Scammed by BMW of Mississauga Service Dept: Members advice req'd

[anaq110]

Hello all, I have a major issue with the Service Department at BMW of Mississauga. I wanted to get advice from Forum members of next steps as BMW of Canada clearly won't help. Escalate to BMW Germany or Lawyer up???

Sorry for long read: Engine Timing chain compartment was broken and took over to this scam artist dealership. They quoted me work to be done and my cousin who has a shop in Jersey requested Rep to check all other components Electrical\Transmission\Air ride\VANOS ETC. Agreed to their quoted priced of 4000 (BMW work stated 28 Hours of Labor for engine drop).

When I went to pickup car it had A) Loud clunking noise come back from the engine *Not as loud as before* B) Car keeps jumping when coming to a complete stop. No issues accelerating C) Coolant\Oil Leaks) D) Gas Mileage 300KM to full tank when it used to range of 500-550 prior

Reported issues within 48 hours and would not get a response back after numerous calls and emails. Had escalated to Service manager and finally got a appt to bring car back 3 weeks later.

Took back and that's when the drama begins and sadly they kept getting caught in their own lies. At first they said they can't hear anything and tried to send me home packing but I insisted and said I want to test drive with Foreman. He finally could here the engine getting louder and louder and then the jerking when coming to complete stop. Went back inside and my Service Adviser came out and said we will look at the noise but the jerking is due to Transmission issues and we didn't touch anything there. I responded well if you dropped the engine how can there be no possible transmission issues. His response stunned me, Well we didn't drop engine we went thru the front. I'm like WTF did I pay that much for if your not doing the way its supposed to be done. Upset I talked to Service Manager and he mentioned let the car stay over night so we can diagnose.

Here's their final response:

1) Now problem is with Timing Chain Tensioner, we changed the Chain\Guides and Gasket. Even though I spent 4K just so all parts can be changed, I was shocked they would leave tensioners. SA made a big mistake because he sent me an original quote, with statement of all work and parts to be changed. Guess what they quoted me for Timing Chain Tensioner to be replaced LOL

2) They didn't drop engine to do work (Billed\Paid for 28 hours labor) BMW has standard process of work. Talked to another dealership to confirm this. Its not like small garage where they can just cut corners and improvise but still bill you insane labor hours

Now, should I lawyer up and battle this one thru or complain to BMW Germany and see if they want to come to a resolution? I have Original Quote via email from SA stating Timing Chain Tensioner to be changed. I have Final Paid receipt with their other work done and confirmation no issues with Transmission\ETC. I have new quote for work stating Timing Chain Tensioner to be changed.

THOUGHTS?!!?!?!?

[X5Ghost]

Make an appt with dealership GM and speak with him/her explaining the situation calmly. Tell them you want this resolved in a timely fashion. Be nice and proffessional. If they still give you a bunch of BS, contact the mothership. Here is the US it's BMW of America, not sure about Canada? Report back?

[dkl]

BMW mothership is likely not do much for you other than giving you some lip services since dealerships are independently owned. Agreed with Ghost that you should calmly raise this to upper management first. Then plan on lawyering up if all else failed.

[E53inLA]

Did you pay with a credit card?

Not sure how it works in Canada, but I learned long long time ago to always pay for auto repairs on a credit card...

Last move is to call credit card company and dispute the charge. Here in US, the credit card company will take action.

[JCL]

It has nothing to do with BMW Canada. It has even less to do with BMW North America in the US, or BMW in Germany. Your issue is with a privately owned dealership that you authorized to do a repair for you.

What does your work order say about dropping the engine? And why does whether they dropped the engine even matter? You would have signed it in, and signed it out, I believe. Read those documents. Did they charge you for dropping the engine? Did they charge you for changing the timing chain tensioner? Is it on the parts invoice?

You seem to be trying to trap them based on your interpretation of what you thought they were going to do, and what they did.

I would think that a resolution will be very difficult to reach given the attitude you are expressing in your post. If you want to give it to the lawyers, fine, but remember that lawyers don't fix cars. They just make money off disputes. If you want to go that way, go to another repair shop, and have it fixed to your satisfaction. Then go after the original dealership for your out of pocket expenses for the first repair. It may cost much more than you have already spent, but at least the lawyers will be happy.

Your best bet is to work with the dealership, calmly. Just a suggestion, but calling people scam artists isn't going to endear yourself to them. And I find it noteworthy that that dealership has pretty good customer satisfaction scores posted, including the SA that you are slandering. If you were smart you would remove the names of the dealership staff from your original post before their lawyer calls you. Otherwise you will end up shutting off communications with the one group that can resolve this, dealership management.

[anaq110]

Thanks for the advice gents, I have already requested time to meet with the GM twice and keep getting told he's booked out for meetings. This incident is from end of February and I have been going back and forth for some time to get resolved in a professional manner. Sadly I paid by debit card so I doubt I can dispute charges this far along.

[blkxer]

Sorry to hear about issue with such a shady dealership. As another suggestion to get their attention, go get a large banner printed and park it outside their dealership/service dept and hand out flyers urging them to go to another BMW dealership for service to everyone before they enter the dealership lot. Hopefully that will get their attention really fast, and get you infront of the dealership management.

[anaq110]

Originally Posted by JCL

It has nothing to do with BMW Canada. It has even less to do with BMW North America in the US, or BMW in Germany. Your issue is with a privately owned dealership that you authorized to do a repair for you.

What does your work order say about dropping the engine? And why does whether they dropped the engine even matter? You would have signed it in, and signed it out, I believe. Read those documents. Did they charge you for dropping the engine? Did they charge you for changing the timing chain tensioner? Is it on the parts invoice?

You seem to be trying to trap them based on your interpretation of what you thought they were going to do, and what they did.

I would think that a resolution will be very difficult to reach given the attitude you are expressing in your post. If you want to give it to the lawyers, fine, but remember that lawyers don't fix cars. They just make money off disputes. If you want to go that way, go to another repair shop, and have it fixed to your satisfaction. Then go after the original dealership for your out of pocket expenses for the first repair. It may cost much more than you have already spent, but at least the lawyers will be happy.

Your best bet is to work with the dealership, calmly. Just a suggestion, but calling people scam artists isn't going to endear yourself to them. And I find it noteworthy that that dealership has pretty good customer satisfaction scores posted, including the SA that you are slandering. If you were smart you would remove the names of the dealership staff from your original post before their lawyer calls you. Otherwise you will end up shutting off communications with the one group that can resolve this, dealership management.

JCL, you seem very knowledgeable and senior forum member of this forum.

Can I ask you a question, if I talked to the Service Manager, I have attempted to get appt with the GM and I'm getting pushed around where am I supposed to go? BMW Canada gave me the same response as you have Dealership is privately owned so deal with them. BTW it's not like I'm trigger happy and creating a post after a couple weeks of issue, this is ongoing since late Feb. My attitude is the way its is because I have been lied to and seems like you didn't really read my post or I wasn't clear enough. Not trying to trap them, they trapped themselves

Answer to your questions. Prior to agreeing to quote I got my cousin involved from Jersey. He has his own shop and works with Open Road BMW and Honda. He spoke to Paulo personally and his justification for quote was because the bulk of the charge is labor (28 hours) in dropping engine, while dropped its best to replace all parts associated with Timing Chain assembly, guides, tensioners, gaskets etc. All this is on my original quote I agreed upon and I have a copy of. This is not a case of misinterpretation of what I thought they were doing and what they did. Its actually a case of getting caught in a LIE. The initial arrogance was fun to watch but once my cousin went back and forth with the Service Manager it was clear they are trying to cover tracks with damages.

JCL there's some code of ethics dealerships have to follow and stand by their work. This is what separates BMW\Mercedes\Lexus from others. I will take your advise to take the names off after I talk to GM, I will make my 3rd and last attempt Monday. Not really worried about their lawyers, this is an open forum and I do have the right to my opinion.

[anaq110]

Originally Posted by blkxer

Sorry to hear about issue with such a shady dealership. As another suggestion to get their attention, go get a large banner printed and park it outside their dealership/service dept and hand out flyers urging them to go to another BMW dealership for service to everyone before they enter the dealership lot. Hopefully that will get their attention really fast, and get you infront of the dealership management.

Thanks blkxer for advise, let's see if I can get some type of response now after posting on forums. Their dealership is right on a main road, I would get hauled off ASAP lol but its good idea. Also nowadays just start dropping messages on their Facebook page or twitter that will surely get responses

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by anaq110

Not really worried about their lawyers, this is an open forum and I do have the right to my opinion.

You do have the right to your opinion, expressing it is another matter altogether. If their lawyers determine that you doing so can damage them, that it even *might* be false, or that they can show proof that they are, you're in for a fight of a different matter. Since you've also shared the name and your opinion of the individual SA, you very well could have his lawyers on your plate as well.

Not saying at all anyone here disagrees with your frustration, but how you've expressed it here could lead you to trouble.