In the US, the scale is 5, but the tactic is basically the same. I've never heard of it actually being said that there is CASH tied to it, but they try to make you feel guilty by saying that 5 is passing and everything else is a fail.

What a load. Evaluate as you see fit. This whole bull about HAVING to give a perfect score defeats the entire purpose of it.

CSI is a big deal. At our dealership (and I'm sure most others), your compensation relies heavily on CSI scores, all the way up the food chain. Sales people, sales managers, service advisors, service techs, service managers, general managers, etc. have their earnings tied to their (or their department's scores for management) CSI responses. Trust me when I say that the averages are high, and even one or two bad scores will destroy your average. The market-average sales CSI score in any given region is usually 95% or above, just as an order of magnitude score. So, figuring your salesperson sees 10 surveys come back per month (probably a high number), and each survey has 7 questions that count, you can see that even 1 or 2 answers of all the total questions that aren't "5" can bring the average down below market.

What the CSI system has essentially become is a system where you are not free to really give a "fair" rating of the process. It's not a "we realize it can never be perfect, but give us an idea of how it was overall" survey, but rather a "so long as your salesperson/service advisor didn't totally **** up on everything, please rank all 5's" survey. That's obvious in the fact that the overall average is usually only a few points away from a perfect 100. If there wasn't so much money tied to it, and you were not pressured to give perfect 5's across the board, I'd bet that the average would fall at least 10 points, and that you would really be able to tell the top notch dealers from those that are just really good at training the customers to answer with 5's.

Saintor said:

At delivery, I was told that if BMW calls me to get my evaluation and that I give less than 10/10 on each items evaluated, the sales rep won't get 100$ that he is entitled to get .

Is it true? I felt pressurized.

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I usually give all 5's as long as everything is ok. But one time when my car was in for service, it took over 3 hours (they had told me 45 minutes, so I was waiting), then they "misplaced" my car. Once they found the car, and it was sitting out front, the tech gave me my keys and told me I was all set. I signed the paperwork at the front desk, and went to get in my car....they had left the mats they use to not dirty my car in the car. I looked around for my service advisor, he was nowhere to be found. So I took the mats into the service office myself, and they looked at me puzzled. To make a long story short, for the follow up survey the SA did not get 5's.
I also recieved a call from the service manager after that and explained the situation to him, he agreed, and now I get awesome service every time.

Moral: Just because you are pressured to give all 5's, if something is really wrong, dock them accordingly.

As flawed as the current survey method is, it does work somewhat!

I completely disagree.

Some time ago, I hinted that I wouldn't be giving all 5s after a service, and I've never received a survey call since for anything. I'm probably tagged somewhere showing as a 'non-5-giver'.

It's a SCAM. I think SARAFIL is implying that in a roundabout way, though obviously he can't really say that because it's his job on the line.

04.325ci said:

As flawed as the current survey method is, it does work somewhat!

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There is cash tied to it. A lot.

Kaz said:

I've never heard of it actually being said that there is CASH tied to it

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Kaz said:

Evaluate as you see fit.

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But please remember that the CSI sheet is your salesman's personal report card, and anything below a 5 is considered a failing score. Was your client advisor a jerk? Did he know nothing about the car? Did he condescend to your wife? If so, torch him (and ask yourself why you gave him the business in the first place).

But if not, then remember there are some things which are simply beyond the salesman's control. Was the finance guy a complete a-hole? Did someone leaving a steaming lump in the dealership's bathroom? Did the car blow up into a flaming fireball on the way home? None of these things are his fault.

And finally, weigh the importance of establishing a good relationship with your dealership. That is not a threat, and I'm not saying they would intentionally give you substandard service in the future without a good survey. But it is human nature. I know my customers, and I know the ones who take care of me. I go out of my way to do the same.

I meant that I've never heard of a monetary amount (i.e. $100 per the original poster). I know there is a LOT (WAY more than $100) riding on this.

philippek said:

There is cash tied to it. A lot.

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But please remember that the CSI sheet is your salesman's personal report card, and anything below a 5 is considered a failing score. Was your client advisor a jerk? Did he know nothing about the car? Did he condescend to your wife? If so, torch him (and ask yourself why you gave him the business in the first place).

But if not, then remember there are some things which are simply beyond the salesman's control. Was the finance guy a complete a-hole? Did someone leaving a steaming lump in the dealership's bathroom? Did the car blow up into a flaming fireball on the way home? None of these things are his fault.

And finally, weigh the importance of establishing a good relationship with your dealership. That is not a threat, and I'm not saying they would intentionally give you substandard service in the future without a good survey. But it is human nature. I know my customers, and I know the ones who take care of me. I go out of my way to do the same.

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I'd like to point out that when I bought my car, I had a great CA, and he got the 5s he deserved. But what I'm saying is that I am under NO obligation simply to lie and say what someone tells me to, because the system is inherently flawed. FIX the damn system. BMW dealers are 'forced' to pressure their customers into essentially circumventing the CSI system because it is flawed. But then the customer provides absolutely no value to the system, because their answers are scripted. I guess a lot of people are OK with that. I am not. It is not the kind of behavior I will simply go along with. If someone gets hurt because of that, well, I'm sorry, but that's not my fault. At my job, I get similar types of calls for service done on things like laptops, servers, etc. and I ALWAYS give an honest answer, and have NEVER been pressured to only give the perfect score.

Another thing I noticed was that the questions that are aksed (I don't remember what they are, since it's been years since I got the call) seem to be worded just so that even if you DID get shoddy service, you really can't respond to that going by the questions that are provided to you.

So that's a double-whammy. Not only are the questions you are asked to score on meaningless, the scores you give are, essentially, meaningless as well.

And if dealers actually use your non-5 responses as a reason to retaliate against you, that's just another blemish on the system. How the hell is the dealership supposed to improve if they're always being shown the only acceptable (perfect) score? And why should ANYONE at the dealer be able to see the scores a customer gives (I know they can and do; it was discussed here some time ago). The whole thing is just a load of crap.

What would you have me do Kaz :dunno:

It ain't my system, I just do the best I can within it.

Kaz said:

FIX the damn system.

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Kaz, I totally agree that the system is flawed. What I was trying to get at was the fact that the dealership I went to actually remedied the situation. I did not call the service manager, he called me and asked why I gave the scores I gave. He actually listened to me and promised to take care of me from now on. In the absence of the rating system, I doubt I would have gotten a call from the manager. Of course, this all depends on the dealership and their management teams effectiveness.

Well, I think CAs and SAs are in the worst position, since you guys' jobs are on the line when it comes to the score, and at the same time you are essentially required to lie and pressure your customers. On the other hand, I think the customers should vote for the fairness of it by not succumbing to 'the system'

On the other hand, perhaps it will force SAs and CAs to actually give a **** and do a good job... Yeah, right. If they did, all these people wouldn't have to come on these forums to complain about all these incompetent fools they just had to deal with at their local dealer.

philippek said:

What would you have me do Kaz :dunno:

It ain't my system, I just do the best I can within it.

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Can the dealership decide who gets a survey? I had some service work done on my wife's Accord recently and they screwed up in 4 different ways. I was going to unload on them but never got a survey.

Also, I got a letter from the service advisor telling me I could expect a survey and stating that if anything wasn't right about the service (which she knew was the case) to let her know. Then, I got a similar letter from the service manager. I never responded to either, but what kind of response SHOULD I have given? I couldn't see any way they could make things right short of refunding the money I paid and I felt prettty sure *that* wasn't going to happen.

No.*

*some exceptions apply.

postoak said:

Can the dealership decide who gets a survey? I had some service work done on my wife's Accord recently and they screwed up in 4 different ways. I was going to unload on them but never got a survey.

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I hope they aren't required to lie..... :dunno:

Kaz said:

... and at the same time you are essentially required to lie and pressure your customers.

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If the customer didn't have any choices other than '5' as the response to the CSI survey, it's not a lie. But the customer is asked to rate, on a scale of 1 to 5, question XYZ. The dealer people tell the customers that the only answer is '5.' That's a lie. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are also answers.

The Other Tom said:

I hope they aren't required to lie..... :dunno:

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I suppose one answer is to just toss the survey.

I did some searches and it appears the survey is done by telephone -- that right? What if you tell them you don't want to take it, how does that affect the dealership/client advisor?

In my business I learned to extol everyone regardless of how you actually feel because open negativism does not improve working relationships. :thumbup: In the end, the good dealers will get the business, and the bad ones will not because you rate them from your personal relationship with them, not from the opinion others provide.

postoak said:

I did some searches and it appears the survey is done by telephone -- that right? What if you tell them you don't want to take it, how does that affect the dealership/client advisor?

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I don't recall the actual CSI questions, but it seems that they should be structured in such a way as to allow a customer to fairly rate each major area, with each area receiving the appropriate rewards or bonuses.

philippek said:

But please remember that the CSI sheet is your salesman's personal report card, and anything below a 5 is considered a failing score. Was your client advisor a jerk? Did he know nothing about the car? Did he condescend to your wife? If so, torch him (and ask yourself why you gave him the business in the first place).

But if not, then remember there are some things which are simply beyond the salesman's control. Was the finance guy a complete a-hole? Did someone leaving a steaming lump in the dealership's bathroom? Did the car blow up into a flaming fireball on the way home? None of these things are his fault.

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I agree Marc. But unfortunately that's not the way the system works. How's the Alfa running :drive:

marc92606 said:

I don't recall the actual CSI questions, but it seems that they should be structured in such a way as to allow a customer to fairly rate each major area, with each area receiving the appropriate rewards or bonuses.

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I can't imagine ever doing that. I'm either going to let someone know I'm unhappy (if I think they can do anything to make it right), or give them negative marks on the survey, or else not answer the survey. Of those, I would consider the last to be the least severe, but (and nobody has answered this), perhaps not answering IS severe. :dunno:

Dave 330i said:

In my business I learned to extol everyone regardless of how you actually feel because open negativism does not improve working relationships. :thumbup: In the end, the good dealers will get the business, and the bad ones will not because you rate them from your personal relationship with them, not from the opinion others provide.

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