I’m not unsympathetic to the frustration in this thread, but could we do a quick reality check?
I leased my car in Sterling, Virginia, about 400 miles away. It’s serviced locally at Kelly BMW, a 15-minute drive from our house.
If I’d never heard of LH I would assume that I could just return it to Kelly. So around month 35, I’d call Kelly and ask them how to return my car there at the end of the month.
If they declined to accept it, I’d call MAG next. They’re the only other BMW dealer in Columbus. If they said no, I’d call BMWFS.
If the BMW agent directed me to the closest dealer, I’d explain how my first two attempts had failed, and then I’d stay on the phone until someone gave me a credible answer.
At this point in my fictional vignette I still haven’t opened the file cabinet and pulled out my contract.
Frustrating? Sure. Time consuming? Yeah, that was three phone calls and maybe 30 minutes of my life I won’t get back.
But in between my posts in this thread yesterday, I solved half a dozen problems at work that were a lot more complex than making three phone calls about a BMW return and being assertive on the third.
I don’t understand how people get through life, if the slightest challenge or inconvenience puts him or her into a tailspin.
There are a lot of things written on paper that either never happen or can be circumvented through some basic social engineering. An entire sales profession is based on that.
Ok now I’m curious… is there a reason you go through the CFPB’s complaints? Just for reading material or job-related? Again, just out of curiosity. Don’t need to go into details if you’re not comfortable
Wanted to share my experience too, just returned X1 to a closest to me dealer (not the dealer I got it originally from). When I called them, they said right away that they’ll take it no problem, just get BMWFS authorization to return (since it was early termination). When BMWFS gave me go-ahead to ground the car, made a call to the dealer, scheduled appt, next day was in and out in 20 minutes.
Bmw lease turn in coming up next month. Anyone know of any dealers that are receptive to taking back lease returns not bought from original dealer in Southern California? Don’t know the rules so I won’t name dealers but my 2 closest ones giving me the cold shoulder/no call backs when I inquired about lease return. I do have appointment set with dealership I bought from and it was easy, but an hour drive so looking for anyone closer that is willing to take it.
I ended up doing a service at Long Beach and getting pre inspection at the time. Then when i called lease return dept there they said since i serviced there, they would schedule me for the final return. Had to postpone that appt but their rationale at the time i made the appt was, we treat our service customers well. Originally leased out of town…
Just tell them you want to do a lease return and then potentially get a new car from them too. Do the lease return first and then go browse. It’s perfectly okay if you change your mind and decide you don’t want a new car anymore… Point is though, they’ll probably change their tone real quick if they think you’re not just dumping your car on them and leaving.
