binkleylane
BinkleyLane
I am at the end of my rope with BMW dealers and BMW NA. Here is my sad story and I would appreciate all input, good or bad right or wrong. I really want to understand just what BMW thinks is or is not a warranty issue.
Here is the story.
I own a 2012 R 1200 RT. Love the bike. No issues at all up till now.
At 6200 miles I had the dealer do the 6k service in preparation for the trip to Salem. I had a third party install new PR3's. Drove out to Salem - had a great time. All is good. On the way back somewhere in Wyoming the speedo starts to jump around and quits. The brake warring light comes on, the cruise control quits and of course the ABS is out. Well. we all know that there is something going on with a wheel sensor. At the end of the day I give a look see and find that the front sensor wire in riding on the rotor, worn thru one wire but not severed completely. Easy Peasy.......splice the wire and bingo the speedo is back but the brake warning, cruise and ABS are still kaput. No big worry I will get it fixed when I get home, at my local dealer, that good ole guy that I like so much. " just remember Bob, any problems at all just bring her in and we will take care of it".
So, after getting home I schedule a appointment and take "ole blue" up to my friendly dealer and tell him what is going on. Well, OK we understand you were in the middle of a desert and that you were 400 miles from the nearest dealer but you really should have called the roadside hotline and had someone come and pick it up. We can not really be expected to be responsible for some thing that "you" fixed. After all the part was modified. Besides, the failure was most likely due to something that the tire installer did. Oh and by the way, you have water in the final drive and that's not going to be covered either. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ME: Ok Mr. dealer. Explain this. If the sensors failed due to the " third party " tire installer then why did it take 5500 miles for them to fail?
Dealer: Do not know, do not care. If we had changed the tires we would have warrantied the problem.
ME: But the warranty does not state that you are the only people that can do anything to the bike, like change tires.
Dealer: Yes, we know that.
ME: So what I am hearing you say is this. Because I chose to drive the bike home and not call out the tow trucks and have you guys put me in a hotel while you fix the bike and wait for parts and I end up a week late getting home, I am stuck for the parts and repair.
Dealer: Yep
ME: What about the final drive?
Dealer: We feel the problem was caused by the "third party".
ME: Really and how can you come to that conclusion?
Dealer: Because of the other problem. They most likely occurred at the same time so we do not have any responsibility for the failure.
---------
Cut to the present.
What just happened here? My head is still spinning and I think I am trapped in some weird version of Catch 22.
But it gets better.
-----------
Phone dialing - - - - - 1-800-831-1117
BMW NA customer service, how may I help you.
Hi, I own a BMW R1200 RT that is under warranty and I have a question. Went thru the entire scenario with this nice young man and ask - " So what do you think"
BMW NA: Well Bob, I have to agree with the dealer. You should have called roadside assistance and had the bike towed. That what it is there for!!!!!
Me: But I was 400 miles from a dealer and that was the wrong way. You are telling me that BMW will deny all claims because I made the decision to not cost you guys a whole bunch more money in having to come tow my bike.
BMW NA: Yep, that's the way the system works.
ME : This is your warranty policy? This is how you back up your product? This is the way that BMW honors its customers. ( at this point my BP is topped out and my eyes are bright pink - my wife is searching for the scotch and whatever downers she can find in the medicine chest. ) And let me guess, the final drive falls under the same program.
BMW NA: Yep. Most likely the issue occurred when the tires were changed. We can not be responsible for what other dealers do to your bike. You should go talk to them.
ME: Interesting. So let me make sure I am clear on this. You will not honor any warranty claims for these problems due to the fact that some other service entity replaced the tires on my bike. That having the tires replaced by someone other than a BMW dealer is the cause of these issues and BMW will deny this as a warranty claim.
BMW NA: Yes and you really should not have spliced the wires. We cannot be responsible for repairs that you preformed on the road. You really should have called the roadside hotline, after all that's what its there for.
Oh, I almost forgot, and yes he really did say this:
BMW NA: And Bob, Have a nice weekend, thanks for calling.
I do swear and attest that the above is true in fact and content. I may have omitted a few @#*&^@% words that were mumbled under my breath. I do want to make it clear though that I did not make it up. I do not think I could make it up.
I have owned business's all my life. From Mom Pop retail street operations to manufactures reps doing multi mill per year in sales. I have never heard of nor could I imagine a scenario that could have followed a script like this, anywhere.
So that's the story and unfortunately I am stuck with it. It is true and as I type this the bike is sitting at the dealership awaiting my authorization to proceed with the repairs, at my expense.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Any legal representation would be Greatly appreciated. Any offers to join a class action would be quickly responded to in the affirmative.
And sadly, any offers to buy my 2012 RT, slightly broken will be entertained.
My conscience will not allow me to do business with a unethical, uncaring company that is hostile to its customers, lies about their obligations and refuses to consider anything but their own opinion as correct. In any relationship there has to be a trust factor. I have lost all confidence in trust with regard to BMW dealing with any situation that requires fair treatment and honor. They are in fact dishonoring me and every other customer that choses to do business with them by distorting circumstances that we have no control over. From my experience today I can only assume that their policy is not pro customer/owner but rather the opposite. They will point the finger in any direction that relieves them of any responsibility or financial liability.
With that being said, I will not relent. I believe they are violating their terms in the warranty and I will pursue any and all actions to hold them to their warranty.
My rant is over, but I would really like to hear from all of you. And anyone out there with similar issues please let me know. These guys are way out of bounds here and someone ( or a whole lot of someones ) need to ( as me wife says ) "Jerk a knot in their tail".
Please excuse any typos or misspelling, I am just a bit less than prime at this time.
And as I was looking at my tag line I thought I should amend it by adding: "Worst Customer Support"
Here is the story.
I own a 2012 R 1200 RT. Love the bike. No issues at all up till now.
At 6200 miles I had the dealer do the 6k service in preparation for the trip to Salem. I had a third party install new PR3's. Drove out to Salem - had a great time. All is good. On the way back somewhere in Wyoming the speedo starts to jump around and quits. The brake warring light comes on, the cruise control quits and of course the ABS is out. Well. we all know that there is something going on with a wheel sensor. At the end of the day I give a look see and find that the front sensor wire in riding on the rotor, worn thru one wire but not severed completely. Easy Peasy.......splice the wire and bingo the speedo is back but the brake warning, cruise and ABS are still kaput. No big worry I will get it fixed when I get home, at my local dealer, that good ole guy that I like so much. " just remember Bob, any problems at all just bring her in and we will take care of it".
So, after getting home I schedule a appointment and take "ole blue" up to my friendly dealer and tell him what is going on. Well, OK we understand you were in the middle of a desert and that you were 400 miles from the nearest dealer but you really should have called the roadside hotline and had someone come and pick it up. We can not really be expected to be responsible for some thing that "you" fixed. After all the part was modified. Besides, the failure was most likely due to something that the tire installer did. Oh and by the way, you have water in the final drive and that's not going to be covered either. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ME: Ok Mr. dealer. Explain this. If the sensors failed due to the " third party " tire installer then why did it take 5500 miles for them to fail?
Dealer: Do not know, do not care. If we had changed the tires we would have warrantied the problem.
ME: But the warranty does not state that you are the only people that can do anything to the bike, like change tires.
Dealer: Yes, we know that.
ME: So what I am hearing you say is this. Because I chose to drive the bike home and not call out the tow trucks and have you guys put me in a hotel while you fix the bike and wait for parts and I end up a week late getting home, I am stuck for the parts and repair.
Dealer: Yep
ME: What about the final drive?
Dealer: We feel the problem was caused by the "third party".
ME: Really and how can you come to that conclusion?
Dealer: Because of the other problem. They most likely occurred at the same time so we do not have any responsibility for the failure.
---------
Cut to the present.
What just happened here? My head is still spinning and I think I am trapped in some weird version of Catch 22.
But it gets better.
-----------
Phone dialing - - - - - 1-800-831-1117
BMW NA customer service, how may I help you.
Hi, I own a BMW R1200 RT that is under warranty and I have a question. Went thru the entire scenario with this nice young man and ask - " So what do you think"
BMW NA: Well Bob, I have to agree with the dealer. You should have called roadside assistance and had the bike towed. That what it is there for!!!!!
Me: But I was 400 miles from a dealer and that was the wrong way. You are telling me that BMW will deny all claims because I made the decision to not cost you guys a whole bunch more money in having to come tow my bike.
BMW NA: Yep, that's the way the system works.
ME : This is your warranty policy? This is how you back up your product? This is the way that BMW honors its customers. ( at this point my BP is topped out and my eyes are bright pink - my wife is searching for the scotch and whatever downers she can find in the medicine chest. ) And let me guess, the final drive falls under the same program.
BMW NA: Yep. Most likely the issue occurred when the tires were changed. We can not be responsible for what other dealers do to your bike. You should go talk to them.
ME: Interesting. So let me make sure I am clear on this. You will not honor any warranty claims for these problems due to the fact that some other service entity replaced the tires on my bike. That having the tires replaced by someone other than a BMW dealer is the cause of these issues and BMW will deny this as a warranty claim.
BMW NA: Yes and you really should not have spliced the wires. We cannot be responsible for repairs that you preformed on the road. You really should have called the roadside hotline, after all that's what its there for.
Oh, I almost forgot, and yes he really did say this:
BMW NA: And Bob, Have a nice weekend, thanks for calling.
I do swear and attest that the above is true in fact and content. I may have omitted a few @#*&^@% words that were mumbled under my breath. I do want to make it clear though that I did not make it up. I do not think I could make it up.
I have owned business's all my life. From Mom Pop retail street operations to manufactures reps doing multi mill per year in sales. I have never heard of nor could I imagine a scenario that could have followed a script like this, anywhere.
So that's the story and unfortunately I am stuck with it. It is true and as I type this the bike is sitting at the dealership awaiting my authorization to proceed with the repairs, at my expense.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Any legal representation would be Greatly appreciated. Any offers to join a class action would be quickly responded to in the affirmative.
And sadly, any offers to buy my 2012 RT, slightly broken will be entertained.
My conscience will not allow me to do business with a unethical, uncaring company that is hostile to its customers, lies about their obligations and refuses to consider anything but their own opinion as correct. In any relationship there has to be a trust factor. I have lost all confidence in trust with regard to BMW dealing with any situation that requires fair treatment and honor. They are in fact dishonoring me and every other customer that choses to do business with them by distorting circumstances that we have no control over. From my experience today I can only assume that their policy is not pro customer/owner but rather the opposite. They will point the finger in any direction that relieves them of any responsibility or financial liability.
With that being said, I will not relent. I believe they are violating their terms in the warranty and I will pursue any and all actions to hold them to their warranty.
My rant is over, but I would really like to hear from all of you. And anyone out there with similar issues please let me know. These guys are way out of bounds here and someone ( or a whole lot of someones ) need to ( as me wife says ) "Jerk a knot in their tail".
Please excuse any typos or misspelling, I am just a bit less than prime at this time.
And as I was looking at my tag line I thought I should amend it by adding: "Worst Customer Support"