How Long until Delivery.

[PowderkegPete]

Sounds to me like your dealer has some kind of problem with BMW NA and perhaps with other dealers. There are three BMW dealers within 40 miles of where I live and all of them have GS and GSA models in stock. Why your dealer couldn't or wouldn't work a trade with another dealer is known only to your dealer. But, you know, the beauty of the marketplace is that one can demonstrate their disapproval of whatever status quo they experience by voting no confidence with their feet and wallet. When I was unable to get the new R1200R I wanted from any of my area dealers without having to order and wait several months, I bought a new Ducati Monster 1100S with which I am thrilled. BMW's loss was Ducati's gain. I'm not POed at BMW NA or my local dealers. They know that an essential rule of the marketplace is: 'you can't sell what you don't have.' Exercise your consumer power. Don't let any seller hold you hostage to a bunch of BS and non-responsiveness. Make sure your first loyalty is to your wallet, not a brand or dealer.

Pete

[Rudyjo]

I would go back to the dealer and explain that you have waited 5 months and
would like to do business with him, but if he can't have the bike ready to be
delivered to you within a month, you will cancel the order.

[dwestly]

Agree. Bikes are available and the dealer should be working to satisfy you, not the other way around. Get them to pony up or take the business elsewhere...

[Motodan]

See my earlier post. Send me a PM and I 'll tell you where the GSAs you want
(color and options) are located.

[MAYLETT]

You know, this whole thread illustrates something that I've concluded over the past year, but have been hesitant to spend much time talking about on this forum. I bought my first BMW motorcycle last year, and expected a very different (and better) kind of customer service experience than I've received from BMW.

Whether it's BMW Motorrad, their North American operations, the dealerships or the entire system, I don't know, and the exact reasons don't really matter all that much to me. What does matter is that, as much as I've liked my RT, my experience has been that I bought a bike from a company that really doesn't care all that much about its customers, and that seems a bit clueless about the fundamentals of good public relations. And this seems to be true from the big things all the way down to the minor, trivial annoyances and poor communications.

Sure, there are all kinds of reason why a factory order for a motorcycle should take months, and there are reasons why a dealership might be unable to secure a requested motorcycle faster. However, a company with a clear focus on serving its customers would put a priority on correcting the causes of these problems and finding workarounds to keep them and one-off glitches from affecting their customers and their customer's opinions on the company and its products.

For example, could their be a better public relations gesture than for a senior executive at BMW, after having been made aware of this thread by subordinates assigned to monitor social media, to make a personal call to the original poster to apologize for the order delay and offering an expedited solution? If this or anything like it happens, however, I'll be surprised. Instead, BMW will likely just remain aloof, seemingly not care, let the problem fester and, ultimately, contribute even more to their reputation for bad customer service.

[deilenberger]

For example, could their be a better public relations gesture than for a senior executive at BMW, after having been made aware of this thread by subordinates assigned to monitor social media, to make a personal call to the original poster to apologize for the order delay and offering an expedited solution? If this or anything like it happens, however, I'll be surprised. Instead, BMW will likely just remain aloof, seemingly not care, let the problem fester and, ultimately, contribute even more to their reputation for bad customer service.

That actually does happen on occasion - but how would you have the BMW-Motorrad representative contact the OP. He would have no name, no location, nothing to identify the chap by except the user ID "14348"

I suspect they would need a bit more then that to go on..

[Motodan]

That actually does happen on occasion - but how would you have the BMW-Motorrad representative contact the OP. He would have no name, no location, nothing to identify the chap by except the user ID "14348"

I suspect they would need a bit more then that to go on..

How?

By having an intern at BMW NA looking at pending orders on a regular basis (not reviewing forums like this one) and going into action based on a certain expectation threshold. Lets say management sets a 90 day threshold. When an order reaches the 90-day mark (in, lets say, a current 60-day delivery environment), they contact the dealer, then if necessary, the customer, to update them on why there is a delay and what to expect.

As a saleperson, for BMW, I constantly receive notifications from our representative that there is a potential customer (someone who has visited a BMW site and indicates they want to be contacted). Of course this is to sell them something, not to help them understand a process or other out-of-the-ordinary problem(s).

I have to agree. If BMW can follow up on someone who checks an online box, stating they might want to purchase a bike in the next 12 months, they should damn well be able to check an already pending (money no doubt on deposit) order list. Appears to be a misunderstanding of fundamental customer service concepts on BMW's part, given such a situation.

Than again, if OP is following up with dealer on same level of openness and detail as he is here...no wonder there's a communication gap.

[MAYLETT]

That actually does happen on occasion - but how would you have the BMW-Motorrad representative contact the OP. He would have no name, no location, nothing to identify the chap by except the user ID "14348"

I suspect they would need a bit more then that to go on..

Well, that's a legitimate problem for BMW, of course. And I have no idea about the specifics of this particular problem other than what's been said here. My comments were really meant to be less about that and more about what seems, from the outside looking in, to be BMW Motorrad's corporate culture of not being particularly customer-centric.

It seems especially puzzling to me given that they pay a good deal of attention to protecting and developing the integrity of their visual brand yet pay seemingly little attention to branding as it relates to end-customer satisfaction and general public perception of BMW Motorrad being a customer-oriented organization.

For a company more dependent than most on upscale image and customer loyalty, this seems like a strategic flaw. Companies whose internal cultures are more customer-centric pay a good deal more attention to developing internal processes that, first, head off common and/or recurrent sorts of customer complaints before they have a chance to fester and, second, actively and aggressively tackle the one-off problems as they arise in order to maintain and foster a reputation of being responsive to their family of loyal customers. This just does not seem to be a priority for BMW.

[DARKCLOUD]

OK so you get ahold of BMWNA with your problem, then they tune up the dealer. The dealer will figure out who went over their head, and you are going to get treated like crap. What recourse do you have?

JON

[deilenberger]

And do we know if the original dealer actually placed the order? I don't.

With the limited info we have - we have very little in the way of factual info to base criticism of what BMW-Motorrad has or hasn't done. We do have indications that for some reason or another (and we don't know why) - the dealer isn't busting their nut to satisfy the original poster.

Bashing anyone - BMW/Motorrad, the BMW dealer, the OP is simply Interwebz speculation at this point.

[14348]

I have dealt with this dealer for almost 20 years - they are VERY customer oriented. However, (there is always a however isn't there). There have been for years a problem between the dealer and BMWNA. Now it's come down to the fact that myself and others have placed deposits on bikes with this dealer, and BMWNA doesn't want to fill the orders. I have been told to go to another dealer by BMWNA. The dealer has reviewed what's in the warehouse, and there isn't a bike with the options I've asked for. Further, I've been told by a couple of other BMW dealers they are reluctant to do dealer trades on the GS Adventure because BMW wants to limit the production on the 2010 model, and they don't know if they can get enough to satisfy their own customers needs.

I'm fairly easy to get along with, and have called BMWNA. Like I said, I was told specifically the first time that I called, that if I wanted the particular model, to, "Buy it from another dealer." End of conversation, have a nice day. The 2nd time I called, I was informed that "Production had been stopped on the R1200GS Adventure, and I would have to take what ever bike they had in inventory." That was in early April. It wasn't until after I said, "Well, before I do that, I'll buy brand X or brand Y from the dealer. At least I know that Brand X and Brand Y supports this dealer."

I guess it's all a moot point, the bike is "...supposedly coming off the production line June 2 or 4, and should be shipped to the US in July." Well, so much for planning any vacation time...

Ok, fair enough - now for the rub - the very next day (May 7), a 20yr old blond twink driving her mommy's Cadillac Sedan Deville decided to defy the laws of physics, and have said Caddy occupy the same space I was occupying on my 2001 R1100SLA. The S was destroyed, and I was pretty well bruised up. The right cylinder literally save me from massive crushing injuries to my right leg. Fire Rescue, EMS, and the local PD were amazed I was alive. She made a left hand turn from the center lane of a 3 lane one-way street. Only problem is, she was flapping her jaws on her cell phone, wasn't paying attention to the fact that I was in the left hand lane next to her. Bystanders were saying "Wow, I saw it happen, I don't believe he's alive." To which I retorted, "Sorry to disappoint you that I'm not dead, now excuse me while I call my wife."

Not that any of this makes a **** bit of difference. I guess bad luck just follows me. For what it's worth, my tag 14348 is my BMWMOA membership number from when I joined the MOA in 1978.

End of story - end of thread - I appreciate everyone's comments, and fully understand and appreciate that the "OP" is an ******* and must be his fault he can't get BMW to deliver a bike without waiting 7 months.

[deilenberger]

End of story - end of thread - I appreciate everyone's comments, and fully understand and appreciate that the "OP" is an ******* and must be his fault he can't get BMW to deliver a bike without waiting 7 months.

I'll have to respect your opinion on the OP.. as I said - I felt we didn't know enough to really form any opinions. (Tongue firmly in cheek..)

As far as it being your fault - the only "fault" I can see is you have remained loyal to a dealer with a troubled relationship with BMW.

I don't actually see that as a fault, but it does present you with the dilemma of seeking another dealer if you wanted the bike more quickly, or accepting that it was going to take some time if you wanted this specific bike from this specific dealer.

Damn shame about your SLA.. Glad to hear you weren't injured.

[MAYLETT]

With the limited info we have - we have very little in the way of factual info to base criticism of what BMW-Motorrad has or hasn't done.

We certainly don't have both sides of the story, but taking the original poster at his word, he contacted BMW of North America several times without receiving the explanations, appreciation or treatment he felt entitled to as a BMW customer.

Again, taking him at his word, this constitutes not one, but a series of customer-service/marketing failures and missed opportunities. Whether it was the dealer, BMWNA or both, doesn't matter — the outcome is the same: an upset customer who feels shafted, dissed and underappreciated by BMW and who is sharing his frustration with a forum full of BMW customers and potential customers (their prime demographic group).

From my experience and observation, BMW's customer service isn't terrible — it's just that it's painfully average and unexceptional. These sorts of stories, like the one from 14348, are just all too common. BMW is an upscale brand built around an image of quality. Public perceptions of only average customer service undermines their brand's reputation. Based on both my own experience and paying attention to the experiences of others over the past year, for some inexplicable reason, BMW seems just a bit oblivious to this basic marketing principle, and I find that baffling.

[Motodan]

I reverse myself to an extent. BMWNA did tell this OP what was going on during his first contact with them. Appears they told him to run - run to a different dealer!

BMW isn't going to tell him the exact reason for them saying - run, but if it were me they wouldn't have to. Makes sense they'd have self imposed limits on what they'll say about their distribution network. I know one dealer, right now, who can't get bikes or parts from BMW without paying, in full, up front. This dealer might be in the same boat...instead of telling potential customers about such a situation, they just keep going through the motions of securing a unit. Would keep what reputation they have (had) in place, for at least a while longer.

Hope posting your limited detailed (one side of the) story, gets the bike to you eventually...and you heal 100%.

[DARKCLOUD]

Take a look at Trader on line. 34-2010 R1200GS's. Go figure. Call Honz at Gateway BMW. If he can't get you the GS you want and ship it to your house nobody can.

Jon

If you have a deposit on the bike I'dd get the money and run. JON