BMW idiot at the muffler place

[protege]

This actually happened last Friday...and suckiness was all over the place. Not only from an idiot, but the employees and myself as well.

Sometime earlier in the week, my car's exhaust somehow came apart. The resulting noise was rather annoying. Think "fart can" on a Honda, and you'll get the idea. Anyway, sick of that, I drove down to the local muffler/service shop. I probably could have fixed it myself, but this was faster and easier.

Er, that was the plan, anyway. I get down there, and there's this older, black BMW sedan sitting in front of the "office." Not too unusual, I thought maybe it was done, and awaiting the owner. Whatever.

Anyhoo, I go into the office...and things went downhill from there. Not only were both employees on duty arguging with BMW-boy, but they weren't even talking to the other customer in the office, or even acknowledging anyone else who came in. Sorry folks, but a simple "we'll be with you in a minute" might have done wonders. I wasn't about to interrupt them (rude), or act like a jerk.

That was, however, before I ended up waiting around for 20 minutes! Anyone want to guess the problem? From the convo, I pieced it together. Apparently, BMW-boy had some expensive work done on the car. After the work was finished, he was trying to get the price reduced--it seems that the "BMW dealer would have charged less" and he wasn't budging. He actually *refused* to pay for the service!

By that point, I was pissed. The awful exhaust gave me a headache, and I was in no mood to deal with those clowns. So, I stormed out, and mentioned something about "I don't have time for this shit." What can I say? I wasn't too proud of that, but I have a *very* low tolerance for stupid people who waste my time, and even less when I don't feel well.

I got in the (very loud!) car and drove to their competitor just up the street. They were only too happy to help me. In fact, after I told them about the encounter down the street, they said something like "Well, we hear that all the time..."

[Canarr]

That's a pet peeve of mine; when I come in somewhere - be that a public or private service institution - and the employees are busy on the phone, on their computer or with another customer, and don't even acknowledge me. Now, I don't expect people to drop everything they're doing and jump to help me; but as you said, a simple, "Just a moment please!" would be great.

[ladodger34]

That was, however, before I ended up waiting around for 20 minutes! Anyone want to guess the problem? From the convo, I pieced it together. Apparently, BMW-boy had some expensive work done on the car. After the work was finished, he was trying to get the price reduced--it seems that the "BMW dealer would have charged less" and he wasn't budging. He actually *refused* to pay for the service!

They should have told the dude that he wasn't getting his car back until he paid for the service. If he had a problem with it, I'm sure he could take it up with the police

These are the special kind of a-holes that annoy me. If the price was cheaper at the BMW dealer, why didn't he go there?

[protege]

These are the special kind of a-holes that annoy me. If the price was cheaper at the BMW dealer, why didn't he go there?

Hehe I'm trying to figure that one out too. Granted, the BMW dealer is 10 miles away and can be a pain to get to because of the traffic--anybody who drives Route 51 on a Friday afternoon knows what I mean I think he was a cheap bastard just trying to get a deal. Little does he know that there's a state law that allows garages to seize cars if the bills don't get paid...

[gundam40]

BMW dude is an SC, and the employees aren't exactly very good either.

However, it is possible that the SC didn't know his bill was going to be this high, until he came in to pay for it. Stores like to fix things without telling you, to jack up the profits. Hell, I've had that happen to me at my Toyota dealership. The big items they'll call us for approval, but smaller things they just go on with it, without asking us. Sometimes these "small things" add up to quite a bit....

[susan]

First off, there is no way in HELL the BMW dealer would have been cheaper! I did customer satisfaction surveys for BMW one summer and the number one complaint was how much the dealer charged for even something as simple as an oil change. That guy was just talking out of his ass. This whole scenario is very common, my boyfriend has a lot of stories he could tell.

Now, I'm not trying to excuse the employees, but I know we've all been in a situation where we are dealing with a customer and make the mistake of making eye contact with the next person in line. In my experience, they seem to take it as an invitation to bombard me with questions even though I haven't said a word and am quite clearly in the middle of something. In fact my work anxiety dreams are almost always that scenario and end with me forcefully telling the customer to wait their turn. I hate to admit it, but quite often I try to avoid making eye contact with the other customers so I can avoid that very possibility.

[protege]

First off, there is no way in HELL the BMW dealer would have been cheaper! I did customer satisfaction surveys for BMW one summer and the number one complaint was how much the dealer charged for even something as simple as an oil change. That guy was just talking out of his ass. This whole scenario is very common, my boyfriend has a lot of stories he could tell.

I still would like to know what crack the guy was on. I too, have heard all the horror stories about BMW, Mercedes, and other "luxury" brands being expensive to fix. Some of it is justified, since their engines are pretty complex. However, some of it isn't--I really doubt that using non-BMW supplied oils will cause an engine to destroy itself

However, whenever I've gone to a garage, they've always told me about what it's going to cost, and drawn up a "worst case scenario" sheet. That way, I have at least an idea of what the repairs are going to cost me.

[Rapscallion]

I have to agree about the quality of BMWs - I've yet to see one whose indicators worked.

Rapscallion

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Actually, that clown's mistake was buying a BMW. Very expensive car to buy and very expensive to fix too.

If he's going to buy a fancy foreign car, he shouldn't be shocked when he's told how much it will cost to fix it.

I can't blame the employees at the exhaust place too much. Sometimes SCs tie everything up and the employees have to concentrate on getting him/her out of there. They could have told Protege that they would be with him as soon as they were done, though.

[wagegoth]

Yes, sir, that would be karma.

gundam40, most, if not all states, require that a repair shop give the customer a list of all repairs prior to the work being done, and, if the shop finds something else needing work during the repair, they have to contact the customer for approval before doing the work.

If they do work without getting your approval, just tell them flat out that you're not paying for it. Check the copy of the form they have you sign before doing the repairs; there should be something on it to the above effect.

I had a shop do that one time, and I told them to remove everything they did that I hadn't approved. I folded my arms, stepped back and waited. They broke down and agreed to let me charge the repairs I hadn't approved (I needed them, I just didn't have the cash), and I left much happier. As lagniappe, they went out of business before I finished paying them off.

And report them. Nothing may be done, but other people can contact whatever government office you give the information to and check them out before they go there.