Century BMW, Greenville SC
 

In Greenville. They might be be babysitting my car this winter for about 3 weeks. Are they good people? :dunno:

Meiac,
I have had three "experiences" with them, but it was way back in
2002...all three were pretty disappointing, but things may have
changed.

My main beef, vis a vis one visit, was that they gave me a ~6 qt
oil service, (instead of the 8 req'd), basically called me a liar on
the phone, and managed to put a slight dent in the black plastic
front bumper edge, during that visit. They disavowed any knowledge
or liability on the dent issue, too.

I would not personally ever go back, but they aren't geographically
convenient, nor do I need a stlr these days. They seemed kissey face
to the alpaca sweater/constant customer gang that waltzed in, but I
was just a schelp who had bought my car 7 states away and needed
warranty service not a runaround the block.

They may be much improved, they may care more now for "non-buyer
customers", etc. Or, they may not... YMMV.
GL,mD

PS: to contiune my rant, I was shopping hard for 'vert sports cars in
early 2002; they had the old style Z3 and that Z3 coupe sitting in
the showroom collecting dust...while waiting for "service" on my X,
I chatted up the foofoo salespunque and asked for a demo ride.
After looking at me like I was rif raf, he said he was too busy to
take me on a ride, but I could sit in it. I bought my '02 VetteVert
a week later. Glad I didn't buy the clown car Z3...what a fookin
tude they had.

Needed to get a light replaced - at first they did not want to do it - then charged me 1/2hr + part, if I remember correctly (service copy in at home in SC)

So my battery has been running flat, I took it in.
I got there at 8 AM, dropped it off, and they drove me back to school (not terribly willingly, the driver asked if i made any friends so he wouldn't have to come get me)
My SA also "sold" me a dent repair, and scratch removal, and a detail. Whatever, I needed that all anyways. He said he'd call me and it would be ready this afternoon.
4PM. I call asking for an ETA, they're still testing the battery, but if I leave it overnight, they can finish the detail tomorrow, or forget the detail and get it tonight. I told him to can the detail and I'd be there at closing time to get it, and he said someone would come get me. Then he called saying nobody could.

Then the service manager drove out (all of 8 miles) to get me, because I had no other way to get there. I got there, they were washing my car. I went and chatted with some CA's while they finished up, paid, and waited another 20 minutes outside. My SA was on his way out as I got in my car to get back to school (running way late at this point).

The f*&%ing scratches are still there.
$180 down the toilet for that.
Battery: Could not replicate
B-Pillar Noise: Could not replicate
Windshield Washer Leak: well... I have none now.

Dent's gone though. You only charged 2.5 times what any other dent guy would... and left the marks there.
GREAT JOB, all fives for you. :thumbup:

I left a message to call me in the AM, and will drive over there at noon. Am I in the wrong, did i get genuinely screwed over, or am I doing the right thing here? I think that at the minimum, I should get my "scratch removal" refunded. They didn't even touch them. :mad:

Meiac,
Sorry to read of your travails...I suspect they are still the crummy
Stlr I noted, 2 posts above. I personally wouldn't go there if it was
the last BMW stlr on the planet.
Good luck in your resolve.
BR,mD

Edit: the amazing thing to me is that Century is <20 mins down
the road from the BMWNA Mutha Plant...one would think that
stlr would be more tuned in and more customer oriented. The times
I was there, the "frequent" buyer, Biff & Buffy, would be fawned over
while us "drive ins" were treated like rented mules, imo.

Pity that you don't have a lot of choices when it comes to dealer service down there. You may end up having to go to Hendrick or another dealership. Good luck on getting that battery and washer leak fixed.

The funny thing is, when I was chatting up the Service Manager, he said that for about 5-6 years after Plant Spartanburg was built, they did all the work, and it was about 25% of their business, then they started taking care of it in house. If the SA doesn't call me, I'm heading over around 1.

Edit: I called and they close at 1, so I went over at 11:30. I got my money back, but not without some squirming. On the way out, it must have been said 3 times, I hope you don't hold against us, its an outside contractor, and if we don't get all fives, it hits us in our paychecks.
:tsk:


I have learned my lesson. I have oil in 5,000 miles (or november, whichever comes first), so I will head up to Fletcher. I'm done with Century BMW. :thumbdown

Meiac,
Is this the car you took to Century? If so, what made you consider a
paint touch up deal? Driving behind gravel trucks, :confused: ...:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...l/IMG_0934.jpg

Fletcher is spotty but, tolerable...they have gone through some SAs
like water through a sieve. My last work there, almost 2 yrs ago, was ok
as they did some stuff as the Ext Maint was expiring, but I had to lean
on them...again, for me, I didn't buy it there, so I have found the 3 dlrs
I've dealt with for service, to be less than fullfilling. YMMV...

You gotta roll up to Waynesville and our Mtn Joint, or meet in town and
we can go hammering on the BRPkway, before we migrate...and, I can help
you with you homework. :rofl:
BR,mD

Those are bugs! :throw:
Its the same car, only without the front tag or white blotch missing from the hood from the photobucket tool. They just started walking around the car and he had the dent guy there, then he was like oohh, we can take care of that scratch, blah blah... I'll have a real detailer take care of it sometime sooner or later.
I am a big proponent of mental health drives, I'm always up for a ride. :bmw:

You good with Calc? I might need to take you up on that offer

We need to hammer the BRPkway in my Vette; you can drive and you
cannot hurt it, unless you go off the road, :D .
Or, if you ride M/Cs, I have a few of those here, too.

Calc?! :bustingup I stumbled through two semesters of it...I think I
still have my ol' Johnson & Koikmeister Calc book in the basement. I
was no math major; Biz Stat was a ballbuster, too. I use my fingers
now, and I can recall my golf shots on each hole...:confused:

Hendrick in Charlotte? Somebody actually got descent/honest service from them? My self level problem is still here, and they didnt take out half of the dents they promised they would and I paid for. Emailed the GM, and followed up with a letter. No call back. I never even got a call from BMW asking how the service was. This is my 3rd BMW, and the service I am getting is ruining the great experiences I had with the first two. What good is BMW's CPO warrantee if they arent going to honor it? I really like the X6, but at this point I dont think it is in my future unless something improves. Anybody have anything good to report about BMW of Columbia?

Wow, thats completely the opposite of my experience. I walked in, off the street, not having bought the car there. Not only did they fix my car with no "could not replicate" BS, they offered me the keys to a damn loaner. No appointment, either! I think the third party (dent wizard) might have a lot to do with the disappointment, whenever I deal with a outside vendor, (my rim hazard, for example) things always seem to go to hell.

And with the bad service from the dealers aspect of it, no matter where you go, there will be newer/novice techs and experienced master techs... and some service adviser can be hard to deal with while some are simply great.

Pick a service adviser that you see as a better person to deal with, and ask him/her to please dispatch you car to a master tech... and tell him to call you before "could not verify-ing any complaints on the ticket. I myself make the advisor call the customer for more details and description of the problem before I ever CNV a line on a ticket.

But the experience can vary depending on who you have to deal with... they are just humans and all have different personalities. Pick the ones better suited to help you :thumbup:

Meiac, I wasn't dissing your ride and I knew the spots were a flaw in the
photo; I was just surprised that a comparatively new car needed scratch
and/or touch up attention.

I was joking :D
They said they'd take care of the "where did that come from" ones on the bootlid that had been bothering me for a while, so I caved. Now... I'll just deal with it, seeming as what they did on the front was used a touch up pen on some stone chips.

PS. I love T3.

I'm gonna either lose it, or cry.

I just found an effing HOLE and scratch inside my rear doorjamb. I guess its from the idiot dent repair guys. If I had known that I was paying a dealer markup, for them to do this (I've had paintless dent repair before, they never drilled fooking holes in the body of my car, and they never left a gauge in the paint before) I would have told them to screw off! GRRR.

:pullhair:

the plot thickens. My bank account was NOT credited. :mad:

If anyone still cares....

I went back today to address the following issues:
-Refund not showing to bank
-Jet black touch up paint used for BS "scratch removal"
-Hole drilled outside of the door seal
-Could Not Replicate anything, but a 20 mile road test!?

The refund "just takes time"
The hole is "just how they do it"
They just "couldn't figure out" the B-Pillar rattle, the leaking windshield washer, OR the battery that dies after one day
The paint... "Black is Black" :yikes:
Excuse me?
After I told them how bad it is, they used some "mild solvent" to remove the "touch up" crap, and then, they buffed the car, WITH SAND (not sandpaper, GRIT) on the portercable. the fooking stuff is still on my door and hood.

Then, the service manager had the BALLS to tell me how "You're worse off now (without the JET black paint) than you were with it because now you have exposed stone chips. :wtf: and that repainting the entire hood is a ridiculous thing to do.

Wanna know what his response was when I pointed out that the dent hole is going to cause corrosion, and water issues because its OUTSIDE of the door seal, and about 1 cm away from the outside surface of the car?
shrug

The plastic "plug" with glue dripping down. Its brittle, and not even flush with the outside as it sits now. This part of my car is constantly getting covered with salt from the air or the roads.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...l/DSC04472.jpg

Poorly focused, but you can see the jet black "touch up"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...l/DSC04477.jpg

I bet they still want 5s though. :tsk: Sorry you're having such a hard time.

They're really good at returning calls. I called the GM this morning, and was given the run around eventually to voicemail. We'll see what happens with this.

So He hasn't returned my second voicemail...
Do I call again, or should I just call NA back again?

Just (finally) got it looked at in Asheville.
"Century should know better"
and...
"This car is not certifiable"
:thud:

Meiac, I am sorry to read of your hairpulling fiasco at
Century; I am slightly amused however, to read that my
impressions and opins of that pos stlr have not changed,
based on my experiences with them...

"Asheville BMW", was Fletcher BMW until about 2 days ago...
Fields Auto Group bought them. My experience with the old
Fletcher is decidely mixed, but maybe Fields will get them on
track...:dunno:

NEway, good luck with getting your Ride squared around.
GL,mD

Fields; I have no experience with them:

http://www.fieldsauto.com/

:plane:

So, after calling BMW NA and trying to set up a repair (which was promised at a BMW CERTIFIED repair center, Lloyd, the SALES manager calls me.
"Bring it in on Tuesday" .... to "Fairway Ford" :thud: I asked if its a BMW Certified shop (which it is NOT) and he says "yes" to me. Liars.

I told BMW I don't want them to touch it, and I want it done at a CERTIFIED shop. So I have two options. Let Fairway (same corporate umbrella as Century) cut and weld, then paint my car orange, or let them give me an estimate, and write a check. I told them the panel needs replacement, I'm not going to have them messing up the piece of my car that runs from the rear lights to the front wheelwell, and includes the A-Pillar. So, how objective do you think thats gonna be? :)

I want this bullshit to be done with. I don't have the time to drive back and forth across town to rattle these people's cages, and I am getting absolutely nowhere. The manager of the formerly certified Fletcher BMW explained everything quite clearly, along with the issues. I guess the real question is: Should I be dealing with someone other than Customer Support and Century's idiot managers?

M,
I'd bang on the General Mgr, (though he may just be a similar patronizing
azzhole)...I suggested a warning about Century, back on page 1 of this
thread. :whistle:

Good luck with your run-around...
Hey, maybe the Ford joint has good bodyshop guys?

Go study or, have a good party weekend at the U!
BR,mD

I shoulda listened! I broke down in a "how bad could they mess up re-hooking up my windshield washer?" hype. Bobby Bishop has ignored 5 phone calls from me... I guess I should go visit him in person sometime?

NC State for swimming tomorrow! Its gonna be a short night ;)