BMW Motorrad Dundee

[crawfordjohn]

I would like to tell you about my experience with Motorrad Dundee. I purchased a 2021 1250 GS Triple Black 8 or 9 months ago. Prior to purchasing when asked about the service history I was given a total assurance everything was in order as BMW Motorrad had owned the bike from new and it was ready to go. As I have purchased a few bike from this dealership with no problems I took this at face value. I went to pick up my bike and after payment was ready to go. I noticed the bike was in the exact same spot where I had first viewed it and enquired if a pre delivery inspection/service had been done. "No need" I was told it's a BMW bike and everything is up to date. Outside and raring to go, the salesman (whom I will not name) attempted to start the bike....nothing. Long story short dead battery, Jump started and drove the bike 60 miles home. Next day kitted up for ride....flat battery again. Salesman drove the 60 miles with a new battery and trickle charger as an apology. Over the winter the bike was hardly used and I covered 680 miles only. Got a service reminder and was surprised to see a major service was required even though I was assured everything was up to date and covered.Lesson learned do not take anything at face value even if you trust the dealership. Cost of service was approximately £380.00 which I immediately questioned. A bike I had done virtually no miles on and "needed nothing" is now going to cost me Nearly £400.00. To add insult to injury I was then told it also needed a rear disc and pads as well, that really was taking the proverbial. I declined the disc and pad renewal and remonstrated with the service manager regarding the service bill. After discussion the totally decent service manager, after discussion with someone further up the chain who had some sympathy with the sales method used to sell me the bike, took a chunk off the cost of the service. However by this time I was completely miffed and disheartened and decided to get rid of the bike. Including an extensive host of extras added in the time I had the bike it was standing me almost £18000. I emailed the salesman who had concluded the sale of the bike for a price to purchase it back again but received no reply. In the end I purchased a car from a John Clark franchised garage who took my bike in part exchange. The price given was £12000 from Motorrad Dundee including my sat nav and newly purchased BMW top box which they insisted were included, they who now have the bike up for sale. I feel royally ripped off and have had no definitive response from BMW management or customer service. Then moral of my story I suppose is trust no-one!. It's all about the pound note.Needless to say they are off my Christmas card list.

 

[Boxed-in]

Unfortunately my experiences with Dundee seems to have been similar, and I vowed never to go back. I went to Edinburgh Dalkeith and they could not have been more helpful.

 

[Fullchat]

Feel for you.
There are some well worn phrase that dont stand much scrutiny:
"BMW Motorrad had owned the bike from new" - So what was it doing? Demonstrator.? Test bed? Staff bike?
Car dealers use the term "Management vehicle" - It means its been a rental or some such thing. Either that or they have a lot of 'management'.

 

[TIJ650]

I’ve bought 2 bikes from John Clark and was only cause I got a better deal than Motorrad Central (Dalkeith). Central conceded they couldn’t match because didn’t have the car franchise (like John Clark) to offset some of the costs etc.
Central are definitely a better bunch of guys though.
Tbh most of the Motorrad dealers rip you off in varying degrees. There’s a big argument to buying a GS911 and changing the engine oil and final drive fluid yourself. Brake pads easy too


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[bdastu]

Sounds familiar. I've dealt with John Clark for the past 10 years and bought my last 5 bikes from them. I've noticed a deterioration in the standard of customer service over the years. My last bike was a used R1200RT from the Aberdeen branch (first time, usually dealt with the Dundee branch). Tried to get details of the warranty from them as I had a few issues but despite repeated assurances nothing was forthcoming. In the end they just ignored my correspondence. Decided I'd had enough and ordered a new Honda Transalp from Ecosse Dundee who I know give good customer service after having bought a Royal Enfield Interceptor from them previously.

 

[Buttertub]

Everyone expects to lose money when a bike is moved on but that's a thumping loss on a bike you hadn't had for very long so i can see why your miffed. The only positive is that your a lot wiser now about another bike and and hopefully you'll be back on another bike soon, no matter what brand.

 

[grantmac]

I wonder if there are any BMW dealer employees on this forum? It would be good for them to understand that this sort of service is not OK.
I have had the same experience with a major BMW dealer in NL; arrogant, not telling truths and simply proving shoddy service quality. This should be an opportunity to really get out and advise the wider world about these cases and hit them where it hurts..... in their pockets. Of course there is a flip side where some dealers are providing top quality customer care so it has to go both ways.

 

[crawfordjohn]

I wonder if there are any BMW dealer employees on this forum? It would be good for them to understand that this sort of service is not OK.
I have had the same experience with a major BMW dealer in NL; arrogant, not telling truths and simply proving shoddy service quality. This should be an opportunity to really get out and advise the wider world about these cases and hit them where it hurts..... in their pockets. Of course there is a flip side where some dealers are providing top quality customer care so it has to go both ways.

No reply from salesman, no reply from customer service after the first reply promising a reply from the overall manager in Aberdeen who never replied either despite personally emailing him. Once they have your money the are not interested.

 

[Morety]

That's a sorry state of affairs and not a good advert for the dealer mentioned. Over the years, I've had varying degrees of performance from after sales service and the very worst, by a country mile was a local Harley dealership. Once they had my money for a brand new bike, the delivery date kept getting moved back because they couldn't get the screen kit I ordered with it despite a 6 week wait on my part. Then when finally it arrived, the wrong screen was fitted and the brand new bike has several deep scratches on the tank. I refused to take the bike until I had seen the manager and demanded why the pre handover check hadn't picked that up. I received an apology and a promise of a new tank, and meantime I could take the bike. The gear side riders footpeg and gear change lever assemblies almost fell off on the way back from the dealership as the bolts were all loose and they hadn't bothered checking for simple things like bolt torque spec on the pre delivery checks. I took it back and told them to contact me when they'd sorted it out and got the right screen and replaced the tank and properly checked it over. Roll on 4 weeks and they told me to pick it up, as all was ready. It wasn't. The tank hadn't been replaced and the screen kit still wasn't there. I had a rant at them, rather a polite one but warned them it wouldn't be so polite if they didn't sort it next time. 2 weeks on and they told me that "head office" refused to replace the tank and they instead had a local car repair shop respray the tank. They'd blown some more top coat over it and cut it back, not too well either. I gave in and took the bike but a long story less long ended up getting a refund after 12 months of non stop problems with the bike, but only a partial refund. I lost £2k on the bike and I will never set foot inside any Harley dealership again, ever. They're only interested in your cash and couldn't give a damn about customer care.

Luckily, for us Cotswolds habiting folk, Motorrad in Cheltenham have been nothing but excellent in my experience anyway. Nothing has been too much trouble, their after sales is great and their servicing department dependable and honest. I can only speak as I've found but a big thumbs up to anyone from Cotswold Motorrad who may be reading this. They have set the standard I'd hoped to get from others but didn't and it was one of the reasons I decided to stick with a beemer. Sorry to learn about your experience John, and I hope you get better service from whoever you decide to go to next, but rest assured, not all Motorrad franchises are the same. There's good and not so good like most other places.

 

[littleade]

That's a sorry state of affairs and not a good advert for the dealer mentioned. Over the years, I've had varying degrees of performance from after sales service and the very worst, by a country mile was a local Harley dealership. Once they had my money for a brand new bike, the delivery date kept getting moved back because they couldn't get the screen kit I ordered with it despite a 6 week wait on my part. Then when finally it arrived, the wrong screen was fitted and the brand new bike has several deep scratches on the tank. I refused to take the bike until I had seen the manager and demanded why the pre handover check hadn't picked that up. I received an apology and a promise of a new tank, and meantime I could take the bike. The gear side riders footpeg and gear change lever assemblies almost fell off on the way back from the dealership as the bolts were all loose and they hadn't bothered checking for simple things like bolt torque spec on the pre delivery checks. I took it back and told them to contact me when they'd sorted it out and got the right screen and replaced the tank and properly checked it over. Roll on 4 weeks and they told me to pick it up, as all was ready. It wasn't. The tank hadn't been replaced and the screen kit still wasn't there. I had a rant at them, rather a polite one but warned them it wouldn't be so polite if they didn't sort it next time. 2 weeks on and they told me that "head office" refused to replace the tank and they instead had a local car repair shop respray the tank. They'd blown some more top coat over it and cut it back, not too well either. I gave in and took the bike but a long story less long ended up getting a refund after 12 months of non stop problems with the bike, but only a partial refund. I lost £2k on the bike and I will never set foot inside any Harley dealership again, ever. They're only interested in your cash and couldn't give a damn about customer care.

Luckily, for us Cotswolds habiting folk, Motorrad in Cheltenham have been nothing but excellent in my experience anyway. Nothing has been too much trouble, their after sales is great and their servicing department dependable and honest. I can only speak as I've found but a big thumbs up to anyone from Cotswold Motorrad who may be reading this. They have set the standard I'd hoped to get from others but didn't and it was one of the reasons I decided to stick with a beemer. Sorry to learn about your experience John, and I hope you get better service from whoever you decide to go to next, but rest assured, not all Motorrad franchises are the same. There's good and not so good like most other places.

Another vote for Cotswold from me, they're not the closest dealer to me, but the one I've used since Blade at Rednal closed, I'd have used them sooner had I known about them

 

[TIJ650]

That's a sorry state of affairs and not a good advert for the dealer mentioned. Over the years, I've had varying degrees of performance from after sales service and the very worst, by a country mile was a local Harley dealership. Once they had my money for a brand new bike, the delivery date kept getting moved back because they couldn't get the screen kit I ordered with it despite a 6 week wait on my part. Then when finally it arrived, the wrong screen was fitted and the brand new bike has several deep scratches on the tank. I refused to take the bike until I had seen the manager and demanded why the pre handover check hadn't picked that up. I received an apology and a promise of a new tank, and meantime I could take the bike. The gear side riders footpeg and gear change lever assemblies almost fell off on the way back from the dealership as the bolts were all loose and they hadn't bothered checking for simple things like bolt torque spec on the pre delivery checks. I took it back and told them to contact me when they'd sorted it out and got the right screen and replaced the tank and properly checked it over. Roll on 4 weeks and they told me to pick it up, as all was ready. It wasn't. The tank hadn't been replaced and the screen kit still wasn't there. I had a rant at them, rather a polite one but warned them it wouldn't be so polite if they didn't sort it next time. 2 weeks on and they told me that "head office" refused to replace the tank and they instead had a local car repair shop respray the tank. They'd blown some more top coat over it and cut it back, not too well either. I gave in and took the bike but a long story less long ended up getting a refund after 12 months of non stop problems with the bike, but only a partial refund. I lost £2k on the bike and I will never set foot inside any Harley dealership again, ever. They're only interested in your cash and couldn't give a damn about customer care.

Luckily, for us Cotswolds habiting folk, Motorrad in Cheltenham have been nothing but excellent in my experience anyway. Nothing has been too much trouble, their after sales is great and their servicing department dependable and honest. I can only speak as I've found but a big thumbs up to anyone from Cotswold Motorrad who may be reading this. They have set the standard I'd hoped to get from others but didn't and it was one of the reasons I decided to stick with a beemer. Sorry to learn about your experience John, and I hope you get better service from whoever you decide to go to next, but rest assured, not all Motorrad franchises are the same. There's good and not so good like most other places.

There’s a real irony, but the best HD dealers I found were in Germany. Particularly Rick’s in Baden Baden. Just saying.


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[Rab]

I would like to tell you about my experience with Motorrad Dundee. I purchased a 2021 1250 GS Triple Black 8 or 9 months ago. Prior to purchasing when asked about the service history I was given a total assurance everything was in order as BMW Motorrad had owned the bike from new and it was ready to go. As I have purchased a few bike from this dealership with no problems I took this at face value. I went to pick up my bike and after payment was ready to go. I noticed the bike was in the exact same spot where I had first viewed it and enquired if a pre delivery inspection/service had been done. "No need" I was told it's a BMW bike and everything is up to date. Outside and raring to go, the salesman (whom I will not name) attempted to start the bike....nothing. Long story short dead battery, Jump started and drove the bike 60 miles home. Next day kitted up for ride....flat battery again. Salesman drove the 60 miles with a new battery and trickle charger as an apology. Over the winter the bike was hardly used and I covered 680 miles only. Got a service reminder and was surprised to see a major service was required even though I was assured everything was up to date and covered.Lesson learned do not take anything at face value even if you trust the dealership. Cost of service was approximately £380.00 which I immediately questioned. A bike I had done virtually no miles on and "needed nothing" is now going to cost me Nearly £400.00. To add insult to injury I was then told it also needed a rear disc and pads as well, that really was taking the proverbial. I declined the disc and pad renewal and remonstrated with the service manager regarding the service bill. After discussion the totally decent service manager, after discussion with someone further up the chain who had some sympathy with the sales method used to sell me the bike, took a chunk off the cost of the service. However by this time I was completely miffed and disheartened and decided to get rid of the bike. Including an extensive host of extras added in the time I had the bike it was standing me almost £18000. I emailed the salesman who had concluded the sale of the bike for a price to purchase it back again but received no reply. In the end I purchased a car from a John Clark franchised garage who took my bike in part exchange. The price given was £12000 from Motorrad Dundee including my sat nav and newly purchased BMW top box which they insisted were included, they who now have the bike up for sale. I feel royally ripped off and have had no definitive response from BMW management or customer service. Then moral of my story I suppose is trust no-one!. It's all about the pound note.Needless to say they are off my Christmas card list.

 

[Rab]

I went into the John Clark Motorrad brach in Aberdeen on a Sunday around lunch time, June 2021, looking to buy a helmet. I had ridden over from the west Highlands, around 120miles - 240 miles round trip. Walked into the dealership, manager on the floor, asked about buying a helmet which was on open display. Got told i couldnt as they were run/managed/sold by the parts department who were shut on a Sunday. There was nobody else in the showroom and he didnt get up from his desk to respond, he was very non-interested and nonchalant. No offer to try on helmet, check its size, availability, take my name, buy over phone and have it sent etc. I was also over to have a look at a new GS, but didnt mention that seeing as he couldnt be arsed to sell me a helmet. I wasnt impressed, so walked straight back out. I wrote an email to BMW UK, and to John Clark, saying that their standard of customer service was crap - I was a bit more polite in my detailed critique of the John Clark attitude - and that they had missed out on a helmet sale, and also a cash sale of an £18000 bike. I did get a reply from BMW UK apologising, but nothing from the dealership. I think that says it all.
I subsequently bought a non-BMW from the local franchised bike dealers, Mitchells, in Inverness, along with a helmet. They have always provided me with very good service. They also have a fantastic garage location on the western side of Inverness, on the shores of the Beauly Firth, so if you are in the Highlands and need something attended to would recommend them.

 

[turpin]

I've used John Clark Dundee for the past 30+ years with no issues brilliant when Brian Malcolm was there, however once I have got to know both the new sales and service teams things are as good now as they were then.

I think we can all have issues with dealerships be it bike or car as I did with a local Peugeot dealer never used him again however local VW has been faultless with 11 cars between the family being purchased in some 12 years.

 

[Santa-2512]

Apart from Parklane, they are all franchises ...

 

[jags]

I've used John Clark Dundee for the past 30+ years with no issues brilliant when Brian Malcolm was there, however once I have got to know both the new sales and service teams things are as good now as they were then.

I think we can all have issues with dealerships be it bike or car as I did with a local Peugeot dealer never used him again however local VW has been faultless with 11 cars between the family being purchased in some 12 years.

camerons? agree that brian malcolm was a decent sort.

 

[Hartley]

Customer service by dealers is so hit and miss.
The disinterest shown by some never fails so surprise me, some of the worst I’ve experienced is by my closest Honda dealer who tried to charge me for a service that was included on a service pack and nearly £500 of work that I hadn’t authorised. They’ll never see me again.
It’s not rocket science is it, best service I’ve received is from a dealer where I bought a 4 grand Himalayan.

 

[Schtum]

I've used John Clark Dundee for the past 30+ years with no issues brilliant when Brian Malcolm was there, however once I have got to know both the new sales and service teams things are as good now as they were then.

I've known Ryan Westwater and Andy Cromer for years as I used to moonlight in sales at weekends to destress from my day job in Child Care and Protection.
I take it you've not met the Sales Manager from Aberdeen? I went into Dundee recently and he was sitting behind the desk as it was Ryan's weekend off.
He couldn't have been more disinterested. I raised it with Ryan recently and he said, "He doesn't have many dealings with customers."

As I understand it, the majority of JC's bike sales in both Dundee and Aberdeen are now on the Internet to buyers in England. So they don't have to try very hard
at the face-to-face customer relations bit. That was what I enjoyed the most during the years I worked there and in Motorrad Central and Douglas Park.

 

[turpin]

camerons? agree that brian malcolm was a decent sort.

Correct. Brian was good never had any issues with him at all.

 

[turpin]

I've known Ryan Westwater and Andy Cromer for years as I used to moonlight in sales at weekends to destress from my day job in Child Care and Protection.
I take it you've not met the Sales Manager from Aberdeen? I went into Dundee recently and he was sitting behind the desk as it was Ryan's weekend off.
He couldn't have been more disinterested. I raised it with Ryan recently and he said, "He doesn't have many dealings with customers."

As I understand it, the majority of JC's bike sales in both Dundee and Aberdeen are now on the Internet to buyers in England. So they don't have to try very hard
at the face-to-face customer relations bit. That was what I enjoyed the most during the years I worked there and in Motorrad Central and Douglas Park.

I have bought bikes from both Andy and Ryan and found both provided a good service. Never met the bod from Aberdeen but there's always a first time for everything!

Changing tack slightly when I first bought a BMW it was from Coombes of Guildford, David Hopgood or hoppy sales/service manager they were first class as was the shop prior to being called Bahnstormers now in Alton? They were based in Aldershot then, always done a good job serving my old RS.