[quick]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

It's not about the money it's the principal and it seems obnoxious to be nickel and dimed for something that should so easily be a courtesy from a luxury car dealership. .

Funny thing is, who do you think had a good laugh out of all that... definitely not the OP....Believe me, he'd be a joke every time he'd go in now

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by quick

Funny thing is, who do you think had a good laugh out of all that... definitely not the OP....Believe me, he'd be a joke every time he'd go in now

I highly doubt that.

Perhaps you and a few others are willing to just shell out money for things you don't want but most people aren't.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by quick

all that excitement for $8.... Sometimes you gotta get off the bandwagon and go with the flow...You really think, changing the battery made them that much richer....

To stay in good books with the SA, i would have brought it up but won't have gone that far...that's just me

Do you bend over often to others artwork as well? I'm guessing you are an employee or a salesman...someone who has to take crap from others and can't say anything? I'm genuinely curious. I would have done the same thing as OP and I am a business owner (don't take crap from extortionists).

[gosi]

My opinion is that on a 2019 vehicle the battery shouldn’t be on its way out, so should be replaced free of charge.

On the other hand the mechanic put in effort to replace your battery when he could have just as easily ignored it, the 8 dollars he charged you wouldn’t be going into his pocket and that kind of money isn’t significant to anyone anyway.

I would have said thank you for the effort, explained that I actually changed the battery myself and paid the 8 dollars.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by gosi

My opinion is that on a 2019 vehicle the battery shouldn’t be on its way out, so should be replaced free of charge.

On the other hand the mechanic put in effort to replace your battery when he could have just as easily ignored it, the 8 dollars he charged you wouldn’t be going into his pocket and that kind of money isn’t significant to anyone anyway.

I would have said thank you for the effort, explained that I actually changed the battery myself and paid the 8 dollars.

I think you're missing the point. The owner never asked for the battery to be changed and the dealership never told him that they are going to perform a service on his battery. This is about transparency. This is about extortion. If the dealership was really doing this out of the goodness of their heart, they would have never charged $8.

[gosi]

Originally Posted by thebmw

I think you're missing the point. The owner never asked for the battery to be changed and the dealership never told him that they are going to perform a service on his battery. This is about transparency. This is about extortion. If the dealership was really doing this out of the goodness of their heart, they would have never charged $8.

You’re missing the point. It’s only 8 dollars. Do you think they make their money 8 bucks at a time? Calling this extortion also implies you’re a cheapskate.

The battery replacement in this case was not necessary, but in 99% of other cases, for people who don’t know how to change the battery themselves, including me, it would be a nice gesture.

Edit: although, as I’ve said, I would ask them why is battery replacement necessary on a 1 year old car. I’ve never replaced a battery on any of our cars. So I would be slightly annoyed at them for charging me for it during warranty, but I would’t argue with them, because there are better things to do in life.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by gosi

You’re missing the point. It’s only 8 dollars. Do you think they make their money 8 bucks at a time? Calling this extortion also implies you’re a cheapskate.

The battery replacement in this case was not necessary, but in 99% of other cases, for people who don’t know how to change the battery themselves, including me, it would be a nice gesture.

If it was a nice gesture, it would have been complimentary.

What is your definition of extortion? Is there some magical dollar minimum? I encourage you to look up the actual definition. There's no dollar minimum. The dollar amount here is irrelevant. You don't touch someone else's property without their permission. You don't charge someone something without their permission. These are basic business principles and business ethics.

Let's put it to you this way. Let's say you went to the doctor's office and they decided that they wanted to replace your knee without your consent, without your permission, and without even telling you and then charged you for it. I'm pretty sure you'd lawyer up.

[gosi]

I think my knee if worth more to me than 8 dollars.

Whatever dude, do whatever floats your boat. Hopefully we don’t ever meet

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by thebmw

I think you're missing the point. The owner never asked for the battery to be changed and the dealership never told him that they are going to perform a service on his battery. This is about transparency. This is about extortion. If the dealership was really doing this out of the goodness of their heart, they would have never charged $8.

This sums it up perfectly.

I'm amazed a few of you are so willing to just pay for things you didn't ask for or need. Is there a dollar limit to that? Sure it was only $8 in this case but what if it was $20 or $100 or $1,000?

[ggMalkavian]

Thanks for the input guys!

Tbh, I didn't care too much that he replaced the battery without asking me (even though I just replaced it 3 weeks ago). However, I was annoyed that after realizing he lost my working battery, he decided to put back a random old and dead battery in my remote instead of just leaving the new one he put without asking me.

But mostly, I was bothered that he sighted loudly when I came back 2 minutes later to tell him about the dead battery. The fact that he did that instead of apologizing at that point is what really confused me and got me wondering if I was in the wrong somehow.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by gosi

I think my knee if worth more to me than 8 dollars.

Whatever dude, do whatever floats your boat. Hopefully we don’t ever meet

Again, you seem to be confused about basic business ethics and extortion. Doesn't matter if it's $8 or $8,000. Wrong is wrong.

[VChenz]

Originally Posted by ggMalkavian

Hey guys!

Just got back from my BMW dealership for a oil change on my X3 2019.

It's all covered under warranty so I wasn't expecting to pay anything but the service guy told me he saw my car remote battery was weak so he installed a new one and it would be 8 CAD$+ tax.

I changed the battery about 3 weeks ago myself. I had not had any issues or message about the battery being weak. But it's a cheap battery at about 2$/ea. so I guess it's possible he got that "weak battery" warning. However, I got a big batch of these batteries at home so I'm really not interested in his battery especially at that price.

I told him thanks but I already have a few at home and I know how to install them. So I would rather use my own batteries. He said "So you would like me to take it out?? Cause I'm not even sure we kept your old one...". I said yeah if you don't mind.

He went away for like 3-4 minutes and told me he found an old one laying around and he put it in my remote. I thought that was a bit weird. Tell me if I'm wrong but I think if he couldn't find my battery, he should have at least let the new one in there. But I said fine, I'll just change it at home as soon as I get the weak battery message on my screen.

After we're all done I went back to my car. Turns out he put a dead battery in my remote cause it's not working at all. I guess I could have used my actual key and just change the battery when I got home but I had never used the key on this car and was afraid I would trigger the car alarm in the dealership parking lot. Plus, I was a bit annoyed he would take out my working battery and give me a dead one instead without me asking for anything.

So I went back him and told him the battery was dead. Please understand during the whole thing I was extremely polite and apologetic like the whole thing was my fault and I was sorry for being difficult.

He sighed loudly took the remote and went away for a few minutes. Came back and said "There - you've got a brand new battery now". I said thanks and I left.

I'm new to the world of BMW. Is this normal? Was I suppose to pay for the battery and stfu? Please let me know if you think I was in the wrong anywhere in the whole thing.

Thanks!

Just an FYI... Those flat CR batteries that like $5 for 20 on Amazon are potentially duds. I found there are alot on Amazon that are essentially fake (sold as Sony, Panasonic, etc) and they come brand new already below the necessary voltage. I was replacing the battery in my car keys like every few months and didn't really think much of it cause they were so cheap. Then I got a Duracell one on sale locally and out it in...18 months...still running strong.

All work on our vehicles should be quoted and then billed. Regardless of make or model. If the dealer wants to potentially eat the cost, they can risk doing it without my permission.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by thebmw

Again, you seem to be confused about basic business ethics and extortion. Doesn't matter if it's $8 or $8,000. Wrong is wrong.

The OP has ample opportunity to hammer the SA during the pass/fail survey.

That's were it hurts. I would not force nor expect someone to keep a dead battery around. That's just silly.


Oh and no it's not extortion.

[thebmw]

Just FYI, this is extortion in the metaphorical definition. It is not something the OP would or could legally pursue unless the dealership refused to return the key or the vehicle until the $8 was paid. This would be a criminal offense if the use of force was involved (such as the dealership using force to remove OP from premises unless the $8 was paid).

The case can also be made that this is racketeering. If the battery was not dead, the dealership fraudulently offered a solution to a problem that did not exist (racketeering). Obviously, no one is going to report or pursue an $8 issue. Now if this was an $8 million extortion or racket, I don't think anyone would argue here. Again, I'm not suggesting legal action, but as I said before, wrong is wrong (dollar amount is not the issue). Fortunately, there are laws in place to prevent this behavior since business ethics are voluntary.


Here are some definitions:
Extortion (also called shakedown, and, in a legal sense incorrectly, exaction) is obtaining benefit through coercion.

The term extortion is often used metaphorically to refer to usury or to price-gouging, though neither is legally considered extortion. It is also often used loosely to refer to everyday situations where one person feels indebted against their will, to another, in order to receive an essential service or avoid legal consequences. Neither extortion nor blackmail requires a threat of a criminal act, such as violence, merely a threat used to elicit actions, money, or property from the object of the extortion

Racket: A service that is fraudulently offered to solve a problem, such as for a problem that does not actually exist, will not be affected, or would not otherwise exist.

Extortion is sometimes called the "protection racket" since the racketeers often phrase their demands as payment for "protection" from (real or hypothetical) threats from unspecified other parties; though often, and almost always, such "protection" is simply abstinence of harm from the same party, and such is implied in the "protection" offer.

[gosi]

Originally Posted by thebmw

Again, you seem to be confused about basic business ethics and extortion. Doesn't matter if it's $8 or $8,000. Wrong is wrong.

You seem to have too much time on your hands to want to argue about such petty things, based on some principal, which you are also wrong about. If you take your car to get serviced, you expect them to fix whatever is broken and that’s their job to do it. That’s consent right there.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by gosi

You seem to have too much time on your hands to want to argue about such petty things, based on some principal, which you are also wrong about. If you take your car to get serviced, you expect them to fix whatever is broken and that’s their job to do it. That’s consent right there.

Yes, lots of time on my hands now that I'm working from home! Obviously, you don't know what consent means either. OP never consented to having his battery replaced! So I guess if you're going to the OR for an injection we can do a knee replacement since you've already consented to going back to the OR?! Your arguments make no sense but you be you!

[gosi]

Originally Posted by thebmw

Yes, lots of time on my hands now that I'm working from home! Obviously, you don't know what consent means either. OP never consented to having his battery replaced! So I guess if you're going to the OR for an injection we can do a knee replacement since you've already consented to going back to the OR?! Your arguments make no sense but you be you!

So what do you do?

Since you love silly medical analogies, your logic is similar to you having a pacemaker implanted only to wake up after the procedure and the doctor asking if you’d like a battery with it as well, since you didn’t specifically consent to it “Oh no problem sir, the battery is $5 but first you need to heal and then we’ll need to cut in you all over again”

All this fuss over a battery.

[///MCollection]

I guess were all different and have different expectations of what service is. I know that one customer would complain if you did a brake fluid change @£40 on top of what was booked but another would complain if they had to come back again and waste there time if it was due next month. This I must say @ £40 should be approved by the customer.

With a £5 battery I would take a chance BUT I would not alienate a customer over £5 if they were not happy and I would let it go and I also would not tut or sigh as that is poor. I may tut and sigh privately in my head but my head is my head and out of bounds. I would not have the time and I know many would be annoyed if I called them over a £5 battery

The people who can see both sides are the people who I think will probably give the best service as it's pleasing both opinions and changing on the fly to give good customer service, I don't think in a service sector job you can have a really firm opinion of this is really bad or really good as service is pleasing the customer what ever they need.

As customer relationships form this becomes easier as you get to know person A wants it done right and with the least inconvenience but person B has a budget and needs to have the most cost effective result

Lastly in my eyes the biggest balls up was from point of putting in the dud battery, if he couldn't find the old one he maybe should have said "sorry sir it's a chargeable part and monitored stock but I wouldn't be able to find your old one so as a valued customer please have it on us but next time remind me you don't want the battery changed, have a great day an sorry again for the mix up

Disclaimer only my opinion and not right or wrong.

[BigHunk]

Yes, those are Bmw stealership in Canada, and don't worry you won't find a decent-honest one in Canada.
Last week they did airbag recall, technician broke radio connector and just shove it inside.
Gave me the keys, like everything is ok, start car but no sound from radio, you get the point.
Get used to it or change brand.

[lsturbointeg]

Had a similar issue with windshield wipers. They replaced them after I just replaced them a couple of months ago without even asking me first. They said they're already cracking. So I pulled the printed paper receipt from the glove box and handed it to the SA. The look on his face was priceless. I asked if he can get the old wipers and show.me the cracks and he said the tech had already thrown it out in the dumpster. He ended up removing the charges and I told him I would be writing to BMW about what had transpired

[gosi]

MCollection

I agree

[GenXer]

You are not out of line at all. I've had remote batteries replaced in every vehicle I've ever owned for free. I would say this is very petty for your dealer to charge this fee. I've had dealers repaired and balanced punctured tires for me at no cost as well. Perhaps dealers are not created equal in many areas.