BMW Assistance UK

[Mac001]

For information to be aware. Had to have my bike recovered Monday due to the calipers leaking. A very efficient call centre for BMW Assistance arranged recovery and provided an update. They were running late and arrived about three hours later from Taunton which is 2.5 hours southwest of me. The chap from a sub contracted company loaded the bike and strapped it down with dirty old ratchet straps and left. That’s the end of the good bit.
Don’t expect them to be delivered to your dealer the next day and expect them to be transported all around the country. My bike has a tracker and I had an interesting load of excuses but so far my bike has been transported from my place 2.5 hours south to Taunton overnight then the next day headed in the wrong direction and went all around Bristol and into Wales and then back to Taunton last night. Dick Lovett Bristol are still waiting.

It was originally meant to go to Alton but we agreed I would shift to Dick Lovett as the bike was already in Bristol and hours away from Alton. She had sat at the Superbike Factory for a chunk of the morning, which is when I started getting concerned, and BMW Assistance first tried to tell me it was stored there overnight. At that point I was not happy and asked why they were lying and what insurance cover did they have that allowed what they were lying about. I was passed to a follow up team who waffled about logistics but in the end even the assurance it would be at Dick Lovett that afternoon has not happened.

Therefore if you want it transported the moral is do it yourself. BMW have subcontracted to the cheapest bidder and all that entails. My bike seems to have visited a number of the regions bike supermarkets for hours at end. I can guess what the transporter is doing but it doesn’t help us.

Guess who will not be renewing with BMW when this warranty runs out. Yours annoyed.

[EasyRider]

That is not on at all. Hope its sorted soon. keep us updated.

I have AA personal cover for both the wife and i for any vehicle we are in or on.
It's not the cheapest at £21 per month.

I alway carry my own straps and a couple of other bits after watching a doc about bikers in the US.

[Doctor T]

In defence of the sub contractor. Their sub contractors are fully vetted/insurances checked before the contractors. AA,Rac,Green flag ect set the fixed price per mile. The contractor gets paid for the round trip(base to base). I know this due to a family member owning a rescue company.
In your case it sounds like the more local bike recovery agents were busy and they used the next nearest. Why your bike went on a day trip is strange but the agent can only take it where the AA told them where to take it.
Your grudge is with the BMW/AA not the contractor. I would want full reports on the bikes movements and why.

[Mac001]

BMW Assistance and the complaints team have been all over this today. The contractor or agent was SOS motorcycle recovery. Who it turns out according to a thread on Facebook have a contract with Superbike Factory which seems to take priority. Hence my bike has had a few hundred miles bouncing around the country strapped on its side stand. It seems they were picking bikes up in Bristol and dropping them off in Chippenham and then across into Wales. They then drove past Cribbs Causeway which is where they assured BMW they would deliver my bike yesterday evening and parked up in Bridgewater and then in an open car park in Taunton later that night. The fact that they lied to BMW as to where they stored the bike etc and what was happening it being dealt with by BMW. This morning on a conference call they couldn’t even commit to getting it to Dick Lovett but that was dealt with by the Area Manager in BMW and they promised it would be there at 14:15. It may seem a small thing but BMW were not happy to be told at 14:20 it had been sat at a Garden centre north of Bridgwater for a while.
The bike has now arrived at Dick Lovett and BMW have asked for a full inspection in case of damage. They are dealing with SOS at to quote the head of that companies level and are hopefully looking after me. I get the distinct impression that this is not an isolated case. I just hope the bike is not damaged as the chap that picked it up said, I have not seen a bike in here with no marks before!

[Mac001]

Update, the bike was delivered to Dick Lovett’s Bristol. They say they can see no damage but I didn’t like the way it was transported on the side stand so have asked them to double check prior to me picking it up when it’s ready. The two front calipers are being replaced as both are leaking. BMW Customer Follow Up team have offered me compensation and in fairness the person I was dealing with on Wednesday was good. She put me on a conference call with SOS to hear the excuses. Her reaction when instead of delivering the bike at an agreed time between the SOS manager and herself and it was sat in a garden centre was great . It was interesting to hear the BMW rep getting annoyed as well as me and she looked after me so all credit to her.
I have had another call back from the Complaints team updating me on the escalation between the area/region manager and SOS who frankly were caught red handed on this.
Fingers crossed this is the end of the faults with the bike as my wife and I love it for everything else. As an FYI BMW Assistance and Customer Service is outsourced to Allianz in the UK.