Horrific service experience Houston Tx

[saralou]

It is a long sad and very agrivating tale. Those interested in the gorry details can PM me. Please do not use Gulf Coast BMW in Houston. Total incompetence. We did learn afterwards from some locals in San Antonio that the only reliable BMW service in Texas is in Austin. I did get a gift though since i found that the morons left a very nice needle nose pliers behind under my seat.

[Wheelie]

Please share your experience out in the open - I think that crap service providers deserve the negative attention they are asking for and that the truth comes out.

Please don't use MC-Oslo in Norway - the Only official BMW dealer in Oslo to my knowledge - and the largest motorcycle dealer in the country.

My feeling is that they just about just roll bikes into the workshop, turn them around, and roll them back out, without having done anything, and then bill you big bucks (or in my case the insurance company) - There is no quality control what so ever. They are also official dealer of Vespa, among other brands. Here is my recent experience (with a Vespa):

November 2011 I had a minor crash with a new Vespa. The front fender and the leg shield needed some minor body work and a lick of paint, and the wind screen needed replacement, plus a chrome trimming. We decided that we should wait until early spring - and they were to contact me for an appointment.


They never called, and I had to press them several times until I got an appointment late spring. They promised a quick turnaround... not the case of course, it took many many weeks, with many promises of delivery and follow up broken, and me having to keep pushing for follow up I never got. It took ages, but finally they told me i could come and drop it off.

When I finally was told I could pick it up with job completed - after having pushed them many times; the paint job was a disaster with big lumps of filler and rust pouring through the paint, decals and stickers were not attached, rubber grommets on the foot board were broken, they replaced the chrome trim on the wrong side of the bike, and they had not carried out a tire replacement which I had requested they do while they were at it. Further, body panels had screws only stuck into them and had not even been finger tightened...

I had to go around the whole ordeal again - and eventually I just dropped it off as I had to go on holiday. When I finally was told I could pick up the bike again, the paint job had improved a tiny bit, but still a disaster. They had not even taken the time to remove all of the polish. Rubber grommets were attached with silicone (but looks ok). One decal was attached, but none of the rest. The chrome trimming is still untouched. They did however replace the tires, but when doing so, forgot to use gaskets on the exhaust (exhaust needs to come off for wheel removal) - with the scooter now sounding like a tractor. The replaced wind screen also came loose.

They told me they could take the scoot back in after the end of the season so that I could get at least some time on the road (for me the season is 12 months), but I am now sick of arguing - they can get the scoot back when the snow comes and business is slow.

At the same time all this was going on, I have been trying to order service parts for my F650GS Dakar. I have made three trips this summer for only partial delivery every time - with either parts missing or the wrong ones ordered - or not ordered at all. I have to keep calling them to ask for delivery - and every time they fail to tell me when the parts have arrived - even when I by someone else is told that they came ages ago. In June for instance I ordered a heavy duty inner tube - I am still waiting, and they keep telling me it is just around the corner. How long should one expect the largest motorcycle dealer in all of Norway to take to get a stock item such as an inner tube??? But, I am not going to let them off that easy - luckily I am not in a hurry. As for BMW original parts, they have a fiche system, so this they do with 75% accuracy and acceptable delivery times... but you need to be a competent buyer and quality assure that they go about this the right way. Next time, I will order it all from an international web shop.

If this wasn't an insurance matter, I would have left this matter a long time ago and found another provider. But after this experience, I would never consider using them for even the smallest service - the outcome could be lethal.

I think that part of the problem is that a lot of the people working there are very young, inexperienced, eastern Europeans, that does not speak the language, and who has very limited English skills on top of that - they probably come dirt cheap, and probaly have motivation thereafter (social dumping?). Add to that no responsibility or accountability, and no quality control - disaster is inevitable. Not that eastern Europeans are worse mechanics than others, but put them in the type of situation above, then it just can't go well. Hopefully no one will get seriously injured or killed from their incompetence. I have flagged them to the insurance company and plan to do so to the Vespa importer and BMW importer as well.

As I have seven bikes, it feels good to know that they miss out on my business. And, with this entry - hopefully some more.

[xfiltrate]

Both our new G-650GS needed work. The BMW issues are not what this is about - she had starter problems and mine just needed a few tweaks.

Not only did BMW Istanbul go all out - even displacing locals so that we foreigners who had ridden in from Spain could be serviced, but the service manager introduced us to locals (the Turkish BMW riders are very warm n friendly to other BMW riders ) and a local attorney secured executive suites for us for the 3 days wait for parts and service... at a fraction of cost. And, BMW even reimbursed us for the hotel stay.

3 interesting days in Istanbul at a very affordable rate - all because we ride BMWs.

The women of BMW Istanbul are H O T and great conversationalist so hanging out was not really a problem.....

xfiltrate

[ixchelG]

It seems like you really had a bad experience. Perhaps, you could try Momentum BMW. In fact, I came across this excellent site where I found the very best BMW car dealership in Houston. I was really fascinated with the service. Since, I needed a heated steering wheel and heated seats, I were able to get exactly what I was looking for. Indeed, it was the perfect car for me.