Hi
I was thinking about my last post during my wait at BMW Autodom, Moscow this morning.
It may not have been Hamilton but Fairbanks, Alaska. I certainly spoke to a tour operator in Fairbanks who ccasionally takes clients to Russia.
Talking of Autodom - I found it typical of anything BMW. You go in and find a white marble palace full of smarly dressed people - all doing nothing. And all very adept at avoiding eye contact with an enquiring customer who had prebooked. Who pays for all this?
I was particularly impressed with FOUR 'salesmen' standing behind the 'BMW only' polish and shampoo counter that was only 12 feet long. That is about three product lines per salesman. Not a customer in sight over there - yet I waited 15 minutes to be 'greeted' at Reception. And I think she only averted her eyes from her screen to go for a pee. That was my chance - I started talking.
That was at 9 this morning. A full hour and a half after arriving for my prebooked service I departed to go shopping nearby. The bike had not moved from where I parked it in the car park (sorry - "Valued Customer Arrival Area").
At 3pm they rang me to say the bike would not be ready today (they are open well into the evening). A prebooked 10,000km service plus fit a stock tyre? Come on.
The whole BMW theme always annoys me. They behave as if there is no other make of motorcycle ever made. They make you travel quite large distances to get their services because the investment to be a Dealership is so great and draconian that you need a wide territory to make it pay and they will not allow any other Motorcycle Establishment to deal with them. And when you do get there the bike section is generally apologetically tucked away behind everything else. Even the car wash got greater prominence and was nearer Reception than the Motorrad signs, which were at the rear adjacent to a wooden fence by the rubbish skips!
But their bikes are good. Not great, but good.
Rant over!
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