[hummali]

I was recently at bmw autobahn here in fort worth texas. I had an after market lid and a factory backup camera. The camera was acting up and the dealership tried to figure out what was going on. Obviously, they made me pay for it n i did. However the problem still existed so they wanted to try another thing. I said sure but what if the problem is not resolved will u keep taking my money n trying different thing. Long story short I asked too many right questions and the service manager told me to pick my car as he didn't want my business.

My issue was how can a bmw dealership refuse to work with a bmw owner n if its legal. So I called bmwnorthamerica. Short answer, they said yes. The rep told me the dealerships r private entities and they can pick n choose customers n work or not with whoever they way n the bmwNA will not step in. I was shocked4.so I asked what if all 3 dealerships refuse to work on my car on an issue such as the passenger airbag n while my car is under warranty for that issue. She told me I'd have no option but to go to another city n try my luck there.

This makes no sense to me what so ever. How can this be true. I am appalled and feel helpless. How is this possible and what recourse as a customer do I have?
Again this has nothing to do with the after market or warranty no warranty issue. This is simply whether a dealership can refuse me as a bmw owner n what options do I have rhen.
Thanks for ur feed back.

[QuikSilver_]

Unfortunately, what BMWNA said is true. It's not always the best business practice, but pretty much any business can refuse service to whomever they please without reason. I read your other post in regards to the warranty situation (whole different topic, I know), and also read some of the other comments in regards to that dealership. From what I read, I wouldn't want them to work on my vehicle at all, even if it was just putting air in the tires. Best bet would be to find another dealership with a better reputation and a friendlier staff.

[ronanz]

^^ agreed

[yoandry]

If you get the car from them and it's still under warranty, why in hell they don't want to work on your car. Sue those basters.

[hummali]

man i can do all this in my garage. And i am never going back there. My issue is how is this possible. This is American dude. How can you sell a product and say

"there's a warranty on it or hey we know it has issues but if something goes wrong, u can bring it to our shops and we will repair it either for free or a small charge"

And then when your customer goes to the shop the shop says bugger off, we can do whatever we want. This has to be illegal man. Corporate America can't be this corrupt.

[tex2670]

Any private business can refuse service to anyone, as long as they aren't doing it for an illegal reason, like discrimination. Refusing to serve you because you annoyed the manager is not an illegal reason. If they do it to too many people, and word gets out, then they will lose other customers who hear about it--so it doesn't happen that often.

[pz619]

Honestly it's probably because you have an aftermarket trunk lid. If everything was stock, they probably would do it no problem and charge BMW under the warranty program. My guess is the dealership doesn't know the exact problem, has to replace/fix parts, but needs you to pay for it. I think it's fair of you to bring up the fact you don't want to have to pay for multiple fixes that won't fix the problem, but I think the dealership is looking at it from the standpoint that they don't want the liability of having to try fix after fix and charge you for it.

[dalto]

It certainly not illegal for an individual business to refuse to serve you as a customer. It doesn't matter if it is a car dealership or an ice cream store.

On the other hand, dealers make money doing service work so the chance of all the dealerships in the area refusing to service your car is pretty small.

[Minkia]

isnt this why they guarantee their work for an x period of time? if the problem is not fixed, based on the warranty they should fix it. if you need to pay for new parts then so be it, but the work itself should be covered. but yeah, if they dont want your business, f*ck em go somewhere else.

[RedRaiderDavid]

Claim you are gay and accuse them of refusing service based on your sexual orientation and see what happens. lol

I of course mean no offense if you or someone actually is I'm just poking fun at the limitations of refusing service that has been on the news in recent months.

[5ilver-5amurai]

Move to Canada, everything is so freakin' regulated here that there would be a nightmare for the dealer if they refused you service. Plus, it's Canada....they would do your service and offer you a mug of maple syrup to sip while you wait

[hummali]

^^^^ HAHAHA
I've moved 5 countries and 11 cities. I might just take you up on that !

[QuikSilver_]

Originally Posted by RedRaiderDavid

Claim you are gay and accuse them of refusing service based on your sexual orientation and see what happens. lol

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Any private business can refuse service to anyone, as long as they aren't doing it for an illegal reason, like discrimination. Refusing to serve you because you annoyed the manager is not an illegal reason. If they do it to too many people, and word gets out, then they will lose other customers who hear about it--so it doesn't happen that often.

this.

[versailles]

Originally Posted by RedRaiderDavid

Claim you are gay and accuse them of refusing service based on your sexual orientation and see what happens. lol

I of course mean no offense if you or someone actually is I'm just poking fun at the limitations of refusing service that has been on the news in recent months.

Or better yet, claim you are black (they'll never notice if you aren't) and claim racial discrimination!!

Seriously though the more I read about US dealerships the more I'm glad I'm in the uk!!

You guys have some shit to deal with honestly, there was a thread on here by a guy (he was a bit of a douche) saying a dealer wouldn't let him test drive a m3!! I can honestly say that would never happen here in the uk

[Bob in IL]

Originally Posted by versailles

Or better yet, claim you are black (they'll never notice if you aren't) and claim racial discrimination!!

Seriously though the more I read about US dealerships the more I'm glad I'm in the uk!!

You guys have some shit to deal with honestly, there was a thread on here by a guy (he was a bit of a douche) saying a dealer wouldn't let him test drive a m3!! I can honestly say that would never happen here in the uk

Usually on forums you read about the bad stuff and complaints. They are a great venue for that. There are no doubt a lot of positive experiences that don't make it in print. Reality is somewhere in the middle.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by versailles

Or better yet, claim you are black (they'll never notice if you aren't) and claim racial discrimination!!

Seriously though the more I read about US dealerships the more I'm glad I'm in the uk!!

You guys have some shit to deal with honestly, there was a thread on here by a guy (he was a bit of a douche) saying a dealer wouldn't let him test drive a m3!! I can honestly say that would never happen here in the uk

They just let any Joe Schmoe in the UK walk in and test drive an M3? I tried that when I was in college with a Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo (I know--but it was a hot car back then, I swear). Even though I pulled up in my dad's Acura, the salesman told me I could test drive it after I put a deposit down--he knew damn well what I was up to.

[Thumper333]

Originally Posted by yoandry

If you get the car from them and it's still under warranty, why in hell they don't want to work on your car. Sue those basters.

Wrong.

First, this was not warranty work, so none of that has bearing on this situation.

Second, even if it WAS they could still refuse to service it. As has been said several times, every business has the right to refuse service to anyone. Obviously they can't refuse for reasons of race, religion, etc, but if a customer is causing them problems and they just don't want to deal with it it's perfectly within the law and their rights to tell the customer they don't want their business.

If they do this enough and run away all their business that's an issue they will have to deal with, but that is their right to run their business how they see fit.

No offense to the OP, but it sounds like you bought parts that were not made by BMW and had an issue with them. They were more than happy to try to solve the problem created by this other companies parts. Just like everything else in this world, nothing is free, and so they have to charge for their time and service. It is not their fault if they could not figure out the problem with a product they don't deal with on the first try.

When you asked if you would have to pay them for their time for them to continue to work on it they obviously felt you were being rude or hostile and they decided it was not worth it.

Perhaps you should try to have the company that made the non-functioning parts trouble shoot the issue with their own product.

[G30 B58]

OP, move on already. Let it go. Life is short. Find an indy shop to fix the damn thing. Buy some tools and do it yourself.

MOVE ON.

[scrape1]

As with any repair shop, they have every right to choose to not mess with your aftermarket parts if they do not feel comfortable doing so. Or if they think you are going to be more trouble than you're worth as a customer. In this case, there might be elements of both, and really there is nothing appalling about it.

Your only recourse is finding a shop or dealership willing to to the work you need done.

[BavarianFanatic]

This again? Based on the details you laid out in your original thread I don't blame them one bit. You showed your cards (you're a difficult customer) so they decided not to play.

[casualDIYer]

Indy shop++