17 replies to this topic

[MiniCord]

Customer service?? What customer service? Quality? Not here! Read what happened to one of our club members with his Mini and the Ottawa Mini dealer: It is unvelivable!!!!

To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 7:02 PM
Subject: Customer Service.


> Hello,
> My name is Rudy.
> In February of 2003 I traded in my 2002 Neon and began financing a
2002
MINI
> Cooper from MINI Ottawa East.
> For the first year I owned the car I was so happy with it that
Dennis, who
> was the salesman that sold me the car and no longer works there,
called me
> the best salesman that MINI Ottawa had. He called me that because I
entered
> my totally stock MINI into every free car show in the Ottawa area and
talked
> peoples ears off about the "great little car", even though I lost
$10,000
by
> trading the Neon. Many many customers that Dennis talked to told him
that
I
> had sent them there. Everything was perfect, I was driving what I
considered
> an entry level BMW and Dennis was making sales......
> And then February of 2004 came around. I brought my MINI in for its
> scheduled servicing, and was informed that my MINI was going to need
a new
5
> speed transmission due to a defective seal.
> After going through hell to get a rental car, because MINI Ottawa
East
> wouldn't give me a loaner and I don't have a credit card (had to
borrow
> one!!), I went home.
> 13 days later my car was FINALLY ready to be picked up. When I picked
it
up
> I asked Gilles, who is in the service department, if this new
transmission
> had a different seal in it. He answered that no, this seal was in
fact
> identical to the faulty seal they had just replaced! I asked if this
> transmission came with a new warranty, and he said that it didn't,
even
> though it has the faulty seal in it!
> I then called MINI customer service from home and talked with Claude
Rivet,
> who was suprised by my treatment and by the faulty seal information.
I
also
> explained to Claude that Gilles had informed me that there was a 70%
chance
> that the seal would fail again when it got cold, which brought up
some
> serious doubts about my personal safety while driving my car. Claude
told
me
> he would look into my situation, and he was true to his word. The
next day
> Alex from MINI Ottawa service, she no longer works there either,
called me
> and explained that MINI was working on a new seal and that I would be
> informed as soon as it was available. Both Claude and Alex assured me
that
> they would "restore my faith in my vehicle".
> Shortly after I had the new transmission installed my check engine
light
> came on, and my car would not run higher than 2000 rpm in any gear,
or
even
> in nuetral. Of course, when I brought it to the MINI dealership (by
the
way,
> I live 1 hour away from MINI!!!!), it ran fine. They told me that the
check
> engine light was on because my gas cap wasn't on right. They cleared
the
> check engine light and sent me home. Before I returned home the light
was
> back on and the car was running terribly again. When I brought the
car
back,
> it ran like C**p for them too, and they said they thought it might be
the
> throttle body. Again I had to borrow my friends' credit card to get a
> rental, and my MINI was ready in around two days. (Keeping track?
That's
15
> days in a 1 month span...)
> When I went to pick up my car, the guy that washed it pulled it
around for
> me and came inside to tell Gilles that it was running no better, and
in
fact
> had stalled 3 times while he drove it around from behind the
building!!

So,what do you think Gilles did? He gave me my keys and said he coudn't
> gaurantee it wouldn't stall on me, but there was nobody there at that
time
> to look at my car!!! So, I had no choice but to drive the 1 hour trip
home
> with a car that ran like C**p, and because it was Friday,wait at
least
until
> Monday!!!!!! Talk about "have a nice weekend"......
> When I got home, I called Claude back, and again he said he would
look
into
> it, which he did. After talking to Claude I went to a meeting of the
"Ottawa
> MINI Club", of which I am a member. While I was there I was showing
the
guys
> my shiny new throttle body when one of them noticed that some bolts
were
so
> loose you could turn them with your fingers, and I also had a broken
zip
tie
> (used to hold wires away from frame) and a broken clip on my battery
cover.
> A day or so later I was starting my new job, a Monday morning, and my
MINI
> would not run at all. So, I had to get a lift from a friend and have
the
car
> towed to MINI.
> Again, my car is running like C**p, and I have the loose and broken
parts.
> They tell me that this time they think it is the engine wiring
harness,
and
> they will replace it. This only takes one more day, so is done
Tuesday
> afternoon. (for a total of 17 days, inluding the day it was towed, in
a 1
> month span!!!!!!)
> So, everything is fine, right? Sure......
> The following Friday I was about to leave work and my car would not
start.
> It wouldn't even turn over! The battery had plenty of power, but
NOTHING
> happened when I turned the key. I called Gilles at MINI, and he said
that
> there was no use in getting it towed to MINI on a Friday evening as
there
> are no mechanics there until Monday morning, so basically too bad for
me,
> deal with it for the weekend. I had to get into my car, push it and
pop
the
> clutch just enough for it to move the engine, and then it would start
> normally.
> So back to MINI I go the following week, along with Geraldine Wilson,
the
> lady that co-signed for the MINI. They can't find a problem, so I go
and
> talk to Steve Simard, the manager of both MINI Ottawa East and Elite
BMW.
I
> ask Steve to take my MINI back, and I woud sign a new finance
agreement on
a
> new MINI, or he could try to get me into a MINI Cooper S, as that
model
has
> none of the problems I was experiencing. He told me that all of the
other
> MINI customers they had were happy with thier cars, and that getting
me
into
> any other MINI woud be very difficult, especially since I did not
want my
> payments to go up (I was already paying OVER $600.00 per month!!!).
But,
> Steve said he and his assistant manager would see what they could do,
and
> would call me by the following Monday with some options.
> THREE WEEKS LATER I traded my "entry level BMW" in for a Nissan
Sentra
> because Steve had not attempted to contact me. As I'm sure you can
> understand, I was SICK of dealing with MINI and BMW by this time, and
there
> was no way in hell I was going to chase after Steve, or anyone else,
to
> "restore my faith" in MINI. So, when I traded my MINI in I lost
another
> $10,000 in the deal.
> What choice did I have? Keep driving an UNSAFE and unreliable car??
Keep
> chasing after MINI to satisfy thier customer?? Keep taking time off
of
work
> to go to MINI Ottawa East with my car troubles??
> I am very upset with this entire experience, and you can be assured
that I
> will NEVER purchase a vehicle from MINI, or its parent company BMW,
ever
> again in my life. Not to mention the amount of people that have asked
me What happened to your MINI??" when they see me in my Nissan. When I
tell
my
> story to these people they are shocked to learn that this is the way
MINI
> and BMW treat customers, and I personally know at least 2 people that
were
> going to buy a MINI that did not. One now drives a Toyota Corolla and
the
> other a Nissan Altima, all because of the treatment I recieved from
MINI
> Ottawa East. All I recieved from them, and sadly, from Claude Rivet
at
> customer service, was totally empty words of "fixing the problems"and
> "restoring my faith". Please understand that I think Claude did a
great
job,
> but apparently he cannot actually do anything from his office but
call
MINI
> Ottawa East and try to get them to do a better job. I think Claude
did all
I
> could ask him to do, but there was no follow through by MINI Ottawa
East
or
> the Whitby head office.
> Please note that I am also informing other parties of my
unsatisfactory
> treatment, as well as the fact that MINI Ottawa East, as well as MINI
> International, were knowingly allowing me (and others!) to drive what
I am
> convinced is an UNSAFE vehicle. What do you think would happen if the
> transmission was to sieze, due to a KNOWN defective seal, while
cruising
> down the 4 lane 416 highway at 100 km/h?
>
> So now my reason for this email.
> I would like to know how to contact the president of MINI Canada, as
well
as
> MINI International, and the OWNER of MINI Ottawa East. I woud like to
send
> these people, via "land mail", my story. I think that I deserve at
least
> that much co-operation from MINI.
> I have already asked Steve Simard for this information, but he is
unwilling
> to give me the contact information for the owner of MINI Ottawa East,
and
in
> fact (as per his last email to me) has told me "I am your contact". I
am
> hoping that BMW customer service will be more co-operative than what
I am
> accustomed to at their Ottawa dealership.
>
> Looking forward to your response,
> Rudy Henckel.
> P.S.- You will note that this email has been forwarded to the Ottawa
MINI
> Club, Steve Simard (MINI Ottawa East manager), Julie Wright (ass.
sales
> manager, Elite BMW), and Geraldine Wilson.

[Brawlyrox]

Thats foul....

[choc]

i just knew not to trust them lol

[joe90gt]

thank god for rover dealers eh?.......

[tom]

ANother good reason to despise the BINI.

[shaun of the Tamar Valley]

Y did he get rid of his NEON in the first place thats my thought but that is harsh on the fella

[minimental]

my parents had a very similar experience witha mercedes A-class in 1 month it had 8 punctures!! after a couple of years of use the back suspension collapsed! as well as numerous other problems

[MiniCord]

Well he sold the Chrysler Neon because he didn't needed 2 cars. Here in Canada and USA the new MINI has been better received than in the UK as the last Minis sold in Canada were in 1980 and in usa in 1969 if I'm not wrong, so they don't see it as the new MINI killed the old one, but more like a cool car.

[Madmax]

thats absolute diabolical customer care, i would have got the car to the dealership and just posted the keys through the door with a writ asking for my money back...

[Dom]

not good

[JamesM]

I agree not good at all. As in every company there are people that want to do their jobs and some that can't be bothered. Looks like you got a lot of the latter. In the UK I can have nothing but prise for our dealer, but I know of one not to far away that people have had a lot of problems with. I think it is a case as with all cars of select your dealer on what friends say.

Sorry to hear about all your problems.

[Pippy]

It's the same with most makes of car tho... some dealers are better or in this case much worse than others.
Pips

[The Roadie]

Never go to a main dealer ever! Use independents like my dad's place, Ravenoak Garage, get a good price, excellent service and the know how.

[JamesM]

Does he sell new Mini's with optional extras then? Are they cheaper?