA was great to work with and I ended up with a very good deal IMHO. I've only had to take the 550i back once to get the tires rebalanced and the tint applied but both were done to my satisfaction (including replacing a bad factory tire) and my SA was incredibly responsive. My only gripes were the typical sales spiel from the finance guy even though I wasn't financing anything and I only got a 128 loaner. But that was OK since I had never driven one before and it made me appreciate my 5 even more

Don't mean to digress here, but I would never let a BMW dealer change out my tires again. Had the tire insurance for our E60 that had a nail in one of the tires. The dealer changed the tire out no charge under the warranty but scratched my wheel in the process. Dealers aren't in the tire changing business. Take it to a reputable tire place you know and you can get reimbursed from your tire insurance policy.

one word to describe my dealer's service - outstanding

I have had nothing short of outstanding service at Autobahn Motors of Fort Worth.

Originally Posted by w5lx

I have had nothing short of outstanding service at Autobahn Motors of Fort Worth.

This is the dealership where an employee took someone's M5 for a joyride, totaled it, tried to cover this up, and ended up loosing lawsuit and having to provide compensation.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...16-months.html

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

This is the dealership where an employee took someone's M5 for a joyride, totaled it, tried to cover this up, and ended up loosing lawsuit and having to provide compensation.

I don't know anything about that but I do know I have been dealing with them for the past 13 years and have had nothing but excellent service from them. I can't say the same thing for the BMW dealership in Arlington by another name.


Edited to add: I suspect that the tech responsible for that incident has been absent (fired) from the dealership since the day the incident occurred in August of 2010.

Yep, live in Memphis but drove to Nashville to buy my latest vehicle....go figure.

The dealership in Indianapolis has been extremely disappointing. I had my last service completed while in Chicago and will continue to avoid the Indy dealership whenever possible. I will never do an important repair with them.

I have yet to find a dealer with a good service department in Miami or Lauderdale. Pembroke Pines is okay, but they are all well below the standard of Mercedes, Audi and especially Lexus service departments.

And I found the same thing when I was in Atlanta too.

I have had nothing but good sales and service from Parkview BMW here in Toronto. When buying my F10 I went to five dealerships in the area to test-drive and negotiate but Parkview came through for my second purchase there in a meaningful way (lowest $).
The Service Manager takes a real interest and won't rest until problems are solved. Been going there since 2004.

The dealership- Lifestyle BMW @ Brooklyn is good so far.

FWIW Bimmerfest has an entire forum devoted to this topic, in the est of Bimmerfest section. If you are interested, you will get a much larger sample size there.

Sent from my HTC Inspire using BimmerApp

Originally Posted by johnfinger

Yep, live in Memphis but drove to Nashville to buy my latest vehicle....go figure.

John ... I'm in Memphis as well. Pretty sure Roadshow and BMW of Nashville are owned by the same people. Regardless, what specifically made you drive all the way to Nashville? For those of you who don't know, it's 200 miles.

Long story short - had made an appointment last week for an oil change (no wash) I had just washed and waxed days earlier. It took 2 hours to before the car was ready - glad I made the appointment... While they did not wash as instructed, they drove it right by the mobile powerwash car lot cleaner guy which left water spots all over my car. Upon entry to the car, they left all the protective plastic and mats in for me to dispose of. And the best part of all, after driving 20 miles to grab lunch, approaching the front of the car I noticed that the left side of the hood was not fully seated. The trained and certified staff failed to close the hood properly... Unbelievable.

Originally Posted by dunderhi

My wife's 335d is serviced at Russell BMW and my 550 is serviced by BMW of Silver Spring. I don't have any service complaints about either, but BMWSS provides more personal service and has a much better loaner car program. It also helps that they are a Dinan dealer and GetBMWParts is located there, so it's one stop shopping for me.

Another vote for BMW of SS - a bit out of the way for me but great customer service. Cannot beat the loaners either - they give you a choice!

BMW Seattle has been excellent in every way. Highly recommended in this area.

I am surprised you did not get a warning. Unless my hood is closed perfectly, I will get a warning once I start driving.

Originally Posted by DDraper

I noticed that the left side of the hood was not fully seated. The trained and certified staff failed to close the hood properly... Unbelievable.

It's absolutely amazing what a lousy economy can do.

I can't tell you how pleased I am with my local (I-can-walk-to-their-service-department) dealer, and I didn't even buy my car from them. Free oil top-ups, car washes, more-than-competent service, extremely efficient reception and an online reservation system that is wonderful. Ironically, this is a dealer who, before they moved to their new facility, got some of the worst consumer reviews I've ever seen. They must have hired someone to manage this place who knew what she was doing, possibly because of slow business.

Granted, they're a smaller dealer and don't always have loaners and their amenities pale in comparison to Ray Catena, but right now I wouldn't think of going anywhere else.

Of course, things can change in a heartbeat, so I will keep my antennae up the next time I bring my car in. As I say, I hope the economy recovers but I'll miss the service.

Originally Posted by RichC59

I find out he was sent up from a dealership in Texas to try and change things at this dealership because it was so poor. He worked everything out for me and is going to have the wheels repaired and reconditioned.

Wonder if that is Tommy Kernoff. He is a really nice guy and always made my experiences buying cars from him excellent. Went in the other day to look at an X3 and found out he was transferred to South Carolina.

Can't say enough good things about the customer service and quality of the experience at New Century BMW in Alhambra CA.
Eric Ho is my service rep & Justin Wong is my primary contact - competent young man and an outstanding dealership IMO