Vines Guildford

[JPE435]

Purchased a new RT from Vines Guildford having owned several new BMW cars I expected a similar level of customer service. The sales process was very good and the staff attentive. However the after sales has been appalling. Virtually impossible to get after sales to answer the phone, goes to an email system that isn’t responded to, even when trying to book a first service or enquire about a service plan. 3 ½ hours waiting around for a ‘while you wait’ first service. The original top case supplied with the bike had paint defects, replaced by another one that was even worse (they didn’t even check it). Reported a fault with the favourites button to after sales, told to speak to sales upstairs as they couldn’t help.

BMW Customer Care stepped in.

Returned for the second top case and favourites button module to be replaced necessitating another day off and ferry trip, on arrival booking could not be found with after sales criticising management for not telling them I was coming in!

Eventually the booking was found and the bike repaired but when it was handed back the side fairing panel had not been secured and popped off when I started the bike.

Will be looking for another dealer to look after the bike. Sales were fine but after sales, beware..

 

[theoneandonly]

i went to order some parts there , parked my well used GS outside , ordered my parts ,
came out to a salesman , who asked ...is this yours ? yes said i,
would you like to park it in the road says he , not on our premises .
oh ok, says i , just a moment , i went back in cancelled my order , got my money back , and stepped outside.
just checking with the salesman , you want me to park off the premises ?
yes he said .
i drove from where i was parked , and have never been back since .

 

[adventuredon]

i went to order some parts there , parked my well used GS outside , ordered my parts ,
came out to a salesman , who asked ...is this yours ? yes said i,
would you like to park it in the road says he , not on our premises .
oh ok, says i , just a moment , i went back in cancelled my order , got my money back , and stepped outside.
just checking with the salesman , you want me to park off the premises ?
yes he said .
i drove from where i was parked , and have never been back since .

Park lane i/Battersea is no different. Still waiting for a call back from May...

 

[ymfb]

I suggest you try the newish guys at Brockenhurst, considerably closer to IoW https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/balmerlawn/en/home.html it’s where I will be going if I buy another BMW. Not used them personally, but have visited and know others who have used them.

 

[DJ123]

I got my BikeTrak tracker fitted there as it was the closest BMW dealer to me authorised to fit it. Everything delivered ahead of time, called and booked in to have it done; explaining there will be a tracker sent with my name on it etc etc. Come the day to drop the Bike off and explain what's happening, their response "we don't have BikeTrak in stock we'll fit our own scorpion one (or whatever the make)", to which i had to push back and tell them i had one already delivered for me to be fitted. I left and called Biketrak to call them and sort it out as the dealership was not taking the information on board. The area sales manager is very good and got it sorted out, called me back and all was ok.
I dropped it off first thing in the morning and booked it in months ago - yet by 4pm the still hadn't fitted it and asked if they could keep it another day.......and it wasn't completed until 12pm the next day.
Then on collection i then had to ask for the Box & documents so i could register it all, as they were unaware i needed them.......

I wouldn't use them again TBH based on the last interaction and previous ones to that. Bahnstormer are further away but the service, IMO, is far better. I've also used North Oxford and they were equally good when it came to customer service and communication.

 

[OnHellas]

Not much has changed at Vines since 2003 then. I thought that they were appalling then and subsequent BMW dealers I used often proved not much better. An over inflated opinion of themselves and their products.
One of the things that put me off of the whole brand.

A shame as both the R1150GS Adv and the F800GS were good bikes.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I bought a brand new (pre registered) 650 XChallenge from them in Dec 2007
Bargain price of £3995 !!
Sales process was fine
Collected it in my van
Haven’t been back since
Does that count ?

 

[LockieP]

Purchased a new RT from Vines Guildford having owned several new BMW cars I expected a similar level of customer service. The sales process was very good and the staff attentive. However the after sales has been appalling. Virtually impossible to get after sales to answer the phone, goes to an email system that isn’t responded to, even when trying to book a first service or enquire about a service plan. 3 ½ hours waiting around for a ‘while you wait’ first service. The original top case supplied with the bike had paint defects, replaced by another one that was even worse (they didn’t even check it). Reported a fault with the favourites button to after sales, told to speak to sales upstairs as they couldn’t help.

BMW Customer Care stepped in.

Returned for the second top case and favourites button module to be replaced necessitating another day off and ferry trip, on arrival booking could not be found with after sales criticising management for not telling them I was coming in!

Eventually the booking was found and the bike repaired but when it was handed back the side fairing panel had not been secured and popped off when I started the bike.

Will be looking for another dealer to look after the bike. Sales were fine but after sales, beware..

Bahnstormer at Farringdon on the A32 are very good. About 30mins from Pompey.

 

[Santa-2512]

Bahnstormer at Farringdon on the A32 are very good. About 30mins from Pompey.

Erm ... No

Never again !

 

[richardbd]

Bahnstormer at Farringdon on the A32 are very good. About 30mins from Pompey.

I bought n RT from Vines nearly 10 years ago. Same experience as OP. Good sales. Appalling service. Been using Bahnstormer Alton ever since and have had three bikes from them. Historically they've been brilliant. Recently I'm beginning to have my doubts.

The best service I've had anywhere is WM Snell, Ducati Alton, where Neil, the old Bahnstormer bike valeter now works. They're exceptional. Not much help for fixing an RT though...

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

The best device I've had anywhere is WM Snell, Ducati Alton, where Neil, the old Bahnstormer bike valeter now works. They're exceptional. Not much help for fixing an RT though...

They're very good with Ducati though

 

[autogs]

I bought n RT from Vines nearly 10 years ago. Same experience as OP. Good sales. Appalling service. Been using Bahnstormer Alton ever since and have had three bikes from them. Historically they've been brilliant. Recently I'm beginning to have my doubts.

The best service I've had anywhere is WM Snell, Ducati Alton, where Neil, the old Bahnstormer bike valeter now works. They're exceptional. Not much help for fixing an RT though...

What's going wrong at bahnstormer rich?

Been using vines for years,never had a problem both buying many bikes or the service dept,go figure?
My s1000xr is going in on Tues for the big 18000 service,they want it 3 days but will give me a loan bike for the duration and just charge for 1 day.

Sent from my SM-A226B using Tapatalk

 

[scooter paul]

I’ve been a customer of both Vines and Bahnstormer Alton, in their various guises for decades. What I’ve noticed, in recent years, is the staff don’t seem to have the general knowledge about bikes, especially the mechanical aspects, as you’d hope for. I know this sounds like ‘blah blah back in my day’ but it’s true. Last summer I went in to enquire wether they had a battery in stock for my bike ( I needed one urgently) to be told ‘ I can’t tell you if you don’t know the vin number‘. Luckily the good folk at Haslemere Motorcycles looked it up in their Yuasa list. It was the same battery for all models, all years. A decent parts person would have known that.
And yes, Vines never return phone messages, ever.

 

[Kitsilano]

i went to order some parts there , parked my well used GS outside , ordered my parts ,
came out to a salesman , who asked ...is this yours ? yes said i,
would you like to park it in the road says he , not on our premises .
oh ok, says i , just a moment , i went back in cancelled my order , got my money back , and stepped outside.
just checking with the salesman , you want me to park off the premises ?
yes he said .
i drove from where i was parked , and have never been back since .

What this perectly illustrates is the detachment of 'corporate' sales training, from being able to understand the customer - an over-reliance upon corporate-speak and spreadsheets.

How different the outcome if the 'sales' guy had simply asked to hear just one of your many stories that had led up to the bike looking that way. 'Engagement' is the fist step in sales, or any relationship. No interest in genuinely understanding who his customer is, sadly.

 

[theoneandonly]

in their defense , my bike did look like a sack of shit , but it had many miles on the clock .
i used to be a Guzzi dealer , bikes with high mileages are to be celebrated not ostracized .

 

[G&T]

i went to order some parts there , parked my well used GS outside , ordered my parts ,
came out to a salesman , who asked ...is this yours ? yes said i,
would you like to park it in the road says he , not on our premises .

It costs 6x more to acquire a new customer than keep an existing or so the marketing texts tell us. Nevertheless when you have made a personal investment into that brand...the service/sales/accounts or whoever person of that brand really should understand why.

I would dearly have loved to have been you if I was told to do just that. It would have made ‘Oppenheimer’ seem like ‘Bambi’ after I’d finished with them.

 

[scooter paul]

in their defense , my bike did look like a sack of shit , but it had many miles on the clock .
i used to be a Guzzi dealer , bikes with high mileages are to be celebrated not ostracized .

At one time there’d be several ‘well used’ bikes parked up outside Vines. The staff used to organise trail rides and we’d all come back with GS’s covered in mud. Different times, different corporate attitude.

 

[ymfb]

Erm ... No

Never again !

I concur, Bahnstormer at Faringdon we’re not brilliant with my GSA and RT, I won’t be troubling them again. If you want/need a software update make sure you allow a lot of time as their internet connection is poor and they take a long time.

 

[ymfb]

They're very good with Ducati though

WM Snell are excellent, I’ve bought several bikes from them. Their after sales is excellent and why I drive by Moto Corsa at Winchester to get to Alton.

 

[LockieP]

I concur, Bahnstormer at Faringdon we’re not brilliant with my GSA and RT, I won’t be troubling them again. If you want/need a software update make sure you allow a lot of time as their internet connection is poor and they take a long time.

Well I stand well & truly corrected! I won’t be using Bahnstormer Alton again.