It's been a while since I wrote anything here--which is fine--and today I have a serious rant to share.
2006-01-31 -at- 14:17 Filed in: Personal
Back around January 2000, I bought my first BMW, a
brand new, fully loaded 528i. It's been a superb car
from day one. Always a pleasure to drive, and truly
"the ultimate driving machine". It has, however, been
quite expensive to maintain, which I fully expected
when I bought it. My rant isn't with that, but with
the BMW shop where I bought it and where it's gone
for service throughout its life--BMW of Fairfax
(http://home.bmwoffairfax.com/).
I've never been overly impressed with their service, but I've been willing to accept that we live near a large metropolitan center (DC) and that it's just busy. Today's experience pushed me over the edge, however, and I'll certainly never go back.
For starters, their phone system is beyond archaic. My car went in for its oil maintence service early yesterday. Around noon, my service advisor left me a voice mail requesting my authorization to do an "inspection 1" on my car--for some $500. I called him back about a dozen times during the afternoon, leaving numerous messages on his voicemail and with the receptionist. No callbacks, no car. Today, I tried again to call him back, and eventually the receptionist found him. Come pick up the car in an hour.
So, on my way to pick up my car, I got a call from someone at BMW of Fairfax who told me that she was calling regarding the car that I dropped off. It seems that it was blocking a service lane and needed to be moved. I told her to talk to the mechanic that fixed it. She explained that she had already done so and that no one in Service had the key. I lost my cool, said something very unpolite that drew into question her intelligence, and hung up.
After I'd paid for the service, I went over to where the car was sitting and looked inside. A mechanic quickly walked up to me and asked if was my car. I said yes, and that I wanted to pick it up. He explained that it had just been dropped off for service and that the service wasn't done yet.
My receipt and I prevailed and eventually got my car out, but it wasn't without another hassle. Talk about "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" syndrome. I've experienced nothing but this kind of awful service at BMW of Fairfax since day one, and I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy. They strike me as the most horribly mis-managed "service" organization that I've encountered in many years.
I still love my 528, but am much more likely to look at a different car next time. Perhaps an Audi A6 or some such, but most certainly nothing from BMW of Fairfax. It's my opinion that they're nothing more than oxygen thieves.
I've never been overly impressed with their service, but I've been willing to accept that we live near a large metropolitan center (DC) and that it's just busy. Today's experience pushed me over the edge, however, and I'll certainly never go back.
For starters, their phone system is beyond archaic. My car went in for its oil maintence service early yesterday. Around noon, my service advisor left me a voice mail requesting my authorization to do an "inspection 1" on my car--for some $500. I called him back about a dozen times during the afternoon, leaving numerous messages on his voicemail and with the receptionist. No callbacks, no car. Today, I tried again to call him back, and eventually the receptionist found him. Come pick up the car in an hour.
So, on my way to pick up my car, I got a call from someone at BMW of Fairfax who told me that she was calling regarding the car that I dropped off. It seems that it was blocking a service lane and needed to be moved. I told her to talk to the mechanic that fixed it. She explained that she had already done so and that no one in Service had the key. I lost my cool, said something very unpolite that drew into question her intelligence, and hung up.
After I'd paid for the service, I went over to where the car was sitting and looked inside. A mechanic quickly walked up to me and asked if was my car. I said yes, and that I wanted to pick it up. He explained that it had just been dropped off for service and that the service wasn't done yet.
My receipt and I prevailed and eventually got my car out, but it wasn't without another hassle. Talk about "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" syndrome. I've experienced nothing but this kind of awful service at BMW of Fairfax since day one, and I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy. They strike me as the most horribly mis-managed "service" organization that I've encountered in many years.
I still love my 528, but am much more likely to look at a different car next time. Perhaps an Audi A6 or some such, but most certainly nothing from BMW of Fairfax. It's my opinion that they're nothing more than oxygen thieves.
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