[G33]

Originally Posted by wafik

Finally something Kin! I remember telling you everything from day one! Yeah nothing was done about the car been handed back with 2miles left on the fuel range....not to mention the tyre that was sent to be examined....

yeh mate i wud not be a happy chappy if i was going though what you are... especially coming from a premium marque just just dont expect it. i dont frequent Kia forums but i believe u might get better service from one of them
anyhow it seems that this is what it taken to get a decent response from BMW Sytner and hopefully Harold Wood to get your car fixed. better still id prefer a buy back after the shit thats gone on inside your car. hate it when people start ripping your car apart and having unkown person(s) thrashing driving it about

thatll teach you for buying a poseur vert

[Steve748]

I wonder if the dealer is having financial problems?

Not paid for their stock and BMW UK are not happy with them and have withdrawn support?

[Speedbird-E92]

I hope they sort it out for you wafik,

I had an terrible experience with Sytner Harold Wood aswell. My car was a used vehicle but was problematic from day one,its a long story, Clutch failure, Ecu failure, Reving on its own, Door handle problems. I asked for an exchange after the car broke down in the car park outfront with one of their engineers in the car, but they refused and said they could only offer a favourable trade in. When the car broke down everyone vanished and they left the receptionist to deal with me. Poor woman, she should be in charge as she was more help than any of the others.

We was that desperate to get rid of the thing in the end that we agreed and i lost all my deposit that i had put down on the original car just eight months earlier. Once the finance is paid up on this one i will not be going back. Its a shame because i thought that buying a BMW from a main agent would be Safe experience, this has not been the case for me.

My car is only of small value compared to your fine vehicle, but service is service and i hope your problem is resolved better than mine was.

Good Luck my friend

Simon

[wafik]

Originally Posted by Starship-E90

I hope they sort it out for you wafik,

I had an terrible experience with Sytner Harold Wood aswell. My car was a used vehicle but was problematic from day one,its a long story, Clutch failure, Ecu failure, Reving on its own, Door handle problems. I asked for an exchange after the car broke down in the car park outfront with one of their engineers in the car, but they refused and said they could only offer a favourable trade in. When the car broke down everyone vanished and they left the receptionist to deal with me. Poor woman, she should be in charge as she was more help than any of the others.

We was that desperate to get rid of the thing in the end that we agreed and i lost all my deposit that i had put down on the original car just eight months earlier. Once the finance is paid up on this one i will not be going back. Its a shame because i thought that buying a BMW from a main agent would be Safe experience, this has not been the case for me.

My car is only of small value compared to your fine vehicle, but service is service and i hope your problem is resolved better than mine was.

Good Luck my friend

Simon

Hi Simon, first of all congrats on your first post....

I am very sorry to hear about the service you have recieved from Syner Harold Wood....its clear i am not the only person who has recieved such a poor service, or should i say no service! You are right, service is service and they should resolve problems in a much more professional manor! Its amazing how they all vanish when theres a problem, but when you come to buy the car they are all at your service! I just dont understand why they cant take peoples feelings and frustrations in certain situations in to account?!?

Its a shame as they are the ones who will be losing out in the future i guess!

I hope all gets better for you in future purchases regardless of what make of car you chose next!

[atariboy]

Sorry to hear that you have had such bad luck. My E93 goes in to Dick Lovetts a week on Tuesday to have new seals fitted. They need 4 days so I will be making it clear when I taker the car in that the paintwork is immaculate and the alloys are unmarked and I will make a note of the mileage and I dont expect the car to leave the workshop until the work has been completed and I have signed it off as being satisfactory.
Its obvious that they have used your vehicle as a runaround which is totally disgusting and it is your car and not theirs. BMW technicians are supposed to be highly trained and knowledgable in all aspects of our vehicles.
I think its terrible the way the so called 'technicians' treat customers cars and £30,000 or £40,000 worth of customers equipment should be treated with care and consideration.
With so many complaints about this particular dealer, it may be worth contacting trading standards and having them investigated.
Anyway lets hope that your issues are sorted quickly.

[Gibbo]

I would make a list of all your issues and diarise when you went to the dealer and what was and wasn't resolved. You now have a manager who wants to listen and this will help him get quickly up to speed. Stick to the facts and be clear what you want from him when you speak to him so you can get to this solution as quickly as possible.

Sytner is a huge group and with that comes large resources to solve issues. They have fantastic buying power with BMW GB and that should not be underestimated for the ability to resolve problems.

I have brought a car from Syner a couple of years ago a new Boxster from Porsche Mid Sussex and they were have fantastic in all areas. I hope you get your car resolved in a favourable way. Get a face to face meeting with this regional manager and dealer principle have a cool head, keep to facts and a clear timely action plan I feel will get the best results.

[Speedbird-E92]

Originally Posted by wafik

Hi Simon, first of all congrats on your first post....

I am very sorry to hear about the service you have recieved from Syner Harold Wood....its clear i am not the only person who has recieved such a poor service, or should i say no service! You are right, service is service and they should resolve problems in a much more professional manor! Its amazing how they all vanish when theres a problem, but when you come to buy the car they are all at your service! I just dont understand why they cant take peoples feelings and frustrations in certain situations in to account?!?

Its a shame as they are the ones who will be losing out in the future i guess!

I hope all gets better for you in future purchases regardless of what make of car you chose next!

Cheers...I don't think i will change this one for a few years as they have taken all my money....

This site is fantastic, it can be a massive help to get your car problems aired and it makes you feel a little better. I hope it also helps other people think twice about which dealership to choose when purchasing a new car..

[Steve748]

interesting if you Google Sytner Harold Wood this thread comes top of the list

[XKaLiBaR]

Wafik, dude, I just read this whole thread whilst I was at the gym working out on the old iPhone!
I cannot believe what I am Reading. I thought the main reason for buying a brand new car was that you will have a mint and immaculate car with no problems or headaches. Also the fact that NO ONE else has driven it or farted in it.

I am upset with 2 parties here. First one being dealer taking the absolute piss with you and your car. How on earth they can't fix a simple leaking problem, is beyond me. The fact that they have inside your car aswell, ruined the fact that you bought a brand new car. Please tell me it was you at enfield car park last Sunday night and not one of idiots at sytner.

This is the very reason why never take my car to any dealer. You have no idea what spotted 17 year old kid is working on your car, even the older mechanics who don't give a crap and just do their job to get paid.
I am very lucky that I haves very trusted friend who owns a garage.

The other party I'm angry with is bmw themselves, who brought out the new hard top verts, to compete with all the other car manufactories. It's horrible in my opinion, why add an extra 250 kilos to a car? Soft top withthe option to add a hardtop will never get old. The e93 looks like vert trying to look like a coupe.

I hope this gets sorted mate, and they actually give you a new car.

[G33]

I complete agree with the above that is the reason why people buy new cars knowing that its NEW and UNUSED and not messed about with.

Give Wafik a new car!!!!

[atariboy]

Originally Posted by XKaLiBaR

The e93 looks like vert trying to look like a coupe.

Ouch, thats a bit steep. The E93 probably look more like its coupe brother than any other manufacturer. From the front, side and back, the only way you can tell a vert from the coupe is the 2 sets of lines on the roof and the rear brake light is positioned in the trunk rather than the rear screen. A couple of 6 footers can easily sit in the back and the front windscreen is isnt at a ridiculous angle like most other hard top verts that only have a two piece roof.
I agree that the handling is compromised and there is a seal problem that BMW are happy to acknowledge and have a fix for it but I think their effort at creating a hardtop convertible is the best on the market.
At least I dont have to worry about some thug slashing the roof to get inside.

Dont knock it until you've tried it.

[wafik]

Originally Posted by G33

I complete agree with the above that is the reason why people buy new cars knowing that its NEW and UNUSED and not messed about with.

Give Wafik a new car!!!!

yes exactly! Unfortunatly mine has been messed about with and they should give me a new car!!!!!

[Darren Edwards @ Sytner]

Hi Wafik

I am at Harold Wood as I type this and with Paul discussing your issues. We will call you a bit later on.

Darren

[flyfs6]

Good morning Darren. Thank you for your posts and for calling the dealership on Saturday. Much appreciated. Delivery went smoothly, and I'm pleased with the car. There are a number of minor issues some i've pointed out already and some I need to...will update once they've had a chance to make post sale contact.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by Darren Edwards @ Sytner

Hi Wafik

My name is Darren Edwards. I am the BMW Franchise Director (South) for Sytner Group. I found out about your situation yesterday evening and have spoken with Paul Fruen ( the Dealer Principal at Harold Wood) on the way home.

Please accept my public apology for the service you have received and let me assure you that now that I am aware of the situation it will be resolved quickly and to your satisfaction.

This is my first post on this forum, however I intend to become a regular and encourage other members to inform me personally if they have any problems with one of our dealers. I have read a few posts over the last few hours (whilst waiting for my registration to be confirmed) that include “perhaps the dealers should join this forum to see what we really think" I think that is an excellent idea. Obviously we do not set out to provide bad service, exactly the opposite in fact, but if we do- I want to know about it - and sort it.

I will call you personally on Monday, Wafik, and together with Paul and BMW UK we will resolve this.

I can assure members that I will not post commercially minded posts on here as that is against the spirit of forums (I post frequently on other motor related forums, so am conversant with the do's and don’ts)

Again, my apologies, look forward to speaking to you on Monday.

I would like to extend an official and public welcome to E90Post.com. Thank you for having the courage to deal with these issues in the public domain - it is very rare that a dealership will address issues such as these head on. I wish it had been done long ago when it was my car with the problems However, I commend any advancement in relations and customer service standards, and hope that Sytner's can work quickly to turn things around.


Tony

[Darren Edwards @ Sytner]

Thanks Tony.

I have arranged to meet Wafik tomorrow at the dealership with Paul the DP.
We will get his situation resolved.

As I said in my original post, I encourage users of this site to let me know of any issues they have with our dealers and I will personally ensure appropriate action is taken.

Look forward to working with you all to make your experience with Sytner a happy one

[Darren Edwards @ Sytner]

Hi flyfs6

Your welcome, I have asked Laurence the Sales Manager to make a follow up call today. Glad it went smoothly.

Darren

[wafik]

Thank you for the call today Darren, appreciate it and look forward to meeting you and Paul tomorrow.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by Darren Edwards @ Sytner

Thanks Tony.

I have arranged to meet Wafik tomorrow at the dealership with Paul the DP.
We will get his situation resolved.

As I said in my original post, I encourage users of this site to let me know of any issues they have with our dealers and I will personally ensure appropriate action is taken.

Look forward to working with you all to make your experience with Sytner a happy one

I am glad that Wafik's situation is moving forward swiftly. It is a shame however that it requires you Darren to get involved in something that should never have escalated to this stage. It is shameful that the dealer themselves have neither the responsibility or it appears the competence to come to a resolution of their own accord.

Your sentiments about working together are welcome - however I think it will take a lot more than a few words to reassure our forum members that the service standard and quality of work delivered at Sytner Harold Wood will be up to scratch, without your intervention.

Before we all jump on the 'happy experience' bandwagon, ensure that the existing problems are sorted out once and for all, ensure that the quality of work becomes of a standard, and then perhaps the 'happiness' will develop over time.

I cannot stress enough how disappointing the situation has been for all concerned so far, and for me to see this continuing two years on from my own issues with this dealership is worrying in the extreme. You have had a complete change of Management team in Service, and still the problem persists.

Quite apart from dealing with Wafik's issues, and potentially those of other members, how are you going to ensure that the shoddy service standard will be remedied? I appreciate that a lot of what you might want to say can't be mentioned on a public forum - we do, as a public collective, need to know though if there is going to be any chance of a sliver of confidence being restored in this particular dealership, and your dealer chain on a grander scale.

[Darren Edwards @ Sytner]

can answer your points as you have raised them...

I agree the situation should not have escalated to the stage it has, now that I have become involved and am in possession of the full facts I can see where things have gone wrong and have had a good discussion with Paul and members of his team regarding actions to be taken now and in the future to ensure we avoid any repeat.

Agree, actions speak louder than words and time will tell, but I am confident that service and workmanship levels will improve- it is Paul's number one priority and progress is being made in certain areas.

Changes in management: We have an ongoing programme which we are working through which I will PM you about- I am confident that when this programme is completed the service level at HW will be where it needs to be.

It is worth stating here though, that not all experiences at HW are as per Wafik's, the team do get it right more often than not, the challenge though is to ensure when things go awry that they are dealt with in a pro- active and empathetic way- and yes there is plenty of room for improvement on that front.

We have 14 BMW franchises in the UK in 15 outlets. In 2008 the vast majority achieved customer service levels in the top half of the UK ranking and a number in the top quartile. In fact the number one MINI dealer in the UK for customer satisfaction was a Sytner Dealer and the number 2 BMW Dealer in the UK for customer satisfaction was one of ours as well. So we can and do deliver outstanding customer service - my job is to ensure that this is consistent across all of our dealerships.

I am at a different dealership now, and need to get on with my to-do list so unlikely to post for the rest of the day, but feel free to PM me.


Cheers
Darren

[E92Fan]

To let forum members know, I have just had a long, detailed and ultimately positive discussion with Darren on the telephone. We covered a lot of the historical details that went awry and Darren explained to me the steps that Sytner are taking to develop Harold Wood and to make it a (positively) reputable service centre. The details will remain private as it involves ongoing development of the dealership - it is much more positive than I hoped for so I am glad that we, as a forum, have managed to bring certain details to greater light.

I note Darren's comments above about other Sytner dealers. The majority of posts currently concerning Sytner have been limited to one or two dealerships, and such as is the nature of forums there is bound to be more negativity shown than positive support. However, that is not to say that these problems necessarily exist in the minority - for a dealership to have such a history of poor work is worrying and I know that it is not just limited to Wafik's car, or mine previously.

I can only hope that Darren and his team do manage to turn Harold Wood around, and that other Sytner dealerships are also of sufficiently high standard. I am sure that we will hear if they are anything but. I appreciate it will take time to change the current public perception that we have towards Harold Wood and nothing is a quick fix. For the moment, my views on the dealership are as I've always had - perhaps in future my stance will soften and will become more supportive.

I look forward to hearing more positive things about Sytners over the coming months. Darren, I wish you luck!

[MEGA]

As a young and relatively new blood in terms of dealing with dealerships, I've had mixed experiences so far. But I've not seen such direct customer input on a public scale as this and Darren you should be thanked and applauded for being the first. I hope you can sort Harold Wood, from my point of view based on the net I'd now make sure I never use them. What you are doing though is making me more confident its not the chain and just the individual dealer thats at fault.

Anyway, in a sentance: Fair play for coming here to talk with people directly. I hope Wafik is sorted and that the people responsible for the mess are pulled into line for it.