LETTER TO Pieter de Waal, I sent today !

BMW of North America, LLC April 4, 2010
200 Chestnut Ridge Road
Woodcliff Lake, NJ
07677-7731

IÔÇÖm writing you today to describe an experience that I had at one of your BMW Motorcycle dealerships.

On Saturday March 27, 2010 my girlfriend Lori and I stopped at Bergen County BMW Motorcycles. As we approached the building, a Service Department Employee, Dan, greeted us by holding the show room door open for us and asked us what the nature of our visit was. Dan pointed out the different sections of the showroom. Dan had learned that we were interested in a BMW Motorcycle, so he paged a BMW Salesperson and stayed with us until we were greeted by one of the sales staff. The sales person was Carolyn Marosy.
Carolyn met us with a handshake and a smile, walked us through the BMW Section and was extremely knowledgeable of the BMW products and services. Once Carolyn learned of my interest in the F800GS, she brought us into her office, showed us the current inventory for this model and reviewed all the available options. Right at that moment, I knew I was going to buy a motorcycle from this dealer and this salesperson. Before we left the dealership, Carolyn had compiled an action list of questions she was going to find answers for me and I had a list of accessories I needed to choose from.
On Monday morning, March 29, 2010, I received a call from Carolyn with the answers to all my questions, so I drove down to the dealership with my list of accessories/options I was interested in. When I arrived Carolyn greeted me, again reviewed the answers to my questions and she also walked me to the Parts Department and introduced me to Antonio Lipari. Antonio and I sent over an hour reviewing each of the $6,395.35 worth of additional options that I wanted to include with this purchase. By Friday April 2, 2010, Carolyn, Antonio and I had exchanged many faxes, emails and telephone calls about this purchase. Carolyn and Antonio had made me feel like I was their top priority.
On Saturday April 3, 2010, I finalized my purchase and took delivery of the F800GS motorcycle. Before I left the property, I was pleasantly surprised that part of the sales procedure was that I be introduced to two of the owners of Bergen County BMW Motorcycles Liz and Phil DiGennaro. Liz and Phil seemed truly concerned that my experience was a positive one. I complemented and thanked them on their dealershipÔÇÖs high level of service.

Over the past 25years, I have purchased 14 cars and 24 motorcycles. This transaction has been the best sales experience I have ever encountered.

I would like to mention that each employee IÔÇÖve dealt with at Bergen County BMW Motorcycles provided me with A+ Service. Carolyn in Sales, William in finance, Dan, Antonio, Charley, Bill, Mike and Ashleigh in Parts/Service, and Jaydn and Lori in Apparel, have all made this purchase experience one that IÔÇÖll always fondly remember.

Sincerely,

Eric D. Rebels
Member of: BMW MOA # 156925, BMW F800 Riders Forum

Nice. My last experience at a different BMW dealer wasn't as great.... but maybe they knew I was blowing smoke up thier chimney just for a chance to ride the S1000RR

nice to hear about a good experience.

dang... six bucks worth of accessories? could you please let me know when you plan to sell your bike?

ian

I visit there a couple of weeks ago. A most unusual floor-plan features about 75% HD and 25% BMW. Name tags of sales personnel have the HD logo on the left and the roundel on the right.

Wonder if the artwork meets either HD or BMW intellectual property concerns?

Nice letter.

It's good to see some positive feedback thrown in BMW's direction every now and then, given the shots many of us (ah, that would include me) take from time to time when frustrated with a mechanical issue.

Enjoy your new ride and put on plenty of miles!

Sounds like the new dealer in NJ has gotten off to an outstanding start! Good to hear this - it can only be a good thing for everyone in the area.

I had no idea there was a BMW dealer in Bergen County. It's right near where I work.

How is the service department?

Because they are only about 15 miles from BMW NA corporate offices, the dealer may be on their best behavior most of the time.

A good BMW experience? Is that allowed on the forum?...j/k

About time some accolades for the brand were reported.

Good Luck with the GS and enjoy the ride(s).

Great News

I am very pleased to hear about great service and sales experiences especially in an area that needed a BMW Motorcycle dealer for years.

However Bergen County is expensive, so I expect the dealer has to turn it up a notch for the distinguished clientele. I think I will travel there with a GS covered in mud and voicing interest in a trade.

I know I can save 1% in just taxes.

At first when I saw the formal letter format I thought oh crap here comes another horrible experience letter. Even half way through I was saying wait for it... wait for it...

But in the end a happy story.

I'm sure my local dealer would roll out the red carpet once they learned I wanted to spend $20,000 on a $12K bike and $7K on accessories (add tax and licensing and you're at $20K).

See what kind of service you get when you walk in to buy a crush washer or a turn signal bulb. That's where you'll find out whether or not the dealer truly values their customers!

so that's where Antonio ended up, my bike was at BMW of Manhattan so long for an insurance repair that he left before it was finished

The experience that the OP got isn't substantially different from what I got at my local BMW dealership. In fact, after the good experience with my first BMW purchase about 16 years back I've since purchased a number of additional bikes from that dealership.

And yesterday I did stop by just to purchase a crush washer (and kick the tires of the various bikes...and shoot the breeze a bit). Still got good service, but crush washer prices have risen.

I would say you are lucky to live so close to a dealership who cares. Although there is probably some truth in what someone said about customer service being in relation to the money being spent.

The last time I stepped foot in a BMW dealership, it was to do the paperwork for my 100,000 award from BMWNA. It was a rainy day and the place was dead. The general manager helped me. The place had been open for over 2 years, and BMW is their only line, but the GM had no idea where to find the form or how to request the award. I called a buddy at Lone Star (a dealer that I miss since moving away) and found out where online the form could be found. We printed the thing and filled it out.

Two months goes by and I call the GM to see if he knew anything about the award. Turns out their fax machine was down that rainy day I was in there, and they never did fax it in. But they still had it, so they would fax it.

Months later, the dealership has received the award, but the shipping manager is on vacation so I have to wait another 2 weeks before they will mail it to me.

When I get the certificate, I find that the dealership didn't even bother signing it or stamping it.

I could not believe that the guy who ran the place knew so little about the program, and cared so little about helping me request an award that meant a lot to me. Without programs like the MOA and the BMW mileage contest, I would be riding another brand. My unsigned, unstamped certificate hangs on the wall in my shop, and I have not set foot in a BMW dealership in the last 60,000 miles.

I stopped by the new Bergen Dealership just to check the place out when they opened and recieved the same welcome. Carolyn and Antonio were both very knowledgable and gracious, and took the time to answer whatever questions I had for them knowing I was just getting a look at the place. Carolyn especially really knows bikes! I was very happy to be able to report to my local club that we may finally have a quality dealership to work with again. I know I'm looking forward to trying them out for my parts and servicing needs.

Bob
04 K1200GT

Kirbster919 said:

Nice. My last experience at a different BMW dealer wasn't as great.... but maybe they knew I was blowing smoke up thier chimney just for a chance to ride the S1000RR

Click to expand...

My experience was a bit different, I just turned down a sales guy, a couple of days ago, who offered me an unescorted test ride on the S1000RR.

I received a reply to my letter from Pieter de Waal (IN PERSON)

Well I attended the Bergen County BMW NJ. open house today. Free food, stunt show and a visit from Pieter de Waal. Pieter was there to present the dealership with a Commitment of Excellence Award, in front of a crowd of about 500 people. Immediately after the award presentation Liz DiGennaro (one of the dealership owners) took me by the arm and told me Piete wanted to meet me. He shook my hand (very hard) and thanked me for the letter and continued to ask me about my riding history and wanted to see my F800GS. After a half hour of general bike talk, he was pulled away by his staff, and he again thanked me for the letter and my BMW purchase.

Again, Another magic time at Bergen County BMW. They really treat you like Family....
Well, not like the family most of us have, The family you wish you had !