Beware New 2008 535 Stolen By BMW Roadside Assistance
12-01-2007, 07:38 AM
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Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='501433' date='Dec 1 2007, 06:01 AM
Wait a minute.......I thought that BMW's Roadside Assistance was ONLY supposed to take the car to BMW Dealers and nowhere else, even if the owner asked for it. Am I wrong? I think that is the way it's supposed to work, yet the BMW rep had no problem with the car being taken to a non-BMW facility? I even remember people saying that Roadside Assistance would only take their car to the CLOSEST BMW dealer and not any other BMW dealer of the owner's choosing, so how did they not have a problem with the car being taken to an independent body shop? What if my transmission broke down and I asked BMW Roadside assistance to take the car to an independent mechanic shop or to a Mercedes dealer? I'm sure BMW NA would have a problem with that and refuse my request, so how is this any different? Hopefully the BMW rep you talked to had no clue what they were talking about and it isn't normal policy to let the car be towed to anywhere other than BMW dealers.
You are correct. BMW Roadside Assistance will not tow the car anywhere else besides the nearest dealer OR <30 or 50 miles( I forget) to the next nearest dealer of your choice.
But in this case it sounds like the towing company worked with the body shop to scam the car into going to Northridge Collision...
WOW and they were AAA contracted too? had the AAA logo on their truck?
12-01-2007, 07:48 AM
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So where did AAA get involved? You said BMW Roadside picked up the car but now you say a manager from AAA is calling... Just so I understand, who towed the car, AAA or BMW Roadside assistance? Others are right, BMW Roadside Assistance will tow to the nearest BMW dealership but if AAA picked up the car, that's why BMW is saying it's your issue not theirs. Almost sounds like you called BMW but before the official Roadside folks got there, some other tow truck with AAA stickers showed up and took the car. I am confused as to who exactly towed the car...
12-01-2007, 07:54 AM
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Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='501471' date='Dec 1 2007, 08:38 AM
You are correct. BMW Roadside Assistance will not tow the car anywhere else besides the nearest dealer OR <30 or 50 miles( I forget) to the next nearest dealer of your choice.
But in this case it sounds like the towing company worked with the body shop to scam the car into going to Northridge Collision...
WOW and they were AAA contracted too? had the AAA logo on their truck?
But in this case it sounds like the towing company worked with the body shop to scam the car into going to Northridge Collision...
WOW and they were AAA contracted too? had the AAA logo on their truck?
This story is INSANE...why aren't the tow truck company and bodyshop being charged for vehicle theft? This is absolutely CRAZY...unless there is something I'm missing here? Things that aren't connecting for me are 1) the tow truck driver claiming that you called and re-directed your car to Northridge Collision Center AND BMW NA claiming it was your fault in the 1st place...where is that statement coming from...did you try to have the car diverted...and I had thought that BMW NA was in control of the vehicle's destination...not the owner??? How can BMWNA not stand behind you - if the car was criminally diverted to a different repair center than the one that BMWNA had requested??
Confusing for sure, but I'd be VERY angry at all parties involved in this one.
12-01-2007, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by kscarrol' post='501476' date='Dec 1 2007, 11:48 AM
So where did AAA get involved? You said BMW Roadside picked up the car but now you say a manager from AAA is calling... Just so I understand, who towed the car, AAA or BMW Roadside assistance? Others are right, BMW Roadside Assistance will tow to the nearest BMW dealership but if AAA picked up the car, that's why BMW is saying it's your issue not theirs. Almost sounds like you called BMW but before the official Roadside folks got there, some other tow truck with AAA stickers showed up and took the car. I am confused as to who exactly towed the car...
12-01-2007, 10:29 AM
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Even if your car goes to a BMW dealer after an accident, you can still get abused. My car was in an accident in Decatur, Indiana on May 15, 2007. BMW Assist towed it to the only BMW dealer in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It sat there for a couple of days. Then it was towed to a local Fort Wayne body shop. It sat in their yard for two weeks before they concluded that they did not feel comfortable working on a BMW with that type of damage. Thank you BMW Assist !!!!
12-01-2007, 11:41 AM
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Originally Posted by JSpira' post='501479' date='Dec 1 2007, 10:58 AM
BMW now uses the AAA for RA.
12-01-2007, 11:55 AM
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Sorry dude, that sucks.
Best of luck getting it resolved....
I had an issue with AAA when mine was towed to my dealer - the tow truck bent three of my rims when he tied down the car thru the rims (SSR GT3's) - of course they claimed that was impossible - luckily for me the dealer made me whole with a set of OEM 166's. Tow truck operators, with out a doubt, are the most dishonest people on the planet!
Best of luck getting it resolved....
I had an issue with AAA when mine was towed to my dealer - the tow truck bent three of my rims when he tied down the car thru the rims (SSR GT3's) - of course they claimed that was impossible - luckily for me the dealer made me whole with a set of OEM 166's. Tow truck operators, with out a doubt, are the most dishonest people on the planet!
12-01-2007, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='501433' date='Dec 1 2007, 03:01 PM
Wait a minute.......I thought that BMW's Roadside Assistance was ONLY supposed to take the car to BMW Dealers and nowhere else, even if the owner asked for it. Am I wrong? I think that is the way it's supposed to work, yet the BMW rep had no problem with the car being taken to a non-BMW facility? I even remember people saying that Roadside Assistance would only take their car to the CLOSEST BMW dealer and not any other BMW dealer of the owner's choosing, so how did they not have a problem with the car being taken to an independent body shop? What if my transmission broke down and I asked BMW Roadside assistance to take the car to an independent mechanic shop or to a Mercedes dealer? I'm sure BMW NA would have a problem with that and refuse my request, so how is this any different? Hopefully the BMW rep you talked to had no clue what they were talking about and it isn't normal policy to let the car be towed to anywhere other than BMW dealers.
There is only one reason a car can be delivered to another place. That is when the customer tells the towing company to do so. But that, the customer would do on the spot. If the customer isn't there and calls, how can we know it is the customer? The car then gets delivered to where BMW told us, and the customer can tell BMW he doesn't want it to be touched by them and wants it to be towed to another place (what he would need to pay himself then).
Every towing service of course has partner companys. I had a customer today who got involved in an accident and didn't knew any good places and didn't wanted his car at the VW dealership... So I told him about our partner who is dealing with accidents, and he agreed to have the car done at that place.
In this case it looks like the towing service has a partnership with the body shop... and simply delivers cars to them without the customers agreement.
That is clearly a fraud and should be taken care of by the police and the insurance.
If the towing service is a partner of AAA or something similar, tell them too, they want to know about it and will get rid of the contract with the fraudulent towing service.
Stuff like that simply pi$$es me off. This is so wrong, and bad for the whole towing business.
12-01-2007, 02:15 PM
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LAX535 flogged this long-dead horse over on Bimmerfest for a while (11/17-11/19)...now has brought it over here to E60.net (which he joined today). OK...enough. Please, take the insurance settlement, buy a new car of some kind, and move on...please?
12-01-2007, 04:32 PM
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Originally Posted by JSpira' post='501479' date='Dec 1 2007, 11:58 AM
BMW now uses the AAA for RA.
BMW subs out Roadside assistance to AAA not really high end. Then AAA calls one of there subcontractors. The towing company diverted the car to a body shop that they own. If you go to their website you can see the logo for United Towing.
www.northridgecollision.com
Where it became insane is when these guys refused to release the car claiming that I changed my mind and called them back saying that I no longer wanted take to the dealer. Once the LAPD started calling they seem to have had a change of attitude.
AAA has been calling to try and sweep this under the rug, obviously that is not going to happen.
I have still yet to hear from BMW NA on this. They claim that their managers do not speak to customers.
What do you think happened... I live on the West Side Of LA and got my 08 535 from Beverly Hills BMW do you really think that I called back and had them tow it to Northridge Auto Collision on the other side of town. Especially since the tow order was in writing and Clearly Said Beverly Hills BMW.
HMMMMM not likely