Before I start I need to tell you that the dealership that I bought the Bean through, San Jose BMW has been the greatest and my salesperson is the best and all my complaints are solely directed at the BMW organization. Also, I need you to understand that my view has been echoed by members of my forum from all across the world. So there, it’s not just me complaining.
The Set Up
This is from early June, mind you, I put the deposit down in December 2020.
The word just came down, my salesperson says he see the very first change in his computer system since February and that the Bean is now at the BMW processing center to be checked in and get ready to send her from the east coast to the west coast to my dealer. He says the next step will be when they get an invoice, which means the truck is on the way.
Boom day after we get the ‘she’s on shore’ another news flash comes in that an invoice has been sent. Wow, way to go BMW, first no news for six months and then two days apart and the Bean is on the way…. DON’T even get me started on how frustrating this has been trying to get a straight answer out of BMW on my delivery.
Once again, I want to be very clear here, I purchased my Bean through San Jose BMW and they have been wonderful so far, however, their hands have been tied as far as information goes, they only have what BMW gives them.
Back to my tale, according to my guy on the inside once an invoice is sent that usually means 7 to 10 days until the crate comes into the store. So why do we see this on the BMW official computer system screen?
Yup, that says my Bean has been on the dealer floor for several days now… WTFricking Heck????? I say “No way San Jose”.
Late June
So now in late June, my salesperson, who has been keeping me in the know all along, says this is BMW working the system to get their money and that my bike is NOT on the floor and he doesn’t have any idea where it is other than maybe on a truck heading from the east coast to his shop and has no way of checking. This seems to be how BMW works, throw up a smokescreen and make it look good.
If this was the only example I might be inclined to give BMW a pass, however, it seems to be how they run the game. I put my order/deposit in for Bean in December of 2020 and their system indicated my bike has gone through a build/final inspection back in February, so why is it now almost six months later and the screen hasn’t changed?
The calls start
Let’s just skip to March when I stopped relying on the BMW computer system for updates and started to make my calls into BMW North America. By the by, I got the phone number and suggestion to call from one of the good people in the NineT forum, these people are great, and now armed with a number I started making a weekly call to BMW NA for info.
Make that an attempt for information, you see the call goes like this, ring, ring, welcome to BMW North America, bla, bla, press 1 for this, 2 for that, please wait for a representative… Okay now that you have battled through the dreaded queue and are talking to a sentient being the conversation starts with “We are SO sorry for the inconvenience lets look this up” you go into round two.
So sorry, right…
So you give them a number or several, and they respond with a “We are SO sorry for the inconvenience” again, please wait for a moment while my system updates… then they may tell you ‘well it looks like your motorcycle is in transit. The first time I fell for this I said cool so how long till delivery? That is when they start to spin their tales of woe and worry. Again with the “We are SO sorry for the inconvenience” line and we really can’t say for sure. Okay thank you BMW, click buzzzz.
Because my salesperson has been so good about giving me information and my NineT forum people are very sharp about dealing with BMW I had a little extra info on my side in the form of a container number. So the next time I call and another very pleasant sounding BMW representative says ‘well it looks like your motorcycle is in transit’ I ask in transit from where? Boom this seems to upset the apple cart because I get a different reply this time, “ahhh, let me check”?
WTF (what the frick?)
Wait, what the heck??? I thought you were checking? Yep, that is exactly what I said then I said, “would it help you if I gave you my container number?” The BMW response, “We are SO sorry for the inconvenience” let me check, (me) all right, would you like the number??? (them) Sure, thank you. (Them) ‘well, it looks like your motorcycle is in transit. Are you starting to see a pattern here?
This is where I start coming a bit unglued and say, (me) in transit from where? (them) ah let me check my system, (me) I thought that is what you were doing? (them) just a moment sir, we are SO sorry for the inconvenience (me thinking out loud) ya, ya, ya, (them) well it looks like it has left the factory and is in the port…….
Now I will spare you the multiple versions of this same story I get from BMW because it has been variations on a theme every time I called them, which was once a week. Every time I get a different person who is always kind, understanding, polite, and clueless. And each time I get a similar but not quite the same story, in transit, sometimes from the factory, sometimes from the port, sometimes from Germany to the US, etc. If this seems like a logical progression, it’s not because I have talked with a representative then asked to talk to somebody higher up the food chain and got two very different estimates of delivery, but never a straight or real projection of delivery.
Not that stupid…
I am not stupid, I see and read the news, yes Covid has affected everything and had a drastic impact on the supply chain as it stands from one end to the other. I have seen cargo ships tipping over in storms, burning on the high sea, and turning sideways in the channel, ports locked up solid because there is nobody to unload containers, but come on BMW, all I want is a straight answer, you should have some idea where your inventory is, right?
So here is the moral of this drama/story, are things going to change at BMW, probably not. Times will get better and this will quickly go away, however, BMW get your collective stuff together and give your faithful customers and dealers a good and honest answer.
Yes, you have a bunch of well-trained people trying to get a handle on a bad deal, but the answer is not to train them like they are running for office and to say whatever it takes to make a concerned customer go away. If you, BMW, can’t find a container or get somebody to load/unload that container, if you can’t get a truck or driver to haul my bike cross country/the ocean just say so and that you will let me know when you have it covered. This is how you keep your customers happy, it takes more than a nice product to stay in business and even the best of gardens fail if you shovel too much horse manure on the crops.
~ Epilogue:
The Bean is finally home now and I am just thrilled to have her I have started the mods that I want/need and am by and large very happy. THEN this comes to me via email, BMW North America,
“Please share your thoughts with us in 2 minutes or less….”
It is a survey of their provider performance and since it is a short survey I felt that I could offer some constructive criticism or how could you be better in the future. The survey is a 1-10 system of rating, 1 being worst, 10 best. The first question is something to the likes of would you recommend BMW Motorrad to… I gave them a 1 on account of my experience. Then they ask something to the fact of, am I happy with my dealer….. here I give a resounding 10 because they have been wonderful.
Boom hit the send button, 2 hours later I get a call from my salesperson. What is wrong why are you unhappy with OUR service???? I say hold up there Skippy, I love you guys, where is this coming from?
He explains that the survey reflects directly back to the dealer and because I gave BMW Motorrad such a low number they, the dealership, is going to lose their bonus money. I am shocked because the dealer has been upfront all along, and helpful in every way, so why would not be able to get a straight answer from corporate reflect badly on the dealer and salesperson?
Oh by the by, in the comments box below the survey I explicitly explained that 1. I am very happy with my dealer/sales team, and 2. My complaint is how BMW has non-responded and obfuscated on all of my questions to delivery.
To me, this seems that once more BMW corporate has shifted the blame and has proven they are not willing to fix or even look at the problem. Good thing the bike is so good because I am starting to think the company not so much… (I wanted to parse that differently but this is a PG-rated website)