Complain about a product or service

Rosenthal Jaguar

Vienna, VA

Duane of Richmond, VA January 28, 2009

I recently purchased a 2007 BMW 328i from this dealer with 20,499 miles. There were a few malfunctions that I noted with the dealer, most notably the Parking Distance Control feature that alerts a driver to objects behind the car when in "Reverse". A PDC malfunction displayed on the car's navigation screen and instrument cluster when I put the car in reverse.

Their position was to take the car to an authorized BMW dealer (they are not one) and have the repairs addressed as the car is under factory warranty. I live in Richmond, VA about 2 hrs away, but bought the vehicle with that understanding. I took the car to local BMW dealer for service only to find out that the reason for the PDC malfunction was because an after market bumper (an incorrect one at that) had been installed on this car. My immediate reaction was frustration as to why the dealer did not disclose this imperfection with me since they included a Carfax report in the sales advertisement, but also what else was wrong with this car.

The local BMW dealer in Richmond was extremely helpful in inspecting the car with me only to find in addition to the bumper the car had been painted along the entire right side of the car. I immediately called Rosenthal and explained the situation that it hadn't even been 48 hrs after purchase that I'm finding out about the car's condition and their lack or awareness (or disclosure) about the car they sold me from their luxury dealership.

Over the course of that week I received an inconsistent response from the dealer as to how they would correct this problem. At this point, having felt somewhat betrayed, I was even considering the car outright as they did not block that option. I did however have BMW give an inspection of the car to evaluate any other flaws. Thankfully they did not, but I did ask BMW to provide a quote to what they would charge to return the car back to OEM specs. The estimate was roughly 2,000 without knowing the full extent to the damages to the sensors that would need to be installed. I shared this information with Rosenthal after they decided to run off and do their own "pricing" on replacing the bumper without consulting me or Richmond BMW first.

They refused to allow Richmond BWM to fix the car at their price, but offered a much lower price based on their cost savings with getting parts from elsewhere and doing the work in Vienna. Again, I'm 2 hrs away in Richmond, just bought the car, completely dissatisfied with product/service, and they are nickel and diming me with wanted to pay to fix the car at their price and their convenience.

I dealt with the GM, Roger W and his reaction was, "I'm not paying retail prices to fix this...I don't have to do anything about it as you bought the car." When I pointed out that the car was misrepresented at point of sale he disagreed, but when PDC function is advertised in the sale and it doesn't work I don't see his point (I also received legal counsel on this). How about "so sorry for our mistake...what can we do to correct this embarrassing situation and regain your trust as a customer." I was also unimpressed with his willingness to let the buck stop with him has he tried to put it back on the salesman who's trying to make a living. They would not concede letting Richmond BMW doing the car at their cost, and since I didn't want to come out of pocket an additional 1,000 dollars on a car I just bought to drive it in the current condition I agreed to let Rosenthal repair the car. I provided an email prior to my acceptance outlining conditions of my approval such as evidence they are using official BMW parts, car must meet my satisfaction, etc.

However, they were not very willing to agree to those terms. They did not make me feel easy as if I had caught them in a spot that they were not comfortable. I had already given them the benefit of dealing with me in a handshake manner and they failed on that account, so I needed everything captured in writing. Roger eventually replied with an email not speaking to my points exactly, but saying they'd fix the car. So, I drove up 2 hrs on my own time at my expense (ex. fuel, mileage to car, etc.) to allow them to fix the car. When I arrived I did not get a greeting from Roger to apologize, so bad customer experience in my opinion. My sales guy was on the hook for this one and he took te car for repair. Four hours later I had a repaired car and was ready to return to Richmond. My departure was one that resembled a we are now done with you from the dealership.

They didn't even have the decency to fill up the car with a tank of gas after I paid for fuel to drive up there on my Saturday off from work. Very poor customer experience overall, and I'm hoping they made up their minds very early on that I was not a repeat customer for them or any one of their 19 dealerships because I can affirm to that.

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