Problem w/ WD and dealer: should WD cover this?

[Mister2]

I need some help. So I brought the X5 in for an oil change this morning and decided to have them check a few other things including two rattles (one from pano and one from the rear hatch possibly causing the license plate light to come on). I called the lady I bought the warranty from yesterday to make sure that it's okay to have the dealer check out the rattles. She wasn't there so I got transferred to somebody else whom I explained the situation and told me that I should definitely get it checked out and it should be covered. Mistake I made there is not remembering his name.
Forward to what happened today:

-SA tells me he hasn't dealt w/ WD. He explains that extended warranties do not normally cover diagnostics but will try to get them to cover everything. I told him to make sure because I'm pretty sure mine covers it. Makes copy of everything including WD card.

-SA tells me everything is fixed, talked to WD and they do not cover.

-I called WD to double check if they don't cover. I called WD lady and she told me to call claims to see what happened. Called claims and no claim were made by the dealer. Claims guy explains to me that the dealer probably decided it is not covered so he did not bother to call. Tells me to make sure my repair is not under the fine print.

-I call the dealer and politely asked who he spoke to. SA stumbles to not get a name and then admits he did not call. He just checked the site. He said that since it was a repair and no part was replaced then the warranty will not cover it. I wanted to tell him to call but I wanted to double check the site first. I asked him to break down my repair (loose piece on pano railing, loose piece inside hatch, and bulb replacement = 2 hrs + bulb + ebrake adjustment). He made it seem like they diagnosed for the most part and repaired for free.

-I checked the site and called the WD lady. She said they can't make any adjustments if they don't know what exactly the repair is. She tells me to have the dealer call the number on the back of the card.

-I call dealer back and SA is gone until Monday. Another SA didn't want to call bc they are short handed and backed up at the moment.

My impression is the dealer does not want to deal with WD or any non BMW extended warranty. I understand that but I have to pick up the car tomorrow. When I do that then the SA will not want to call WD on Monday. I just feel like I’m getting the run around. If it is part of the pano, making unnecessary noise, then something is wrong. Same goes for the rear hatch. Should I just pay and try to have WD to reimburse? I think the dealer does not care because they just want their money either way. The main reason I got the secure+ warranty w/ zero deductible was bc I do not want the hassle of paying for diagnostics if I think something is wrong with the car. WD explained everything is covered except for the ones in the exclusions. I am going to call customer service tomorrow and see what they say. Am I supposed to middle man the dealer and WD? Anybody have similar experience? Sorry for the rant but it just feels like something is not right or I missed something. Thanks for your help.

[JCL]

I am not dissing Warranty Direct, but your experience is not unusual with aftermarket warranty companies in general. Best situation is to have an OEM extended warranty. Second best is to buy an aftermarket extended warranty from the selling dealer, and then get it serviced there, so they are partly on the hook. Weakest position is to have an aftermarket extended warranty with no link to the servicing dealer. This appears to be the position you are in.

Your dealer is not motivated to deal with WD, and is not compensated for doing so. To a dealer, it is a lose-lose. By putting themselves between you and WD, they risk not getting paid in full, they have to wait for payment, and they have to do more work. No upside. If a dealer deals with an aftermarket warranty company directly, it is usually as a courtesy.

You are doing the right things by encouraging them to call WD, but if they decline you will have to pay for the repair and claim it back yourself. At that point WD is holding all the cards. In future, it is better to have an authorization in advance than try to claim it later, if they will do that. That doesn't mean just getting a name, it means getting a pre-authorization number and recording it.

Good luck.

[fs_wheel]

Had WD on a previous vehicle and never had a problem with prompt payment to the dealer. The dealer just called WD to get authorization and WD gave them a CC# to cover the costs per the policy. It is win-win-win for all parties - WD sells a policy and services it, dealer gets paid immediately and keeps a happy customer, you minimize your out-of-pocket for repairs and have it serviced where you want.

IMO, any dealer who 'plays' this game is one that might be suspect in other areas. Since the vehicle is obviously out of mfg warranty, go find an indy and explain your warranty situation, I am sure he would love the additional business.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by fs_wheel

Had WD on a previous vehicle and never had a problem with prompt payment to the dealer. The dealer just called WD to get authorization and WD gave them a CC# to cover the costs per the policy. It is win-win-win for all parties - WD sells a policy and services it, dealer gets paid immediately and keeps a happy customer, you minimize your out-of-pocket for repairs and have it serviced where you want.

IMO, any dealer who 'plays' this game is one that might be suspect in other areas. Since the vehicle is obviously out of mfg warranty, go find an indy and explain your warranty situation, I am sure he would love the additional business.

...my one use, thus far, of WD's coverage was seamless and
a snap, even at an indy. That Stlr is jerking the OP around, imo.
BR,mD

[Mister2]

I was going to go to the dealer, look at my invoice, and call the WD customer service/claims myself. WD is closed on the weekends and the SA I dealt with is not in. I just called the dealership and explained to another SA my situation. He told me it's not a problem to keep the loaner until Monday and just talk to the other SA.

I purchased an extended maintenance and it was up for an oil change. That's the main reason I brought it to the dealer. Once my extended maintenance is up then I will probably start taking it to an indy shop.

For now what I'm trying to figure out is whether a fix on part of the pano and part of the hatch will be covered. I think it should be but I could be wrong. I will try to get the SA to call WD on Monday or just explain to me what it is so I can make the claim myself before I pick up the car.

[fs_wheel]

Stop messing with the service advisors - if you feel you are getting the runaround ... call/see the service manager!! I have no idea if your parts/diagnositics should be covered under your policy. However, the extended warranty you have purchased should cause no additonal work for the dealership. Consider:

You take the X5 in and say - there is a "rattle" in the sunroof.
They call you back later in the day and say ... we can fix it, but is going to cost $xxx and take ___ this long.
You say Yes or No

OR - the same above, but since you have told them you have a warranty with WD (or whoever), they call WD and they say Yes or No - you already know that you have a $0 or $50 or $xx deductable, so there is no extra effort ... unless they say NO ... and then the SA has to call you.

Give me a break ... this is soooooooooo easy.

[chefwong]

I guess the experience is also only as good as how proactive the service adviser calling in for authorization is .

EVERYTHING you would want covered needs to be preauthorizes prior as a useful reference with Warranty Direct.

When my water pump went south, regardless of my discussions with the SA, he would not call *WD* back for a second time to get the thermostat covered for preauthorization. I spoke to WD prior to try to have the thermostat covered but they would only cover it if the dealer called in....At the end of the day I had the dealer replace some belts while they were there and paid for the T-Stat as well.

I just went in for a quick service recently as my PDC was not working and my drivers tailight has been not functional for the longest time (waiting on the LED tail). Figured with the yearly state inspection, it would have been a quick visit to have them deal with these issues. Turns out WD does NOT cover headlights of any sorts . They also base their repair service pricing on their national repair books so you will have to pay OOP if there is a price difference whether it be on labor or parts for what they decide......dealers do not use after market parts.

Second, their repair quote for the PDC was only 1/2 the time approved as opposed to the dealers estimated time. As the policy holder, I had to make my own proactive calls to question their approved time and after much discussions with the WD analyst, they had agreed to consider approval of full time of labor after the dealer would fax in their *TIS* outlining what the recommended timeline would be for that repair procedure.


When I purchase this policy , I was under the impression the WD was the only player in town that was of considerations, but sofar, it has been ALOT of handholding on my part just to make sure that what's covered should be authorized as part of the policy.......

[motordavid]

Chef,
Not defending WD, but if you had read any of the volumnious threads on ext. warranties here,
you might have seen many refs to WD's repair book "time" allotted, and parts cost allotment.
And, they tend to like to hear the "repair story" before they give green light and before the work
is done.

Not perfect, not an all encompassing blanket, not the same as the orig.oem warr/maint program...
but, good, solid coverage, imo. My 2Cts.
Better luck with your future fixes.
GL,mD

[chefwong]

I hear ya. Read all the threads and that's one of the leading indicators why I went with them. Just my rant for the day.....tired of being the handholder

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by chefwong

I hear ya. Read all the threads and that's one of the leading indicators why I went with them. Just my rant for the day.....tired of being the handholder

CW,
I understand...I've been to only 3 BMW stlrs in the 6 1/2 yrs I've had
our X; all needed cajoling, azz kissing, steering and general sychophantic
activity, by me, to get anything done right and done correctly, the first go around.
I have read here about dlrs that get raved about; unfortunately, I have never had
the pleasure of dealing with one.
GL,mD