Lack of professionalism and customer service

[Rockefeller866]

Afternoon,

Bought my brand new 5 door Mini Cooper S from Eastern Mini at Newbridge Edinburgh and picked it up on 28/04/16. The salesman who I bought the car from, let's call him salesman 1, was great and not pushy at all.

When I picked the car up it was pouring with rain and was presented with it outside. As a result of this I wast able to inspect the car properly. Over the next couple of days I noticed that there was a chip on a piece of interior trim and there were scratches to the roof and body as if they had been caused by a cloth with grit on it when being wiped clean. There was also a rip on the seal of the nearside rear door. I informed salesman 1 of this within couple of days of picking up the car and he asked me to take the car back through to the garage. I did this within the first week of having he car and spoke with a person from the service department as salesman 1 was not available at that time. He inspected the car, took photos and stated that he would pass details onto salesman 1 for him to deal with. The person from the service department stated that my car would be fully valeted when in to have the trim repaired.

The weather had been pretty cap up to that point so hadn't been able to wash my car. I snow foamed and pressure washed the car and when the water ran off I found that that both A pillar black gloss exterior trims were badly damaged and the offside B pillar black gloss exterior trim was scratched. It ws clear that this had been filled and polished to try and avoid having to replace the parts prior to handing the car over to me. I also noted several scratches on the offside rear quarter window.

Having not heard anything from salesman 1 for a few weeks, I would have thought the part would have been in by that point, I phoned for him to be told he was busy. I asked for him to call me back and having not received a call for a few days I emailed him. Again no response. I continued this process for 2 weeks and still received no respine from Salesman 1.

Because I was getting nowhere I emailed the Franchise director of the Eastern motor group who emailed me back almost instantly stating that he would get someone on it straight away and apologised for he inconvenience. To his credit I received a call the next day from salesman 2 who promised that it would all be fixed. The following week salesman 2 picked my car up and left me an identical cooper s for my use until my own wss repaired. They provided the insurance for the courtesy car which I felt was something they should have done anyway but they were making it out like they were doing me a favour.

So I went on holiday during the time that my car was being repaired and left the courtesy car on my driveway at home. Whilst on holiday salesman 2 contacted me asking if they could have the courtesy car back as someone wished to buy it. They stated that they would take it off he driveway with the spare key if I wasn't around. So I had to get my dad to go round for the handover and to remove the kids seats from the courtesy car.

So on Monday I went in to pick my car up from the dealership. I specifically requested that the car be left indoors due to the possibility of rain. I inspected the car as best I could and everything appeared to have been repaired. Salesman 2 had left the protective covers on the replacement pillar trims so I could see hey bad not been filled. When he removed them it left a gluey residue on the pillars and there was no offer from him to clean them prior to taking the car away. He stated that the scratches on the glass had been polished out and in he artificial light I couldn't see the scratches anymore.

I was then handed the keys and was on my way. I had questioned about receiving some sort of good will gesture from the dealership as an apology for being given a car with damage on it that they knew was there, for being ignored by salesman 1 and for the inconvenience. I was told by salesman 2 that he was given a budget of £1000 to repair the car and that he went over it. It again felt like he was trying to say that he was doing me a favour.

So I went home and snow foamed and pressure washed the car, essentially to get the gluey residue off the pillars, but also to see if they had use filler on the rroof or anywhere else to hide the scratches again. To my amazement the scratches on the roof and glass were still visible. Once again they had tried to hide them rather than fix them.

I emailed salesman 2 who stated that he was disappointed that I was unhappy with the cars condition, but said that I had inspected the car thoroughly in the showroom and seemed happy with it. I explained that I was until I found that the same scatches hadn't been repaired. Salesman 2 stated that my emails were being forwarded to the franchise director also. I am still awaiting to see what their next move will be.

I can't believe that having been given a damaged car and ignored for 4 weeks, they then try to hide the damage again and give it back to me. If I don't get a satisfactory resolution then I will be trying Mini customer service and even Mini finance.

Anyone had any problems with its dealership before or can advise on what my next steps should be?

I'll apologise for the length of this post but I felt the full story needed to be told.

[N16SHP]

Firstly, I am really sorry to hear you're having such bad service. I think we would all agree that if something isn't right it can be repaired/replaced and they can be forgiven but nothing annoys me more than rubbish customer service, there is simply no excuses for it.

I had a very similar incident with my new Coop that it was delivered to me and the condition of the paintwork was not great. However, they service I received was the complete opposite to yourself. A date was arranged to get the car back in and corrected, a courtesy car was given without being made to feel like it was a favour to me for doing so and the car was returned better than when it was new. And I received a genuine apology and probable reason for the problem, I could ask for nothing more as it was top service.

However, one of my friends a few years back also had a similar situation with a new Audi where the car was damaged in places and the paint work was terrible (as is sadly the case with most cars). He, like you, got passed around from pillar to post until eventually he'd had enough. He drove the car into the garage and squeezed it right up against the entrance door, locked it and walked away making it impossible for customers to get in or out until it was moved. He then phoned the finance company, made them aware of the situation that he felt he'd been sold a faulty car and was not making any further payments until the situation had been sorted. As I'm sure you can now guess, the situation was sorted at lightning speed and he was reimbursed for his problems, car was returned better than new and he's now happy. Don't underestimate how much power the finance company has. It's terrible that it sometimes has to come to this and it's a real shame when it does but perhaps it may need some extreme tactics to finally revoke a response. I think if you've been polite and you've been patient and it's not working, you have little choices left.

[Dobboy]

My freinds a detailer and sorts this kind of **** out all the time for people. (Paint correction).

What about taking it to a different mini dealer and asking them what you should do?


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[Rockefeller866]

I'm waiting to see what they've got to say this time before I make my next move. I'd imagine another dealership would say it's not their problem. The glass will need replaced and I reckon the whole roof might need a whole respray. I can't see how it will polish out (they told me they had hand polished). I've lost all faith in the dealership.

[Rockefeller866]

I'm been very polite and patient to this point but that's gonna change. Apparently the Franchise director saw the condition of my car when it was returned so if it goes back in to them to be fixed again I'm going to request that he views it again, preferably in my presence, and see if he thinks that it's acceptable. It's just ruining my experience of owning my first mini.

[MINI William]

You will always get problems with cars. It's how the problems are fixed that's the important bit. How deep are these scratches? Are they able to be machined out?

[Rockefeller866]

I think they would machine out however the dealership said they were reluctant to do that because in their opinion it would damage the paint on the roof as apparently the paint is very thin. I got an email from salesman 2 tonight stating that the dealership manager is going to phone me tomorrow, I'll see what comes of that. I do understand that there may be scratches on paintwork, it's inevitable but to try and cover it up on two separate occasions to try and fool me is really disappointing.

[EcosseGP]

Scott When you back at work ?


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[Rockefeller866]

Back on 12th July.

[EcosseGP]

Nae bother I'll have a proper look at it then if the issue hasn't been rectified ... In the mean time head down to Parks in Stirling with it and ask to speak to Alan Walters (bodyshop manager) and simply ask him what he thinks. When you're down there nip into USA round the corner and speak to Clive or Trevor (tell them I sent you) and ask them if it'll polish out ... at least you'll have a few opinions and know what the next step is. Even with them using a "filler" polish you would still see the mark it just becomes more prominent when you wash and clean it. I can put a paint depth gauge on it if you want to check its depth ...


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[Rockefeller866]

Cheers Davy, I might pop down and see them tomorrow.