Need fellow members help in emailing BMW executives about my defective bike.

Why don't you take legal action against BMW? If they have provided a product so completely unsuitable for its stated purpose, and you can document them telling you it is defective, then you should have a case. All of these forum posts in so many places are not really going to do anything. Sue them for the bike value and be done with it.

does your state of residence have a "lemon law"? that might be a way to address this concern.

Good point Emoto

The problem with suing is that by the time that BMW finally admitted that I have a defective bike my bike now has 45,000 miles on it and the "lemon Laws" and state buyback guidelines are weighted in favor of the corporations and vehicles with very few miles on them.

I plan on talking to small claims court in July. Thanks for your input.

bikerfish, the "lemon Law" might apply but my bike has a lot of miles on it now

Lemon Laws work best with very few miles on a vehicle. BMW stalled so long that I have a bunch of miles on the bike.

ponch1 said:

On BMW's FB page, where your post is, I made references to hitler, goebbels and the method the germans used to kill a lot of people vis a vis BMW. None of it was factually incorrect, but the moderator here thought I was over the top on BMW's FB page, so I needed to be censored here.

Click to expand...

Oh boy... I do think BMW NA is filled with evil Corporate Talking Heads with what amounts to zero customer concern on a remarkably frequent basis I'm not sure they sink as low as your references. Should the post have been removed? I think not as I've never seen you post anything that needs to be removed.

Beemerdon, check out this link to the facebook page.

Don please see the following link. This will take you to the BMW Motorrad facebook main page. Look in the right hand side under "recent posts my others on BMW Motorrad" Hit the "see all" button and scroll down to you see my name, Randy Holdford and a picture of my bike broken in half.

https://www.facebook.com/BMWMotorrad?fref=ts

There might be a easier way but I could not figure one out.


Thanks.

espressoforyou said:

The problem with suing is that by the time that BMW finally admitted that I have a defective bike my bike now has 45,000 miles on it and the "lemon Laws" and state buyback guidelines are weighted in favor of the corporations and vehicles with very few miles on them.

I plan on talking to small claims court in July. Thanks for your input.

Click to expand...

If I accept what you've said, you have a long documented history of giving them every possible opportunity to make it right and they have failed repeatedly. A local court will be sympathetic to you. You will win. You will get a reasonable amount of $$$ and some satisfaction.

billy walker said:

Oh boy... I do think BMW NA is filled with evil Corporate Talking Heads with what amounts to zero customer concern on a remarkably frequent basis I'm not sure they sink as low as your references. Should the post have been removed? I think not as I've never seen you post anything that needs to be removed.

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My point was that there must be some cultural mores that lead them to behave like this. I will admit that their behavior could be that of other corporations that aren't german, but man, they get their back up when presented with facts that make them look bad and they have to admit responsibility. SO, no I don't think the leadership at BMW would do what those I mentioned did, but I believe there is a cultural mindset that led to what happened that still exists today. In fact, I would say that having an open discussion like this is a good thing as it puts light on the matter, which tends to limit such behavior on their part. The german people had no such venue as they were probably censored fairly heavily. Hmmm.

I wish Randy well. I don't think he'll be successful. If they've dicked around like this over a pittance, they won't stop. What really is the most incredulous is that they don't seem to care how such behavior will be viewed by customers and how it might effect sales. On my end of it, I could sell my bike and move on to a more reliable and responsible brand and BMW looses out and they don't care. I don't think they'd care if 100 of us did that. Or 1000. They'll stand their ground. I say in the end, do what is best for you and screw loyalty as a concept. It's not returned anymore.

espressoforyou said:

Don please see the following link. This will take you to the BMW Motorrad facebook main page. Look in the right hand side under "recent posts my others on BMW Motorrad" Hit the "see all" button and scroll down to you see my name, Randy Holdford and a picture of my bike broken in half.

https://www.facebook.com/BMWMotorrad?fref=ts

There might be a easier way but I could not figure one out.


Thanks.

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Take screen shot and post the picture.

I am in the catering business and make mistakes all the time.

Defects and mistakes are to be expected. It is how you deal with the customers that experienced the problems that shows what kind of company you are.

When I mess up or forget a catering event I do not charge for it or give them a free one next time. That's just good business practice. It makes the customer happy and they tell their friends that I corrected the problem and I get more business.

Or I could do it the BMW way and tell my customers to shut up. I like my way better.

We are talking about $4,000 to make this problem go away.

If they would offer a reasonable trade assist on my bike all this would go away. We are less than $4,000 off of a deal. I thinks they are being short sighted.

ponch1 said:

My point was that there must be some cultural mores that lead them to behave like this. I will admit that their behavior could be that of other corporations that aren't german, but man, they get their back up when presented with facts that make them look bad and they have to admit responsibility. SO, no I don't think the leadership at BMW would do what those I mentioned did, but I believe there is a cultural mindset that led to what happened that still exists today. In fact, I would say that having an open discussion like this is a good thing as it puts light on the matter, which tends to limit such behavior on their part. The german people had no such venue as they were probably censored fairly heavily. Hmmm.

I wish Randy well. I don't think he'll be successful. If they've dicked around like this over a pittance, they won't stop. What really is the most incredulous is that they don't seem to care how such behavior will be viewed by customers and how it might effect sales. On my end of it, I could sell my bike and move on to a more reliable and responsible brand and BMW looses out and they don't care. I don't think they'd care if 100 of us did that. Or 1000. They'll stand their ground. I say in the end, do what is best for you and screw loyalty as a concept. It's not returned anymore.

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Well said Ponch!

Rather than having one of our members state he'll be glad when this goes away from the forum we as a group should stand for what is right. We should be in a position to slam BMW with as many polite e-mails as possible. If BMW begins to receive hundreds and hundreds of e-mail and we hit the Facebook page maybe someone at corporate just might think they screwed up.

How about it gang? Can we get large numbers of people to stick up for Randy? Look at the repairs he's been through. What if it was your bike? Do what it takes to help him out and do it daily. Also, post frequently on Facebook.

espressoforyou said:

Defects and mistakes are to be expected. It is how you deal with the customers that experienced the problems that shows what kind of company you are.

When I mess up or forget a catering event I do not charge for it or give them a free one next time. That's just good business practice. It makes the customer happy and they tell their friends that I corrected the problem and I get more business.

Or I could do it the BMW way and tell my customers to shut up. I like my way better.

Click to expand...

when I used to do computer consulting, I would tell new customers that if they aren't happy with my work, they don't have to pay me for that initial visit. My first priority was having satisfied customers and I never had one take me up on that offer. It's not that the customer is always right, but in my mind, I'd want to treat customers how I would like to be treated as a customer.

Need to be clear here.

I love BMW product in general. I love their accessories and their riding gear. I would buy a BMW again despite hating corporate. That basically makes me an idiot. BMW NA is the worst OEM I have dealt with in my 30 year career. By far!! This is only due to the fact they frequently fail to live up to their customer obligations. And, they don't give a damn!

The chances are excellent you will get a unit that works well. For those that don't however you may need to prepare yourselves for a level of arrogance you've never seen before.

Billy, I think you should run for office. I would vote for you.

Thanks again for you kind post. I agree that polite emails explaining situation and asking for assistance is the way to go.

Yes, I am trying to get my bike taking care of, but it is the principle of the matter that makes me keep pushing the point.

95% of the population would not have pushed this hard and for this long a time. I have the money to purchase a new bike. I am very conservative with my money and live within my means. My wife and I are totally debt free and are cash flowing $2,000 a month for our son to attend college. I am not trying to get something for nothing. FIX MY BIKE AND I WILL NOT BOTHER BMW ANY MORE. I would rather have my bike fixed than buy a new bike. I like the way my bike is set up.

I think that polite emails and tons of facebook postings on the BMW facebook pages and on our personal facebook pages will get attention. Might not do any good, but it will get attention.

ponch1 said:

After reading their response, which basically threatened those that emailed on his behalf that they wouldn't get their warranty claims processed

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Where is this response?

LBD, this is the best way to find the facebook response

LBD please see the following link. This will take you to the BMW Motorrad facebook main page. Look in the right hand side under "recent posts my others on BMW Motorrad" Hit the "see all" button and scroll down to you see my name, Randy Holdford and a picture of my bike broken in half.

https://www.facebook.com/BMWMotorrad?fref=ts

There might be a easier way but I could not figure one out.

This is the transcript of the facebook post:

What's your email... I'll CC you in my email.
Yesterday at 11:13am ? Like

Randy Holdford Rlholdford@yahoo.com

Thanks and try and get as many people as your can to send emails. Also send an email yourself everyday for a couple of weeks. Thanks
Yesterday at 11:34am via mobile ? Like

Randy Holdford Great post Jamey, thanks.
20 hours ago ? Like

Daniel Voigt Crap,thats an outright insult. A warning to all potential BMW purchasers.........
15 hours ago ? Like

Robert Dixon I have been shopping for an adventure bike recently but after hearing about all of your mechanical issues and loss of use with your GS I think you can tell BMW for me that I'll put my trust in another brand. So sorry Randy I hope this helps.
14 hours ago via mobile ? Like ? 1

Randy Holdford Thanks Robert, hope you are doing well
14 hours ago ? Like ? 1

Jim Lagnese I hope this works out for everyone involved, but considering what they originally offered off a new bike and then this, I can guess what their next reply will be, but I will keep my own counsel on this.
14 hours ago ? Like

BMW Motorrad Hi Randy Holdford, thanks for your opinion on the situation. We have provided what we feel is a reasonable solution and you have declined to accept it. We ask you to refrain from encouraging other fans to email members of the BMW staff because it may limit the response time for your fellow Motorrad community members who may have a problem or concern that needs solving. You are free to post on the main BMW Motorrad page however in future, if you continue to promote your situation on other BMW Motorrad users posts, we will have to delete them.

All the best
Your BMW Motorrad Facebook Team
4 hours ago ? Unlike ? 1

Robert Dixon Wow BMW. Your arrogance is amazing which if I were Randy would cure me of ever spending 20K on another one of your machines.
4 hours ago via mobile ? Unlike ? 1

Jim Lagnese It cured me. I wrote a respectful note to them as a first time BMW owner. I guess they don't care. This company also hails from the country of Goebbels, Hitler and the Holocaust. It's no wonder. Denial is in their blood. This doesn't surprise me though as they offered Randy 2500 off a new bike then this low ball buy back. I knew it would only get worse. What I find interesting is threat for those that supported him. What does that if I email members it may limit the response time if I have problems? These people are unreal. This would never happen with another brand.
3 hours ago ? Unlike ? 1

Randy Holdford BMW facebook team I thank you for your quick response. All this tells me is that social media gets BMW's attention so I will keep that in mind as I continue my campaign. I will copy and paste your "understanding reply" to all my future social media campaigns. Please let me know it I can do anything for you.
3 hours ago ? Like ? 1

James Carraway Why would BMW buy back a bike you have had seven years. Sounds like you want something for nothing! You must be lazy and don't want to pay for what you have enjoyed for seven years. Isn't this what people who are poor do? Isn't this what poor people do who are too lazy to work and pay for things they buy?
3 hours ago ? Like

Jim Lagnese Because it was defective by their own admission
3 hours ago ? Like

Randy Holdford James Carraway, I just wrote a response to send you but erased it just before I hit send. Otherwise you will think that it is another conspiracy out to get you.
3 hours ago ? Like ? 1

Randy Holdford I have a feeling that BMW's loving and caring response from their facebook team is about to go viral. You would think that someone on the facebook team would get in trouble for sending something like this out, but with BMW's attitude they might get a promotion instead. I will be copying and sending their response to the BMW board members and top executives. Maybe I can help get them promoted.
2 hours ago ? Like ? 1

Jim Lagnese Well, the MOA tried to censor me in showing the response BMW made here. At best the MOA are control freaks, at worst they are complicit.
2 hours ago ? Like

ponch1 said:

The administrators saw fit to delete a post I made here that was from the BMW face book page because of my retort on that page and not here. I find that BS.

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I didn't see your post so I don't know what might have been objectionable but there's no need or reason to be objectionable. A reasoned discussion between intelligent participants may be filled with objections but will never be objectionable and objectionable discussion will never be reasoned and intelligent.

LBD, that complete post is two posts above the post.

Well said concerning reasonable discussions between.........

I have never said anything but positive comments about BMW or Anthony Cavanaugh. I think he is as asset to BMW even if I don't agree with his answers to my problems.

And I love my 2005 r1200gs and bought the exact bike I wanted and do not have any desire for another bike if mine can be repaired.

Thanks for you comments.

I hope the saga that I have gone through will help other BMW forum members if they ever have any problems.

Good engine source

http://www.salvagebikesauction.com/make_by/Salvage-BMW-for-Sale

When you end this saga, try this and repair the bike with an engine implant.


Good luck.