Letter to BMW Canada

[bueller]

Just figured I would post this here and see if anyone else is as unimpressed as I am with BMW Canada?

June 17th 2010

BMW Canada

50 Ultimate Drive

Richmond Hill, Ontario

L4S 0C8

To Whom it May Concern;

I am writing to express my disappointment with everything except my car. I love the car, it is your service and finance people I have issue with.

Service;

I live 2 hours from the dealership I leased my car from, with this in mind, I asked if loaner vehicles are available when service is scheduled. I was informed that if I booked in advance I was told that this was not a problem and it was a service offered, this was a factor in my decision to lease a BMW.

Shortly after getting the car, the drivers side seat belt stopped retracting, I made an appointment for service, explained that it was my intention to set up meetings in Toronto while my car was being serviced and I would appreciate a loaner. I was told that this would not be a problem. I also explained I was coming from 2 hours away.

When I arrived at the dealership, on time, I had to wait for half an hour for the staff to do paperwork, and the service advisor to complete a personal phone call. Once the paperwork was done, I was told that I should go to the rental desk to arrange for my loaner car. I was left with the impression that my visit was an inconvenient and unexpected surprise to the dealership.

I had to wait for the person in front of me to ask all kinds of ridiculous questions, what if I get a parking ticket? What if I use a toll road? What if I get into an accident? Why is the sky blue? By the time the rental agent showed Mr. Questions to his loaner, I was 15 minutes late for my first meeting, I was also informed that there were no more loaner cars, but they would get me a rental from an outside agency, they would get on it right away.

As tardiness is unacceptable, I decided that a taxi was the best option. I was late for my first meeting, and managed to get back on schedule by skipping a lunch meeting with a friend. At 3 in the afternoon I received a call to let me know that they had completed the oil change, I figured I would have the oil changed (at my expense) as long as the car was in being serviced, however they were unable to order a part they seemed t think was required for the seatbelt problem. I would either need to leave the car over night, or I could make another appointment at a later date. I decided to pick up the car and go home.

When I picked up the car, they had decided to wash my car, even though I asked them not to, in doing so, they had damaged the front license plate, it is now bent, I tried to straighten it, however it is still somewhat deformed.

As it turned out, I did some research on the Internet, I found the back seat was easy to remove. I removed the back seat and the rear interior panel, I found the problem and fixed it myself, no parts required. It took me all of 10 minutes. I am not in the automotive servicing business, and the fact that I could fix a problem that your fancy dealership could not address in 5 hours leads me to believe that they are either inept, or disinterested in what they are doing.

I have friends with BMWs and while you may or may not be aware, the consensus seems to be great cars, mediocre service, so my expectations were not all that high to begin with, however my expectations for mediocre has been surpassed by receiving ineptitude and apathy.

Finance;

My company has over 85 bank accounts, when the lease was originally set up I provided a void cheque for the account from which the lease payments were to be debited. Our controller informed me that I would need to change the account as the one you had would be closing. On April 12th I contacted your finance department and was told to change the account from which you debit my lease payments, I would need to fax a letter and new void cheque to your office. I wrote a cover letter and provided a new void cheque. The fax was sent and according to our fax machine received on the 12th.

On the letter I asked that your finance people either give me a quick call or an email to let me know that they had received my letter and cheque. I did not receive any response, so I contacted your finance department on April 26th and repeated the steps above.

I did not hear from your finance company again until I received a threatening collection letter that you sent to an address that I have informed you on numerous occasions that I do not receive mail at. This was followed by a telephone call to my cell phone while I was in a client meeting from your collections department informing me that I was behind on my lease payments and how would I like to deal with that today.

It turns out that someone in your finance department had made a data entry error and transposed some numbers in my account number. Having significant experience with processing EFT debits and credits, had your finance department been paying attention they could have seen that the reason for return was due to an invalid account number and not insufficient funds or closed account, they had the information necessary to solve their own problem (my void cheque) but figured it easier to just put my account in collections. Once again, ineptitude and apathy.

Conclusion

Your sales people are very well equipped with all of the reasons why a Canadian would want to deal with a Canadian dealership and not purchase the car at a significant discount south of the boarder. While some of their arguments have merit, after experiencing the level of service provided by the Canadian BMW dealership, and finance department, should I decide on another BMW when my lease is up, I think I will be exploring other options as so far I am underwhelmed with my experience so far.

It really is a shame, it is a wonderful car, it has soul -- the perfect balance of performance, practicality, style and verve. It is unfortunate that the car is not supported by people that that possess any of the qualities of the car.

[Lester]

Very nice letter, and it might have more immediate impact if it had been addressed to Lindsay Duffield, President and CEO, BMW Canada - rather than to whom it may concern. I would switch dealers. My experience with the service department at the BMW Store in Vancouver has been just fine.

[ZIPNBYE]

Originally Posted by bueller

Your sales people are very well equipped with all of the reasons why a Canadian would want to deal with a Canadian dealership and not purchase the car at a significant discount south of the boarder.

Spelling error...it's "border".

[ianc]

Many run-on sentences; I suggest breaking them up for increased readability.

If I were Lindsay Duffield, I would not want to be reading this. Sorry about your hassles...

ianc

[supraking]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. People just don't give a shit sometimes, it doesn't matter where they happen to work. BMW has such strict requirements when it comes to servicing (the head tech at a dealership won't ever be told 90% of the car's mechanical secrets), but fall short when it comes to hiring competent staff.

They seem to believe that their entire client base is comprised of rich assholes who just want the newest fancy car no matter the cost. It's insulting.

Some suggestions: correct all the spelling and grammatical errors, remove the bits about the guy in line in front of you (makes you sound like you're just trying to find any reason whatsoever to be angry with BMW - this was NOT their fault), and address it to the president (as was suggested already).

As well, be sure to post it as an open letter on the internet (like you did her), perhaps on other message boards or wherever else you can. And be sure to let us know if anything comes of this. Good luck!

[vanbmw]

Too bad to hear of the problems! I'd try another dealer if there is one close. My local dealer has been excellent from purchase to pick up to service. I have owned Acura's, an Infiniti and a few Porsche's and the level at BMW has been about the best (the Infiniti was also excellent). Hopefully your letter will get some results for you.

[bueller]

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

Lester;

Thanks for the contact info, luckily our postage machine was out of postage so I have been able to make changes.

supraking;

This is the first car I have leased from a Canadian dealership. I have lived in the US for most of my adult life. I guess what I was trying to point out with the rental line, in the past, I would make an appointment, I would arrive at the dealership, they would print out the paperwork, and bam I would be gone in a loaner. 15 minutes tops, it was like a pit stop, I have actually completed the purchase process in the US in less time than it took me to drop off my car for service here.

I will let you all know if I receive a response.

[Irishace]

Keep us posted, I too have found BMW's service to be completely insulting. I tolerate it only because the cars are incredible. What a shame.

[EngPhys09]

When I had some pre-delivery issues I actually called and ask to talk to the President, different person last year. I got his assistant (which was fine) and informed them that I had sent a letter. She was very nice and assured me that he would read it when it came in. I did receive compensation and everything worked out fine.

What dealership did you have issues with?

[jhuber]

If you havent sent this yet I would just read over it again, you can tell you were writing in the heat of the moment and some errors were already pointed out. Best of luck man I hope they find some way to make this better and make up for the poor performance!

[ethermal]

My guess based on your location and the ineptitude that this was Town & Country BMW in Markham?

[bueller]

ethermal & EngPhys09

The dealership was BMW Toronto...

[EngPhys09]

Originally Posted by bueller

ethermal & EngPhys09

The dealership was BMW Toronto...

That's my dealer also.