Had PPK installed... Dealer service rant and Survey...

[thehalcyon]

A bit of a service rant here, the TLDR version:
Got a call saying my car was ready, turns out it wasn't and there was issues updating the DME/software. Waited 2 hours patiently before I was about to leave... and finally got my car I was upset by the fact I was told my car was ready when It wasn't. I missed valuable work time which translates to lost income for me. In the end they did manage to install it but also left me a nice scratch on the front fender.


So it went down like this:

- got a call from the shuttle saying car was ready to be picked up and he was coming in 15 min to get me.

- Driver asks if we can make a 30 min detour to pickup another customer... I hesitantly say ok because I'm not in a mood to be difficult.

- We get to dealership at just after 3:00pm. My SA says the car is just ready they are finishing up the paperwork and will bring it around. I wait in the lobby for nearly 30 min before I hear from him again.

- This time he says the tech had problems installing the software and was working on a fix. I mention to him that I was told my car was ready, missing valuable work hours .etc

- It's now close to 5pm...Basically continue waiting I must have seen 20-25 customers come and go. About to leave and my SA says they are just road testing it now, whole time being apologetic and polite.

- Finally ready about 5:10pm. I get my car nearly 2 hours of waiting in the lobby. I told him politely and calmly that I had no issues with him, he was very professional and working his best to keep me informed. I explained the situation for me wasn't good though and that this visit cost me time and money. Obviously there was poor communication somewhere.

- SA says If I rate the survey poorly it affects him directly. What a horrible system. I had no beef with him, he was just doing his job and being very polite. At the end of the day I felt the dealership could have done better or at least some sort of token of goodwill about the whole crappy situation. But nothing. I'm not going to negatively rate the survey, but what a horrible system if you cant give an honest opinion about how they performed without someone getting a talking to. I will definitely leave a few comments there for them to read in the comments section though.

I get my car finally and test drive it around, I see the improvements and head home. I then realize after a closer inspection that the dealership had scratched my car on the front fender.
Seems they were rushing and out to make a quick buck in a typical fashion.
They had cleaned the inside of the hood to put a sticker for the ppk (inside hood center), so probably some guys belt rubbed there as he leaned / stretched to do that. Still crappy and had I not been able to fix it would have been more upset.



The Good news is I fixed the scratch(I used a porter cable polisher and some compound to correct it) and its not noticable anymore. The PPK is great , love the sound and I definitely feel the power kick in especially after a couple hours of driving around it feels stronger than when I first picked up the car.

[MightyMouseTech]

Was this Elite or Ottos? Was probably just the shuttle driver wanted to go home unfortunately. Was probably done at 3:00. I bet this was Elite.

Enjoy the PPK, love the burbles!

[thehalcyon]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Was this Elite or Ottos? Was probably just the shuttle driver wanted to go home unfortunately. Was probably done at 3:00. I bet this was Elite.

Enjoy the PPK, love the burbles!

It was Otto's. Shame because my past visits were great. And I have nothing but good things to say about Mike Brunette the shop forman. Though, they still havent fixed a window whistling noise that drives me nuts at hwy speeds (sounds like wind entering via a gap in the seal) after 3-4 visits over a couple of years though. I gave up. The reason I switched from Elite to Otto's was elite scratched my door. Without the knowing how to fix minor scratchs I would have been more upset. I spend hours detailing and cleaning my car, its frustrating to have someone scratch it so carelessly.

[MightyMouseTech]

I gave Otto's a chance. Charged me $100 for my "free included maintenance" oil change because I brought my own oil.

Maybe they don't like LeMans Blue cars?

Sorry to hear. It is frustrating when you take immaculate care of your vehicle, and have to leave it with people who do not have the same passion.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by thehalcyon

Though, they still havent fixed a window whistling noise that drives me nuts at hwy speeds (sounds like wind entering via a gap in the seal) after 3-4 visits over a couple of years though. I gave up.

For the wind noise, check out this thread. Will be doing this to my own car sometime in the near future.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...highlight=wind

[thehalcyon]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

For the wind noise, check out this thread. Will be doing this to my own car sometime in the near future.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...highlight=wind

Wow Thanks.. I thought my car was the only one... for me it happens around 110-120+ km/h

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by thehalcyon

Wow Thanks.. I thought my car was the only one... for me it happens around 110-120+ km/h

I get it quite often at only regular highway speeds, usually depends on if there is a headwind, and the direction of the wind.

If there is a headwind coming from the right front, my drivers window will whistle, and vice versa. Seems like the window is getting slightly pulled out by a negative pressure differential on the glass.

I swore I would never buy a car with frameless windows for this exact reason. They never seem to seal perfectly. And here we are, oh well.

[MotoWPK]

Originally Posted by thehalcyon

A bit of a service rant here, the TLDR version:
- SA says If I rate the survey poorly it affects him directly. What a horrible system. I had no beef with him, he was just doing his job and being very polite. At the end of the day I felt the dealership could have done better or at least some sort of token of goodwill about the whole crappy situation. But nothing. I'm not going to negatively rate the survey, but what a horrible system if you cant give an honest opinion about how they performed without someone getting a talking to. I will definitely leave a few comments there for them to read in the comments section though.

If a negative survey doesn't affect somebody directly no one will care. Somebody has to be in the 'firing line' of survey results and the SA is one of those. Part of the job.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by MotoWPK

If a negative survey doesn't affect somebody directly no one will care. Somebody has to be in the 'firing line' of survey results and the SA is one of those. Part of the job.

Very true. Only the bad surveys (anything less than 10/10) even get read.

[thehalcyon]

Originally Posted by MotoWPK

If a negative survey doesn't affect somebody directly no one will care. Somebody has to be in the 'firing line' of survey results and the SA is one of those. Part of the job.

True, but I've run out of other dealerships to visit in town. Id like to maintain a healthy relationship with this one. I have a good experience with the shop forman who is very helpful and patient with me any time Ive complained about a minor issue on the car. I'm worryed If I crap on a survey It will make things more difficult each time I bring my car there.

The last time I called BMW Canada to complain about the other dealership scratching my car they didn't seem to give a ****. "thanks for the feedback anything else I can help you with ? *click*. "

[Vigilante375]

The surveys are pretty much BS. Give me 10s or I will get fired! Kinda of a thing at any dealership for any brand. If I ever get a bad experience and the service advisor tells me to rate it as a 10 or it'll go against him. I'll rate it how I want and say it wasn't the advisor's fault but (enter job title) fault.

You should have at least told them about the scratch and that you are not complaining but wanting them to not try to be a rush next time when you were in the lobby for 2 hours waiting after you were told the car was ready.

[mr.fabulous]

Rate the experience you had, just because some idiot wants a good rating for crap service doesn't mean you should bow and do that

[cbl117]

Originally Posted by mr.fabulous

Rate the experience you had, just because some idiot wants a good rating for crap service doesn't mean you should bow and do that

1+

[thehalcyon]

Originally Posted by mr.fabulous

Rate the experience you had, just because some idiot wants a good rating for crap service doesn't mean you should bow and do that

Indeed. I filled out the survey and did just that, agree 100%. I shouldn't feel pressured to give a perfect 10/10 when the service was not good. My fear was that they would treat me poorly afterwards but hopefully not. Hell I don't think i'll mind driving several hours to another city to do service in the future if they screw up again. This town sucks for dealerships.

[Esteban]

My dealer and my service advisor and the shop foreman bend over backwards to please me. When my car is at the dealer I am in constant contact with my service advisor via email. They scratched one of my wheels the other day when my car was there and they had a brand new replacement wheel on my car the next day. I always give them 10s because they work hard for it and deserve it. I'm not a BMW dealer fanboy, my dealer just kicks ass!

[Yeineken]

It took 4 days to install my PPK 1. They ended up having to contact BMW in Germany to get it resolved. Something about the software not wanting to register and they had to use a new activation code for the PPK.

Then again it did take 4 hours Thursday just to replace a single TPMS...