[johnnj]

Hey guys.
I took delivery of a blue/black M40 2 weeks ago this coming Saturday and I love it. I've been meaning to post various stuff about it, which I'll do after my cornea infection clears up and I'm in a more fun loving mood.

What I wanted to ask about was something bizarre going on with my dealer and the 2nd key for the car.

I got it from a BMW dealer which is a part of a large auto group here in NJ. It came from the inventory of another store in the same group.

When I picked up the car, the salesman said "oh, by the way, the other dealership won't send the 2nd key until they get a check for the car, so you're only getting one key today". I was kind of surprised that there would be anything like that since it was coming from within the company.

He told me the check would go out on Monday (2 days after I picked it up) and they'd have it the next day or the day after the 4th. OK, no problem, except my wife was a little annoyed she couldn't get her key and program the seat and mirrors.

Now it's a week after that and still no key and no call back from the guy. I called him again and he was annoyed that I was wanting the key so soon and he told me they didn't even send the check yet so I shouldn't be expecting the key.

I tried to get him to explain to me why this made any sense, because the only party involved that's actually inconvenienced is me (and my wife). What do they care if I don't get the 2nd key? And what guarantee does that make for them to pay the other dealer for the car? Car keys aren't unique except in the programming of it. If I wanted, I could walk up to the parts counter. Lay down $600 or whatever a fob costs, walk over to service, show my registration, and tell them to program it for me.

I hung up and called BMWNA and they never heard of such a thing. From their perspective, the car should have been delivered whole, which means 2 keys. I filed a complaint. After 13 BMWs between my wife and I, I know that nothing makes a dealer step to like a call from NA.

Has anyone ever encountered such a thing?

[skier219]

Sounds idiotic to me. Why that becomes your problem is beyond me. I really hate it when some big business has the nerve to inconvenience a customer over some stupid made up paperwork or red tape issue. Idiots. I hope BMWNA kicks them in the butt.

[PerthBMW]

Get the feeling they actually misplaced or lost the key and are waiting for a replacement from BMW Germany???

[John Casey]

Originally Posted by PerthBMW

Get the feeling they actually misplaced or lost the key and are waiting for a replacement from BMW Germany???

Hmmmm...this could be.

OP - perhaps you already know this after owning so many BMWs, but "manually" add your wife as a driver in iDrive and she can setup her settings. We manually (via iDrive) switch drivers when we only carry one key with us.

[Zembla]

Originally Posted by PerthBMW

Get the feeling they actually misplaced or lost the key and are waiting for a replacement from BMW Germany???

Get that feeling too. The guy being annoyed when pushed on it seems to dissuade you from pushing it further. They'd probably be happy if you just forgot about the issue, and went about your life with just one key to your car.

I'd never be comfortable with a second key being out there for my vehicle, misplaced, in the hands of a dealer, or whatnot. Shady tactics. As you point out yourself, it doesn't make any logical sense and its also not up to them to decide what a complete delivery is or what you should receive upon delivery.

[johnnj]

Funny, I could swear a posted a reply but it seems to be gone from the thread.

In any event, thanks for the replies. It was also my thinking that the key was lost.
I just had a couple of chats with one of the sales managers at the dealership and he told me there shouldn't have been any hold up since it was coming from a sister dealership and that he'd find out what was going on. He also thought maybe the key was lost.

Then he just called back and said that real problem was that the "MSO" wasn't sent from the other dealership so they can't even get the car registered with the DMV. To me that's a bigger deal than the key not showing up. I'm already almost 2 weeks into my 4 week temporary registration but my wait for the plates won't even technically start until they get the MSO from the other dealership, which at this point hadn't even been requested.

When I asked if he had a sense of why this has taken so long, his honest reply was "It was month end and NOT A PRIORITY", to which I responded, "Well without happy customers you won't have much to count in your month end numbers". He agreed.

For the record, this is Morristown BMW, part of the Open Road Motor Group, in Morristown NJ.

[johnnj]

I got my 2nd key the day after my last post on this thread.
Still no plates and only 5 business days before the temp expires, so I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of it.

After my sales guy blew me off again today, I called back and spoke with the head sales manager. Turns out the whole thing was BS. There was no check. It was an electronic inventory transfer that was triggered by my my electronic signature at lease signing.

He’s not sure what happened, but thinks maybe the MSO was lost and they were telling tales to buy time. He was pretty angry about the whole situation and agreed that none of it made sense and I shouldn’t have had to know any of it even if it had been true.

After 9 cars between my wife and me from this dealer, this is what I get.

[Hendoo]

Originally Posted by johnnj

I got my 2nd key the day after my last post on this thread.
Still no plates and only 5 business days before the temp expires, so I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of it.

After my sales guy blew me off again today, I called back and spoke with the head sales manager. Turns out the whole thing was BS. There was no check. It was an electronic inventory transfer that was triggered by my my electronic signature at lease signing.

He’s not sure what happened, but thinks maybe the MSO was lost and they were telling tales to buy time. He was pretty angry about the whole situation and agreed that none of it made sense and I shouldn’t have had to know any of it even if it had been true.

After 9 cars between my wife and me from this dealer, this is what I get.

You need to name that dealer... nobody should have to deal with this kind of BS.

[johnnj]

Originally Posted by Hendoo

You need to name that dealer... nobody should have to deal with this kind of BS.

I did in an earlier post.
It's Morristown BMW in Morristown, NJ. Part of Open Road Motor Group.
I still can't believe they made the whole thing up. Either that or no one knew how to properly transfer a car between stores in their own company.

[NyRevenge]

Originally Posted by johnnj

I did in an earlier post.
It's Morristown BMW in Morristown, NJ. Part of Open Road Motor Group.
I still can't believe they made the whole thing up. Either that or no one knew how to properly transfer a car between stores in their own company.

Those guys are the worstttttttt. I was there a few weeks ago with my GF to talk about options for BOTH our BMWs when our leases are up. The guy should have had dollar signs in his eyes. Nope. The guy I dealt with was a total tool. He seemed annoyed when the front desk asked someone to assist us. Then when I asked to test drive a M40i, he's like oh you can't. None are out. Yet there were literally 12 lined up on the side of the dealership that we looked at before walking in. He didn't wanna even crunch numbers till I asked him too. We walked out and swore never to go back. Now I'm 2 weeks in with my M40i and the gf is awaiting delivery of her model 3

[johnnj]

The service department has been pretty terrible over the years and I've made no bones about letting them know that. I can go through all my service records and 4 out of 5 of them probably has some aggravation attached to it.

The thing that's kept us going back is that the sales side has always been great. This is my 5th from there and my wife is on her 4th. It's always been no-nonsense, great communication, and overall excellent treatment.

I know the type there, though. Before I pulled the trigger on the m40 I was in there measuring the cargo area for dog crates and one guy I didn't know came slithering over like a character from Glengarry Glen Ross. I told him to buzz off and he found some other people to slime over while I went about my business.

[Lux700]

You’re not alone.. the same thing is happening here in the UK too. Seems as if the majority of people now default to being defensive! It could be down to general global belt-tightening, online business, social media, ..whatever? This forum is one of few places that seems to maintain a good level of civility, which is more than I can say about of lot of other people I encounter. Going about my business I find it quite rare these days to come across pleasant and civil people. Even some of the major department stores in London’s Oxford Street don’t treat people as pleasantly as they used to. It appears as if businesses can get away with treating the majority of it's customers contemptuously and still get their custom!

I’ve always wondered why the BMW dealerships around me have such a big turnover of sales staff? In my local dealership, there’s not one single face that was there 18 months ago!

[Lilliana]

Sometime I think after they get your money they could care less.

[Ragnarkov]

Customer service jobs used to be about doing whatever was necessary to help your customer, and the good ones actually took pride in it, even made them feel good cause they knew they where helping someone out.

NOW, it's simply another job to collect a paycheck from. But it's not 1 sides fault. You KNOW there are a-hole customers that go far beyond getting what they feel they should, to the point of purposefully being an irritant. And you know there are sales people who do the smallest amount possible to still get their paycheck. Its ruined the job style, and its across almost every single aspect of the service industry.

I had a bad experience with my dealer, although a good majority of it wasn't necessarily in their hands. I reached out to BMW Canada and even after multiple discussions, over email and phone, they weren't able to help me any more than my sales rep was. And he did go above and beyond at times (like coming in on his days off to try and get answers to my questions, and even forking out his own money for the rear seat entertainment, just to try and make our experience as pleasant as possible). Other people at the dealer you could tell where there to collect their cheque, and didn't give a rip about anyone else. At least my rep seemed to genuinely try.

I think one big problem is when they screw up, if nobody makes a stink, it's noticed. and adds to the idea that there's more they can get away with. I've bitched to the point of possibly getting someone fired, but honestly, they shouldn't have been working at that job in the first place. And their employer needed to know.

I'm glad the OP got at least some resolve to his circumstance (in knowledge and explanations, as well as the 2nd key), although from everything he said, if it was me, I'd probably take my business elsewhere in the future.

[Sea-Tac]

There are good BMW dealerships and there are bad ones. Your dealing with one of the bad ones.

[johnnj]

So my dealer yesterday miraculously got the MSO document they needed to register the car and I picked up my plates last night.

The only thing they offered as an explanation was blaming a clerk at the store my X3 came from. They said she forgot to send it.

No answer when I asked why people kept telling me there was a check when in fact there wasn't one.

When my wife's X5 comes off lease next year this won't be the dealership we go to. Although to be honest, I don't know if any of the other BMW dealerships that are convenient to us are any better.

[Yobyot]

Originally Posted by johnnj

I got my 2nd key the day after my last post on this thread.
Still no plates and only 5 business days before the temp expires, so I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of it.

After my sales guy blew me off again today, I called back and spoke with the head sales manager. Turns out the whole thing was BS. There was no check. It was an electronic inventory transfer that was triggered by my my electronic signature at lease signing.

He’s not sure what happened, but thinks maybe the MSO was lost and they were telling tales to buy time. He was pretty angry about the whole situation and agreed that none of it made sense and I shouldn’t have had to know any of it even if it had been true.

After 9 cars between my wife and me from this dealer, this is what I get.

Nine cars?! Proof positive that one should never, ever trust a dealer. They'll use anything -- especially "loyalty" -- to rip people off.

[johnnj]

Originally Posted by Yobyot

Nine cars?! Proof positive that one should never, ever trust a dealer. They'll use anything -- especially "loyalty" -- to rip people off.

Well, they didn't exactly rip me off. They just wasted some of my time and irritated me. But that's enough to look elsewhere. Actually, reminds me of my first marriage!