Vines Guildford or Bahnstormer?

[Rasher]

It's simple really, get a written quote then you know exactly where you stand

I do not like having to get everything in writing and arrange for some legal document to confirm that the guy in the shop is not talking utter bollox.

It seems to me franchised dealers just cannot resist trying to rip you off at every opportunity, which is very short sighted as by gaining £55 they have possibly stopped me spending thousands over the next few years.

I really do like my bike, but with every BMW dealer I have had dealings with telling bare faced lies I will be avoiding them as much as possible and I am highly unlikely to buy another one, a bit of honesty and I may have kept up BMW servicing, paid for extended warranty and possibly upgraded to a new(er) bike at a later date or my partner may have considered buying a smaller BMW when passing her test.

The BMW dealers I have dealt with can save their precious paper and not need to put anything in writing as I will certainly go independant for all future servicing on the BMW, even if it means a trip to manchester to Adventure Bike Warehouse, and as someone else pointed out for the NOG's £400 services I can get a weekend away in a top hotel as well as the service for less!

 

[Beemerman59]

That's where I went wrong, taking someones word! I am so last century

Rasher mate, it's you whose making all the complaints about dealers including not honouring verbal quotes and insinuating that you are lying about them when questioning an invoice - just offering a suggestion that might help you in the future

 

[mark2jag]

That'll be BRACKNELL then, not Bagshot pleeassee!

Oops sorry Surrey yes quite right it is classed as Brackhell,lol

 

[RichieS]

Vines or Bahnstormers.....

used 'em both for servicing. bahnstormers marginaly cheaper but then further away.
Bought 5 bikes from Vines. Never the cheapest, but a get a good service from them.
It's not so much when a problem occours, but how the dealership deals with it.

So far so good with Vines on that front

I'd go and have a chat with both. You will, no doubt, get a feel for the one you like the most

 

[Rasher]

I'd go and have a chat with both.

Make sure you wear a wire and tape the bloody conversation

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

I do not like having to get everything in writing and arrange for some legal document to confirm that the guy in the shop is not talking utter bollox.

It seems to me franchised dealers just cannot resist trying to rip you off at every opportunity, which is very short sighted as by gaining £55 they have possibly stopped me spending thousands over the next few years.

I really do like my bike, but with every BMW dealer I have had dealings with telling bare faced lies I will be avoiding them as much as possible and I am highly unlikely to buy another one, a bit of honesty and I may have kept up BMW servicing, paid for extended warranty and possibly upgraded to a new(er) bike at a later date or my partner may have considered buying a smaller BMW when passing her test.

The BMW dealers I have dealt with can save their precious paper and not need to put anything in writing as I will certainly go independant for all future servicing on the BMW, even if it means a trip to manchester to Adventure Bike Warehouse, and as someone else pointed out for the NOG's £400 services I can get a weekend away in a top hotel as well as the service for less!

Some people you just can't help

 

[Beemerman59]

I do not like having to get everything in writing and arrange for some legal document to confirm that the guy in the shop is not talking utter bollox.

It seems to me franchised dealers just cannot resist trying to rip you off at every opportunity, which is very short sighted as by gaining £55 they have possibly stopped me spending thousands over the next few years.

I really do like my bike, but with every BMW dealer I have had dealings with telling bare faced lies I will be avoiding them as much as possible and I am highly unlikely to buy another one, a bit of honesty and I may have kept up BMW servicing, paid for extended warranty and possibly upgraded to a new(er) bike at a later date or my partner may have considered buying a smaller BMW when passing her test.

The BMW dealers I have dealt with can save their precious paper and not need to put anything in writing as I will certainly go independant for all future servicing on the BMW, even if it means a trip to manchester to Adventure Bike Warehouse, and as someone else pointed out for the NOG's £400 services I can get a weekend away in a top hotel as well as the service for less!

For gawds sake Rasher, stop whinging and do a bit of doing. Would you take out your insurance without a written quote? No, of course you wouldn't. You're the one that is dealer paranoid so sort out your problem and get a written quote. It ain't rocket science and it ain't difficult. Dealers won't get pissed off with you asking for a quote but they will get pissed off with you slagging them off in public because you couldn't be arsed to make due diligence. And then you carry on complaining because of the way you get treated....well surprise surprise. Try treating others in the way you would expect to be treated yourself and you may become a happier person in life.

 

[BBB61]

Fuuny how he quotes NOG at £400 for a service when they quoted me £300 for the same service. But then we have seen he is all speculation and no substance.

 

[karlp]

Rasher

The only way I can see you getting a cheap service it to find someone else to book it in for you.

Are you sure they are charging for just the service or does it include an hourly rate to cover potential whinging about the work undertaken.

If I do not want a job it gets over priced - maybe this is what is happening

 

[Steptoe]

I can't see why not ...its a fixed schedule of work and each dealer will do hundreds per year so know exactly how long it should take. ......

Some bikes have all sorts of extras/accessories fitted that removing and replacing can add considerable time to the job, even more so if the person who fitted them has used fasteners made from cheese or cross threaded any fittings.

 

[Loiq]

Some bikes have all sorts of extras/accessories fitted that removing and replacing can add considerable time to the job, even more so if the person who fitted them has used fasteners made from cheese or cross threaded any fittings.

saw a bike at a dealer a while ago it had everything TTuk make bolted on plus some other crap.... and the service tech who was just checking something for me said it would take atleast 2 hours just to strip the shit off.... Obviously he didn't use the word shit he called them accessories....

so what's that workout to be 50-60 per hour x2 (get the crap off) service plus x2 50-60 to bolt that crap back on..... test it to make sure it's safe cos now BMW are responsible for it's fitting....

Well done.... cos that's genius....

 

[Beemerman59]

Some bikes have all sorts of extras/accessories fitted that removing and replacing can add considerable time to the job, even more so if the person who fitted them has used fasteners made from cheese or cross threaded any fittings.

True - good point. Luckily most of my bling doesn't affect the servicing apart from a crudcatcher that has to come off for the Alternator belt...but as thats every 24K I can live with that. Oh well, I'm just glad I pay myself for doing it all.

 

[Rasher]

Try treating others in the way you would expect to be treated yourself and you may become a happier person in life.

I do, I have been honest, I never lied about the age of my bike, the work it required or been in any way misleading, I use lots of other vendors for both bike and non bike related goods and services that I am extremely happy with - and I give praise where due (MCT, Chainspeed, Shiny Biker, Hein Gerricke Oxford, Carole Nash & many more)

I have never considered that asking for a basic service price was so fraught, and in my experience this has not been the case in the past with other dealers.

I really do not make this shit up, if the price had been as quoted I would have been happy, maybe if a mistake or oversight had been made with my verbal quote I may have also been OK about it, but it was not open for discussion, the attitude was "shut up and pay up".

I also have no idea why NOG quote £100 less to other owners had they quoted me £300 for the whole job I may well have used them, however they did not. Perhaps this is part of "forming a relationship with your dealer" people bang on about and I have not hit the £20k previous expenditure required to get fair pricing.

And I must admit I do have a paranoia that dealers will not do the job properly and this has been enforced just yesterday...

I have a full dealer service history showing the FD oil being changed at 3.5k, a few months back Steptoe changed it at around 7.5k and what came out was filthy black and the magnetic sump plug was full of swarfy sludge.

I drained the oil he put in yesterday after a similar mileage had been covered (3.6k to be precise) and the oil came out pretty clean and there was no sludge or swarf on the drain plug, this really does make me wonder if it was really changed at 3.5k, or the mechanic did not bother

Perhaps rather than keep re-designing the FD's BMW should check up on the quality of work done by their dealers? Now I can't be 100% sure they did not do the work, but the uncertainty is enough to put me off.


I think from now on it is a mixture of home servicing and competent independant for me

 

[Steptoe]

said it would take atleast 2 hours just to strip the shit off.... Obviously he didn't use the word shit he called them accessories....

...

Shite is the word used in the greasy well thumbed workshop manual.

Accessories is the shiney "hook'em and reel'em in" brochure version.

 

[skywalker]

Shite is the word used in the greasy well thumbed workshop manual.

Accessories is the shiney "hook'em and reel'em in" brochure version.

Eloquently put dear Steppers. "Crap" is the more commonly used word oop north!!