Bad Dealership story

[bsatestb]

Need to vent so here is my story. I ordered my M3 in December. Gave 1k down and a contract for MSRP. Around March I spec my car out and get a sheet with the MSRP of the coupe plus the option prices. Around May I email my CA and tell him to order me the M3 mats. On June 27th I pick up my M and see that they charged me for the mats. Mind you, I wrote a check for the full amount. I tell my CA who promptly comes back and does the "aw shucks, of course the mats are on us". Here's where it gets fun. After a couple of weeks I notice that I paid the new prices for the options rather than the original prices that I have on the price list from March. The difference is $220.00. I start e-mailing my CA, and we go back and forth. Finally, today I get an email saying that they will give me a $120.00 accessories credit since the mats that they gave me cost $100.00. I was fuming. I sent them an email saying that if I don't get my full $220.00 I would never step foot in the dealership for cars or service, would drop a call to BMWNA and, being a lawyer, would consider a small claims lawsuit. I may be overeacting, but F-it, I honored my end of the original deal and I find it BS that they are treating me this way. The "charging" me for the mats ex-post facto really pissed me off. Anyway, thanks for reading the long post and allowing me to vent. Love my M3 though...
dean

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by bsatestb

I may be overeacting

I think you are.

[bsatestb]

No real need for this particular dealership. I live in the Chicago suburbs and only went to this dealership because of better allocation. Dealership by my office is much closer for service. I was extremely cordial throughout...until today. Why should I pay a dime more than I contracted to pay for? Especially on a 77k cash deal? Would it be considered overreacting if it was a 1k dollar price difference instead of $220.00? I'm just saying. O.k. I officially feel better after venting and can go back to enjoying my M3.

[ScotyH]

"Gimme my $220 bucks or I'll take you to court because I'm a lawyer"

Wow..... If I were the GM of that dealership I would probably follow through just to inconvenience you.

Yup, karma will be a bitch...

Enjoy the car.

[stickypaws]

I'm glad I'm not a BMW dealer. Tuff job....

Karma for sure.

[ScotyH]

Originally Posted by Laszlo

Yeah, this is definitely a "piss in your trunk" the when you need service story. But if I never find myself in a bind and need a brow-beating lawyer I'll know who to call.

A sandwiched turd in the zippered owners manual would also do the trick.

[MysticBlue]

Never ceases to amaze me how much energy, time, and resources some people will invest going into battle mode over what amounts to 2 tenths of 1 % of the sales price. I've seen the same thing happen in real estate... throwing a half million dollar deal under the bus battling over some side issue worth a few hundred dollars. Life is too short to spend most of it angry.

[J08M3]

If I was the dealership I'd just give the $220 back. It's not worth losing a costumer over $220 that paid full price for their car. They will be back for service, they will probably buy some accessories, and most likely in a couple years will buy another car. The $220 which is almost nothing to the dealer will quickly be made back. Plus a good word will be passed around by the happy costumer and if they even gain one more sale out of it to someone else from the story the $220 is easily made back. But having someone turned off by the story will cost them more than the $220. Just my opinion as a business owner. A small price to pay for a happy costumer can go a long way. Especially in the slow economy we have right now.

[ScotyH]

Originally Posted by J08M3

If I was the dealership I'd just give the $220 back. It's not worth losing a costumer over $220 that paid full price for their car. They will be back for service, they will probably buy some accessories, and most likely in a couple years will buy another car. The $220 which is almost nothing to the dealer will quickly be made back. Plus a good word will be passed around by the happy costumer and if they even gain one more sale out of it to someone else from the story the $220 is easily made back. But having someone turned off by the story will cost them more than the $220. Just my opinion as a business owner. A small price to pay for a happy costumer can go a long way. Especially in the slow economy we have right now.

The customer is already lost. Not a massive loss in my books though, imagine how this guy would react if something didn't go his way during a future service....

[J08M3]

Originally Posted by ScotyH

The customer is already lost. Not a massive loss in my books though, imagine how this guy would react if something didn't go his way during a future service....

I don't know if that's totally true. A quick apology and money back can quickly change some ones mind.

[TLud]

I understand that it's only $100, but I see where the OP is coming from on principle grounds. The dealer said it was going to do something, but failed to follow through on it...three times. Flipping the argument around, the dealer was willing to dick the OP over for a mere $200 after he just made the dealer a ton of money by buying the car straight up at MSRP. In my mind, the dealer had three chances to make it right, but failed to do so:

1. The dealer says it'll throw the mats in for free, but doesn't.

2. The dealer then charges the wrong price on the car.

3. Then, instead of just refunding the man his money, the dealer offers him an "accessories credit," retracting the free floor mats.

To me, that's not about the money, that's just insulting, especially to a customer who paid full price for a $70k car.

Should he just shrug it off? Of course, like most things in life, it's not worth the aggravation. But I for one am not going to judge him for being frustrated and wanting to vent.

[Radiation Joe]

Originally Posted by TLud

... Should he just shrug it off? Of course, like most things in life, it's not worth the aggravation. But I for one am not going to judge him for being frustrated and wanting to vent.

+1

There is nothing much he can or should do. None of us know both sides of the story, either. According to the OP the dealer is a turd. If you spoke to the dealer, you might get a different story. I tend to believe the OP. Why would anyone get their panties in a wad over this, unless it was over the principle of the thing.

[e46e92love]

Since I am not you I can't really tell you how to feel. But there are two sides to every story and we all at times get really about the small things in life, and that its more about the principle than the money. But, consider this, you are just getting yourself worked up over a few hundred bucks at worst and a miscommunication. Not worth it for you, don't let anyone do that to you. Just move on and enjoy the car and then the next time your are in the market for a BMW, consider this incident in the future when you are choosing a dealer.

Not sure if that helps at all, hope it does, but probably doesn't

Cheers,
e46e92

[TLud]

Originally Posted by e46e92love

Since I am not you I can't really tell you how to feel. But there are two sides to every story and we all at times get really about the small things in life, and that its more about the principle than the money. But, consider this, you are just getting yourself worked up over a few hundred bucks at worst and a miscommunication. Not worth it for you, don't let anyone do that to you. Just move on and enjoy the car and then the next time your are in the market for a BMW, consider this incident in the future when you are choosing a dealer.

Not sure if that helps at all, hope it does, but probably doesn't

Cheers,
e46e92

Good post.

[ideliver]

Stealerships......FTMFL

[MDCTFTW]

I know delivery day is super exciting, but you should have looked at the bill much closer. I didn't though and just signed signed signed to gtfo of there and drive. Haha.

[Irb Digital]

Now I don't know if this is the whole story, but I'll just comment on what has been posted. One thing I love is how its become so common these days to make someone feel like sh*t for standing up up for himself in a world thats controlled by big business. That dealership wipes their a$$ with $220. They made 30 times that amount on THAT sale. I wouldn't care if it was $20, that dealership could take a $200 loss, easier than most of us. Now I wouldn't go to court over it, because its not worth the hastle, but I would never give them my business again, and make it very public how they treat full price paying customers. They agreed to something, and tried to make it better by getting him to buy some more BMW accessories. Some think he's being baby for making a situation out of this, but tough customers are the reason we get the best products. Word of mouth is still the main driver of business, and by choosing to take your business elsewhere, and spreading the word of how they treat a person that just spent $70k is our weapon. Most of these guys might tell you just to take it in @$$ over $200, but if everyone did that, we'd be paying $70k for a Honda Civic. But hey, at least it would be an Si model!

[BimmerRob08]

Irb,

I couldn't agree more, it's F(*ked up a dealer tries to weasel another couple hundred $ off a guy that just payed $77K for a car. Unless it was all up front that you have to pay the extra bucks for some rugs, it should not be a "hidden" agenda after the fact. I know my dealer layed it all out and anything extra is extra ontop. Hell, I had to pay an extra $1200 for the stupid UK spec headlights that I'm only going to use for 3 years until I head back to the States. But the dealer backs it up with they'll reinstall for free when it's shipped back as it's a Military sales dealer branch. Kinda nice but what a waste. The dam headlights look about the same and it could have gone just fine without but it's another way for them to make money here. What was I going to do? Not buy an M3 that I'm getting for $15,000 less than in the States over some headlights?

[mkoesel]

Within any community, there is a finite amount of sympathy available at any given time, and probably the majority is spent on Titan316 right now. That said, what happened sucks, but just revel in the fact that you are driving a world class car that everyone in a 10 mile radius wants, but only about 5 others have. And have a beer - I recommend a Koenigs Quad. Cheers.

[addy85]

Originally Posted by Irb Digital

Now I don't know if this is the whole story, but I'll just comment on what has been posted. One thing I love is how its become so common these days to make someone feel like sh*t for standing up up for himself in a world thats controlled by big business. That dealership wipes their a$$ with $220. They made 30 times that amount on THAT sale. I wouldn't care if it was $20, that dealership could take a $200 loss, easier than most of us. Now I wouldn't go to court over it, because its not worth the hastle, but I would never give them my business again, and make it very public how they treat full price paying customers. They agreed to something, and tried to make it better by getting him to buy some more BMW accessories. Some think he's being baby for making a situation out of this, but tough customers are the reason we get the best products. Word of mouth is still the main driver of business, and by choosing to take your business elsewhere, and spreading the word of how they treat a person that just spent $70k is our weapon. Most of these guys might tell you just to take it in @$$ over $200, but if everyone did that, we'd be paying $70k for a Honda Civic. But hey, at least it would be an Si model!

+1 seriously what is up with people on this site these days

[BK]

Are they screwing you? Yes
Should the dealer give you back your $220? Yes
Should you get all worked up about it? No
If you shrug it off, will we all be paying $70K for Honda Civics? No

It's $220. Tell the dealer it's not worth your time, but you won't be back and won't hesitate to mention this incident anytime someone asks for an opinion on that dealer. Move on.

[King Tut]

I know this site tends to take the side of our members, but I like playing devil's advocate. Am I the only one that doesn't think the dealership did anything wrong? BMW added cost on to those options without the knowledge of the buyer or the dealer when the original deal was made. These added costs are not meant to be absorbed by the dealer but by the consumer. They simply passed them on to the customer. I ordered my car when they were still making 08s and based the pricing on that. Should I expect the dealer to swallow the $1000 price increase on the 09s? No because that wasn't part of the deal. If you had some special clause they agreed to that said any price increases from the time this deal is made to when you get your car will be absorbed by the dealer than you would have good reason to be upset. It isn't like the dealer magically added $220 in there to screw you.