Bahnstormer mystery shopper

solidstate100 said:

Over the years I have spent an absolute fortune at Bahnstormer, all my many bikes, clothes, lids, servicing, accesories etc etc from them and was 100% happy. And I said so several times on here. Sadly I no longer go there, and doubt I will again anytime soon. Nothing major, but I felt they had gone of the boil a bit since the extra dealership, and a newer influx of staff, it was all a bit to much trouble for them, like they were resting on their laurels. Customer service levels had dropped, things got "forgoton" during services, and I eventually tired of them.

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The reports of hit and miss service is frustrating, as they always seem to go above and beyond most other dealers, in my experience with them.

I've been dealing with them long enough to have got to know the people there that know what they're doing though.

solidstate100 said:

Over the years I have spent an absolute fortune at Bahnstormer, all my many bikes, clothes, lids, servicing, accesories etc etc from them and was 100% happy. And I said so several times on here. Sadly I no longer go there, and doubt I will again anytime soon. Nothing major, but I felt they had gone of the boil a bit since the extra dealership, and a newer influx of staff, it was all a bit to much trouble for them, like they were resting on their laurels. Customer service levels had dropped, things got "forgoton" during services, and I eventually tired of them.

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Sad story

solidstate100 said:

Over the years I have spent an absolute fortune at Bahnstormer, all my many bikes, clothes, lids, servicing, accesories etc etc from them and was 100% happy. And I said so several times on here. Sadly I no longer go there, and doubt I will again anytime soon. Nothing major, but I felt they had gone of the boil a bit since the extra dealership, and a newer influx of staff, it was all a bit to much trouble for them, like they were resting on their laurels. Customer service levels had dropped, things got "forgoton" during services, and I eventually tired of them.

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I wonder if there is a finite period of time that you can be happy handing over lots of money hoping for great service in return, I had a similar experience with SPC then Bahnstormer, spent lots of money on kit and bikes over a few years then it all went sour with piss poor performance from the service department and the management, OK everybody makes mistakes and i'm not uber fussy, i.e. you make a mistake OK, thats inevitable, its all about how its sorted that matters to me, but it turned out they were just taking the piss in the end, so that was it, no more spending money under the BMW dealership umbrella for me.

It's massively disappointing to read of instances where customers feel they have been ignored and there really is no defence for it from our side. It is up to us to be more aware and ensure that we interact with everybody who has taken the time to come and see us. We do get fantastic feedback through BMW's customer follow-up programme (currently 94.69% overall satisfaction and 5 star rating as I write this) so I know we are not 'broken' but it means absolutely nothing if we don't engage with you in the first place! There will always be customers who have not had a good experience, I have no doubt - sometimes we get it wrong and sometimes we disagree but we try very hard for this not to be the case. We do more customer orientated activities than we have ever done before (off roading, regular fish and chip runs, tours, track days, European track events, BSB hospitality) because we enjoy riding bikes and doing things with customers to the point where we become friends. We try to raise the game by sending videos to every service customer to help with understanding what condition their bike is in and this also gets great feedback. Last night I was here until 9pm sorting out a customer trying to get to Belgium for a meeting at 9am the next morning! I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I feel that to say that we are complacent or resting on our laurels is not what I think we are doing; maybe I'm wrong? So without wishing to go on and on, we'll try to be better and sorry. Alistair

Good man for replying, Alistair, its never easy to please everybody, good luck with the business.

Well done Alistair

Got ripped off there today, £1.74 more than I was quoted!

Luckily managed to eat £3 worth of biscuits to make up for it.

I have only visited Bahnstormer in Alton a couple of times and I was so impressed that they spent 30 minutes fixing my Satnav and wouldn't take anything I bought something to make up for it.

On the same vein though, I visited MotoRapido in Winchester at least twice and failed to get any acknowledgement and everyone seemed too busy to help or say hullo. I know lots of people who rave about the service that Wilf and his team give at MotoRapido, but I have failed to receive the same. Maybe they don't like fat people ! Anyway I rode from Winchester to Alton and walked into WM Snells, where Tom, the MD immediately asked me if I wanted a coffee and was there something I was interested in, as a result I bought a brand new Panigale and 12 months later an MTS, one of my mates bought a Pikes peak and my brother in law another MTS. Servicing all four has been carried out by them as well.

I only speak for myself but customer service is the number one requirement for me and to date CW in Dorchester have given it to me in spades. Some of the team have changed in recent years, but the newbies seem to be fitting in well and I'm sure Wally and Dave the guys who started the business over thirty years ago must be very proud.

I have resisted posting on this thread in the hope it would just die down, especially when there were comments from those with no direct experience of the dealership.

But, since Alistair has replied, here's my 2p worth.

I bought my first BMW from another dealer very close to the M40 and although the sales experience was pretty good, the after sales service was poor and they were dismissive of my (polite) expression of same. I will never spend my hard earned in there again.

Conversely, my experiences of Bahnstormer have kept me returning as a customer time and again (even though BMW's products are by no means perfect).
They have never ignored me, always offer a coffee and a biscuit, and have cheerfully tolerated me changing my mind on bikes several times.
They even do a pretty good job of hiding any irritation when I complain about stuff which I don't think is 100% perfect with my bike.

When I've had problems, they've got them sorted with BMW.
Yes, there's been a gentle nudge needed from me occasionally to push things through, but nowhere near as much reluctance as I've experienced elsewhere.
The only way I'd go anywhere else for my bike is if nothing in the BMW range appeals.

I suppose nobody gets it right every time, and the power of t'internet means that reputations can be disproportionately damaged by a few isolated instances - which is a shame. But I reckon Bahnstormer are among the best - and I say that as someone who is not an easy customer to please!

Funnily enough I had the same experience as ymbf with MotoRapido too when trying to spend circa £15K on a bike - p*ssed me off enough to go elsewhere.
But their loss was Snell's gain and I also though Tom and the team were great - I wouldn't buy a Duke from anyone else.

I go to the Maidenhead branch of Bahnstormers and prior to the opening used their Alton branch. Never had any issues with service from either branch, and would now go as far to say i count the chaps in Maidenhead as mates. Always made to feel welcome and have popped in for a coffee and a chat on many occasions. There are other dealerships i've used, won't mention any names but one in Central London near a well known park and another down near Guildford and wouldn't use either of them again - for the same reasons the OP brought up in the first post.
Couldn't recommend Bahnstormers highly enough...

I'll back up the positive comments in favour of Bahnstormer Alton; I've used many other dealerships in the past and no other has come close in my experience. The staff are keen to chat and in my experience have always gone out of their way to help with queries and to sort out problems. Sales, parts and servicing departments have all been top notch.

Although I've had a few warranty issues, I would still go out of my way to buy a bike from Bahnstormer next time around because of how well they have looked after me. It's how they have handled issues that has impressed me most; any dealer can be friendly and helpful when you don't have a problem. If and when someone there makes an honest mistake, I'll live with it as they've earned a bucketload of goodwill.

Lord Snooty said:

Well done Alistair

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In 2008,i bought a second hand K12GT from a BMW Dealer,whom I won't mention but who are based in Slyfield Industrial Estate.During the first week of ownership,bike would rarely start at all.Phoned the service department,"needs a new battery sir,which isn't covered by warranty".Booked it in,new battery fitted,off I go.Next day,bike won't start,phoned the service department,"i'm just reading the notes to your bike sir,yes,you indeed asked us to install a new battery,but you didn't ask us to charge up the battery prior to installing it!" Fuck me pink,i'm glad I didn't ask them to install tyres,i'd be pushing the bike to the nearest airline.
Anyway,2012,bought a new GSA from Bahnstormer Alton,week later,i was heading off to Germany early one Friday.Bike wouldn't start or show lights on the dash.Phoned Bahnstormers 08.30,they would have preferred to collect the bike to diagnose the fault,but I'm 150 miles from them and their van was elsewhere.They diagnosed the fault over the phone as a faulty ECU.11am their parts guy turns up at my house on a brand spankers K16GTL as a courtesy bike for me to get to Germany,and a new battery for the GSA for him to get it back to Alton.That type of service is second to none,obviously it costs us one way or another,but it's priceless when you need it,and definitely worth the effort supporting.Good on ya Team Bahnstormer Alton,you've got my vote.