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