Exercise R Us

Question:

I recently moved to Cannes in France and every BMW driver I met warned me to stay away from the local dealer (GAAM). Today I learnt why! Two weeks ago my car got rear-ended by some young mec who thought he was a good driver. So I took it to GAAM to be repaired at the cost of his insurance, who told me it would take about a week. GAAM never bothered to ring me to tell me the car was repaired, and I only found out that it was finished when I rang to ask about progress. I cycled over to the delaer this afternoon (a distance of 35km – I have a bike carrier on my roof to bring it back). When I got there, they had added two days storage to the bill because I had not collected the car the day it was repaired! They then demanded that I pay the bill myself, even though I had a letter from the other guys insurance company saying that they would pay the bill in full. I argued about this and they refused completely to let me have my car until I had paid, saying that I would have to recover the money myself from the other guys insurance company. I reluctantly agreed, but disaster! being the last day of the month, my credit card could not cope with the ?1500 bill. So they refused to give me my car back, and I had to cylce all the way back home. I’ll have to cycle over there again on Monday to get my car, but that will be the last time I go there. If they don’t trust me to pay the bill for my car, why should I trust them with the keys to my car next time it needs a service? Some dealers are suicidally stupid. — RJCT

Response:

> I’ll have to cycle over there again on Monday to get my car, but that > will be the last time I go there. If they don’t trust me to pay the bill > for my car, why should I trust them with the keys to my car next time it > needs a service? Some dealers are suicidally stupid.

 In the UK, *no* garage releases the car until the bill’s been paid, unless you have an account with them. Doubt it’s very much different anywhere else.  If you needed to get the insurance company to pay the bill direct, they should have organised the repair. — * Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity *      RIP Acorn  

Response:

> I’ll have to cycle over there again on Monday to get my car, but that > will be the last time I go there. If they don’t trust me to pay the bill > for my car, why should I trust them with the keys to my car next time it > needs a service? Some dealers are suicidally stupid. >  In the UK, *no* garage releases the car until the bill’s been paid, > unless you have an account with them. Doubt it’s very much different > anywhere else. >Not at all. I’ve lived the past four years in Germany and Italy, before

moving here to France. In both those countries I’ve had experiences far more pleasant than the above. One time in Germany, after only ONE previous visit, their credit card machine broke down. They just told me to pop back in the following day (which  I did) and the bill was  a LOT more thant the bill today. Even in Italy – where you do not normally expect much honesty – my BMW dealer said there was no problem at all to give my car back after an insurance-guaranteed repair. Maybe France and UK are more full of criminals than Germany and Italy? I don’t know, but given that they have my address, my number plate, that I am a client with already a six-month history of always paying my bills, and that I offered to surrender my carte-grise as a forfeit, I find it fairly bizarre and certainly very, very untrusting that they refused to give me my car back. I certainly won’t go back there. Why should I? If they take me for a criminal, then I’ll take them for a bunch of criminals. Fairy nuff?

Response:

> that I am a client with already a six-month history of > always paying my bills,

 You didn’t make that clear in the first post – quite the reverse. — * If vegetable oil comes from vegetables, where does baby oil come from? *      RIP Acorn  

Response:

Assuming that you’ve recounted your experience fairly and accurately, it strikes me that the Cannes BMW dealer is as insensitive, arrogant and as stupid as they come anywhere.  Having said that, IMO, you should not have anything more to say to them except to tell them that you are extremely dissappointed with their service as it is unbefitting of a BMW dealership (or any other) for that matter.  Tell them that the matter is far from being closed.  But before you show your anger make sure you have picked up everything you need and are ready to leave.  That’s all.  Then drive off. As soon as you reach a convenient rest spot, immediately and carefully examine the car to make sure it has been properly repaired.  If you find any problems, use a camera (a digital one would be best) and record the problem(s) in gory detail.  Then drive the car (if driveable) for a couple of days and see if there’s anything else. When you’ve assessed the repairs find a good evening, get a good bottle of French wine, sit down (with a buddy – even better) and write a scathing 2-page letter of complaint addressed to the head of BMW in France (or wherever) as well as the BMW manager in charge of overseeing the dealer network in France (use a CC in the same letter).  Tell them also that you have asked BMW owners on a worldwide bulletin board what they thought of this treatment.  At the end of the letter, make sure you ask them what they think would be a proper course of action to look into this disgraceful conduct.  It’s important that they have recourse to address the problem.  Also ask them for the address of a BMW dealer where you can get proper service.  However, make sure you re-read the letter the next morning before mailing it. Perhaps a buddy can help edit.  Do not ever go back to BMW Cannes for any reason. If you get bad treatment from BMW France I suggest you recount them in fair but descriptive terms to every bulletin board you know of and perhaps write to BMW headquarters in M