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Goofed on the headlights

35K views 428 replies 82 participants last post by  terryn 
#1 · (Edited)
I just placed an order for a new 2013 328i drive. And I am very UNHAPPY! At 3am the night I signed the sales agreement I woke up and thought "Xenon headlights!" I called my sales rep at 9am the next day and asked them to change the order to add the lighting package. He said it was too late, the order could not be changed. I checked via telephone, and BMW said my status was 112. Everything I've read about this problem on the web indicated that I should still be able to change the order.

So I go back in this morning (day 2 now) and talk to the sales manager. He says no, my order is in production, status 150. Nothing can be changed. It had flipped to in production, 150, at 3am (about 12 hrs) after I placed the order. They don't want to allow me to place another order and get stuck having to sell my first ordered car, since I got a "driver's car" and did not get the premium or tech packages, etc.

The car I ordered was
328i xdrive in Alpine White
Sport Line
Black Leatherette interior
Dynamic Handling Package
Sport Auto Trans with paddles
Moonroof
HK Stereo

Now instead of being a happy new BMW to be owner, I am feeling sick and pissed off. No mention of the value of lighting kit was made to me during the sales negotiation. I called the dealer to change the order less than 18 hours after closing the deal. It's ironic that I wanted fast delivery, but locking in the order in less than 24 hours seems way too fast.

I am seriously considering walking away from the car, and my $500 deposit. I am getting a bit older and now I realize the Xenons are pretty important. After market kits look like a big hassle and of dubious legal status , and getting a BMW retrofit is prohibitively expensive. So it looks like this is a now or never situation.

I am afraid if I take this car, every time I drive it at night I will be annoyed. I keep my cars a long time. Over 10 years I'll be driving it at night at least 1000-2000 times. So eating my $500 deposit amounts to a 50 cents per drive or less penalty for avoiding this annoyance.

So I am having this moral dilemma. It's mostly my fault. I should have got my order right the first time, but the dealer should have advised me about the lights before placing the order, and they sure locked me in fast, in less than 24 hrs, giving me little time to change things. If they would just let me reorder it would make me so happy.

What should I do? Eat the deposit and go to another dealer and order what I really want? OR suck it up like a man, accept my mistake and just live with the car?
 
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#346 · (Edited)
Since I read this whole damn thread, I feel obligated to respond... :)

Wow, just wow. Might I suggest BMW Corporate offer a course in "Communications" or "Customer Service/"Crisis" Management" to their dealers.

The funny part is, I believe the dealer had every right to keep the deposit...as the OP even stated.
 
#347 · (Edited)
Let me give you a free customer service lesson.

BMWofMorristown;7481240 said:
We have now been able to make a deal on the vehicle, albeit at a price thousands lower than what was even offered on this site.
Pointing this out is an arrogant attempt to say "I was right but lost money to make you fVckers happy." You are letting your ego get the best of your business, which essentially is your problem. Smart people know that they have to swallow their egos to get things done. This statement does nothing to help the situation and makes thing worse. If you would have just said here "the car has been sold" you would have looked like a star.

I must say that I am both surprised and disappointed at the actions and words of some of the posters in this thread.
This is another arrogant, pointless statement. Don't be defensive. You shouldn't be surprised about a public outcry over an attempt to jack a guy whose $500 you had. Just fix the problem or don't. If you would have sold the guy another car at a normal price none of this would have happened.

The correct approach originally should have been to say "we had a misunderstanding and we will fix it." Again, swallow the ego.

Normally for a lesson like this people pay me like a quarter of a million dollars. So now you are way ahead. Just say either stay silent or say "thank you" and nothing else.
 
#351 ·
Halogens are for a poor man's BMW. :)

Edit: or a rich man's civic :)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Bimmer App
 
#355 ·
The 328 has xenon lllooollll

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Bimmer App
 
#357 · (Edited)
I made that last reply without reviewing the last two pages of posts. Imagine my surprise to go back and read the dealer's post that the car has been sold and that my deposit will be returned. Fortunately it was not so hard to sell as I was led to believe. I have no comment on the sale price. That is the dealer's business.

I am relieved this is all over and look forward to receiving my refund. I have not been contacted about this yet but it is the weekend. Maybe it will just appear on my CC. I appreciate all contributions that have helped get this resolved. I have learned some lessons from all this and perhaps others have too.

Meanwhile, the delivery of my desired 328i is getting closer every day. I can't wait!
 
#358 ·
I made that last reply without reviewing the last two pages of posts. Imagine my surprise to go back and read the dealer's post that the car has been sold and that my deposit will be returned. Fortunately it was not so hard to sell as I was led to believe. I have no comment on the sale price. That is the dealer's business.

I am relieved this is all over and look forward to receiving my refund. I have not been contacted about this yet but it is the weekend. Maybe it will just appear on my CC. I appreciate all contributions that have helped get this resolved. I have learned some lessons from all this and perhaps others have too.

Meanwhile, the delivery of my desired 328i is getting closer every day. I can't wait!
Please let us know when you get the refund.
 
#367 ·
I don't understand why dealers do not try to push the lighting package. Even if you came in with a list, I would think they should be pushing additional stuff you left off the list. While I knew I was going to get the lighting package, my dealer never mentioned it. He also stated that most people don't ask for it but he thinks it's a big mistake not to get it.

Several other dealers I spoke with while shopping around never mentioned it either.

I cannot go into a Kohl or any department store without being bugged to get a credit card over and over. They should do the same.
 
#368 ·
I don't understand why dealers do not try to push the lighting package. Even if you came in with a list, I would think they should be pushing additional stuff you left off the list. While I knew I was going to get the lighting package, my dealer never mentioned it. He also stated that most people don't ask for it but he thinks it's a big mistake not to get it.

Several other dealers I spoke with while shopping around never mentioned it either.

I cannot go into a Kohl or any department store without being bugged to get a credit card over and over. They should do the same.
it;s like 30 dollars a month, and most people are trying to lease cheap. 90% of he 328s on my dealers lot dont have xenon. and he has about 50 3series on the lot
 
#371 ·
I don't understand why dealers do not try to push the lighting package. Even if you came in with a list, I would think they should be pushing additional stuff you left off the list.
I swore I would stay out of this thread, but oh well...

My feeling is that CAs make a decision whether to up-sell you (and that's what it is) based on their perception of your level of knowledge. My guess is that if you come in and start talking about "ZDH" and "ZPT" and "840", they figure, ok this guy/gal knows what he/she is talking about and we can save ourselves some time by just going with the order as specified.

If you come in and say, I'm looking at BMW and Cadillac and Volvo and Acura, well, you're a different customer and they may "hold your hand" (translation: up-sell you) a bit more.

But I don't think it's fair to expect both. If you've laid out your build and you can talk the option codes and know what an N55 is, then how would you feel if the CA started trying to get you to buy 5DP or 3AG? Wouldn't you feel the CA is being pushy and trying to make some extra dough? I dunno, maybe you wouldn't. I would.

So when I bought my 535 in 2009, I researched it fully and went through Edmunds find-a-dealer. I returned to the same CA to buy my 335 M Sport this year. Both times, I had clearly done all my research, knew the invoice prices, knew the option codes, everything. The CA never tried to up-sell me on anything at all.

He did say something like, "Hmm...M Sport with burl walnut? OK". I knew he thought it was an odd choice, and if I were anyone else, he might have asked me if I was sure I didn't want the aluminum. I was sure I didn't, he knew that, and he respected my decision.

Personally, I would try to make the CA aware if I needed help in deciding or not. You can say that explicitly or you can "telegraph" it by showing how well you know what you are buying. But to me, it seems like if you choose one path, you're down that path and it's unfair to expect the CA to treat you like you chose the other path.

Not saying the OP did or didn't do any of this - just responding to the statement about expecting the CA to up-sell you.
 
#383 ·
I do agree that badwill was created. With the internet it is possible for anyone, right or wrong, to go online and complain about a business. If the business fails to respond, then most readers will assume the events depicted are true. If they do respond, then many will view them as attacking the customer. Either way, badwill is created. It's a lose-lose proposition for businesses.
Wait wait wait, what about the third option were the business sucks it up, realized mistakes were made by both parties, apologizes, and wins back as much good will as possible. How is it lose/lose?

Ego has no place in a for profit business.
 
#370 ·
No different than the e90. Almost no 328s had xenons. Consumers just don't care. 900 for lights?

Me I will enjoy the look of my car.
 
#375 ·
Goofed on the headlights?

No, you goofed on life! Although it's not a popular notion with people these days, you are responsible for your own actions! No body else. You screwed up your order...you are the culpable party. Your tirade against the dealer for your own f*ck-up is a embarrassment - just like you are!
 
#376 · (Edited)
Your tirade against the dealer for your own f*ck-up is a embarrassment - just like you are!
Someone Sounds mad.

it;s like 30 dollars a month, and most people are trying to lease cheap. 90% of he 328s on my dealers lot dont have xenon. and he has about 50 3series on the lot
It's not 30/mo to add Xenon's to a Lease, 30x36 = $1080, thats more than the entire package. Residualized it's more like 60% of $840 (invoice) = 504 ... 840-504 = $336 / 36 = $9.33/mo + interest/tax
 
#388 ·
I guess the spectacularity of the explosion caused a lot of people to have a look at it or even participate somehow. Explosions of this kind are usually caused when infinite force meets immovable object. By their definition, the event is a huge lose-lose proposition (neither can "win" as they are defined) and I'm not happy to have quite an intimate understanding of the process. In another industry with completely different players, of course.

Infinite force in this case seems to be the truly endemic (limited and circumspect to the fauna of the United States only) behavioral tick that demands no responsibility from anyone as long as the "damage" was caused solely by ignorance, incompetence, bad judgement or stupidity (NOT calling OP that) without premeditation AND they are the customer in the observed process.

Immovable object in this case seems to be the position, equally endemic to United States, by all actors in the marketplace that businesses are in the business of making money and that THAT is somehow perfectly acceptable. Just how much is that perfectly acceptable you can see when you compare a business that is in business of making money (Cadillac/GM) with a business that is in business of making cars (BMW, Audi, MB, Jaguar ...).

Needless to say, I cannot see a point of standing/siding on neither side since they are both so horribly wrong. I just wish we can make them just STRONG force and STURDILY fixed object in the near future. If for nothing else then for my liver and general health. Yea, I'm that altruistic.
 
#389 ·
samualcc, sounds well and good except that your response as written has one major problem. It requires the dealership to absolutely satisfy the OP. In this case that would be order another car and take a loss on the one that's already in production. If I owned a dealership, I wouldn't be very inclined to make a contract with someone who broke a previous one and left me with what is likely to be loss (versus the car that I could have had built in that slot). Sometimes things are just not going to work out between a dealership and a customer because the customer's expectations are not in the interest of the dealership. If the dealership does nothing wrong and comes on an internet forum and attempts to defend their position, there will be plenty who trash them. I honestly found nothing wrong with the responses from the dealership. As a matter of fact, I actually appreciate what was written because it didn't sound like a bunch of vacuous marketing drivel.

Overall this thread is to my benefit because I'm going to be extremely careful when ordering my BMW, assuming that I can reach an agreement with a dealership. When I purchased my Honda S2000 the process was very easy because the only option was the color. For my next car, I debated between ordering a BMW 335 or a Subaru WRX. I eventually went with the WRX mostly because the BMW I wanted wasn't on the lot and they wanted more (versus one on the lot) to order it for me. It seems to me like the process is much more formalized and well managed now. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to reach an agreement with a dealership. Once thing's for sure. I'm going over everything with the dealership and here before I sign a contract.
 
#390 ·
Bret_T, for me the issue is that the dealership didn't clearly take a clear route.

If they didn't trust the OP anymore (which I could understand), then they shouldn't even have entetained the idea of re-ordering a second car at MSRP. I would have understood a response to this effect.
Having decided not to do business with him anymore they should then have decided: either return the desposit or not, but to keep it until the car was sold was again a solution that wasn't here nor there. IF they were going to return it in the end, why not do it immediately and put the issue to rest. If they didn't want to give it back (which it seems they could have been entitled to), the they should just have kept it in order to offset the unrealized margin caused by the "heavily' (according to them) discounted sale.

Choose one path, communicate it clearly and move on. This is the part they didn't manage correctly (IMO).
About their post, you don't need to fill them with a lot of marketable mumbo jumbo, but they could have, should have stuck to the facts and remove the emmotional aspect of this.

In customer service, people will always remember the one time you messed up a lot more clearly than the 1000 times you did everything perfect.
 
#394 ·
One thing I have to say is Morristown BMW didn't benefit from the mistakes they made in their responses in this thread 13,000+ views and Pissed off at Morristown BMW thread 13,000+ views and they never will.:dunno:
cheers
vern
 
#397 ·
Refund received

My deposit was refunded by the dealer yesterday. I think we can close the book on this saga. I found that ordering a BMW is a difficult process, probably more complex than with most other cars. It sure was more so than my last Audi order. My lesson from this is that patience is required. Never pull the trigger right away. Go home, think about it, post on this forum, ask questions. Even if you don't agree with all the advice, it will still help to make sure you have considered everything. Then think about it some more before ordering. Make sure to discuss everything with your CA. If it doesn't feel like you are receiving knowledgeable advice go somewhere else and try again.
 
#399 ·
terryn, glad to hear that it all worked out well for you in the end. It's too bad the dealer didn't handle your deposit "the right way" to begin with, or at least follow up their mistake by using the "samualcc method" posted above. Best wishes with your new bimmer when she arrives. Many happy miles to you. :thumbup:
 
#400 ·
Here's the basic order. I'm traveling this week and can give you the financial details next week. I got it for a little less than $500 over invoice. It's not out of production status yet. May delivery sometime I think. It's considerably better equipped than my first order. After all the crap the first time around I decided to spend right up to my budget limit and get everything I wanted. The only risk I think I am taking on this order is the AT. In my test drives I thought I would be happy with it, especially with the sport auto option. I know there are strong opinions on this forum about transmissions. Really only extended drive time in the car will tell me if I made the right decision. But in the event that I decide I want to return eventually to the MT fold the car is loaded with enough goodies that I won't mind the wait.

328i xDrive in Alpine White
Sport Line
Black Leather interior
Gloss black trim with that red stripe you either love or hate
Premium Package
Dynamic Handling Package
Sport Auto Trans with paddles
HK Stereo
Lighting Package
Technology Package
Heated front seats
 
#405 ·
It's not out of production status yet.

...

I know there are strong opinions on this forum about transmissions. Really only extended drive time in the car will tell me if I made the right decision. But in the event that I decide I want to return eventually to the MT fold the car is loaded with enough goodies that I won't mind the wait.
Man, I truly wish you a good luck and I do hope so much that you are correct in your statement. Let me tell you something: the absolutely WORST part of my car that I suffer almost every day and would change in NY millisecond (if possible) is standard, non-deletable moonroof. It truly sucks big time. But, I somehow learned to not pay attention and control my aggravation/anger about it and let it go only when I hit my head or when I drive on the track hunched like Quasimodo.

Now ... automatic transmission, I don't think so. At least as far as I'm concerned, I would probably be sick of automatic in less than a month and take 5,000 - 8,000 hosing by ordering a new car. I mean, if you had even minimal doubts, you should have gone with MT. I hope I'm wrong and that doesn't apply to you.

Good luck again!
 
#404 ·
LOL! One time I went into Jos A Bank to get a couple suits, and the sales guy was way too enthusiastic about taking my measurements...Not that there is anything wrong with that...

Then there was the red headed Russian lady from Men's Wearhouse down the street who took my measurements the same day. OMG! She was hot... I bought the suits just because of her. I'm not even sure if I like them or not...
 
#410 ·
Nothing wrong with some thigh-high stockings, lingerie, golf club, and ice cubes.
 
#422 ·
This pretty much confirms my own assertion that I will never do business with any Open Road dealerships. I had less than satisfying experiences with Morristown MINI, Mo-town BMW and BMW of Newton, NJ. I just didn't appreciate their low-balling on my trade-ins, unwillingness to negotiate on their advertised "specials", the "let me get my manager ploy" and their sudden total change of tack once I left the dealerships. Too reminiscent of buying a used car back in the 70's.
 
#423 ·
You are making the right decision in cancelling the order, even if in the end, you lose your $500 deposit (which I can't see happening). I purchased a new 328i last Tuesday that the dealer is shipping in from another state. Still waiting 6 days later, but will be worth it.

I don't understand why BMW doesn't just make the addaptive Xenons standard on EVERYTHING they make. It would get the cost down considerably.

Xenon's on my new 3 was a dealbreaker!!! I had them on my 2007 X3. One word describes these lights... INCREDIBLE!!! :thumbup:
 
#425 ·
I agree. They invoice for Lighting Package is around $700, meaning cost can't be more than $500. They should just eat the cost and make it standard, AT LEAST on all 3 series models (it already is on the 5 series and higher and probably even 4 series).

Especially since competitors are moving in this direction ...
 
#427 ·
Not sure about your state but here my BMW dealer says you have 72 hours to change your mind completely. You might want to check into that because this sounds like a load of crap that you cannot change your order within 72 hours, especially when it involves spending more money...
 
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