[smithf80]

Originally Posted by cSurf

(

"Should have gone down there"? Any other ritual sacrifices necessary to compel your SA to return a phone call? Come on- OP had is car towed towed to dealership late Saturday, gives them Monday to give him an estimate... and the dealership whiffs. Whether he was physically present, with coffee and flowers in hand- or not- shouldn't make a difference in the quality of service. Hoofing it over to the dealership to make nice seems like an unnecessary step. After all, this is a pretty straight forward issue. I find all of the 'blame the customer' sentiment in this thread odd... maybe folks are confusing this reasoned, measured OP w/ that 25/yo hot-shot MBA from Detroit?

No of course it shouldn't make a difference but they really can't ignore him if he is standing right in front of him.

I'm not saying its right that he should need to do this but its the unfortunate truth.

[335BOY]

This guy should never have posted. He's polite and understanding. Handled it well. Lots here don't understand the concept of relationships and being respectful.

[smithf80]

Originally Posted by 335BOY

This guy should never have posted. He's polite and understanding. Handled it well. Lots here don't understand the concept of relationships and being respectful.

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by erroberts1

Can someone tell me if I am taking crazy pills, if I'm just unlucky, or if this is par for the course for BMW Assist and dealer service? This is my first experience with both.

Saturday 4/4, 6:00pm, blowout on interstate due to blown road debris. Windy day, high traffic, saw a piece of bumper bouncing around in the road, couldn't avoid it, bam! Drove on it for a quarter mile and decided run-flats weren't doing it for me based on feel. I pulled over in breakdown lane on busy interstate, then called BMW Assist.

Now, when you call BMW Assist, your exact location (and heading if on interstate - SB/NB, etc.) appears on the NBT screen. This is great, but more on that later.

Roadside Assistance organized a tow to the nearest service center, confirmed my callback number, and confirmed I would get a text when they were close. This is great!

6:30pm - realized all dealers were now closed, called Roadside from Assist and requested to change towing location to dealer closer to home (and only 2 mi. further than "nearest" based on my location) knowing I could get to/from there by cab or trolley easily. They said it would be no problem.

7:00pm - called to check in for an update. Representative confirmed callback "in case we get disconnected" and put me on hold. Obviously the call dropped 30 seconds later. I waited for a callback so I wasn't tying up the entire call center. It never happened.

7:10pm - called again to check in. Representative put me on hold, spoke with towing vendor, and came back to say they've been by you three times. I asked them to confirm my location and, surprise, they instructed the vendor to look for me on the other side of a divided interstate.

The tow truck showed in 15 minutes, they were great.

Car was dropped off at dealer Saturday night, 4/4. Dealer was obviously closed for Easter Sunday, 4/5. On Monday, 4/6, I called at 7:15a to check in/get set up with an SA/just make contact/whatever: "a Service Advisor will call you back as soon as they're available." Okay, sure, no problem.

Checked in again at noon. "A Service Advisor will call you back."

Called their Parts guy at 2:30pm for a quote on the tire, and then immediately ordered from Tire Rack to direct ship.

Checked in with Service again at 3:30pm, finally got to speak with an SA. Not sure when they're going to look at the car, will check on loaner availability, call you back "in 45 minutes."

Checked in with Service again at 5:00pm. Reached my SA. "No loaners available, some supposed to be returning today, didn't want to call with no news, by the way I'll be out tomorrow and another SA will contact you."

Tuesday, 4/7. Delivery conf. from Tire Rack. Zero contact from dealer Service. I get it, my SA took a day off, they're short handed. This sucks. Whatever.

Wednesday, 4/8. Checked in with Service around 1:30pm. Found out my SA is out for the rest of the week! No update on the car. "Another Service Advisor will call you back."

A flat tire. Do I just take a cab over there and change it myself now? There is also some superficial damage to the bumper from whatever I hit, but I have no idea if it's even been on a lift after four days to inspect for any other issues. I'm a pretty level-headed, reasonable guy, and I feel like I've properly conveyed my mounting frustration without any negative attitude or personal attacks.

Also my cable box just sort of stopped working, and I've had plenty of phone time with Comcast this week too resulting in "yeah, I guess we can't fix it, come get a new one." I think I may be about to snap.

So what do you guys expect when you bring your car to a BMW service center?

First, I would not expect a loaner if I damaged the car, but my dealer would be kind enough to put me in one.

Second, the dealers have been told that a flat is a priority. Moreover, dealers have been told to fix flats immediately.

That's been my experience at 4 dealerships around the country.

BMW removed the spare. BMW knows that it must make fixing flats a priority in order to prevent backlash with its decision to abandon spares.

Now, you can't buck the system by bringing in your own bottle. Moreover, wheel and tire insurance will help you combat the sticker shock of having to pay retail for new tires or wheels.

I think if you showed up to a dealer and they didn't have a tire in stock then you would qualify for a loaner.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by erroberts1

As you wish.

Stopped by last night on good advice and had a very positive and productive conversation with the Service Manager. The good news is they dismounted the bad tire this morning. The bad news is whatever I ran over bored a hole through and cracked the rim

I'll send some photos when I get them.

Now YOU are going to be "that guy" the finance manager talks about for the next 2 months that didn't opt for the wheel and tire coverage...

[erroberts1]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Now YOU are going to be "that guy" the finance manager talks about for the next 2 months that didn't opt for the wheel and tire coverage...

Actually, that finance manager is still high fiving his buddies over getting his interest rate markup even after I called him out on it. But, the car was ordered to my spec, was sitting on their lot, I took a bus to get there, and he knew it. I will be taking my business elsewhere for the next one.

They wouldn't budge below $1,200 on the W&T, so I passed. I assumed the 225/45/18 would do better than my previous 235/35/19 and they definitely do, but this was a total freak thing.

[335BOY]

Originally Posted by erroberts1

Actually, that finance manager is still high fiving his buddies over getting his interest rate markup even after I called him out on it. But, the car was ordered to my spec, was sitting on their lot, I took a bus to get there, and he knew it. I will be taking my business elsewhere for the next one.

They wouldn't budge below $1,200 on the W&T, so I passed. I assumed the 225/45/18 would do better than my previous 253/35/19 and they definitely do, but this was a total freak thing.

I had those 255 35 19 RFT and they were BRUTAL. Yours sounds like a fluke.

[erroberts1]

Picked it up this afternoon. Got the price the parts guy quoted to me over the phone and only spent $60 in cab fare getting back and forth to this place in order to make it happen. Have I told you about my MBA?

This is why as soon as I tried to drive away I knew it didn't "feel right" even on RFT. Clearly this is due to a 1.5psi difference caused by highway debris inserting itself into my wheel and tire:

[335BOY]

Originally Posted by erroberts1

Picked it up this afternoon. Got the price the parts guy quoted to me over the phone. Have I told you about my MBA?

Clearly this is due to a 1.5psi difference caused by highway debris inserting itself into my wheel and tire:
Attachment 1190033

Wow. Now I get why you didn't want to drive on it. Tire must have been a mess.