So typical, three days emailing Crevier Santa Ana, only to finally get this response this morning.

Re: 3rd request

Hello jamie
Hope you are enjoying this amazing saturday! I'm sorry, did my email from yesterday go through? I don't have any update yet and do not know the ship yet. As soon as its assigned I will let you know.



Peter

Why is it that I can figure it out but they can't. Really?!?! IT shows my car has been assigned. Seriously, I don't think they even look!!!!

That's ok, nothing is going to ruin the party mode I am in!!!!

 

Paint Shop!

 

Me too! Are you estimated to be completed on the 5th also?

 

Yes the 5th is my new ones Expected Birthday! Are you on the East Coast? Could be on the same ship.

 

I don't understand how your MA hasn't figured out all the tricks you can easily find on NAM! Or maybe he just prefers not to use them?? Either way, it seems like he could take a few lessons in customer service! That email not going through excuse is a bunch of BS.
My MA even recommended NAM to me and warned me it can become addicting! I wouldn't be surprised if he's figured out who I am on these forums.
It's great that you keep such an awesome attitude about everything they've been putting you through!

 

Aww our MINIs will probably have the same birthdate!! You're in the Philly area, right? Does that mean your MINI will be shipped to NJ? Mine's scheduled for delivery to Baltimore. It would be a lot of fun if we were shipmates too!

 

Yeah probably Jersey as my dealer is in Princeton NJ.

 

Just sad when the customer knows more than the sales person...especially through out the whole process.

 

Mine is estimated to be done on the 4th and is heading to NJ so we may all be on the same ship

 

Sounds nice! Great news all round. the factory seems to be spewing them out!

 

Thanks for the welcome aboard! We are in the party mood now...our Mini feels somehow so much closer to being on the same continent as us, even though it is still in England tonight (!) We actually went out this evening (rare occurrence, we have a 7-yo), and I had a London Fog to celebrate!

 

Hi everyone.
Ordered my 2013 R56 S at dealer on 1/21/13, got the production number at that time.
As of 2/1/13 it is still "scheduled for production" according to ASK-MINI.
Rep. on ASK-MINI phone said it's normal.
Is this normal from everyone's experience?

 

Yup, hang in there!

Sent from my iPad using NAMotoring

 

Yes, in fact my MA told me that my MINI would go into production about 2-2.5 weeks after my status on the OL changed to "Scheduled for Production." I think it was closer to 1.5 weeks when they actually started production on her.

Like blknblu said, hang in there, your MINI will be in production before you know it!

 

Question, has anyone shown up on a ship after it has sailed?
I keep (OC I know) checking the "Track and Trace" and missed the first ship (yesterday) Integrity and was crossing my fingers to get on the Boheme (today, which actually arrives at my port a day earlier compared to the Integrity anyways) but still not showing booked or aboard. Hate to miss this one as the next one is 7 days out (1 more week delay if I miss the Boheme).

I will keep checking about every 20 minutes until it sails later today (and most likely for the next two days in case the system is slow to update but supposedly the Vessel info is usually 100% accurate from what I've read compared to the OL or anything else). Leave it to a bunch of longshoremen to keep a computer system more up to date then BMW can.

 

Yes! I think you should keep checking, maybe just for a day or so. We showed as booked but didn't show as loaded onto the ship right away. The thread on tracking your car here on NAM also suggests that you check for a couple of days after sailing even if your car shows as loaded onto the ship, because apparently a car could be unloaded and put on a different ship

 

Yes, I think that's normal. I also think they had a bit of a backlog when they opened the factory back up after the holidays. We ordered right before the Christmas break at the factory (Dec 21), and we were not scheduled for production until Jan 23rd.

 

Alas, my poor MINI still isn't showing up in the Cargo tracking system, and I see that Gentle Leader has now left Southampton and is on its way through the English Channel towards Panama. So it appears TOMBARRA is once again my most likely ride.

Luckily, TOMBARRA is a faster ship, and I hear it has better drinks, too.

Every time I ping my MA to ask for updates, he tells me that he checks every day and will alert me as soon as anything changes. I got that same response Friday. The last time he gave me a status change update was when I got my build #. So yesterday I gave him an update on my car's status. Geez, it's almost like these MAs are more interested in selling cars than keeping tabs on ones they've already sold...

-Brett

 

So, I sent the following to my MA

Peter, I'm having a great Saturday, thank you.
Well, I guess then, I will update you. My Mini left the factory on the 30th. She arrived at the port on the 31st and she was assigned to a ship on the 31st. She will be leaving South Hampton tomorrow aboard the Gentle Leader. She should arrive at Port Hueneme on or about the 27th/28th.

I found some this out through ASKMINI. They were able to tell me when she boarded a train and when she was released to the port. The rest I found simply using the North America Motoring website.

The above shipping information, I was told by ASKMINI, my dealer should be able to supply me. In fact, they kept saying have you contacted your dealer, they have all of this information. I let them know that I had but that I was told there wasn't any update.

All I did was punch my vin into a shipping website. https://att.2wglobal.com/gstattweb/o...ckSearchResult
And wahla, I had my itinerary.

I do appreciate your help, I just find it incredibly interesting that I can find things out that the dealer is unable to find but that ASKMINI says they should have.

Weird! Happy Saturday!
Jamie

His response is priceless
Hello Jamie,
I will always admit when I have been outdone or beaten...and I am there. I have been with Crevier MINI 8 years and have been fortunate to always be a premier dealer, even #1 in sales in the nation. However, none of that prepared or trained me to handle your order. I am sorry that I was not able to give you personally all the info that you have been able to uncover. I even just emailed my factory rep (that just transferred to us from the national product management team for MINI) and he had only used that site that you found once. I promise to get with ASKMINI on Monday and find out what else I can learn. I have been honest in what is available to me from the factory, but I failed in going beyond what I a have been trained to find a solution outside of the norm.

Thank you for the update and I will be in touch.

Sincerely,

Peter

I really am blown away at the complete lack of communication between Mini and the dealership. So interesting.

On to better news, Time to go blow up the shipping website, checking the status of my Mini.

ALL ABOARD the Gentle Leader - it's time for a MINI Party!

 

Jolly Rancher, that is awesome!!!!!

 

Brett,
Bummer you are not on the boat! The only thing I can think is that there were so many Mini's waiting to transport due to the factory closure that the boat was filled????

I too updated my MA. I copied my email to him above. Seems so weird that they are not concerned about the customer once the sale has been made.

 

I am a bit more spiteful but I was very entertained.
I just wonder how much the Dealer and Mini really do share and how much is from lack of effort. I think Mini (aka BMW should communicate a great deal more) and in the dealers' defense I do question how much the dealer gets in updates as Mini/BMW can't even keep the OL reasonably updated. My Mini was released to the Port on Feb 1st yet it still shows "Scheduled for Production". Supposedly the MAs have direct access via terminals to the AS400 at the Mini Factory which is supposedly how the factory tracks all the cars from ordered to released to Dealers. You would think if you are building and selling $20k to $50k (The Goodwood Mini) the tracking from A to Z would be state of the art as we aren't talking about a $5 part.

I think a lot of Mini dealers feel like they have a monopoly on selling Mini Coopers in there area and to some degree some do more than others but I have absolutely no problem recommending a great Dealer/Sales Person (aka MA) that takes care of the customer from the beginning of the sale to the final day that you drive off the lot no matter how far away they are within reason of course. I see the Sales part and the Service part as two entities. I think we've all seen great service bad sales or great sales bad service and everything in-between so I have no problem telling a friend to drive 200 to 400 miles for great sales person when we are talking $20 to $50k! I'd rather my friend buy from a dealer where later I am thanked or at minimum they go to the dealer that I may not have recommended and tell me that I "told them so". It is my reputation when recommending someone and I am also a true believer that it isn't always where you go but who you get that matters most of the time.

Plus you'd think with all the Social Networking going on above and beyond word of mouth that Commissioned Sales People would go above and beyond. With applications like Outlook or ACT it makes keeping in contact and providing routine updates take all of 1 to 2 minutes each unless there is a lot of info to update someone on such as an issue good or bad...

I will get off my soapbox now. Sorry.

 

Weaf, I completely agree with you!

 

I have to agree with you guys. The only thing I have ever asked from my MA is for my full vin. I did everything else on my own through askmini, this site, ww lines web site, marine traffic, etc. never once called my MA for an update on the car. I just don't think they are very informed.

 

I don't want to get back on my soapbox but here is how I look at it. The sales person is supposed to know how this works from beginning to end while the customer (the vast majority) do NOT. I placed my order only to find out "on my own" that the car wasn't actually ordered even after giving the dealer $2k to order the car because of this thing called an "Allocation". I had never heard of this and it would have been nice to have been informed but had to learn this on my own. No one went over the steps that the order would go through such as found on the OL, no one told me about the OL, ASK-Mini or NAM. I figured all of this out myself and wish I had figured it out before I ever placed my order. My point is even if the Sales Person has no clue on the status due to so sort of minimal communications between BMW/Mini and the Dealer some sharing of information would be nice as it not only builds rapport which is a key in sales for trust and future sales referrals but shows the sales person actually cares for you as a customer.

Having your MA give you a VIN is actually one step better as I placed the order and was told it would take about 12 weeks. That was it. A week later I realized what an allocation was and realized my car was never getting ordered until I got that. I went back and talked to the Sales Manager who worked to get me an allocation (probably traded with another dealer, I don't know) which got me a production number the next day. All of the communications between me and my MA have been from me asking questions so basically reactive, none have been pro-active. Don't get me wrong he is nice but so would anybody that was looking to get paid from selling you something. Maybe I am more critical but I've worked in Sales and have run my own businesses (still do) where word of mouth and the occasional conversation by following up during and after the sale has earned me a ton of repeat business over the years. I actually sold one of my businesses to help with the down payment and just over the first year worth of payments.