[RyBMW]

I live in NY and I bought my E90 in NJ. Today I had to bring the car in to a NY BMW dealer for NY state inspection. The service advisor was great. The only thing that is bothering me is when I got my car back, the radio was on and the climate control was on. I had my audio set in Sirius and turned it off before I went into the service department. When I got my car back, the audio was set in FM, on a station that I don't even listen to with the volume set a little loud. I also turned off the climate control before going into the service department.

I wanted to go back in and complain but I didn't. Would you be mad? What would you do?

Is it ok for the technician or the person who drives the cars into the garage to play with your radio, climate control, etc?

[icedragon]

I wouldn't mind. As long as nothing was damaged. I mean, don't u want the mechanic to be happy as he/she is working on your car? Happy mechanic = better job.

However, there was this one time, I just got a new Subaru Legacy and brought it in for its first oil change. When I got the car back, the car had 3 big chips and 3 big dents in some bizarre areas. I was obviously furious. :mad:

[RyBMW]

Originally Posted by icedragon

I wouldn't mind. As long as nothing was damaged. I mean, don't u want the mechanic to be happy as he/she is working on your car? Happy mechanic = better job.

You're right.

[lux.sh]

I wouldn't be "PISSED!", but I would at least say something.

Obviously the mechanic was enjoying the loud music and A/C.

They are servicing your car, not to enjoy it.
What they need to do, is just do their job, and return the car in the condition
the car was received(without any problems).

thats like letting the babysitter whos taking care of your baby to beat them
up so that the babysitter stays happy while he/she is doing their job.

[RyBMW]

Should I say something? Call BMW, call up the service manager at the dealer?

[e90fanatic]

yea...this kinda behavior cannot be tolerated. Don't yell but at least talk with them. I didn't buy this car for mechanics to enjoy.

[lux.sh]

Well, if you came back already, I think you should just let it be this time.

If this ever happen again, I would go straight up to service department manager and tell them what happened. Give them harsh tone if you have to.
For all we know, they abused the car more than they serviced it.
but we would never know as long as everything works.

I learned it the hard way, BMW service department can be a$$ sometimes
when you complain. If you give them serious tone, they'll realize.

[cosmosblau]

Originally Posted by RyBMW

......... When I got my car back, the audio was set in FM, on a station that I don't even listen to with the volume set a little loud. I also turned off the climate control before going into the service department.

I wanted to go back in and complain but I didn't. Would you be mad? What would you do?

Ha!

Welcome to BMW ownership.

This should be the LEAST of your trouble in servicing your car with the BMW dealership. At least they didn't siphon out a quarter tank of gas, like I suspect Santa Monica BMW of doing.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by cosmosblau

Ha!

Welcome to BMW ownership.

This should be the LEAST of your trouble in servicing your car with the BMW dealership. At least they didn't siphon out a quarter tank of gas, like I suspect Santa Monica BMW of doing.

are you serious? who went through that? He should complained
the crap out of it to the dealership.

wow. I would be so mad.

[RyBMW]

Originally Posted by cosmosblau

Ha!

Welcome to BMW ownership.

This should be the LEAST of your trouble in servicing your car with the BMW dealership. At least they didn't siphon out a quarter tank of gas, like I suspect Santa Monica BMW of doing.

Siphoned gas? Are you serious?

Any other servicing trouble I should look out for? It can't be worse than Acura's service departments can it?

[lux.sh]

Its not really BMW dealership, but this is related to mini dealership.
(Our BMW dealership shares with MINI dealership. basically same stuff, uses
same BMW service faculty and environment)

It went in for service, came out with her leather seat slightly ripped on the
driver's seat, and front driver's side wheel scratched.

They won't say anything unless you notice it and complain it.
Inspect carefully. I've seen BMW technicans driving customer's BMWs
out of their service center. They weren't driving it nicely.

[RyBMW]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

It went in for service, came out with her leather seat slightly ripped on the
driver's seat, and front driver's side wheel scratched.

They won't say anything unless you notice it and complain it.
Inspect carefully. I've seen BMW technicans driving customer's BMWs
out of their service center. They weren't driving it nicely.

Did the dealer pay for it?

I wonder what they will do with a new M5 that's in for service?

[ZenDriver]

I wanted to go back in and complain but I didn't. Would you be mad? What would you do?

I would be absolutely livid.

The first course of action is for you to gather evidence. Note the exact time that you turned the vehicle into the dealer and the time you received it. This will be cross checked with Sirius so that you can obtain an EXACT list of all the great Sirius content the power seats of your car missed out on due to the sheer negligence of the dealership technician. Then you need to get the names of the technician who worked on your car, your service writer, the service department manager, dealership manager and dealership owner. These folks will all be named parties in the class action lawsuit you will bring along with numerous corporate entities (including BMW NA, BMW AG, the Quandt family trust and all German citizens named 'Gunther').

Next, it is time for you to articulate the tremendous emotional damage this incident has caused you and how it will forever effect the resale value of the vehicle. Never again can you tell a prospective purchaser of your 330i that "I have been the exclusive controller of all audio content that has played through the vehicle's speakers." Who could possibly know what sort of radio station the barbarian of a technician turned to whilst he was working on your car? The possibilities are as endless as they are painful; right wing talk radio? christian light rock? gangsta rap? country? My god... this isn't even my car and I am getting fumed just thinking about what could have come on the radio during this time period!

In fact, I am so furious, I think I am going to stop with the BMW thing and become a Lexus fanboy. They don't even service your car at Lexus dealerships; every vehicle that comes into a Lexus dealership for service is actually crushed and a new vehicle (with a cunningly forward run odometer) is provided to the customer. That's the sort of service I deserve!

[David328M-Sport]

Is it at all possible that an update was set on your car and the technician was checking its status? There are many reasons, one of them may very well be what you have stated but I guess they would make up technical checks as an excuse.

Don't argue with them if you want their assistance, even though you may have to pay for it.

[BMW Lawman]

Hello Mr Burns! Are you serious? If you wish to live past 48 you should loosen up a whole lot! So the guy changed your radio station and my god!.....he adjusted the climate control!!!!


And ZenDriver.....

[cosmosblau]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

are you serious? who went through that? He should complained
the crap out of it to the dealership.

wow. I would be so mad.

Well, I didn't make a big deal out of it since they returned the car with a huge scrape on the front spoiler.
THAT I made a big deal about. I put my energy into getting them to repaint it, and believe me, it took quite a hissy-fit.

They are absolute dogs there. (Santa Monica BMW).
A salesman there once made a negative comment about Jewish people to me and my wife. When I wrote a letter to the General Manager of the dealership complaining about his remarks, they had the salesman call me up to explain that we both were hearing things, and that we were mistaken. Later, I found out that that salesman was previously fired from another dealership for making racial remarks. What I couldn't believe is they allowed this guy to call me. I was going to go corporate with this, but I decided it would take up too much energy.

I would NEVER, EVER do business with them again.

[BMW Lawman]

Originally Posted by cosmosblau

Well, I didn't make a big deal out of it since they returned the car with a huge scrape on the front spoiler.
THAT I made a big deal about. I put my energy into getting them to repaint it, and believe me, it took quite a hissy-fit.

They are absolute dogs there. (Santa Monica BMW).
A salesman there once made a negative comment about Jewish people to me and my wife. When I wrote a letter to the General Manager of the dealership complaining about his remarks, they had the salesman call me up to explain that we both were hearing things, and that we were mistaken. Later, I found out that that salesman was previously fired from another dealership for making racial remarks. What I couldn't believe is they allowed this guy to call me. I was going to go corporate with this, but I decided it would take up too much energy.

I would NEVER, EVER do business with them again.

OKAY...Maybe I listen to a little too much Dr Laura.......but......as for the salesman with the mouth....I wouldn't have stopped short of him apologizing in front of Congress.......now go do the right thing.

[marcus330i]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

I would be absolutely livid.

The first course of action is for you to gather evidence. Note the exact time that you turned the vehicle into the dealer and the time you received it. This will be cross checked with Sirius so that you can obtain an EXACT list of all the great Sirius content the power seats of your car missed out on due to the sheer negligence of the dealership technician. Then you need to get the names of the technician who worked on your car, your service writer, the service department manager, dealership manager and dealership owner. These folks will all be named parties in the class action lawsuit you will bring along with numerous corporate entities (including BMW NA, BMW AG, the Quandt family trust and all German citizens named 'Gunther').

Next, it is time for you to articulate the tremendous emotional damage this incident has caused you and how it will forever effect the resale value of the vehicle. Never again can you tell a prospective purchaser of your 330i that "I have been the exclusive controller of all audio content that has played through the vehicle's speakers." Who could possibly know what sort of radio station the barbarian of a technician turned to whilst he was working on your car? The possibilities are as endless as they are painful; right wing talk radio? christian light rock? gangsta rap? country? My god... this isn't even my car and I am getting fumed just thinking about what could have come on the radio during this time period!

In fact, I am so furious, I think I am going to stop with the BMW thing and become a Lexus fanboy. They don't even service your car at Lexus dealerships; every vehicle that comes into a Lexus dealership for service is actually crushed and a new vehicle (with a cunningly forward run odometer) is provided to the customer. That's the sort of service I deserve!

brilliant and funny!!!

[marcus330i]

Originally Posted by RyBMW

I live in NY and I bought my E90 in NJ. Today I had to bring the car in to a NY BMW dealer for NY state inspection. The service advisor was great. The only thing that is bothering me is when I got my car back, the radio was on and the climate control was on. I had my audio set in Sirius and turned it off before I went into the service department. When I got my car back, the audio was set in FM, on a station that I don't even listen to with the volume set a little loud. I also turned off the climate control before going into the service department.

I wanted to go back in and complain but I didn't. Would you be mad? What would you do?

Is it ok for the technician or the person who drives the cars into the garage to play with your radio, climate control, etc?

If your service experience was basically good then I wouldn't make an effort to complain. First off...this is not a big deal at all. Second, I realized long ago that you want to be LIKED by your service advisor...even if you have a legit gripe you have to maintain composure. If you have a service need again then you want a cordial relationship. I think if I worked on cars all day then I might want to listen to the ball game or my favorite station too. I'd probably try and return it to your station but hey....not everyone is as detail oriented as I am. This is truly a first world problem you've got.

[vleivo]

I dont know what it is but i think it is nearly impossible to find a decent service place for your car, no matter where you live. When i tinted my windows in my e46 the guy had been driving around in my car and the gas tank was empty. And that is not all, he was unable to tint my rear window, man i was pissed. When i put on my eisenmann exhaust, again the service people had been driving with my car. Why cant they just buy their on bmws if they like to drive around in them. :mad:

[fredtoo]

I agree with Marcus here. I you have to complain to the service manage, make it like a joke. You don't mind the mechanics playing witht he radio and ac/as long as they reset them to your setting.
(and if they upgraded the software, your key would reset these items )

Originally Posted by marcus330i

If your service experience was basically good then I wouldn't make an effort to complain. First off...this is not a big deal at all. Second, I realized long ago that you want to be LIKED by your service advisor...even if you have a legit gripe you have to maintain composure. If you have a service need again then you want a cordial relationship. I think if I worked on cars all day then I might want to listen to the ball game or my favorite station too. I'd probably try and return it to your station but hey....not everyone is as detail oriented as I am. This is truly a first world problem you've got.

[Tater]

Originally Posted by RyBMW

When I got my car back, the audio was set in FM, on a station that I don't even listen to with the volume set a little loud. I also turned off the climate control before going into the service department.

How about the mileage? Visions of the parking attendants in Ferris Bueller come to mind.