An intro at Concord BMW would be appreciated! It's out of the way but I live in Oakland, and hopefully I won't need that much service!
I will write to BMWNA as suggested. Got a call back from "Jason", the BMWNA rep. He says (1) the inclusion of the oil change isn't a technical change, rather its inclusion was merely a typo. (2) there are no other known typos in the service booklet.
When waiting at one point, I noticed a sheet posted at the dealer -- the typical dealer begging/strongarming to give them "5"'s on all ratings. "Be sure to let us know if we're not earning a 5, so we can do something about it!" it implored me. I mentioned to the service manager "incidentally, per that sign, I thought I'd let you know you're not earning a 5 for this!" with a fair amount of sarcasm, and to my shock he looked genuinely surprised that this was the case!
It's definitely a disappointing start to my BMW ownership experience! At least the car is sweet.
I've owned a BMW 540 since 1995 and in 2000 I got my M5. I've been through all the dealerships in the BAY AREA/Silicon Valley for service. In my humble opinion, the service department at ALL the BMW dealerships are quite frankly.....terrible!
Since 1996/1997 I've had my car serviced at Dinan Engineering. Yes, I know I have to pay for the service, and YES, I realize that the cars come with maintenance as part of the package, But after haggling with the dealerships (Service Adviser, Service Manager, Dealership GM, etc...) over issues like you just experienced, I decided that since I end up paying for some form of service each time I go in, I might as well bring my cars and my $$$ to somebody who is knowledgable and actually cares about his customers....STeve Dinan.
First, I've met Darren a few times, and I completely agree with you. How that man got into the "customer service" business is beyond me.
On the other hand, Nicole is a gem. She has many of the local M5 owners as customers, and she has gotten to know us. She even came karting with us! But most importantly, she has gone to bat for me when she could.
Of course, she is NOT the service manager, and she isn't the mechanic so she doesn't have a lot of power.
Despite how dealers beg and plead, I encourage EVERYONE to give very honest answers if/when you get "satisfaction-surveyed". You wanna know why the dealers push so hard for you to give them "All Excellent's?" Because BMWNA sees the results, and they provide significant incentives to the dealers. (Peter Pan makes so much bleedin' money by charging (and getting) way-over-list for their cars that they may just not care.
Most importantly, please DO complain when you get bad service. If it is warranted, I support write to Purves, and i would include Mr. Thomas Salkowski (M Brand Manager) as well. He is a good guy. The only way we're going to bring about a change when it comes to JERKS like Darren is to create enough ill will w/ BMW that they pressure the management at Peter Pan. And they probably will. If you do NOT speak, they will most certainly not.
__________________
'00 M5 - The Ultimate Ultimate Driving Machine! Greg's M5 Page
'01 996 TT - Greg's Porsche Turbo Page
'00 A6 4.2 - doesn't deserve a web page
Good point Greg-- let me reiterate that I thought Nicole was fantastic and helpful, and I would heartily recommend dealing with her. I don't think there was anything more in her power she could have done to help, and I didn't get the sense that she was just using the SM to be the bad guy -- I think she genuinely felt bad she couldn't deliver for me on this.
incidentally, one of the other SAs sitting next to us -- didn't catch her name -- is a fellow 03 M5 owner!! (she didn't get the oil change at 1200mi included -- she had to pay for it as well...)
My 2003 M5 goes in for it's break-in inspection (2000km) next week. The canadian service booklet indicates oil change for the manual transmission and diferential only, not engine oil. The service advisor seemed to think that they would also change the engine oil so I will see what they charge me for when I pick up the car.
My experience with Nicole has been very good as well. The SM is a different story... he tried to charge me for diagnostic time to solve a nagging problem in my Nav system. The problem should have been covered under warranty, but the Peter Pan techs could never figure out a solution so they "guessed" that TV on Nav feature that I had installed was the culprit and therefore I should pay for their time. My position was that a "guess" was not good enough and they should prove to me that I had caused the problem, only then would I pay for their time. Nicole went to bat for me and prevailed.
I go back to Peter Pan next week for Inspection I... wish me luck!
BTW, don't even think about going to Allison BMW in Mountain View, CA for service. It's a very long story, but my car required new paint from the windshield forward, new headlights, and more as a result of a series of inept actions by techs, the SA and the SM at Allison BMW. My car was out of commision for most of two months because of them.
Received a call from Dana Caldwell, Service and Parts Manager for Peter Pan BMW.
He had seen this post and discussion and wanted to talk to me. I feel better about my service at Peter Pan based on his phone call.
He was able to clarify what I suspected might be the case -- that it's BMW Germany who has said that the 1200mi change is a misprint. Thus Germany won't reimburse NA, who won't reimburse your dealer for changing it. The dealer gets left in the hot seat -- customers blame them for not delivering on the promise and weaseling out under a "we have the right to change our mind" catch-all disclaimer, when it's not their mistake and if they give you the oil change, they'll get stuck paying for it.
That's not to say it's wrong to complain to the dealers -- they are the reps of BMW, and only by voting with you wallet to them will BMW hear you.
I think if the SM had explained this to me, or shown empathy for my situation, I would have been still disappointed with BMW but not so much with Peter Pan. Now that Dana has, that's pretty much how I feel.
I still emphatically think that if BMW promised the oil change, put it in the booklets, sold it as part of "full maintenance", then they'd be better off just giving it to you than cheapskating a new customer of a $70K car over $95 one week into the purchase.
Based on a generally good reputation prior to this incident, I think I'll give PP another try for my next service.
I agree with the writting a letter to BMWNA idea.....Why not I disagree with monkey business and from what I read thats what it sounded like...
I just got my 1200 mile service today....I have alittle story as well but not too bad.. I went to Difeo BMW on Friday with a 1 week appointment, waited for about an hour then I was told that they ran out of 03 M OIL.....I was pi$$ed..but ....$hit happens ....So I left. I went back today Waited couple of hours and they treated me like gold....
I agree with the writting a letter to BMWNA idea.....Why not I disagree with monkey business and from what I read thats what it sounded like...
I just got my 1200 mile service today....I have alittle story as well but not too bad.. I went to Difeo BMW on Friday with a 1 week appointment, waited for about an hour then I was told that they ran out of 03 M OIL.....I was pi$$ed..but ....$hit happens ....So I left. I went back today Waited couple of hours and they treated me like gold....
)
Linear Mode
