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Post by Martin on Jan 28, 2020 22:17:44 GMT
I was in the roadworks, just about to turn off into Stafford services at 9:30 tonight and there’s a light bang around the back of the car. I quickly checked the tyres pressures and all OK, but then it started to slowly go down, only from 2.7 to 2.0 by the time I parked but when I got out of the car I could hear the air escaping.....
I’m 60 miles from my destination, so too far to drive on the RFTs and where the hole is looks repairable and I know that if I drive on it it’s unlikely it will get repaired and it’s unlikely anywhere will have winter RFTs in stock.
So I called BMW, who were apologetic about the inconvenience (not their fault) and to cut a longish story short, they’re going to recover it to a service centre, get me to the hotel and sort a hire car. For a puncture!
They asked about my plans for tomorrow and I said I’d planned to leave the hotel at 8am for a meeting. He said that if they can’t get me a car in time they’ll sort a taxi. I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but at least I’m warm/dry and Costa is open, knackered though, I left home just after 5am this morning.
Too early to say really, but impressed with their (promised) service so far.
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Puncture!
Jan 28, 2020 22:27:16 GMT
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Post by LandieMark on Jan 28, 2020 22:27:16 GMT
Bearing in mind it really isn't their fault. You had a puncture, the customer service is bloody good.
5am is earlier than my farming day starts so you have my sympathy.
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Post by Martin on Jan 28, 2020 22:30:39 GMT
Bearing in mind it really isn't their fault. You had a puncture, the customer service is bloody good. 5am is earlier than my farming day starts so you have my sympathy. Yes, not their fault at all. The very best I hoped for was the car taken to the hotel. |
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Post by Martin on Jan 28, 2020 23:15:20 GMT
Car getting loaded up to be taken to the local BMW dealer now, taxi due in 15mins which will take me to the hotel. Another one booked for 8am to take me to a meeting and Enterprise should be delivering a car to that location around 10am. Hopefully that all works and Knights get it sorted really quickly so I can pick it up in the afternoon on the way past rather then getting it delivered to home.
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Puncture!
Jan 28, 2020 23:41:14 GMT
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Post by LandieMark on Jan 28, 2020 23:41:14 GMT
Call me cynical, but I struggle to see that they would provide the same service to a 116i owner.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2020 23:43:02 GMT
Nice if you can get it no doubt.
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Post by johnc on Jan 29, 2020 6:20:33 GMT
I have only had to use that service once, when a front spring broke on my 335D and I found them equally brilliant - they delivered me a 530D touring to use.
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Post by PetrolEd on Jan 29, 2020 8:53:58 GMT
Wow, what fab customer service. Of course, totally unnecessary if they'd have just provided a bloody spare in the first place.
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Post by Martin on Jan 29, 2020 9:00:32 GMT
Wow, what fab customer service. Of course, totally unnecessary if they'd have just provided a bloody spare in the first place. True, but I’ve got winters on so wouldn’t have been great putting a spare on. Taxi arrived at the hotel at 8am as promised and Enterprise called me before then to arrange a car. They’re dropping it off at the offices I’m working from today. All I need now is for the puncture to be repairable and I’ll be happy. |
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Post by johnc on Jan 29, 2020 9:36:12 GMT
All I need now is for the puncture to be repairable and I’ll be happy. I hate to tell you but the recommendation for runflats is that they should not be repaired, only replaced. Years ago I had a spate of punctures, replaced two tyres and then got a puncture on one of the new ones. BMW refused to repair it even though it was only a slow puncture and my constant blowing it up meant that it never ran more than a couple of psi below recommended, at worst. I found an independent who repaired it and I never had any problems. However the problem is they can't tell if there has been structural damage on a runflat so they won't repair even though you know you didn't run it for any distance when it was flat. |
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Post by PG on Jan 29, 2020 11:26:17 GMT
Great service from BMW. Hopefully they'll repair the tyre. Otherwise I hope that they don't find they can't match the tyre and so you have to have a pair of tyres..... Call me cynical, but I struggle to see that they would provide the same service to a 116i owner. You awful cynic you...... |
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Post by Martin on Jan 29, 2020 12:33:36 GMT
It can’t be repaired so it needs a rear pair, but as the fronts are getting close to the limit for winters (I was expecting to replace all 4 before next winter anyway), I’m in for 4 new ones. They’ve given me a price of £400+VAT for Pirelli’s! I can get Goodyear’s through Blackcircles for £215 each, so they’re looking at those. There are 2 Blackcircle fitters within 5 miles of the dealership so that’s an option if they can’t get to a decent price.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jan 29, 2020 12:39:59 GMT
Good to see the warm chamois treatment isn't exclusive to Lexus clients.
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Post by racingteatray on Jan 29, 2020 12:55:16 GMT
Good to see the warm chamois treatment isn't exclusive to Lexus clients. Funny, I was just thinking of that phrase of yours as I read this thread! |
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Post by PG on Jan 29, 2020 16:30:48 GMT
The other key question of course is does this count as a breakdown or a non-breakdown? Failure to reach destination and had to be recovered.....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2020 17:07:41 GMT
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Post by Martin on Jan 29, 2020 21:41:38 GMT
BMW were £250 more for a set of Dunlop’s than Blackcircles wanted for Goodyear’s. I wasn’t that impressed with the Dunlop’s on the 535d and the Goodyear’s are what BMW fit to my winter wheels, so that’s what I’ve gone for. The fitter is 3.5 miles away, so I’ll get some benefit from having RFTs.
Enterprise have given me a new 330i M Sport with M Sport Plus pack. They had to go and get it from Wrexham as all they had available was a MINI Cooper, because BMW insist they only supply one of their cars, they fine Enterprise if they don’t. They couldn’t get a anything bigger into them today.
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Post by johnc on Jan 30, 2020 10:00:10 GMT
My local BMW dealer used to be close to the best deals on tyres and as a consequence always got the job of supplying and fitting even if they were perhaps £10 a corner more expensive. However when we put new tyres on my wife's car last year they said they no longer tried to compete and they just used list price. I did manage to get some movement from them because the parts manager was very reasonable and whilst it was more expensive it wasn't massively so.
I don't know if this is a dealer specific policy or a BMW UK directive but it isn't going to help sales if servicing and other costs start to go through the roof. I know people who won't buy an Audi anymore because of the main dealer service costs and also people who won't buy Jaguar Land Rover because of the attrocious service (in Glasgow at least).
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Post by Martin on Jan 30, 2020 10:29:52 GMT
My local BMW dealer used to be close to the best deals on tyres and as a consequence always got the job of supplying and fitting even if they were perhaps £10 a corner more expensive. However when we put new tyres on my wife's car last year they said they no longer tried to compete and they just used list price. I did manage to get some movement from them because the parts manager was very reasonable and whilst it was more expensive it wasn't massively so. I don't know if this is a dealer specific policy or a BMW UK directive but it isn't going to help sales if servicing and other costs start to go through the roof. I know people who won't buy an Audi anymore because of the main dealer service costs and also people who won't buy Jaguar Land Rover because of the attrocious service (in Glasgow at least). They said they would price match within the local area, but not with Blackcircles. I'd have paid more for the convenience, especially as I'm going to end up leaving Stoke around 5pm and then have to drive to Swindon to pick the kids up on the way home.... But £250 or roughly 30% more is too much. |
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Post by Tim on Jan 30, 2020 10:56:09 GMT
My local BMW dealer used to be close to the best deals on tyres and as a consequence always got the job of supplying and fitting even if they were perhaps £10 a corner more expensive. However when we put new tyres on my wife's car last year they said they no longer tried to compete and they just used list price. I did manage to get some movement from them because the parts manager was very reasonable and whilst it was more expensive it wasn't massively so. I don't know if this is a dealer specific policy or a BMW UK directive but it isn't going to help sales if servicing and other costs start to go through the roof. I know people who won't buy an Audi anymore because of the main dealer service costs and also people who won't buy Jaguar Land Rover because of the attrocious service (in Glasgow at least). They said they would price match within the local area, but not with Blackcircles. I'd have paid more for the convenience, especially as I'm going to end up leaving Stoke around 5pm and then have to drive to Swindon to pick the kids up on the way home.... But £250 or roughly 30% more is too much. That's ridiculous given the widespread usage of online suppliers. They should've sourced the tyres from blackcircles and added on £15 each to get your business. |
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Post by Martin on Jan 30, 2020 10:58:46 GMT
They said they would price match within the local area, but not with Blackcircles. I'd have paid more for the convenience, especially as I'm going to end up leaving Stoke around 5pm and then have to drive to Swindon to pick the kids up on the way home.... But £250 or roughly 30% more is too much. That's ridiculous given the widespread usage of online suppliers. They should've sourced the tyres from blackcircles and added on £15 each to get your business. I suggested ordering them from blackcircles myself and getting them delivered to them, but they couldn't (wouldn't) do that. Would have left about £15 a tyre for fitting, which i'd have been OK with being double just for the convenience. |
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Post by Roadsterstu on Jan 30, 2020 15:06:35 GMT
Bloody hell. I had a puncture at work a few months ago, with no spare and holevway too big for the gunk. That stranded the car for 2 days and I had to get lifts to and from work. Sounds like top service from BMW.
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Post by ChrisM on Jan 30, 2020 15:14:34 GMT
Bloody hell. I had a puncture at work a few months ago, with no spare and holevway too big for the gunk. That stranded the car for 2 days and I had to get lifts to and from work. Sounds like top service from BMW. ... and you wonder why I insist that "my" car has a spare of some sort. I wouldn't want to be without a car for 2 days and/or be messed about with arranging to collect and drop off a loan car just because of a puncture. You may not need a spare very often, but when you do, it's generally absolutely essential |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jan 30, 2020 15:24:42 GMT
Bloody hell. I had a puncture at work a few months ago, with no spare and holevway too big for the gunk. That stranded the car for 2 days and I had to get lifts to and from work. Sounds like top service from BMW. ... and you wonder why I insist that "my" car has a spare of some sort. I wouldn't want to be without a car for 2 days and/or be messed about with arranging to collect and drop off a loan car just because of a puncture. You may not need a spare very often, but when you do, it's generally absolutely essential I've no idea where you would put a spare in my car or what size it would be as the wheels are staggered. It could be a space saver I suppose like I had on the Lexus but you've got to stop (and it's rarely in a safe place), put that on, find somewhere to stow the large, filthy, wheel you've taken off and then you've still got the problem of getting that repaired. Runflats have their disadvantages but the advantages outweigh them in my opinion - doubly so if my wife is driving the car alone. The last thing I want is her stranded with a flat tyre on some dark road in the middle of nowhere, or trying to change it with fast moving traffic passing within inches of her. A runflat gets her safely home and I can sort it at leisure. |
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Post by Martin on Jan 30, 2020 20:32:06 GMT
... and you wonder why I insist that "my" car has a spare of some sort. I wouldn't want to be without a car for 2 days and/or be messed about with arranging to collect and drop off a loan car just because of a puncture. You may not need a spare very often, but when you do, it's generally absolutely essential I've no idea where you would put a spare in my car or what size it would be as the wheels are staggered. It could be a space saver I suppose like I had on the Lexus but you've got to stop (and it's rarely in a safe place), put that on, find somewhere to stow the large, filthy, wheel you've taken off and then you've still got the problem of getting that repaired. Runflats have their disadvantages but the advantages outweigh them in my opinion - doubly so if my wife is driving the car alone. The last thing I want is her stranded with a flat tyre on some dark road in the middle of nowhere, or trying to change it with fast moving traffic passing within inches of her. A runflat gets her safely home and I can sort it at leisure. Completely agree. Although the Golf has a spare....but I’d make sure she called the RAC. Bit slow there Chris, I expected you to post that almost word for word much sooner! |
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Post by ChrisM on Jan 30, 2020 20:49:26 GMT
^
Have more important things on my mind, like trying to find another job... I'm not stuck in front of a computer most of the time, like when I was at work.
I also have some other serious stuff to try to contend with
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Post by Martin on Jan 31, 2020 15:54:25 GMT
Car collected just after 3pm from Knights North Staffordshire (huge showroom, shame I didn’t have more time), who have been excellent outside of not getting tyres for the right price. Brought me a coffee while I waited for them to bring the car around and gave me a bottle of water for the journey, They’d cleaned the car as well. Told me to drive carefully and call them if I had an issue driving to the tyre place and they would give me a follow up call tomorrow to make sure everything was OK.
Currently sat in the waiting room while I have the 4 new tyres fitted, should be done by 4:15. Then I’ve got the long track to Swindon and back home.
So nice to get back into my car.
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Post by Andy C on Feb 1, 2020 16:06:43 GMT
That is great service, but it would've been brilliant if they'd put you up in a Travelodge or Harben House  |
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Post by Martin on Feb 1, 2020 19:33:36 GMT
That is great service, but it would've been brilliant if they'd put you up in a Travelodge or Harben House Brilliant for who?! I already had acceptable accommodation booked! |
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Post by Andy C on Feb 1, 2020 21:25:35 GMT
That is great service, but it would've been brilliant if they'd put you up in a Travelodge or Harben House Brilliant for who?! I already had acceptable accommodation booked! For us  . Even without a hotel , hats off to bmw , and At least you know you’re well looked after should anything else happen going forward |
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. Even without a hotel , hats off to bmw , and At least you know you’re well looked after should anything else happen going forward