[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

To be fair, your experience is with a completely different bodyshop to the OP. Your experience of a bodyshop near you doesn't mean all Sytner bodyshop's across the country are crap...?

Quite true. I'll shut up now.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by zltm089

I think its good that Sytner has got a presence on this forum and apparently BMW UK does know about this forum aswell, to ensure that customers are getting excellent aftersales service...

Hopefully, BMW will understand that forums like this one has an influence on their sales figures and its members need to be looked after!

Every single other customer who uses their services "need to be looked after".

Whether they are using them to service their E30 or if they're placing an order for the latest E9x.

[Tippo]

Bet BMW UK only use forums more in a marketing research capacity rather than in an aftersales service capacity.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by Tippo

Bet BMW UK only use forums more in a marketing research capacity rather than in an aftersales service capacity.

My post here is not a direct response to you, Tippo, but is meant as a general observation to everyone active in this thread, and on previous threads about Sytner and general dealerships



You are quite correct in as much as BMW UK won't get involved with customer complaints directly. This forum has proved useful though in the past - the sage with the cracked wheels being a prime example.



However the same cynicism (perhaps deserved) of BMW UK cannot be held for the Sytner Group, fronted by Anneka, who have come onto this forum to deal with the initial problems with Sytner Harold Wood, and all in the public domain for everyone to see.

I have seen Sytner grow and develop since they joined the forum. Yes, they joined initially to effectively save their skin during Wafik's saga with Harold Wood. But even with the greatest amount of cynicism, it is hard to ignore the fact that Sytner have decided to tackle customer problems head on, in the public domain, on this forum.

I feel that Sytner, and Anneka by extension, deserves a lot of respect for having the balls to come on here, sign up, pay money, and put themselves directly in the firing line of all things bad (and good sometimes). Anneka was recruited by Sytner specifically to act as a liaison with this forum - she did not work for Sytner before this. From Sytner's point of view that is a sizeable investment and one that shows they really take their responsibilities and need for improvement very seriously indeed.

Most people on here know I have suffered directly from the incredibly unprofessional service at Sytner Harold Wood under the old management - and it were the problems at this dealership with Wafik's car that made their Franchise Director sign up and deal with the problem directly. I was certainly not a Sytner fan by any stretch, but I gave Darren the benefit of the doubt and helped him setup the Sytner presence on the forum. Privately, I was very cynical and thought that his idea of having a public presence to deal with issues head on would fail dramatically. And now to be honest, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Sytner have progressed a huge way from their initial steps on this forum and we are very lucky to have direct contact to the Sytner group of dealerships so that any problems that arise can be dealt with more effectively and proactively.

Credit has to be given to Anneka - in every instance that there has been a complaint about Sytner, she has gone to investigate and in almost all cases held her hands up as a representative of the company and said that she will arrange for whatever problem there is to be remedied. In these cases where Anneka starts to get involved, I think the customer concerned should give her a chance to help put things right. It is rare that someone cares enough to get involved directly, and most of the time she puts herself in the firing line with her colleagues. She fights a lot to help us forum members out but in almost every case provides a well thought out solution. Take advantage of it.

I agree that problems should never get to the stage where dealerships and service centres end up getting slagged off on a public forum like E90post. However we live in the real world and in this real world things don't go smoothly, and servicing and customer service will never be perfect. We benefit from Anneka being on here and being the public face of Sytner. I don't think anyone can fault her customer service at all, and I believe that so far she has not failed in helping to remedy any customer issues.

I agree that everyone, all customers of BMW, forum members or not, should receive the same level of customer service that we have on E90post. However that is not our fight - that is BMW UK's fight with all the various franchises that make up the UK dealer network. In saying that, we have the largest UK BMW dealer group as supporters of our forum, and they are being proactive in improving their customer service across all the various dealerships around the country. It won't be overnight, it will take time. But I think we should actually be a little grateful that there is at least one dealer network that appears to take their responsibilities seriously and is proactive in their approach to improve their own standards.

[ghosty]

+1
this is exactly the reason why i have decided to use the sytner group for work carried out on my car as opposed to another similarly distanced dealership. i think it makes a difference..

[Mud]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

Credit has to be given to Anneka - in every instance that there has been a complaint about Sytner, she has gone to investigate and in almost all cases held her hands up as a representative of the company and said that she will arrange for whatever problem there is to be remedied. In these cases where Anneka starts to get involved, I think the customer concerned should give her a chance to help put things right. It is rare that someone cares enough to get involved directly, and most of the time she puts herself in the firing line with her colleagues. She fights a lot to help us forum members out but in almost every case provides a well thought out solution. Take advantage of it.

Indeed she deserves a lot of respect from the forum members for sticking her head in the firing line and dealing with the issues.

She has even being replying to people on Sunday evenings!!

I now use Sytner HW because of the fact that Anneka is on the forum, even though there are 3 other dealerships much closer to me

[Mud]

Originally Posted by Tippo

Bet BMW UK only use forums more in a marketing research capacity rather than in an aftersales service capacity.

Really unfair and totally unjustified comment IMO.

Having spoken to her a few times recently I have seen how much effort she puts into trying to help all the members here with whatever the query maybe.

She went above and beyond to help me and I had never even used a Sytner dealer at that point, and even now she keeps an eye on things whenever I book my car in with High Wycombe to make sure I am happy with things.

[Anneka @ Sytner]

Thank you all for your kind comments. As Tony said my purpose is very simply to assist the members of this forum with any query or complaint that might reach these pages. I am essentially an initiative put in place by the whole of the Sytner BMW division to ensure that there is always someone to listen and assist if things go wrong.

It certainly can be a challenge to get the ball rolling at times but never have I spoken with a manager of this company that was not 100% committed to resolving any issue bought to their attention. We don't claim to be perfect but we'd like to be, and being a part of this forum helps us to eradicate our weaknesses and bring us closer to our goal; to be famous for delighting each and every one of our customers.

[zedman]

Originally Posted by Mud

Really unfair and totally unjustified comment IMO.

Having spoken to her a few times recently I have seen how much effort she puts into trying to help all the members here with whatever the query maybe.

She went above and beyond to help me and I had never even used a Sytner dealer at that point, and even now she keeps an eye on things whenever I book my car in with High Wycombe to make sure I am happy with things.

Quite a justified comment that Tippo made i think,

BMW UK - sole official importer of BMW's, also those who refused to consider replacing cracking wheels unless one spent 7k on legal or Watchdog got involved

Sytner - Independant franchisee of BMW UK who have cottoned on that getting forum posters onside will bring in more profit than it costs - essentially allowing both us and them to win....

[Tippo]

Originally Posted by Mud

Really unfair and totally unjustified comment IMO.

Having spoken to her a few times recently I have seen how much effort she puts into trying to help all the members here with whatever the query maybe.

She went above and beyond to help me and I had never even used a Sytner dealer at that point, and even now she keeps an eye on things whenever I book my car in with High Wycombe to make sure I am happy with things.

Er think you are confusing BMW UK themselves with Anneka from Sytner mate.

Nothing against Anneka and Sytner cause I have never used them. Hence my initial disappointment reading this thread as mentioned in my first entry.

[Mud]

Originally Posted by Tippo

Er think you are confusing BMW UK themselves with Anneka from Sytner mate.

Indeed I was, I thought it said BMW Sytner, on re-reading its obviously BMW UK.

[_Si_]

Only just seen this thread so a bit late really.
I had a few issues with my new car from Oldbury. Deep scratch in bumper and scratch across instrument console.
I told them about it, they took my car in, gave me a loan car for no money and scratched parts were replaced for new ones at BMW's cost.
Yes it was an oversight by them to deliver a car scratched but the service was second to none afterwards.
No complaints from me.

[becky bmw]

i to have been to bmw oldbury and will NEVER go there again,they have been so very bad with the service and even ripped me off with the car.

i brought my 1 series in 2007 and it was my worst mistake ever,they told me i am paying a high amount as im contracted for 2 years only but i have since found out its 4 years,within 5 months of having it my clutch went and when i called them they told me its due to me being a woman driver.
i spun off a mway and when i called them for help as my bf died in a rtc they told me the car is fine even though its on the drive and not to drive it in bad weather,when i go in the garage i get ignored now
they have also charged me for a oil change even though i have a tlc pack and it took bham garage to tell me this mistake 7 months later and when i called oldbury they just called me a liar and refused to help,now due to personal reasons im terminating the car after 3 years but they forgot to mention i will be charged xxx amount and i cant afford it!!!!!!

alot of my friends have heard my phone calls and been put off bmw

[flyfs6]

Are you for real?

I'd be interested for the mods to check if your IP matches that of OP. If your loss is genuine then I do feel sorry for you.

But, your writing styles are very very similar. If you were contracted over 4 years instead of 2, then your monthly payments would actually be lower. Clutch is a wear and tear item anyway (unless damaged is caused by something else, it is not covered), no one if their right mind would put it down to being a woman driver (I could destroy one within minutes) and also if you have a maintanance contract then why would you pay for the service unless it was a Sytner only thing which covered their network only, or a free service from the supplying dealership.

As for returning the car early, most regulated contracts have a clause allowing you to end the term early once you've paid two thirds, it should be foc or there might be a small penalty depending on the terms of your contract (which should've been read in the first place).

[Anneka @ Sytner]

Originally Posted by becky bmw

i to have been to bmw oldbury and will NEVER go there again,they have been so very bad with the service and even ripped me off with the car.

i brought my 1 series in 2007 and it was my worst mistake ever,they told me i am paying a high amount as im contracted for 2 years only but i have since found out its 4 years,within 5 months of having it my clutch went and when i called them they told me its due to me being a woman driver.
i spun off a mway and when i called them for help as my bf died in a rtc they told me the car is fine even though its on the drive and not to drive it in bad weather,when i go in the garage i get ignored now
they have also charged me for a oil change even though i have a tlc pack and it took bham garage to tell me this mistake 7 months later and when i called oldbury they just called me a liar and refused to help,now due to personal reasons im terminating the car after 3 years but they forgot to mention i will be charged xxx amount and i cant afford it!!!!!!

alot of my friends have heard my phone calls and been put off bmw

Becky, I am so sorry for your loss, please accept my sincerest condolences.

I am also truly apologetic that your experience with us has been so disappointing. I will be speaking with the Dealer Principal first thing in the morning and would like to ensure that you are well looked after. Will you be able to send me an email with a few contact details for yourself and the registration number of your vehicle, if you are also able to recall any person that has been dealing with you I will also be truly grateful for this information.
I will investigate this issue as a matter of priority, and although I doubt that we will ever be forgiven for the awful experience, I at least intend to ensure that you are apologised to and that efforts are made to better this situation.

My email address is annekasanghera@sytner.co.uk

[E92Fan]

This thread is closed pending investigation