Now I feel lucky... I would actually believe the my managers hand out applications exclusively at strip joints and hooters. Because 90% of our receptionist, cashiers and service greeters seem to come from one or the other... the shop is always full of eye candy, and most of them need favors with their cars! (wink wink)

Sound like the Herb Chambers dealership in Boston. I feel like I need to throw them a few singles every time I go there.

I'll take eye candy over a free donut any day :thumbup:

:rofl:

Sounds good compared to here...I think they hire women straight from the joint since 2 of 'em have very short hair ... but I guess the coffee is ok ;)

Bistro with Salad, Sandwitchs, Beverages, Quiches... here in Montreal

So the Canadian Dealers still throw it down a little, while the American dealers do it on the cheap, Thanks BMW U.S.A.! :thumbup: Did I mention my dealer had 3 dog biscuits on the floor???:mmm:

It is impacted strongly by the pricing environment. IMHO, US customs don't believe the S in MSRP stands for suggested; they tend to want to work from invoice. Fair enough. That doesn't apply here. We can get discounts off of retail, but they are much smaller discounts than US posters regularly talk about.

I require my dealer to invest in customer service, and my satisfaction. Sure, there are dealers with high prices and poor service, essentially a lose-lose. But paying more up front does allow those dealers who want to excel in service to do so. My dealer is the largest volume seller in Canada, and keeps that spot based on the customer experience.

It's still ridiculous how the price gap can be so wide when we are so close!!

+1. In America, we care a lot more about saving money than anything else. Quality products are not important because we are a disposable society. Quality service takes a backseat to price and "deals".

In Germany, I was at BMW Welt, a dealer, and Dingolfing. In all three places, I thought customer service was excellent; when they didnt have a 1er with sat nav (BMW München), they kindly arranged us to drive to another BMW dealer, (BMW Niederlassung) to swap the 118d for the 118i with sat nav. When we got there, the replacement rental was ready to go, we just swapped keys. Really, they were under no obligation to provide us a car with sat nav, because it had stated on the rental contract that extras may not be available. But they went ahead and arranged everything quickly, with the usual German efficiency.

In America, what happens when you're out of luck at the rental counter? You wait in line forever. Then the rep has to phone somebody, a manager, and 20 other people to see if the car is available. Then they have to call a porter to bring up your rental car, which takes 4 hours or until you die of old age, whichever is later. And the whole while, they hassle you to upgrade, like you're an idiot and booked too small of a car. And then you have to sign 742 waivers and 298 papers assuming all liability. Then they go on a spiel about filling up the fuel tank. It's a massive headache. But it's America, what can I say?