BMW: The Ultimate Exercise in Customer Disservice

UPDATE: In the end, after I made enough noise, BMW came through and paid for the repair.  I am grateful to them and glad that they did the right thing in the end.  But still a bit of a black mark that it took so much work to get some satisfaction.

One of my key marketing rules is “Know Your Brand.”

BMW has always seemed to get this–they understand that they sell more than a car… they sell an experience and a lifestyle.

Maintaining this experience and keeping customers happy helps BMW continue as one of the most successful luxury car companies with one of the best brands.  They continually win brand awards but they also realize the need to always make a strong effort to please customers.

In 2002 the then CEO, Helmut Panke, summed it up when he said. “What I see as our biggest risk is the possibility of complacency. We need to make sure that nobody leans back. We have to remain hungry and to keep up our desire to outperform others.”

That is why I was so shocked when I tried to get a defect fixed on my wife’s 2004 325i.  BMW has refused to take responsibility or pay for the repairs.

Fixing a defect, in warrantee OR out should be one of the easiest customer satisfaction actions BMW performs.

Here is what happened: Intermittently an indicator comes on showing there is something wrong with the rear lights.  I took the car in to the BMW dealer and mentioned this to my service advisor.  I was really surprised when he guessed at the cause before even getting up from his desk.  Upon checking the car, his hunch was confirmed.

Here is the issue as BMW states in their service bulletin: “Minor corrosion at the 8-pin rear lamp connector creates high resistance causing damage to the connector housing.”  In other words, your rear light can melt!

So what makes this a “defect” and not something that should be the responsibility of the owner?  Well, first, the fix is not just to replace a broken or worn out part.  The fix is to actually modify the original configuration.  From BMW’s Service Information Bulletin (SIB 63 03 06) “Correction: Repair the damaged wire(s) and replace damaged connector housing. Install additional ground wires to both left and right rear lamps.” (emphasis added)

Second, this defect seems very common and BMW is well aware of it as evidenced by the service bulletin, the 100s of postings on BMW forums and the numerous filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration–one of which claims there was a fire involved! (Office of Defects Investigation ID Number : 10263031)

I have asked the service manager at my dealer to look into having BMW pay for these repairs but he said they declined.  I also called customer relations, opened a case but was told that they also would not step up to the plate.

We are a loyal two-BMW household who purchases the highest level maintenance packages and always services our car at the dealer (who we love along with our service advisor) so it’s very surprising to see how little BMW will do keep us (and the other owners with the same problem) happy for a problem that is clearly a defect and not a run of the mill maintenance issue.

Filed under: BMW,Customer Relations,Little things matter a lot,Product Defects,Uncategorized,Understand your brand

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BudFits: A Simple Solution–When Simple is Called For

One of my key rules for great product launches is “Strive for the Simple Not the Complex.”  BudFits, a new product from Innovelis designed to keep iPod and iPhone earbuds from falling out, has achieved this.

BudFits are simple flexiable molded plastic pieces which grab onto Apple ear bud headphones and then loop around the ear to hold them secure.  They could have been engineered to be much more complex (e.g. rotating parts, various sizes, non-right/left interchangeable, etc.)  But they were not.  They are simple when simple is called for.

In addition, Innovelis has done a number of other things right:

Packaging: The BudFits come in that plastic clamshell packagaing that nowadays makes us reach for our scissors in fear of the opening processes–BUT!  The package actually opens simply and easily without knife or scissors.

Name: BudFits.  Could you want a more descriptive, simple or memorable name?  Why can’t all companies follow their lead?

Price: Under $9.  In an era when even the simplest iPod and iPhone related items seem to be $14.95, $29.95 or $49.95, $8.99 is refreshing.

Performance: So far they seem to payoff of their promise.

Simple is not always easy to achive but its important to strive for.  BudFits is a good example of a company that has achived simple.

Filed under: Accessories,BudFits,Little things matter a lot

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A company that knows the difference between a consumer and enthusiast product

I am back from CES now but one of the companies that I was most impressed with was Eton.  They are the US distributor of Grundig shortwave radios.  If you’ve seen the Grundig lineup you know how daunting some of those products can be to use.

That is why I was so pleasantly surprised by Eton’s own line of crank radios.  First, the products seem to be engineered to be easy to use even though have many functions.  For example you’ll see in the picture that the main, most used functions have giant knobs while other lesser functions are controlled by much smaller buttons.

Eton clearly understands the philosophy of “be ready to support what you sell.”  The very first thing in their manuals is their phone support numbers and office hours.  Also, every product page has a downloadable PDF manual.

Finally, they seem to understand that “the little things count.”  Most of their radios have a port to charge a cell phone. So, Eton offers to send a charger tip to match a customers specific phone for free. Other companies would tack on a shipping charge or require customers to copy receipts, send in proof of purchase, etc.  In the same vein, Eton has a online parts store with many battery covers listed at reasonable prices.  How many electronic devices have you had in your life that had lost their battery cover?

I hope to be able to talk with Eton more to study what else they have have been doing right.

Filed under: Eton,Less is more,Little things matter a lot

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