My history with BMW dealers is that they consider themselves purveyors of a very exclusive product, maybe less exclusive than they seem to realize since they are selling vehicles in the sub 40k range. It has happened several times in my short, (22 year) life, that I've walked on to the lot, only to be treated like trash and ignored. I was so miffed about their treatment the last time, while I was car shopping, that I went immediately accross the street and paid cash for a new Infiniti Coupe. If there is one thing I do not tolerate, its abusive treatment by sales people. This is just one more example of why their dealer system is flawed. You will never see a Lexus or Infiniti dealer do that. NEVER.

I'd suggest relaying your story to local consumer reporters--the bad press will do more than corporate ever would.

Also, be persistent in your complaint, at every level from the dealership to corporate. Eventually it will reach the right person, or there will be a response because of the persistence alone.

There is no such thing as an honest car dealer. I don't understand how Mercedes was able to take back a BMW lease.

After being treated like that I'd be hard-pressed to not drive by there at night and fire a volley of paintballs into the air.

Does Brecht BMW actually say they're an authorized BMW autorized lease return facility? Sure, I may be splitting hairs, but that's what car dealerships do. Like "We finance everyone"... but if you look closely at the font and spacing, they're really saying, "We finance every one". LOL.

You're not a human being if you don't hate car dealers.

My father and I used to test drive cars on the weekend. My family was fairly well off, but my dad saw it as a waste of money to buy a really nice car. But he still liked really nice cars. We drove an Audi TT convertible, and Mini Cooper and a few others. We would always park a little bit away so that they wouldn't see our old 1992 Oldsmobile. BMW was the only dealership that was short with us and wouldn't let my dad take out the car he wanted. Funny cause the dealer nearest us is joined with the Audi dealer where we had no problems.

My experience (and that of very close friends/relatives) is that BMW & Mercedes have a "our cars are perfect, it must be the driver" attitude.

Even when it's not that, I've seen very, very similar experiences at a Mercedes dealership. There is a problem with the tires in one of their cars (an SL) that was out for less than 1000 miles. It's a common problem too- even with proper pressure in the tires, the car gets extremely out of whack, as if there was a flat spot on the tire (thumping).

Having had the dealership try to resolve it three times, it was under the lemon law, but the dealer refused to service it. It sits in their garage. They said, "I know that there is a problem with your car, but I/my dealership won't help you with it."

So, my relative has started court proceedings, and it still seems that the company does not care, even with lawyers involved.

I'm not suprised in the least that this also happened at a BMW dealer too. Hopefully, Raquel won't have to take the dealership to court.

All I have to say is that Acuras dealers have much better attitudes. I had a friend whose suspension had major issues at 52,000. The Dealer could have said, "F*** you, you're out of warranty." Instead, they said "There was probably a problem in warranty. We'll change your suspension for free, and give you the D (oil, tires, car wash, absolutely everything "premium service" too for the inconvenince. Here's a cup of Starbucks coffee that you can take with your loaner TL."

Honda (yes, I know they own Acura) doesn't have the same level of service. The wait is much, much longer and both times I took my cars there, I had problems getting service, and they made mistakes (all they could do is read off of the OBD-II screen). Independent Acura dealers are much, much better.

Toyota dealerships also seem to be pretty nice, with quick service.

I'm wondering what other people's experiences are with other brands.

BBB, anyone?

Why didn't you just show your receipt?

(are we still saying that?)

@TMANAG08
"BBB, anyone?"

Unfortunately, the BBB doesn't always work. As an independent group, all they can do is send strongly worded letters and hope someone listens. You could argue that it would reduce their BBB ratings, but other than Consumerist readers, who checks before they buy a car?

Nah, the State Attorney general is a much better resource. You should still complain to the BBB (to show interest in resolving), but don't expect it to work, especially on its own. The AG can put serious hurt on a bad dealership.

@timmus
After being treated like that I'd be hard-pressed to not drive by there at night and fire a volley of paintballs into the air.

Paintballs are water soluble and all they'd have to do is take a garden hose. Heck, a wet sponge would wipe it off.

When did "b/c" become a word? What ever happened to "because"?

I wish corporate HQs would exhibit more willingness to deal with problems from franchises. Every time I have had an issue with a franchise, corporate just apologizes and says they will bring it to the franchisee's attention and they (franchisee) will get with me. Never happened once. A car dealer in this situation doesn't surprise me in the least bit. I am with Timmus about the volley of paintball guns. Or get a bag of gummi worms and place them in oddball places on the car for ants.

Question: Was this a BMW lease or a 3rd party lease (Chase)? It sounds like the latter.

I'd like to know more about this specific story. While I believe that Brecht BMW acted reprehensively ("Brecht" is the kind of sound one should make upon turning their heels on them) the circumstances of the lease-return sound a little strange. It sounds like the lady in question was leasing a used vehicle - the point being that the Brecht jerks may not have wanted the responsibility of accepting the return of a used car they didn't sell. Considering that this dealership was not affiliated with the others, this makes sense (it may result in extra effort and paper work for them). Anyway, there's no excuse for their behavior. They could have easily called the original lease dealership to come pick up the damn car from their lot.

@timmus:
Yeah, except paintballs are water-soluble. I'd use eggs.

...Just kidding. (Sort of.)

@nweaver: It's b/c "because" is passe now. Got it?

With seriousness now, point taken. If I ever earn enough to be able to afford a new BMW or Benz, I'll look elsewhere and stick to dealerships that aren't so shady.

@Kurtz: It went the way of "Volkswagen," apparently. I shouldn't gripe, though--at least Carey didn't attempt to spell out "Bayerische Motoren Werke."

well the terms of the lease or the condition of the vehicle shouldn't be a problem for the car dealer... CONSIDERING THE CAR BELONGS TO CHASE..... the dip sh*t probably didn't want to fill out a few pieces of paper work which guaranteed the a$$hole to lose future business.

I drive an hour for a dealership that I like to get my maintenance and purchase cars considering the one that is 15 mins away is filled with a bunch of pricks.... guess what they lost out on 4 new car purchases...

And yelling at a lady with her kids in front of her? that guy is asking for a beating....

Use an email blitz when buying a car. Assuming you have several dealerships w/in a 50 mile radius of you. Quite effective.

Having been raised in the Automotive Retail Sector, I can tell you 100% that the Manager was in the wrong. Most 3rd party lease companies "bird-dog" the dealer for taking care of their returns, i.e., they usually pay out $50-100 per return. That being said, most dealers only care about one thing; the number of cars going over the curb each month.

The Dealerships pay most, if not all, of their fixed costs through the service department. The sales of new and used cars are supposed to represent pure profit.

I have no idea how it works in the U.S., but in Canada, specifically Ontario, we have a governing body that hands out dealer licenses. The organization is called OMVIC (Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council) is responsible for handing out the permits allowing dealers to open their doors. Finding that governing body in your state is a good place to start. Forget BBB, as they don't even confront dealers anymore. In Ontario, OMVIC has the authority to pull a dealer's license for silliness such as this.

After contacting whatever organization regulates your auto sector, the AG's office is the next step.

IF I were this lady, I would have told the manager to call the police. After hearing both sides, the police officer wouldn't do anything to this lady and her kids, but the manager would get flagged and humped at every turn by every local police officer. Cops hate dealers too, you know.

My wife had a BMW Z-4, the only time I enjoyed it was on our trips to the Outer Banks (NC). This year, the day before we were to leave, I had the flat tire signal (and heard it flopping). We had replaced three run flat tire over the two plus years we owned the thing. Anyway, when I got to the gas station to fill up the tire, I started pushing air in, and heard it coming out the other side of the tire. I looked at the offending tire, and happened to look at the other rear tire, and lo and behold, I could see the steel belts on it (this was the OTHER tire). Needless to say I was hacked, so I called my wife to find out who to call, etc. Long story short, we had to have it towed over 150 to Raleigh (where we bought it and the extended warranty) where they told us that this was normal wear on the tires based on the suspension of this particular model - bullshit - I've had roadsters before that did not wear the tires in that pattern, and if that was a design "feature" then it was flawed.

We got it fixed (with a new water pump to boot, it had also ceased functioning properly), and went on our vacation. Upon our return, we looked at a variety of cars, settled on a 2007 Volvo S80 and could not be happier. BTW, we purchased the car using the NC State Employees Credit Union, financed in 15 minutes, and took the check to the dealer and picked up the car the next day (they wanted to detail it before we took it). So we're happier with the Volvo (and now I have room for my gear now)!

@BuddyHinton, from working at a car dealership, even though an "email blitz" may work for you, its actually very Uneffective. If you got an email or fax that stated I am shopping you and every other dealer w/in a 50-mi radius, whats the dealers motivation to sell you a car? They know every dealer you have contacted, they all buy the car at the same price, so why would they want to give you a rock bottom low price, what have you invested in them? Its a little insulting to be honest. What you should do is spend maybe 5-10 minutes calling each dealer. Get a fleet or internet sales manger on the phone, introduce yourself, build a lil rapport then ask for the best price. Once a sales manager gets to know you they have more incentive to help you and want to help you and its not as obvious you are shopping every dealer in town (which you should do) just go about it in a different manner, just my 2 cents...

@nweaver: Ok, do?

My dad's girlfriend sells Hondas, and she likes selling Hondas, she just hates her dealership, which is owned by the local ethnic mafia. While she tries to get customers good deals, she has stories of having the manager take her off the floor so he can complete the sale she's started, and often loses sales because he tries to play hardball.

Sometimes it's who helms the ship, rather than what make they sell.

According to the post, Chase had told the poster that she could return the vehicle to ANY BMW dealership that excepted leases. Now, on the website, it says thay would, but if theres any misinformation in this, it would be on Chase's part. Granted, there was no reason to act like a complete douche and yell at this lady in front of her kids, but Chase probably misinformed his woman. Or the douche was misinformed. Who knows.

you dont deserve a BMW!

you sound like a reasonable, undouchey lady.

@kalikidtx
Would the potential customer who sent out that email go to a dealer who didn't respond with an email? A dealer should offer up any deals they have as well as a salesman's name and number. As little time as an email takes, it would be a mistake for a salesman just to ignore it. The customer may end up with some deals, but at the very least should have a list of contact info for a salesman from each dealer.

We've had the same issue with Subaru here in Colorado. The car has only had a few minor-ish issues in the least few years, but the service at the dealership (which like to pride itself in ads on its service) has been uniformly horrendous. The customer service reps in the repairs department exude a lack of interest for their customer that is beyond the pale. They don't carry commonly used parts, so you can expect your vehicle to be out of service for days while they order them. They will tell you that it'll be done tomorrow, but you are more apt to get the car back 4 or 5 days later. They seem to bank on the fact that if they tell you "tomorrow", you'll suck it up & not use the lender. And of course, once you are home without a car, how are you going to justify driving across town to get the lender, once "overnight" magically morphs into 5 days? After the second time this happened, I told my DH to always take the lender.
The last time we got the car back, the area fixed (it was an electric window issue) was covered in mechanic's grease and goo.
Calling Subaru does no good - they don't control the dealership. But since we control who buys what & where, we've decided "no more Subarus".
And that's a shame, since it was my 3rd Subaru in a row. Clearly, they have enough customers - they don't need one who was previously happy to walk onto their lot, plunk down money, & buy another new car.

WTF does "you don't deserve" have to do with anything? If you can afford the car, you "deserve" it as much as the next guy who is driving one.

I'm a VW owner and I love my car but I don't sneer at people who don't drive VWs and I sure don't walk around telling people they don't "deserve" to own one!

These people need to KEEP complaining to corporate. Get them to do something. And they surely can -- including yanking the franchise and, I'm sure, charging penalties for putting a stain on the name.

The funny part about this story is corporate lying to you. Corporate controls everything franchise does because franchise is still leasing the name of the company. Everything franchise does has to be approved by corporate.

Call your local news consumer reporter and have them do a smear story about them; if they won't take care of you then everyone can hear about it and avoid them from now on.

@MARSNEEDSRABBITS

You sound like you are describing a Phil Long dealership. They are horrible, the stories I could tell..........

As far as the BMW dealership goes, I think this might be a EECB situation. Try that and if that does not work maybe go to the AG. Also, you may want to go to the local paper and tell them your story. Maybe they might run a story about it. Once you start hitting them where it hurts (in the pocketbook due to lost sales) maybe they might come around.

Where to begin?

1. "I told him I would be penalized if I didnt' turn it in today" Why would you wait until the last possible day to return the vehicle.

2. "I again explained that I worked and lived 45 miles away" Why would you drive 45 minutes to drop the vehicle off. Were there no other dealerships closer to you?

3. "He took out his business card and threw it at me." This should have made it very clear that this guy is a prick. Why would you even stick around and try to plead your case. You could have saved your kids the emotional stress by just accepting the penalty for being late and gone to a different dealership.

In 1982 I had the terrible misfortune of believing the BMW "driving machine" advertizing. I bought a new BMW 320i. This turned out to be the worst buying decision of my entire life.

The engine knocked miserably, even with premium fuel. BMW's solution to it was to add spacers (extra gaskets) to the spark plugs, eventually they added a thicker head gasket. It still pinged.

When the engine was hot, it would diesel (keep running) even when I turned the ignition off. BMW's answer to that was "Put it in gear and let out the clutch. It'll stop".

The engine would not idle cold. It would just die if you didn't keep goosing the gas pedal. It was a stick shift, so trying to keep it running until it warmed up while commuting in Santa Clara (California) traffic. BMW denied there was a problem.

On a hot August day in Santa Clara the freeze plugs on the engine block fell out leaving coolant all over the road and me stranded.

The 1.8 liter 4-cylinder engine was so underpowered that it would not climb route 17 between Santa Clara and Santa Cruz in 5th gear, at all. At some points it required changing down to 3rd.

The 4-way emergency flasher switch was a push-toggle kind of thing. Push it to turn it on; push it to turn it off. When you pushed it to turn it on, it poped out. The switch had a failure mode that it would pop out all by itself. Since the 4-way flasher was intended to be usable with or without the ignition on, several times if failed sitting in my driveway or in my employer's parking lot, killing my battery. BMW's answer to this was to simply replace the broken switch with another exactly like it. Broken as designed. They never in the 4 years I owned the car fixed the root cause of the problem. Their workaround was to advise me to "stick a toothpick in beside the switch to assure it does not pop out".

There were several other things wrong with the car. Mercifully, time and old age allows me to forget all but the above most miserable, inexcusable deficiencies of the car.

I traded the BMW after a few years for a Nissan Maxima. The Maxima proved to be the best car I have ever owned. I drove the Nissan for 15 years before trading it. I'll assure you it was not for a BMW.

I never miss an opportunity to share my experience with that BMW whenever I get a chance. That was a god-awful car. In retrospect, I feel stupid at having fallen for the advertizing and I'll never forgive BMW's arrogance in dealing with me on all the problems with the car. Never, ever. I have been successful at convincing a number of colleagues from buying or leasing a BMW.

In 2000, I actually turned down a job offer because, in part, the signing bonus was a new BMW Z3 roadster.

Bad attitudes by snooty expensive-car dealers is the reason I just bought my third Saturn. The treatment you get from Saturn dealers is great! I like having my car washed for free, all my repairs recorded in the computer, and my a$$ kissed even though I'm not driving that expensive a car. Good service should not be limited only to the rich.

Forget the BBB. They can't do anything. Forget posting on this site, the readers already know not to trust anybody you give money to (as you shouldn't).

Go check out Unscrewed from your local library, there is a great section on how to deal with arse hole car dealers.

Based on the book, I would print up a flyer stating "X Dealership Treated Me Poorly", and make about 50 copies. Put these in a manila envelope, and go to the dealer. Ask to speak with the same guy you spoke to as well, and hand him the envelope. When they ask, tell him you are willing to practice your first amendment right to protest his dealership and that you will be handing the flyer to every customer that enters the property. Let them know that in just a few hours every Saturday for a couple weeks, you're sure you will have discouraged enough business from the lot that you will be satisfied. Or, they can give you a written apology signed by his manager.

Even if you don't get the apology, if you discourage one sale, thats enought. Remember, you need to make it more expensive to ignore you than serve you.

I suspect there is more to the story than the original writer would have us believe.

1) Has anyone confirmed that the original info she got was correct? Some Chase customer service rep on the phone says to do something and therefor the car dealer is somehow obligated to comply? She should have called ahead to the people she was dealing with.

2) Why did she feel the need to unload on them about her maintenance problems? Seems to me that implies there was some rudeness and confrontation on both sides. This "kiss my ass, I'm a customer" attitude is the cause of half the problems on this site. Did they do any maintenance on the car? Why should they worry about it if they didn't do the work?

3) Typically when people start talking about calling the police, it's when a customer has become belligerent and disruptive. Seems to me the dealership just wanted to get her out the door, making the likely accurate judgment that the faster they ended their relationship with this woman the better.

@nweaver: I shouldn't matter who financed the car. You can't turn to car into a Chase bank: it goes back to the BMW dealership.

@gatopeligroso:
1. She's got kids. Maybe this was the only time she had.
2. Apparently.
3. So, she should be financially penalized because the dealer was an asshole?

I've had better experiences at Masserati and Ferrari dealerships than I have had at BMW dealerships.