Help needed urgently!!

[N16SHP]

Well got a reply from Mini...excuse my French, but what a load of bollox!

Dear Mr Stephens (It's Shepherd but a'l let you off)

Thank you for your email dated March 2, 2011, which you sent on behalf of your fiancée, and for your patience while I investigated this matter.

I am sorry that your fiancée's experience with John Clark Aberdeen has not been what we would expect from a MINI Approved Dealership. I understand that the level of service you received has prompted you to raise your concerns with us. We monitor the feedback we receive regarding all of our dealerships, including John Clark Aberdeen and I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. I was disappointed to hear of your experience and I can assure you that this is not what MINI UK aspires to as a company. MINI UK greatly appreciates feedback from our customers in relation to our dealerships and I would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Owning a MINI should be a pleasurable experience. We,therefore, expect our dealerships to give customers a quality service and I am sorry that this has not been the case in this instance. Details of this contact have been noted under case number 1-6740971901, which will be used as part of our ongoing dealer auditing programme.

I have spoken to Mr Phil Angus, Assistant Service Manager at John Clark Aberdeen and he confirmed that no fault was diagnosed when they tested your fiancée's MINI. He also advised that the oil level is checked prior to any engine testing and that if it shows the level is below maximum, it is topped up to ensure there is no damage to the engine during the test.

I can confirm that MINI UK ensure all our vehicles are constructed to the highest build quality tolerances, utilising the best quality materials and leading edge technology. MINI UK take customer safety very seriously and for this reason we monitor the performance of all components used in our range. Where there is an established trend of failure of any component, we take the appropriate action in the form of either a quality enhancement or vehicle recall and I can confirm there is nothing outstanding for this vehicle.

Mr Angus recommended that if this fault occurs again at any time you should take a note of the outside temperature so that a pattern can be recorded to enable any dealership to see if the fault occurs at any one specific temperature or at a range of temperatures.

Once again, thank you for contacting MINI UK and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further concerns.

Yours sincerely

MINI UK
Margaret ****ing
Customer Service Executive

[N16SHP]

I don't want to run the risk of going over the top here, but does Mr Angus want me to give him the weather forecast for the past two weeks? I think my only option is to print out all of the cases where the timing chain/chain tentioner unit has failed from my fellow members at New Mini Scotland (Scotland's largest BMW Mini owners club) and Total Mini (the UK's largest Mini owners club) and let Mr Angus see that I know fine well what the problem is and I have no idea why John Clark Mini Aberdeen are refusing to fix this. I have experienced the same problem with my own R56 Cooper S which John Clark fixed (eventually) so can you please find out why they are refusing to fix my Fiancee's Mini? I don't believe them when they say there is not a problem with the car. My fiancee and myself drive her car almost everyday and experience the problem, they heard the same noise the first day, put oil in it, turned it over and heard no noise, does that mean it's fixed? No it just simply means that it did not make the noise the one and only time the started it.

All that I have left to say on the matter is that I will do my level best to make sure none of my family, or friends go near John Clark's service desk. I will take my fiancee's Mini with it obvious problem to a Mini dealer who lives up to Mini's claim "Where there is an established trend of failure of any component, we take the appropriate action in the form of either a quality enhancement or vehicle recall". I also quote your original email stating that "Owning a Mini should be a pleasurable experience. We therefore, expect our dealerships to give customers a quality service." Well I am sorry but this is not happening.

Please do not take this personally as I realise that you personally have no control on how blind John Clark and BMW Mini UK can be about this well know and well documented fault.

Yours Sincerely

Neil Shepherd


What do I have to do to get them to fix it? My father works for the Press and Journal who we all know goes as far as the Western Isles, Inverness and down to almost Dundee. Do I really need to threaten them with bad publicity? I really don't want to do this as to me this is really arsey and not my style, but if that's what it's going to take...

[N16SHP]

**UPDATE**

Well after much coming and going, I finally went out, took a video of the car (or should I say tractor, as by now it sounded as if the engine was about to fall out of the car on some start up's) and went back to JC's armed with my video. I asked to speak to a guy from service, not a puppet behind a desk, and showed him the video to ask him what he thought. He instantly looked shocked at the noise and I told him that on the previous occasions this car had been in, I was told it was fine, and was told I was being charged for wasting JC's time. So we got the car booked in and handed it in yesterday. Got a phone call today saying that they are replacing the timing chain/chain tensioner unit and all the gearing's and mechs that go with it, so we're not getting the car back until Friday as they are doing a fair amount of work. My guess is it's to fix the damage that their negligence has caused to the car.

Will hold final judgement until Friday, but I'm happy that my persistence has finally paid off. Still never going to give JC's any of my money in the future, as I still think they are a shocking dealership. I have only dealt with David @ JC's Dundee in the past and his service was simply exceptional. I think its a shame that some other folk in their dealers couldn't take a leaf out of his book, and that Aberdeen's JC's is probably making the Dundee one look pretty bad

[Burple]

I have only dealt with David @ JC's Dundee in the past and his service was simply exceptional. I think its a shame that some other folk in their dealers couldn't take a leaf out of his book, and that Aberdeen's JC's is probably making the Dundee one look pretty bad

Well we'll see.. Mine's due a service in about 700 miles (gonna book it in after the Thistle Run). Couple of wee niggly things I'd like to have sorted before the end of the warranty, and it's had the start up rattle about 4 times in the last month and a half.. seems to be intermittent for now, but I don't want it to get worse or become expensive..

[Craig]

Good news they are taking the problem seriously but a real pain that you are having to push them.... Just the story with most dealers in my experience !!

[GCA3N]

well good news mate I have heard of a few folks having to take videos in to prove the noise. Hope all goes well for friday mate.

[AndyP & Lenore]

I'm not a huge believer in the words "the customer is always right", but I hate the approach "the customer must be wrong because we're BMW and we know best".

And to have to take video evidence in of a known inherent problem with these engines is absolutely disgraceful. You just wonder why in the world we still buy their cars.

Anyway, really pleased you're getting it fixed finally and properly. Let's hope this is the end of the rocky road you've had.

A.

[The Dogfather]

Do you still have the video of the car making the noise?

[GCA3N]

You just wonder why in the world we still buy their cars.



A.

I've asked that very question a few times Andy.


Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[N16SHP]

Do you still have the video of the car making the noise?

I do indeed, how come?

You just wonder why in the world we still buy their cars.

A'l be totally honest, had it not been for meeting everyone on here, it's probably the Mini scene that's keeping me in a Mini, as if not, I'd probably have sold it about a year ago with the amount of problems I've had. I absolutely love my car, and the people I've met because of it, but I just feel like a bit of a sucker still driving and effectively promoting Mini, as I cannot stand the attitude of Mini UK, or fully understand the direction the brand is going, but that is a totally different topic.