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Originally Posted by tommys103
...And I get the same answer everytime - "we are sorry but each dealership is independently owned and operated."
Then why do they waste my time with these phone calls to see how my service is and why does everyone say to reach out to BMW NA with any complaints.
I mean am I off with this observation???
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I don't think you are necessarily off, but I do have a few observations.
The short version is, if the survey causes you stress quit doing it. If you keep doing the surveys, think about your expectations. The long version follows:
1) There are obviously some BMW dealers who don't get it. The only power you have there is to vote with your feet. Don't deal with them.
2) There are some very good dealers. I have dealt with two of them.
3) I don't have any specific comments on BMW NA, since I am in Canada and BMW NA don't actually cover NA. I have not had dealings with BMW of Canada, as I don't see what it could ever gain me. They shipped the truck to my dealer on schedule, that was the end of my involvement with them.
4) BMW NA is right in what the phone person told you, they have very little ability to impact the service delivery quality at your local dealer. They have no commercial relationship with you. They are a marketing group, or middleman, that gets the cars from the manufacturing company to the dealer. That's it.
5) I think BMW CA (and I presume BMW NA) honestly want to have good, or better, dealers. The reason they ask for the surveys is so that they can measure their dealers, and hopefully that leads to decisions about which ones should be dealers and which ones shouldn't be. That takes time, however. They aren't there to fix a one time service issue. They are there to decide if a dealer remains being a dealer. If a dealer has a good share of market, and some service issues, BMW will likely only see the share of market numbers. If they have two dealers where they only need one, the one with the better satisfaction figures may win. BMW can incent good performance, but you need to actually have a businessperson at the dealership to figure out how to maximize their own benefits through that system. If the dealer doesn't pay attention to the BMW payments, the incentives have no impact. It doesn't go much further than that.
6) If you believe that BMW reads your surveys (I do, by the way) then you should participate. That doesn't mean they will fix your problem, however. If doing the survey causes more stress, skip it, it isn't worth it.
7) There are very few times when getting the marketing company involved changes a dealer decision. That is because the marketing company has already made their money off you. The dealer stands to get future business. Yes, I agree that BMW stands to get future car sales, but it is a very indirect benefit. The dealer motivation is much stronger, or should be.
8) Based on that, I would invest in building a relationship with the 'problem dealer' service manager. If that doesn't work, just walk. Your efforts may lead to a better relationship, however, and then you win.
Just my $0.02. I have worked on the dealer side, and closely with the marketing company, in a similar line of business (not BMW). The issues around the quality of dealers, resolving customer issues, etc, are pretty much the same.
Good luck.