Car dealers do have that bad reputation for the most part. Its sad especially since you are paying top dollar for a battery and installation. That battery is about 75 bucks at Walmart or Autozone and takes about 10 minutes to install, especially given the battery for your Bimmer is in the boot. I just replaced mine not to long ago.

I have never encountered a dealership that I would bring my car to for service, other than for warranty or recall work. When I do have to go, I get the run-around or they tell me to leave it there and they'll look at it when they get a chance. Um, when do you think you'll "have a chance" and what am I supposed to drive in the mean time? My husband loses his mind when he has to order parts from our local dealer because the service desk can't even look up muffler bearings without the VIN number (yes, boys, I know - I was being cheeky)!

My mother, however, has found a very customer-oriented dealership in NJ. They cater to the numerous senior citizens in the area and if necessary, they'll come to the house and pick the car up. She has had all the servicing done there, including oil changes, and I have never heard a complaint. And trust me, Mom would complain!

Recently I took my 2002 Honda S2000 in for an oil change at the local Honda Dealer. I use to perform these oil changes myself but I am \now 60 years old and don't like to crawl under cars anymore. As a quality professional I always check the work performed the following day when I am home (I don't trust the performance of any dealer's service process). Upon checking the oil level I noticed that the Dealer had under-filled my oil by 1 quart. As some of you car buffs know almost all current cars take 4 quarts of oil with a filter replacement when serviced. The S2000 is different since it has a high performance 4 cylinder (racing like) engine and takes 5 quarts. After discovering this service quality defect I went back to the dealer and obtained my missing quart of oil from the service manager and told him I would add it myself when I get home since I did not trust them to do the job correctly. The service manager didn't offer any assurances re: how we would change his process to prevent this defect in the future. When I received the service customer satisfaction survey I of course gave them low scores. The moral of the story is that next time I will paste a sign on the oil filler cap stating "Five (5) quarts of oil required and make sure you use 10W30 oil". This episode also made me wonder if they used the correct oil weight as well - most all cars use 5W30 oil not 10W30 oil. Hopefully this will mistake proof this process (poka-yoke). The Honda service process should also incorporate this type of notice to the auto technicians in the work orders but most likely they won't read it anyway!

While I will agree that the commitment to customer satisfaction when it comes to the service department of auto dealers is seriously lacking, I was a bit disappointed in your article. It would have been nice to get some input as to the reasons why, what did the dealer say was the reason for the delay, what quality issues were lacking, etc., etc. While I understand the frustration of having to wait 134 minutes for a battery change, I do not feel sorry for you at all as most of us cannot afford a "Z" toy. So if having an expensive play toy costs you a few extra minutes at the dealership - so be it. Do you want some cheese with your wine?

Next time, maybe you could spend a bit more time analyzing where and why these problems persist rather than just complaining about them. Maybe give us something substantial to read and think about rather than just the rantings of an unsatisfied customer. Needs some substance.