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I just wanted to update this post after the atrocious experience I had yesterday at Bert Smith. Never again will I consider them, for sales or service. My service appointment was uneventful, however, while waiting I met with a man named Rusty who had agreed in an email to beat a quote I had received on an i3 at another dealership. His demeanor was smug, arrogant, and disinterested -- which admittedly heightened my emotions a bit.
Upon his first trip back from the sales manager, which lasted entirely too long for a simple quote match. He threw a piece of paper at me and said, if you're serious you'll sign this now and give us deposit before you leave. Well, problem #1 was that they matched the offer, not beat it like they said they would. Problem #2 was that the "offer" was a sales price written in pen on a piece of paper with an X_________ at the bottom for my signature. Not going to cut it. I asked for numbers....what's my MF, where's my residual, what about overage miles, can you print me out a deal summary? He immediately became more aggressive and played dumb about not knowing what "drive off amount" means, and refusing to provide a deal summary sheet. He continually put the ball back in my court saying how much less do you want from the quoted offer? That's not for me to decide, YOU said you would beat the quote. After another few minutes of negotiation he returned to the sales manager. 30 minutes later, he returned with a MF of .00171 (saying it was BMW's base MF, which I know for a fact to be a massive markup), $100 discount, and a monthly payment of nearly $700/mo (which was $200 more than the quoted offer he was meant to beat). I said that's absurd, shook his hand, and walked away.
You would think a reasonable CA would leave it at that. Chalk it up to a rough Monday morning and move on with your day. But no, as I was talking to my wife on the phone while waiting for my car to be finished at service, he seeks me out, interrupts my conversation, and continues to argue with me after the fact. Saying, by the way people hate the i3s, you should do your research. Continuing to say, I'll put you in contact with people that hate them here in St. Pete. I couldn't help but laugh, I was astounded that his ego couldn't take the hit of me walking out.
This was my second attempt at giving Bert Smith my money. Each and every time I have been treated like a nuisance. After that awful experience, I had to reaffirm my trust in BMW so I headed to Ferman up in Palm Harbor. I am happy to say that I have never had a better experience than the one I had with Mary Keller at Ferman. We talked for what felt like hours comfortably, and I was able to have an honest conversation with the sales manager, Shane, who felt the need to visit with me face-to-face and disclose his numbers freely (which I greatly appreciated). We were able to come to the agreement that this specific i3 wasn't for us, but they immediately put out an APB on one that is. Ms. Keller then had no problem hunting down the keys and showing me around a new 7-series (a car I disclosed was way out of my price range), showing genuine interest in building a trusting relationship.
Ms. Keller and Ferman BMW have more than earned my business moving forward, and I have no hesitation driving the extra 30+ minutes for the level of service they provide.
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