Service Experience at BMW Touring Sport, Greenville, SC

This post has been languishing for a few months because it is negative
and I really hate to go public with negativity. The reason that I post
this now is because the Iron Butt Rally is starting in Spartanburg, SC
and Touring Sport <http://www.touringsportbmw.com/> is the nearest BMW
dealer and I feel that sharing my experience may help others make an
informed decision on whether or not to use this dealership for service.

I had a breakdown on the Cape Fear 1000 rally and, based on the high
recommendations of others, chose to have my bike towed to Touring Sport
over a closer dealership. My bike has quite a bit of long distance
customization and I know that it costs extra to deal with non-stock
motorcycles. I fully expected to pay time and material for the repairs.
The failed ignition switch is deep inside the tupperware on a K1200LT so
the $500 labor charge, while not pleasant, was not surprising.

What was surprising was that the job was not done properly. While I
expect that my customization will cost extra, I also expect that my bike
will be returned to me in the proper condition. I had to ride the bike
home and then completely tear it down to reconnect my communications
system properly, essentially replicating 90% of the labor for which I
had just paid. In the process of reproducing this work I found other
examples of poor workmanship, stripped and missing screws, improperly
routed wiring, and missing spot ties.

I brought all of this to the attention of the management at Touring
Sport with little satisfaction. Their position was that they had to
charge flat labor on non-stock work and that the charges were normal.
They never did seem to understand that I was not objecting to charges
for work that was properly performed but was objecting to paying the
full freight on improper work.

Bottom line is that I felt they fully understood that I was a "one time"
customer who they would never see again.

My apologies for cross posting this to my blog
<http://ibpete.blogspot.com/>, the BMW Luxury Touring Community
<http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/cmps_index.php>, the Iron Butt Association
forum <http://www.ironbutt.org/forum/default.asp>, the LDRider forum
<http://www.ldriders.com/>, and the IBR private forum, I normally try to
be a good netcitizen but in this case I am following through with a
promise to Touring Sport that, should we not be able to resolve the
issue, I would make this post.

If anyone wants to see the entire email exchange please let me know and
I will post them on my web page.

--
Mike Langford [aka Pete]
Raleigh, NC
IBA#341
http://employees.org/~mlangfor/
The mysteries of life?
"it's faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money"
Tom T. Hall