# car at dealer, not PCD!



## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

Guess who's car showed up at BMW of South Atlanta today instead of at the PCD as expected?

This, after repeatedly reminding, double checking, and getting confirmation from Adrian that PCD was in the works.

The sales side of this has been a cluster to say the least.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

hedges1 said:


> Guess who's car showed up at BMW of South Atlanta today instead of at the PCD as expected?
> 
> This, after repeatedly reminding, double checking, and getting confirmation from Adrian that PCD was in the works.
> 
> The sales side of this has been a cluster to say the least.


Wow! Did they at least apologize to you?
I can imagine how mad you at this point....


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

Perhaps you should ask why.


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## Wine-O (Feb 17, 2010)

hedges1 said:


> Guess who's car showed up at BMW of South Atlanta today instead of at the PCD as expected?
> 
> This, after repeatedly reminding, double checking, and getting confirmation from Adrian that PCD was in the works.
> 
> The sales side of this has been a cluster to say the least.


I just dropped mine off this morning in Munich, making sure Brunswick was the port for drop off.

I want to make sure mine does not go to Adrian as I requested PCD. Anybody know who to contact to pull the trigger to make sure this does not happen to me? BMWNA or Adrian?


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

Gary J said:


> Perhaps you should ask why.


It's been asked.

First reply was "I thought you didn't want to wait the extra time required for PCD"

I was flabbergasted and still am. I sent my emails explicitly calling out PCD again this afternoon. Awaiting another response and my options at this point.


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

I would [email protected]
They were the first to alert me that it was headed to Atlanta after I sent a status update request earlier today. It was then that I contacted the dealer and got the "it's here".


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Ouch! That sucks  Any chance you could get him to arrange for the car to be delivered to PCD and pick it up there with the re-delivery program ASAP?


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

The PCD is just up the road from Atlanta. Surely there is a way to get the car to the PCD and then you can take delivery there.


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## iwantone (Jun 2, 2005)

I'd say keep the car and BMW of South Atlanta should probably pay for a 1 day school at the performance center...?


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## alewifebp (Sep 20, 2008)

iwantone said:


> I'd say keep the car and BMW of South Atlanta should probably pay for a 1 day school at the performance center...?


That's probably the most practical option. I'd certainly be incredibly mad about this as well.


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## smilingjudy (Feb 18, 2012)

Bright side! It's "here"! 

As far as I can tell, we dropped off on the same day, but I got stuck on a boat that decided to stop at every single port and I'm still waiting for mine to clear customs. 

It sucks, but it's not the worst thing to have happened. Hopefully they make good on their screw-up.


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

I would feel confident that they'll make it right, but the fact that the CA seems to still think I told him to change it means things could get ugly. The facts I presented via email only led to him responding that it must have been on the phone.... Which is ABSURD. I spent all of 5 minutes on the phone with this guy over the last 5 months.

This is how the entire process has gone. Untimely responses and inconsistencies from start to finish. The only reason I such with it is that my 4gc was coming out of dealer allocations at the time and he was willing to use 1 for my order. Will never go that route again.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

hedges1 said:


> The only reason I such with it is that my 4gc was coming out of dealer allocations at the time and he was willing to use 1 for my order. Will never go that route again.


Then there is a good chance you will not get what you want. Adrian got me an allocation immediately after waiting 3 months elsewhere for one that never came.


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## smilingjudy (Feb 18, 2012)

hedges1 said:


> I would feel confident that they'll make it right, but the fact that the CA seems to still think I told him to change it means things could get ugly. The facts I presented via email only led to him responding that it must have been on the phone.... Which is ABSURD. I spent all of 5 minutes on the phone with this guy over the last 5 months.
> 
> This is how the entire process has gone. Untimely responses and inconsistencies from start to finish. The only reason I such with it is that my 4gc was coming out of dealer allocations at the time and he was willing to use 1 for my order. Will never go that route again.


Ugh. Frustrating. They have your money, but you still have power. Unless for some reason they think internet sales are going away soon. It's too bad you have to deal with this when it should be a positive experience.

Adrian flaked on me pretty early in the process. Thanking my lucky stars for that now.


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## afshawnt (May 1, 2004)

iwantone said:


> i'd say keep the car and bmw of south atlanta should probably pay for a 1 day school at the performance center...?


+1


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

afshawnt said:


> +1


I think that's reasonable. We'll see what happens, and I'll keep you all posted.


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## micjohns (Aug 10, 2014)

I've been working with Adrian as well. So far so good. Yeah, I might have spent maybe 3 minutes with him on the phone. Everything else has been through email. He's been double checking stuff every step of the way making sure everything is correct. I'm also doing a PCD. This after I'm doing ED. I checked the port on the inquiry and all looks good. My car is actually complete, but I ordered it really early for a late Nov pickup. I hope things continue to go smoothly. I haven't made a single change and stuck with pretty much every single detail...makes things a little easier I guess.


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## silvergray (Oct 11, 2006)

I'm not surprised. I sent him several emails trying to get an ED quote and he doesn't respond.


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## 335Fanatic (Aug 6, 2009)

I would give Adrian a chance to resolve the issue BEFORE writing about it here. Everyone makes mistakes and I am sure Adrian will work something out for you.


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## Diesel Power (Oct 2, 2010)

I want to hear the good and bad experiences regardless of the outcome. Accurate information facilitates making informed decisions.

If a sponsor is too busy or in a slump, then knowledge of that will help others decide what direction to go in.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

We have heard one side of what may have been a missed email or call. I would rather hear a final more accurate account than "Awaiting another response" or "We'll see what happens".


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

RESOLUTION UPDATE

They have admitted to the error and will be shipping the car to my house very soon. Also will be sending a certificate to go back to Spartanburg.

I'll tackle some of the other sentiments expressed here at a future point. This was not a very good experience from start to finish and since I went with this dealer/CA based on recommendations largely received on this board, I will be sharing those. I think that's what the board is most useful for, no?


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

hedges1 said:


> I'll tackle some of the other sentiments expressed here at a future point. This was not a very good experience from start to finish and since I went with this *dealer/CA* based on recommendations largely received on this board, I will be sharing those. I think that's what the board is most useful for, no?


There is a whole forum for dealer reviews -

http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-dealers/

Most of us in this forum are here for the European Delivery experience.


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

Gary J said:


> There is a whole forum for dealer reviews -
> 
> http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-dealers/
> 
> Most of us in this forum are here for the European Delivery experience.


I'd say most people in this thread can read a thread title before clicking. They also seem fairly interested in the situation and outcome concerning the final piece of my ED experience. They also seen pretty cool.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

hedges1 said:


> I'd say most people in this thread can read a thread title before clicking


Which may be beside the point with a moderator. We shall see.


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## hedges1 (Feb 23, 2014)

Can i haz internetz now?


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## hyperzulu (Jul 12, 2011)

Gary J said:


> There is a whole forum for dealer reviews -
> 
> http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-dealers/
> 
> Most of us in this forum are here for the European Delivery experience.


OP can post a full review of the situation on that forum if he likes. But that doesn't mean it is completely unrelated to the European delivery experience. I'm sure if he had created a thread here asking for opinions on dealers to use, there would be absolutely no issue with the thread or others chiming in about who they have used and whether they were recommended or not.

Steering him away from this highly visible forum to voice his account of the delivery process seems an attempt to protect a client advisor from criticism. I don't agree with this. They earn business based on the feedback provided on these boards. It should go both ways that this business is based on good or bad experiences from the community, not just the good ones. As another user stated, if the CA is going through life struggles or simply taking on more business than they can handle, it shouldn't be our burden to live with by way of a botched delivery experience. :tsk:


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## iwantone (Jun 2, 2005)

hedges1 said:


> RESOLUTION UPDATE
> 
> They have admitted to the error and will be shipping the car to my house very soon. Also will be sending a certificate to go back to Spartanburg.
> 
> I'll tackle some of the other sentiments expressed here at a future point. This was not a very good experience from start to finish and since I went with this dealer/CA based on recommendations largely received on this board, I will be sharing those. I think that's what the board is most useful for, no?


I think it's a reasonable resolution. Mistakes happen. But yes, I'd love to hear the details off the full experience.

There will be good and bad experiences. When I ordered my car for ED, I ordered from the one I felt most comfortable with and one whose service levels matched my expectations. I have not been disappointed.


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## Trinitony (Feb 10, 2010)

Gary J said:


> There is a whole forum for dealer reviews -
> 
> http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-dealers/
> 
> Most of us in this forum are here for the European Delivery experience.


I agree that most of us are here for the "European Delivery experience". For me that experience begins with negotiating the deal, continues with the flight over to Europe, is highlighted by the picking up of the car at the Welt and the exploring of new destinations and ends with the drop off of the car and its re-delivery at my dealer or the PCD. We could probably find a separate web site for each part of the experience, but one of the great things about the European Delivery Forum on Bimmerfest is that you can get good advice on all aspects of European Delivery.

The choice of a CA and dealer is a big part of this experience. The putting together of an ED deal is a lot more complex for a CA than selling a car off the dealer's lot. So the choice of a CA to sell you an ED car is an important one and many people ask for advice here. A frequent suggestion is to use one of the Board Sponsors and Adrian's name is frequently mentioned. I think this is good advice and helpful to someone having a tough time finding an "ED experienced CA" at his/her local dealer.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Board Sponsors are human and also screw up from time to time. Adrian seems to be having a tough time in the last few months as this is not the first negative comment that I have read about him. It's hard for us to guess what the cause is but I suppose he could give us an explanation on this Forum.

I would prefer that all aspects of the ED experience be aired here. The web site which you suggested does offer a place to review dealerships and CAs but it would be an enormous job to read through all reviews of all the CAs and all the dealerships when you begin a search for a suitable CA for your first ED. I think that reading all those reviews would be overwhelming and that it is better to be able to ask for advice here on the ED Forum and get it. In other words it's a form of one stop shopping.

In this specific case I thought that the OP, *hedges1*, was frank but not rude in stating his case. That *iwantone *made an excellent suggestion as to how the problem could be resolved and that *Adrian* and *South Atlanta* appear to have admitted that it was their fault and agreed to a solution that is acceptable to the OP. What could be better? I don't think the resolution could have been achieved if it were spread over several websites.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

Trinitony said:


> I would prefer that all aspects of the ED experience be aired here.


Ok great, then I will add mine.

I give Adrian of South Atlantic BMW my highest recommendation.

I received an allocation on a difficult to get vehicle the very next day and a great price. All aspects of the ED experience went smoothly, efficiently and in a timely fashion. Communication was prompt on all occasions and no avoidable problems were encountered all the way through delivery.

Again, Adrian gets my highest recommendation for the ED experience.


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Trinitony... Well said! Hedges has every right to voice his experience and Adrian and the dealership has made it as right as they can. We will all benefit from this thread. Mistakes happen and things can be fixed.


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## Diesel Power (Oct 2, 2010)

Glad to hear about the resolution. It's important to share thoughts and facts about the entire ED experience.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

I also had a good experience with Adrian.

OK, so he or someone made a mistake. Big deal. They are doing what they can to make it right. Not sure why they can't "ship" the car to the PCD instead of all the way to TX. Oh well, let's all move on.


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## hyperzulu (Jul 12, 2011)

rmorin49 said:


> I also had a good experience with Adrian.
> 
> OK, so he or someone made a mistake. Big deal. They are doing what they can to make it right. Not sure why they can't "ship" the car to the PCD instead of all the way to TX. Oh well, let's all move on.


We can all agree that things happen, but for some people, this experience doesn't come often. Sure, a few on here are fortunate enough to have a dozen euro deliveries under their belt, but some people may do one and never get the chance again. Luckily the dealership is doing what it can in a manner agreeable to the OP.

Shipping the car to S. Carolina is not really an option. In Munich they might be able to squeeze in an extra delivery as it's a two hour affair. PCD from what I gather is much tougher as there is a day's worth of activities associated, along with airport pickup and hotel reservations.


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## beware_phog (Mar 7, 2003)

I used Adrian. No problems on my end and would use again.


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## Ibiza (Jun 15, 2007)

My 1st ED in 2010, I went through a forum sponsor and at the 11th hour when I received the lease paper work to sign I noticed that he added 0.04 to the money factor. I was not happy. I also e-mailed Adrain for a June 2011 X3 PC and his pricing was not competitive to the other southeast dealerships. The other Atlanta dealership has received my last 3 BMW orders, 2 PCS and 1 ED. He has not f'd up at all and is not a forum sponsor.

All the talk about doing ED through a board sponsor is a bunch of BS IMO. It just takes finding the right one.


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## AggieKnight (Dec 26, 2008)

Ibiza said:


> All the talk about doing ED through a board sponsor is a bunch of BS IMO. It just takes finding the right one.


Maybe you got lucky, or maybe you got the United BMW Sales guy that I _personally_ taught the entire ED process based on what I learned from these boards. :thumbup: I hope someone benefited from the pain and suffering I had working with them.

What you get out of Board Sponsors is someone that understands the process and _tends_ to be easier to deal with.

While I'm a big fan of Adrian (he's taken care of me before and after becoming his customer), the important thing is to find a CA that you feel comfortable with and can work with. I'd suggest you have a higher likelihood of finding one of those for an ED on these forums, but that does not mean you can't find one elsewhere.

OP - I'm glad you had a positive outcome to this challenge. I know its frustrating, but we must always remember that service failures will happen; people are people and none of us are perfect. What's important is that the service recovery is successful.

Getting the car shipped to you and a ticket to use at the PCD whenever you want sounds like a pretty sweet deal IMHO, and more than fair for your trouble.


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## DerKurbis (Feb 6, 2014)

silvergray said:


> I'm not surprised. I sent him several emails trying to get an ED quote and he doesn't respond.


This was exactly my experience with Adrian. I'm very glad that I took my business elsewhere.


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## mwm1166 (Jul 16, 2013)

Gary J said:


> Ok great, then I will add mine.
> 
> I give Adrian of South Atlantic BMW my highest recommendation.
> 
> ...


Are you incapable of just saying, "it's surprising and sad to hear you have had such a bad experience. It is very different to the excellent service I Receieved and many others have Receieved from Adrian. However, you're as welcome to express your story and the feelings from it on this Forum without me trying to hijack your thread to defend a man based on my experience which has no relevance in relation to your experience."


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

I think that this thread simply showed three things: a forum member A had a problem with a dealer, forum member B suggested an excellent solution, dealer admit error and offered the excellent solution to forum member A. 

To me, that is the way a forum should work. Anything else is just nonsense.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

mwm1166 said:


> Are you incapable of just saying, "it's surprising and sad to hear you have had such a bad experience.


Who are you again?

Sorry I will not be running what I say thru you.


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## mwm1166 (Jul 16, 2013)

Gary J said:


> Who are you again?
> 
> Sorry I will not be running what I say thru you.


It appears you're also incapable of reading. I never asked you to check with me. I just simply suggested how you might behave with some class.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

mwm1166 said:


> I just asked suggested


You are not making sense. Again, feel free to skip my posts.


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## mwm1166 (Jul 16, 2013)

Gary J said:


> You are not making sense. Again, feel free to skip my posts.


I'll make sure when I see your posts around I step lightly with my words. I wouldn't want to disrespect an old man who has managed to reach two
milestones; 1) figured out an internet forum, 2) used it to learn how to order his luxury car.

Anyway, to help your age group out, I'll explain this. You're very uncouth when you try to hijack a thread to push your opinion or agenda. Make your own positive Adrian thread. Don't be an old jerk just because you disagree. There is room enough on this board for everyones opinions.

P.S. That car is way too youthful for you.


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## Gary J (Dec 18, 2013)

mwm1166 said:


> I wouldn't want to disrespect an old man





mwm1166 said:


> You're very uncouth





mwm1166 said:


> Don't be an old jerk


I see what you mean about class.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Technic said:


> I think that this thread simply showed three things: a forum member A had a problem with a dealer, forum member B suggested an excellent solution, dealer admit error and offered the excellent solution to forum member A.


I would add a fourth thing. Board sponsor proves that there are benefits to using them.

I'm not sure that not using a Board sponsor will have resulted in as positive an outcome. For folks who expect a flawless ED experience from anyone, that's unrealistic. What makes board sponsors valuable are expertise to make things go as smoothly as possible, expertise to resolve issues that come up during the ED process (and there are many), and the willingness to resolve any issues as best as possible.

There are things beyond a sponsor's control (what do you mean they can't guarantee my flight arrives on time?), and they are just human.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

... beginning with the part that a forum sponsor created this forum to begin with before being a forum sponsor. 



chrischeung said:


> I would add a fourth thing. *Board sponsor proves that there are benefits to using them.*
> I'm not sure that not using a Board sponsor will have resulted in as positive an outcome. For folks who expect a flawless ED experience from anyone, that's unrealistic. What makes board sponsors valuable are expertise to make things go as smoothly as possible, expertise to resolve issues that come up during the ED process (and there are many), and the willingness to resolve any issues as best as possible.
> 
> There are things beyond a sponsor's control (what do you mean they can't guarantee my flight arrives on time?), and they are just human.


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## M FUNF (Apr 2, 2008)

mwm1166 said:


> I'll make sure when I see your posts around I step lightly with my words. I wouldn't want to disrespect an old man who has managed to reach two
> milestones; 1) figured out an internet forum, 2) used it to learn how to order his luxury car.
> 
> Anyway, to help your age group out, I'll explain this. You're very uncouth when you try to hijack a thread to push your opinion or agenda. Make your own positive Adrian thread. Don't be an old jerk just because you disagree. There is room enough on this board for everyones opinions.
> ...


It would appear from your post that your head is shoved 10k up. You do not know the original Op of which you speak yet, you feel free to insult them and then call THEM uncouth. Please pull your head out of your A** and try to act like an adult. So big deal he indorsed Adrian.:dunno:


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

This thread has run its course!


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

Me530 said:


> This thread has run its course!


Sure it did...


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## M FUNF (Apr 2, 2008)

That was my feeling, problem stated, problem resolved, nuf said!


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

SJAPoc said:


> Trinitony... Well said! Hedges has every right to voice his experience and Adrian and the dealership has made it as right as they can. We will all benefit from this thread. Mistakes happen and things can be fixed.


Agreed with SJAPoc!
From my experience on this forum (Join in Oct. 2005) this is first negative post about Andrian. 
I do not get my car from him, but during last 9 yrs I communicate with him more than once and always get great response and full answer on all my questions.
His a member of this board and he can answer him self - let's hear his side of this story.



> Mistakes happen and things can be fixed


SJAPoc


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## mwm1166 (Jul 16, 2013)

M FUNF said:


> It would appear from your post that your head is shoved 10k up. You do not know the original Op of which you speak yet, you feel free to insult them and then call THEM uncouth. Please pull your head out of your A** and try to act like an adult. So big deal he indorsed Adrian.:dunno:


10k up...that's one I've not heard. Lol.

Gary wanted to control the message thru censorship. I disagree with that hijacking. If that offends, oh well.


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## Dave 20T (Apr 7, 2013)

Me530 said:


> This thread has run its course!


If the original poster later has more to tell us, a new thread can be made. Good luck!


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