An Open Letter to BMW of North America

[rzm3]

Update:

I am not sure if it was because of my credit card company (I had tried to file a dispute, but it was not accepted), or this thread, the dealer finally called me late afternoon and offered to fix my car. Thanks for your responses.

[///FCB]

damn..sorry to hear that story!! amazing how poor bmw service in this case is...

[Blotman]

That sounds awful! Hope they get this straightened out for you!

[rsmamg]

Good for you. That sh*t is not acceptable. I would continue to raise hell. Good luck.

[Technic]

I never understood how a dealer can inspect a car for body damages before accepting such car for service and then turn around and deny any damages in the car after service...

I doubt that BMWNA will do anything in your case, other than a phone call to the dealer in the very best case.

Good luck...

[10M3MAN]

Good for you bro, in this day and age you would think race no longer played an issue...I will be back in Houston in about 2 weeks to test drive some BMW's (hopefully an M3) and I was looking at this dealer as one of my choices to go through for my ED. No more they are off my list. Thanks for the heads up and hopefully things turn out for the best for you as well.

[!Xoible]

not sure it's a problem of BMWNA... sounds like a problem of Texas

just kidding... but dude sorry to hear that. did you actually send this letter anywhere other than posting it here?

[JCtx]

Sorry to hear of your bad treatment, but are you sure the dude was racist (saying racial slurs, etc), and not just rude? BIG difference, and it can have serious consequences on the employee, so hope you were right. My experience with dealers is more of incompetence than rudeness. At any rate, hope you get a favorable response, but don't hold your breath on that. Also hope you have a choice, which I don't; I'm stuck with one dealer (unless I want to travel over 300 miles each way), but so far they've been great (other than no loaners ), and know how picky I am. Good luck.

[SlammedR8]

if you dont mind me asking, how were they racist towards you?

[Singletrack]

Originally Posted by slammedm3

if you dont mind me asking, how were they racist towards you?

Yah, I would be specific there because that is a serious accusation. My 2 cents.

Sucks that you can't get good service on a 60k+ car...ridiculous.

[xquizit]

Originally Posted by Singletrack

Yah, I would be specific there because that is a serious accusation. My 2 cents.

Sucks that you can't get good service on a 60k+ car...ridiculous.

+1

[bobbyd1961]

let us know if you get a response from BMW of north america. some guy tried to get wize with me and i chewed him up and spit him out. you have the M3 they have crap and you should get the ultimate service

[FStop7]

CC that letter to the Houston Chronicle if they have like a "consumer action" section

Also send it to consumerist.com

and was rudely treated by a Service Advisor because of my race.

What did they do??

[M3twins]

Unless you have proof or a witness to your allegation of racism, I would leave that part out if you haven't already sent the letter. The seriousness of the allegation itself will lead to the incident being escalated to a legal matter and BMWNA may not respond to you unless you involve an attorney. It is kind of code for "I am going to sue you for racial discrimination" and that won't get your car fixed any faster.. And if you are confrontational from the get go like that and in life in general, people will avoid you at all costs...

I really do feel for you though. I've also had my car damaged by a BMW dealership and know how incredibly frustrating it can be to have things fixed properly and for them to take you seriously. Anyways, best of luck getting this taken care of. BMW could definitely do a lot better in the customer service department.

[ephairabedian]

I bought a demo 07 M6 equipped with the 6spd manual tranny,
The car wouldnt go into gear at red lights and as i drove here and there. My car was at the dealer 6 times with a minimum 1 week stay each time, had the general supervisor take the car home over night because thats the last option they left me, and he comes back and tells me oh i experienced the problem once and contacted bmw na and they said the car performs as designed lollll so i took the car and im on a freeway ramp and guess what?? the tranny gets stuck in 4th gear wont come out and its a dead gear, car wont accelerate..got the car towed to the dealer hired a lawyer lemoned that shit...Service SUKD EVERY SINGLE TIME..not once did i get a bmw rental always some pos mazda or some shit!.

The cars are amazing the service sucks balls! they lost me as a customer and ive been buying M's from them since 02
Ive previously had 3 e46 m3's and a e39 M5 too bad my last beemer is a E63 M6 but no more

[fpblue]

Unless you were called racist names or heard racist comments, I think you would be taken more seriously if you didn't pull the race card. Using racism as a crutch or to scare someone into giving you what you want, is despicable. Perhaps you actually were called racist things, but I doubt it. If you were, you would have left.

You should rethink you letter for two big reasons:

1. This is someone's livelihood and you should not mess with how he feeds his family. Being rude is not a reason to be labeled a racist.
Guy might have been having a bad day. Being called rude and being called a racist are two totally different things, with two totally different sets of consequences.

2. You only marginalize real instances of racism by crying wolf.

If you were not called racial slurs or did not hear racial comments, then you need to take the chip off of your shoulder and grow up. If you were called names, then I am 100% behind you.

[Nawaaz]

Originally Posted by M3twins

Unless you have proof or a witness to your allegation of racism, I would leave that part out if you haven't already sent the letter. The seriousness of the allegation itself will lead to the incident being escalated to a legal matter and BMWNA may not respond to you unless you involve an attorney. It is kind of code for "I am going to sue you for racial discrimination" and that won't get your car fixed any faster.. And if you are confrontational from the get go like that and in life in general, people will avoid you at all costs...

I really do feel for you though. I've also had my car damaged by a BMW dealership and know how incredibly frustrating it can be to have things fixed properly and for them to take you seriously. Anyways, best of luck getting this taken care of. BMW could definitely do a lot better in the customer service department.

Well said.

[Jdebitjr]

Originally Posted by fpblue

Unless you were called racist names or heard racist comments, I think you would be taken more seriously if you didn't pull the race card. Using racism as a crutch or to scare someone into giving you what you want, is despicable. Perhaps you actually were called racist things, but I doubt it. If you were, you would have left.

You should rethink you letter for two big reasons:

1. This is someone's livelihood and you should not mess with how he feeds his family. Being rude is not a reason to be labeled a racist.

2. You only marginalize real instances of racism by crying wolf.

If you were not called racial slurs or did not hear racial comments, then you need to take the chip off of your shoulder and grow up. If you were called names, then I am 100% behind you.

+1,000,000

[XunXunDCT]

Originally Posted by fpblue

Unless you were called racist names or heard racist comments, I think you would be taken more seriously if you didn't pull the race card. Using racism as a crutch or to scare someone into giving you what you want, is despicable. Perhaps you actually were called racist things, but I doubt it. If you were, you would have left.

You should rethink you letter for two big reasons:

1. This is someone's livelihood and you should not mess with how he feeds his family. Being rude is not a reason to be labeled a racist.
Guy might have been having a bad day. Being called rude and being called a racist are two totally different things, with two totally different sets of consequences.

2. You only marginalize real instances of racism by crying wolf.

If you were not called racial slurs or did not hear racial comments, then you need to take the chip off of your shoulder and grow up. If you were called names, then I am 100% behind you.

+1

[fpblue]

I am a very big white guy that looks like I play center for the NY Giants. I am also of English and Irish descent with descendants that have been here from the 1600's. Guess what? I encounter rude people too. I guess it is racism. Reminds me of the old Eddie Murphy skit where he dresses up as a white guy and all of a sudden everyone is so nice to him. The bus driver even let's him on the bus for free because he is white. Funny stuff.

[rzm3]

Update:

I am not sure if it was because of my credit card company (I had tried to file a dispute, but it was not accepted), or this thread, the dealer finally called me late afternoon and offered to fix my car. Thanks for your responses.

[fpblue]

Originally Posted by rldzhao

Update:

I am not sure if it was because of my credit card company (I had tried to file a dispute, but it was not accepted), or this thread, the dealer finally called me late afternoon and offered to fix my car. Thanks for your responses.

You never told us how racism was involved.