Ocean Plymouth. Bad experience.

ratbiker

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Right. Enough time has passed for me to stop seething about the issue that I will try and put something diplomatic about my experience.

I brought a used GS from Ocean BMW in Plymouth.

On collection day you can imagine my excitement of being able to get a new to me BMW despite is being an oldie, it was to be my oldie!

I asked for a quick demo of some of the areas of the bike I was unfamiliar with. One of which being the tire pressure monitors. The front wheel wasn’t registering and I was told it would come on after a certain speed, as I went round the block.

So I set off on my way home. (150 miles) hoping the rain would hold off for me on my first ride out, albeit a motorway blast. After a going around the block the pressure indicator still wasn’t showing so I popped back to the dealer and showed them. They told me I need to go a few miles to ‘wake it up’ and that it must work as it would have been checked in the thorough PDI.

Knowing no better I headed off. After a few miles I had a warning on the dash which indicated to me that my front tire was now deflating! I stopped and gave it a kick, it definitely wasn’t losing pressure.

I emailed them from the side of the road to say, standby I’m coming back in.

When I arrived it was looked at briefly by sales staff and told it may need to be woken up by a special workshop tool.

I was given two options. The first being to ride it home and take it in to my local dealer to sort at ‘my convenience’ or I could stay and hopefully someone would be able to look at it depending how busy they were.

This p****d me off a little as you can imagine. If you go to collect a vehicle from a main dealer, you want the experience that goes with it. I just felt they were trying to get rid of me.

I stuck to my guns and said I would like it sorted, after all I shouldn’t have this issue as it should have been sorted before I arrived.

They stuck it on the bench and I waited. After around 20 minutes they told me that the sensor wasn’t responding to the wake up tool and they would probably have to replace it. I was told this would take time, maybe an hour or more.

Again I was given the option of taking it home to have it sorted locally. I feel there was bit of an emphasis put on this option.

Again I insisted that I wanted it sorted before leaving rather than having to get it sorted on another day. So they set about work.

They stripped it and said it needed a new sensors and this would be fitted. I couldn’t help but question the quality of the PDI, I was told it must have been working as it would have been checked.

(What happened to the days when a conscientious sales person would go over the bike thoroughly as a final check before hand over to make sure nothing is missed or there are no embarrassing moments, like this one.)

Halfway through the procedure I was given an update. It was commented on how annoyed I looked. Not surprising really. I was told they were also annoyed as it was costing them money to have to change it and they had spent too much on the bike already from taking it in as a part ex. I was also told that if I had of taken it away and got it done locally then it could have been claimed on warranty.

It now became clear why the emphasis was placed on me taking the second option.

After around 45mins it was sorted and I was finally on my way home.

I had a follow up call a couple of days later to ‘make sure I got home’!!!

After a few days I went out to the bike and removed the panniers. It was at this point I noticed that the pannier with the heat shield on had a broken bracket at the top which had fractured.

I assume it was like this at the point of sale but not really something you would notice as a customer. I emailed the local dealer to ask whether it was covered under warranty and explained the circs. I was told it wasn’t covered and maybe to try contacting the dealer who sold the bike to see if they would be prepared to help out.

Ocean salesman, in no uncertain terms told me the price of the part and they could order / send me one at my expense. Despite this having been like this at the point of sale. Ggrrr.

The local dealer was a little more accommodating and offered to put in for a BMW good will gesture. They had no knowledge of me but went the extra mile.

After my first ride out. I noticed some strange noises from the ESA at the rear. (Now bear in mind I didn’t want a bike with ESA due to the amount of reported failures. However I made sure it was covered under warranty before paying my hard earned cash.) I inspected the shock to find a slight weep of oil at the bottom of the shaft. Great just what I need. . .

I cleaned it off and had another short ride only to find it there again. Due to the last response of Ocean I didn’t bother contacting them as I feel I knew the answer. It was confirmed by the local dealer this week that the shock is shot. It was covered under warranty and they would sort it as soon as possible. I mentioned to them that I had a feeling it could have been like this when I brought it as I had literally only done one local journey. No comment was made, but an eyebrow was raised!

I can’t shake the feeling that this shock was shot when I brought it. At the mileage and age of the bike this should have been checked by them. In light of Oceans comments with the tire pressure sensor trying to get me to ride away on the day they clearly didn’t want to spend any more on it. I have a hunch that they knew this, but cleaned it up so it wasn’t spotted (and yes I did look) as they didn’t want to change it.

Some of you may say stop moaning it’s covered under warranty. Well yes it is I agree and this is why I made sure it was before buying. I just think there is an element of deceit coming from Ocean. Whilst unprovable, it doesn’t sit well with me.

Thanks for the listening to my whinge.



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A very sad state of affairs and it certainly took the shine off your new bike enthusiasm, so sad to hear a dealer acting this way.I have a feeling they have relied on the BMW network checks rather than doing their own when the bike came into their stock.I would suggest a follow up letter to their branch manager detailing your issues and disapointment with the branch team as ther is nothing like a right royal rocket to get a salesman off his chair.

Meanwhile at Manchester BMW I have been in with regard to an engine paint issue on my K1600 and whilst its out of the 24 month warranty, they have been very helpful and managed to wrangle a good will offering of a lower engine I do however have to pay for the labour to fit it.
 
Sorry to read your angry story Mr Ratbiker ... you were right to be pissed off with them .. in my many years I have never had any bad dealings with BMW which is what one expects ... you do need to write in to the area manager or someone not at the dealership.
 
I will concur with you ocean bmw did not make me and a friend welcome when we visited last year and as you can gather lymington to Plymouth is not a short ride we even had to pay for our coffee as we were not buying a new or used bike
Don't think I will either visit or use them again
But on a positive note I have the best uk dealer only 35 miles away cw motorcycle Dorchester
 
I am considering that. Buying into the BMW should be an experience to be enjoyed.


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The only thing I don't understand about your disappointing experience is that if these issues are covered under the warranty then the supplying dealer wouldn't need you to "ride away" for them to be fixed elsewhere under warranty as you suggest. They could've made a warranty claim and fixed them ????
 
They didn’t want to make a warranty claim there and then. They told me it would look suspicious to the warranty company making a claim on the day I collected!


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I’d say that it won’t be long before someone from Ocean is made aware of this thread. There is the possibility of warranty fraud going on here. I’m nearly sure that when a dealer puts a bike on BMW cover they are expected to put a fault free bike on. JJH
 
I feel for the op and think that it is possible that they gave over the odds for the bike so had no profit in it at all
But with the customer service he recived and my unwelcome felling
And has to wounder if they are mot focust on pcp deals than making
People happy
 
i have dealt with Italians for years , write a letter to the dealer principal ( boss/owner ) customer services uk ,AND customer services de.

email if that is easier , but letters i find have a good impact.

1 letter = nothing happens = gets buried

2 letters = person A talks to person B , person A checks up that person B has done his/her job .

3 letters = above PLUS person German checks A+B have done their jobs. and WILL chase them.

i once had a customer send 100 emails to Aprilia board of directors , he got 1 reply , but it was enough to get his engine rebuilt .
 
Right. Enough time has passed for me to stop seething about the issue that I will try and put something diplomatic about my experience.

I brought a used GS from Ocean BMW in Plymouth.

On collection day you can imagine my excitement of being able to get a new to me BMW despite is being an oldie, it was to be my oldie!

I asked for a quick demo of some of the areas of the bike I was unfamiliar with. One of which being the tire pressure monitors. The front wheel wasn’t registering and I was told it would come on after a certain speed, as I went round the block.

So I set off on my way home. (150 miles) hoping the rain would hold off for me on my first ride out, albeit a motorway blast. After a going around the block the pressure indicator still wasn’t showing so I popped back to the dealer and showed them. They told me I need to go a few miles to ‘wake it up’ and that it must work as it would have been checked in the thorough PDI.

Knowing no better I headed off. After a few miles I had a warning on the dash which indicated to me that my front tire was now deflating! I stopped and gave it a kick, it definitely wasn’t losing pressure.

I emailed them from the side of the road to say, standby I’m coming back in.

When I arrived it was looked at briefly by sales staff and told it may need to be woken up by a special workshop tool.

I was given two options. The first being to ride it home and take it in to my local dealer to sort at ‘my convenience’ or I could stay and hopefully someone would be able to look at it depending how busy they were.

This p****d me off a little as you can imagine. If you go to collect a vehicle from a main dealer, you want the experience that goes with it. I just felt they were trying to get rid of me.

I stuck to my guns and said I would like it sorted, after all I shouldn’t have this issue as it should have been sorted before I arrived.

They stuck it on the bench and I waited. After around 20 minutes they told me that the sensor wasn’t responding to the wake up tool and they would probably have to replace it. I was told this would take time, maybe an hour or more.

Again I was given the option of taking it home to have it sorted locally. I feel there was bit of an emphasis put on this option.

Again I insisted that I wanted it sorted before leaving rather than having to get it sorted on another day. So they set about work.

They stripped it and said it needed a new sensors and this would be fitted. I couldn’t help but question the quality of the PDI, I was told it must have been working as it would have been checked.

(What happened to the days when a conscientious sales person would go over the bike thoroughly as a final check before hand over to make sure nothing is missed or there are no embarrassing moments, like this one.)

Halfway through the procedure I was given an update. It was commented on how annoyed I looked. Not surprising really. I was told they were also annoyed as it was costing them money to have to change it and they had spent too much on the bike already from taking it in as a part ex. I was also told that if I had of taken it away and got it done locally then it could have been claimed on warranty.

It now became clear why the emphasis was placed on me taking the second option.

After around 45mins it was sorted and I was finally on my way home.

I had a follow up call a couple of days later to ‘make sure I got home’!!!

After a few days I went out to the bike and removed the panniers. It was at this point I noticed that the pannier with the heat shield on had a broken bracket at the top which had fractured.

I assume it was like this at the point of sale but not really something you would notice as a customer. I emailed the local dealer to ask whether it was covered under warranty and explained the circs. I was told it wasn’t covered and maybe to try contacting the dealer who sold the bike to see if they would be prepared to help out.

Ocean salesman, in no uncertain terms told me the price of the part and they could order / send me one at my expense. Despite this having been like this at the point of sale. Ggrrr.

The local dealer was a little more accommodating and offered to put in for a BMW good will gesture. They had no knowledge of me but went the extra mile.

After my first ride out. I noticed some strange noises from the ESA at the rear. (Now bear in mind I didn’t want a bike with ESA due to the amount of reported failures. However I made sure it was covered under warranty before paying my hard earned cash.) I inspected the shock to find a slight weep of oil at the bottom of the shaft. Great just what I need. . .

I cleaned it off and had another short ride only to find it there again. Due to the last response of Ocean I didn’t bother contacting them as I feel I knew the answer. It was confirmed by the local dealer this week that the shock is shot. It was covered under warranty and they would sort it as soon as possible. I mentioned to them that I had a feeling it could have been like this when I brought it as I had literally only done one local journey. No comment was made, but an eyebrow was raised!

I can’t shake the feeling that this shock was shot when I brought it. At the mileage and age of the bike this should have been checked by them. In light of Oceans comments with the tire pressure sensor trying to get me to ride away on the day they clearly didn’t want to spend any more on it. I have a hunch that they knew this, but cleaned it up so it wasn’t spotted (and yes I did look) as they didn’t want to change it.

Some of you may say stop moaning it’s covered under warranty. Well yes it is I agree and this is why I made sure it was before buying. I just think there is an element of deceit coming from Ocean. Whilst unprovable, it doesn’t sit well with me.

Thanks for the listening to my whinge.



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I’d be tempted to spend some money and get a trusted person to do a thorough inspection. Get all the issues identified so you can fully understand the situation.
 
warranty claim on the day of sale , should have been picked up by the w/shop.
i once did 6 claims before i even had the bike out of the crate , ( not a BMW )
 
There is the possibility of warranty fraud going on here. I’m nearly sure that when a dealer puts a bike on BMW cover they are expected to put a fault free bike on. JJH

Indeed, a very interesting line of thought, that.
 
I bought a second hand V70 a few years back that had a problem chewing through front tyres......dealer was unhelpful.... until I printed out all the terms ( from the Volvo website) of their warranted “previously loved” vehicles and asked to see the detail of all the checks...


They could not supply the information, admitting it had been purchased through auction.

Next thing the car was taken away by Volvo for a week and checked on a jig, an alignment issue found and rectified.....took a lot of moaning and I had to write to the dealer principle.

IMO a BMW approved bike should be mechanically as new and tyres and pads should have plenty of life...
 
They didn’t want to make a warranty claim there and then. They told me it would look suspicious to the warranty company making a claim on the day I collected!


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Was it the weekend perhaps ? Was the workshop too busy to fit in the work because of work already booked in? Were they therefore unable to fix it there and then and a bit embarrassed as they were aware you travelled a long way and perhaps thought it easiest & best to get it sorted after collection rather than send you home without your bike.

Clearly these faults should've been picked up I before sale but Its unfortunate what happened afterwards because had you have been local I imagine together you would've been able to come to a more satisfactory solution.
 
The dealer sounds like a shower of shite. Why do some dealers try telling you there’s no money in the bike, and they can’t afford to spend any more on it. That would ring alarm bells for me.
 
Sorry to hear of your experience with Ocean. Personally I found them to be very good. Travelled down by train from London. Collected at the train station by the salesman. Bike was exactly as described. Deal concluded. Rode it home. (Free coffee thrown in as well). :thumb2
 


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