Sandia BMW Service degradation in ABQ- Group 1 Ownership

[Kmonier]

I have heard back from Chris, and he is going to discuss with Barry, the GM for Sandia. Meanwhile I spoke with Dave Harland, Motorcycle Manager (again), as well as Jackie Herrara, the Customer Service Manager for all of Sandia. We've had a couple of phone conversations about how to move forward. They have agreed to set up a small focus group to discuss some of the areas needed for improvement and talk about actions. They seem committed to the motorcycle side of the business. They also agreed to make this a regular frequency (like 4 times a year) so this group can be used to continually improve. They also explained that the Tech turn-over issues have been a "perfect storm" and acknowledged that turn-over has happened recently and they are severely backlogged with work, but much of it was just bad timing (health issues, one tech with job performance problems, etc.). Yet it happened all at once. They did just have a new tech start last week who is a master tech and is very good, they are still recruiting for one more. The purpose of the focus group is to look at these things, create a healthy forum for dialog on how to appropriately improve from a customer's perspective the dealership, and will be meeting soon, with a regular frequency for follow-up meetings. This will keep it fresh and the dealership better positioned for the future.

During our conversation(s) we discussed the signs that are troublesome with the motorcycle end of the business, here's some I pointed out:

A. Tech turnover and remediation leading to bikes being in the shop for extreme time periods for simple things and the inability to predictably tell a customer when the work will be done;

B. No (or dwindling - almost non-existent these days) stock of jackets, helmets, boots, gloves and other riding gear/equipment (such as Helix vests, Sena intercom and Bluetooth headset units) in stores (both SF and ABQ have this problem) and how this is needed and should be part of the normal sales process and in-store for regular customers. It also send a message to customers that the business has problem in a single glance after walking in.

C. Having someone who knows the accessories and gear/equipment and can be onsite to assist and order accordingly based on season and trends, someone who is knowledgeable and knows: Kline gear from BMW gear from Aerostitch, Givi bags from Verio and TourTech, etc.;

D. The motorcycle website issues - It still allows one to set up an apt. on-line - and says you have an apt. after filling out an on-line form and choosing date and time (even emails you a calendar file for the apt to add to your smart phone as a reminder-> but never gets to the Service Dept (so when you walk in thinking you have an apt you made online, they are completely unaware of it at the service desk) - it's not integrated at all, and it has been this way for 14 months now.

They listened. I was nice and stressed that I care and am trying to help. Which I am.

Therefore, they are actively working and recruiting for the Techs and aware of it. They are committed to the bike part of the business, and want to set up a regular Focus group with customers for input to constantly improve and stay current. I remain cautiously hopeful. Time will tell. As my Grand Mother used to say, "the proof is in the pudding". I wanted to pass this along to folks on what has been going on since initially posting this. I have been actively (and nicely) trying to assist so that the BMW Motorcycle Dealership is successful as well as establish a systematic process to make things better.

[Kmonier]

Yes, they just got a 3rd tech this week. Let's see if they can retain this one. Retention has also been a big problem.

[jsdesko]

For what it is worth, I stopped by Sandia today. There were three techs hard at it.

[Terry Rowley]

Took my bike in for the rampant fuel strip sensor failure. Unfortunately my 2006 R12RT is outside the extended 12 year warranty period so I had to pay (a discounted) $600 for it...thanks to BMW for that.

However, 2 weeks prior when I made my appointment they told me to drop it off Thursday morning and that it would take a couple of days. Called them Saturday and they said it would take a couple more days. Called Wednesday and they won't commit to a date I could get the bike back.

Finally got the Bike that Saturday, took 9 days to complete something that took me about 4 hours to do in my garage.

Appreciate the discount, don't appreciate not being able to ride my bike for over a week when they should have told me to drop it off a week later than they did.

[Kmonier]

One follow up. I have texted Chris on the matter to see if he had any suggestions. Will update when I hear more.

[Kmonier]

The root cause is not the pandemic. It's executive management not paying properly, support for training and retaining their techs. And to boil it down even further appreciating their employees in the motorcycle part of the business and understanding how to run a top shelf motorcycle business to begin with. I see signs on the wall that point to serious sustainability issues for the BMW bike business in ABQ itself under this new Group 1. Not good signs either. Calling Chris may help, but I doubt it in the long run. Letter to BMW corporate may help also if carefully crafted and signed by multiple customers. However that can cause bad consequences as well. They may just fire the local direct line management staff which is not the problem. Then people trying to fix it get affected with no desired outcome. I have thought of all of this. And I am still not decided on a course of action. Other than switch to another manufacture of bikes when I next purchase a motorcycle. Which I will - as in ride 30K+ miles a year on 2 wheels. I'll just move on if this continues.

[bedecc]

I am in the middle of experiencing the problem. I made an appointment 2 weeks out for a 6k/annual + tires. I showed up and was told it will be 3 days to get done; they are 2 techs down. OK, and included was blaming the pandemic. That does not make sense for the service dept.
Now that Chris has moved up the ladder at BMW Motorrad maybe he should be made aware of the situation. He might have suggestions about how we can address this problem.

[Kmonier]

I am sure we have all been watching the evolution of Group 1's new ownership of Sandia and SF BMW Motorcycle dealerships over the past year. I have been a regular consumer as many of us have been. I do have to say though that the dealership (Motorcycle only, I know nothing about BMW/Mini steel cages!) seems to be going downhill and degrading esp. at the ABQ Service Dept. The BMW equipment and accessories has dwindled to a ghost town in the ABQ store, and similarly at the SF location. The service dept (ONLY in ABQ, friends in SF say it is fine there), has a serious motorcycle technician turn-over problem and are currently down to only 2 techs. And one of the remaining ones is looking to possibly leave and very unhappy. The usual operating mode is 4 technicians. The work is backed up minimally 3 weeks, getting tires mounted is a 3 day affair even with an apt made 3 weeks out, due to lack of technicians. I have also seen multiple techs come and go frequently in the last 1-12 months. After discussing with them (discretely) it is the fact they are not paying them a living wage and they must always be on a job logging their time to get paid, and refuse to send techs to BMW school and continually upgrade their training. Group 1 is clearly in a new area of business and does not understand how to run a successful top-shelf motorcycle dealership. They think it is a car dealership. Not the same. Note this is not the Service Manager of General Manager's problems. They are aware of the issues and tried to work it with the Group 1 corporate guys in Dallas.... but those folks in Texas seem to be focused on profits and that only. The attempts by our local management to rectify this have gone on deaf ears from what they have told me. I am concerned about their long-term sustainability if they keep selling bikes and can't service them. I have also had a number of quality issues from work they have performed lately on my bikes. I do most of my work myself, but sold my tire and balancing machines 5 years ago. I am bringing my tire mounts to a 3rd party now, where they can mount and get me out the door in less than 2 hours - consistently. I can make an apt within 2-4 days with them.

What has been your experiences lately? Thoughts? Am I the only one seeing this as a long term situation that could impede our love of BMW motorcycles 3 and 5 years from now? Lots of sad signs on the wall ...