Jedrin Ngungu
Published 5 years ago
COULD BE BETTER
I took my car in because the break light was showing. The car called to confirm that the breaks needed changing and I agreed to this. I was told to expect my car by 4 PM but heard nothing. When I called to enquire on progress, I was told the car was still showing the same error message after the break pads were replaced and they didn’t know whether I’d agree to a diagnostic check for $145 so they just didn’t do anything further. Yet I was not called. Did you have to wait for me to call you at the end of shift instead of the other way round?
When I asked about the fairness of charging me a diagnostic fee when this was the reason for taking the car to the garage, the lady who was dealing with me said, yes I had to agree to pay the $145 fee “because we do know the car history “! This was rather annoying considering the car was bought brand new from BMW and I have a service agreement for 4 years (my car is less than 4 years old). The car is taken to the same centre for all service requirements and repairs.
The car ended up staying in the garage for another day. There was no offer of a courtesy car. Other garages will offer their customers a courtesy car if their car is going to be in the garage for more than a day.
On the day of collection, I was just asked to pay my bill and my keys were given to me. There was zero explanations given about the works done. Again, most garages would tell you what was done and more IMPORTANTLY, mention any works that were being recommended. I for example would have liked to know the state of my tires. I have no way of telling whether my tires are still good for a while or I need to replace them. Again, this is a standard piece that you get from other garages.
What BMW need to know is that most customers have driven other makes before and have dealt with other garages before. Also some of us have more than one vehicle in the family and so we deal with other garages as well. Therefore it is very easy for us to know when the service you’re receiving is sub-standard.