Has anybody had any success getting beyond the customer service department in resolving a problem. I have been completely stonewalled by them in trying to get a cracked windshield discussed. Their idea of customer service is to deny me the ability to talk directly with anybody even the factory rep who supposedly diagnosed by cracked windshield as a non-warranty situation.

There is more than reasonable doubt that he was wrong, but customer says "they are the final judge and do not deal with the public".

Customer service will not even tell me who to complain to about customer service.

They are souring a lot of customers on Mini ans BMW.

 

Go straight to MINIUSA and e-mail them with the problem. Do not hold back and give them all the info you have. I went through the same problem with my coolant and they took care of it after trying to be nice to the service department. Good Luck.

 

I first emailed MINIUSA and, trying to cover all bases, called the customer service dept. the next day. The customer service rep said she was just about to respond to my email. My long and frustrating saga with customer service then began.

A few months ago when I had the also common water pump seal failure, I emailed MINIUSA to express concern about the lack of knowledge of the problem at the dealer level, their response was only that they were sorry that I was having a problem. They showed no concern about me knowing about this problem than their dealers.

MINIUSA and the Customer "Service" Dept are apparently the same group, obviously not attuned to what "Service" can do for customer relations.

They just do not care.

Any other suggestions about how to get to someone who might care about customer satisfaction?

Thanks

 

Send a letter to Jack Pittney" "sp" head of MINIUSA,,For some reason , he is always around when MINI receives "awards" for this and that, he should also be around for "problems"..I am a old man and I am in BMW's "prime target audiance" and this is my 1st experience with "BMW service folks,,and I am not impressed, but my mind can be changed if the way they treat their customers changes,,,BMW/MINI USA..R U listening?? :???:

 

GP53,

I'm sorry you too had to learn the hard way. BMW/Mini Customer Relations is a kind of scam. Their sole function is to insulate the decision makers from unlucky customers. Any time spent writing or talking to them would be much better spent researching your local lemon laws.

It is sad but true; they are satisfied with your money and that is that.

 

I've had mild success in dealing with corporate people at MINI USA. Customer service is almost laughable. I suggest you voice your opinion as loudly as possible to every available forum. Seems the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

I still have a rather bad taste in mouth from the experience and do not plan on purchasing another BMW product ever. Pretty unfortunate being that I'm 25 year old with a newly acquired taste for european cars and hopefully a long future of car buying ahead of me. Pains me to think there will never be a M3 in my garage. Best of luck to you.


--
Dave

 

>>GP53,
>>
>>I'm sorry you too had to learn the hard way. BMW/Mini Customer Relations is a kind of scam. Their sole function is to insulate the decision makers from unlucky customers. Any time spent writing or talking to them would be much better spent researching your local lemon laws.
>>
>>It is sad but true; they are satisfied with your money and that is that.
>>

Come-on! I agree that BMW service leaves a lot to be desired, but that's a little harsh. Give a call to the MINI sales manager of the dealer you purchased from. If that doesn't work then call MINIUSA. And make sure to mention your post on this site. This site does not just attract MINI owners, but also LOTS of MINI shoppers. I'm sure MINIUSA would be smart to stifle any reason you would have to post sales deterring info here. They've already got your money, but the right posts could turn-off would be owners.

 

Thanks for the thought, but calling MINIUSA just gets you to "customer service:. Quite a nice closed loop. Perhaps writing to the varuois magazines will get someone's attention or provide some warning to potential buyers.

 

orbhot,

My post may have been harsh but as far as BMW goes, I wasn't BORN with a bad attitude. I acquired it fair & square.

After countless phone calls and emails I learned that Customer Relations dept is 100% ****-on-a-bull usless. BMW corporate may get your hopes up but soon you'll be shunted back to the dealer and find yourself at square one.

I'll spare you my sad story. If you want you can search back for "My Poor Sick Mini" threads, going back to October.

I am not one to get invloved in litigation if there is any way to avoid it. When I tell you that in a couple of weeks BMW & I will be in front of a Lemon Law arbitrator, you can be sure of one thing: SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN STUTTGART.

 

STUTTGART is where arch-rival Porsche is mfg'd, Munich is home of BMW

 

My advice - get rid of the car. At 57,000 miles I needed an AC compressor and a new tranny, I got rid of it within a few days. A cracked windshield will be the beginning of many expensive problems! Sad but true, I loved driving the car and my kids loved it too, but what a miserable ownership experience.

 

Has anyone noticed that this is responding to a thread from 2003??? There's been a few changes since then.

 

Same issue here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3183500

Just needed a place to vent. A/C compressor is whatever, it can happen to any car. I have replaced one oh 2 of the 4 vehicle I have owned with less that 60k miles on them, sucks I know. But the tranny, I would bet it was a CVT; doesn't make it right that the CVT sucked, but well it does, just search about it.


And the windshield issue...could happen to anyone or ANY car.

 

I just had a miserable experience with MINIUSA. I just wanted to express my concerns and try to get things fixed because my local dealer has been beating up my car more than i have. Unfortunately MINIUSA was just concerned with complaints and she didn't give me any sort of information on moving forward with the issues. This company is kinda ******** it seems. Mini of Baltimore is a business first then a whatever next.

I am extremely unsatisfied with everything in general. I am a 22 year old full time student and really don't have the time or money to deal with their BS. I don't mind paying the ridiculous prices for labor and parts but at the price they charge you'd think i could get something fixed the first time.

Cheers and good luck to everyone dealing with the same crap I am.

 

I agree bigbud, I wasn't botn with a bad attitude either, and Customer service still means something to me - as MY customers...
In the course of my 50,000 warranty period, I've been to the Portland Oregon Mini dealership service department about six times - learned on the first visit that since I purchased a Mini, not a 60,000 BMW, I was "just another guy wanting service". Their attitude is shameful, their Customer Service is practiaclly non-existant, and they seem "PROUD OF IT". Sorry to have to agree, this is my last BMW / Mini product. The next nearest Mini Dealer is in Seattle. Called the "Customer Relations" number - might as well have been talking to a maple tree.

 

I'm not sure if this helps, but when I had an ongoing issue with my ISP not delivering the internet speeds that I paid for at night, I finally filed the complaint with BBB. BBB forwarded it to my ISP's "Escalation" Dept, then a rep from that dept called me and she fixed the problem for me. Needless to say, after 3 months, this issue is finally fixed. I should've started in the beginning instead of calling CSR Dept every week, while some person on the other end just reads the scripts and negating my problem.

 

Sorry to all the Maple Trees out there. Didn't mean offense

 

If you customer service sucks - I just ran across a Facebook page that is posting on MINI USA website. I looks like the are highlighting the issues with MINI'S Customer Service (or lack there of).

If you are having issues check it out. I think the more we like the page the more likely MINI will pay attention to their poor service. Facebook is very powerful like that:

http://www.facebook.com/MINIProblems