Wheel lock mysteriously disappears during a BMW service at a cost to me of just over R6000!

Good day. I hope you are well. So I'd like to share my recent experience with BMW Somerset West. I have been using them for services and for purchasing new vehicles for the past 10 years and have been very satisfied until now.

On the 26th of September, I took my BMW to BMW somerset West for a routing=e Brake pad and Oil Filter Service. I dropped it off at 8:30 am and took a walk around the shops. While having breakfast at a nearby Coffee shop, they called to advise me that the service would cost R12000. I agreed and they said they would proceed. At 11:30am, I returned. Shortly afterwards, they asked me where my Wheel lock was. I said it was in the boot on the right. They said they'd looked everywhere but couldn't find it. Without it, they could not proceed with the service.

i remembered that on the 8th of August, I had my front run flat tyres replaced at Supa-quick in Caledon and thought that they might have forgotten to put the wheel lock back. I called them, but they knew nothing about it, They said they would investigate, In the meantime, I asked BMW if they didn't perhaps have a Universal Wheel lock, to which they rep****, "No." In order to proceed, they would need to get a Specialised Team out for Paarl to drill the nuts off, then I would need to buy a new repair kit and Lock nut kit. For this they quoted R4000! In the end, it was just over R6000!!!

What was I to do? I couldn't go home. I live an hour away. I had to agree for them to proceed. My warning lights had been on the OBC for the past couple f weeks. The Team from Paarl was, apparently very busy. (Strange.... had no idea this was a thing which happened frequently. It was the first time it had happened to me.)

Anyhow, we had to wait 2 hours for the team to arrive, but they were done quickly, and the service could proceed. At 4pm, they were done. My service came to R10732,22 and then R6032,88 for the Team from Paarl to remove the Lock nuts @ R2550, the purchase of a new Repair kit @ R2419,14 and a set of new Lock nuts @R1063,74. Thank God i had a Credit card to pay.

When I got back, life got a bit chaotic, so I was only able to contact Supa Quick a couple of weeks later. On the 15th of October. I went in and saw the Manager, Johan Cloete, who was most obliging, saying he was sorry for the expense I incurred, and that he would check the video footage from the work shop on the day. If they were responsible, he would just claim on insurance. Two days later, he came back to me with footage of the worker walking to the boot after the wheels had been replaced and placing the wheel lock in the right side of the boot where it belongs. Since I have Run flats, there would be no other reason for him to do this with no spare tyre and nothing else in the boot.

So next, I contacted the Manager of the Service Centre at BMW Somerset West. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name but proceeded with my complaint and evidence. His attitude towards the issue was smug, condescending, and dismissive. He tried to talk me down the whole way. I told him that I had evidence from Video footage taken from the workshop at Supa quick, that proved that they had returned the Wheel lock. The worker in charge is responsible for it and has worked for the company for 30 Years. I asked if he had cameras in his work shops. He said they did not. I said that I found that very strange for a big company who has millions of Rand worth of vehicles in their Show room and who work on Vehicles worth Millions of Rand. Surely Insurance would insist. He said it had not been necessary, and that only once before ad a wheel lock been missing.

I then said, I hate to accuse anyone, but I lost, Supa - quick had nothing to gain. Only BMW is gaining on Sales and then of course, the "Very busy team from Paarl who go round removing the Lock nuts. The car was at the work shop for half an hour or so before the quote came in, then two and a half hours later, after they said they were going to proceed, and only after I got back, did they tell me the wheel lock was missing. It is very suspicious. Either someone genuinely misplaced the wheel lock, or there is a syndicate where someone is getting a cut form the sales or the Wheel lock team. The team are busy, so say they do 10 a day @ R2550 a shot. That would be R25 500 a day for just drilling out 4-wheel nuts. Then BMW sells the Repair kit and sets of Wheel lock nuts for R3482,88 altogether x 10. R34 482,88 a day. if they were to make say, 10% on that, R3482,88 commission. The Manager, just continued with his smug tone, and just denied that it would have happened on their premises...! I said to him, " You need to understand..... My husband is away on the ships for 10 weeks or more at a time. I am the only driver. The car is locked and in a garage at home and locked when i get out, wherever I go. I never have any need for the wheel lock and nor does my husband. The only people who touch it are BMW and Supa Quick. It's clearly not Supa Quick.

So I realised I was not getting my point across with this guy, so I called the BMW South Africa Customer Care Line. The lady took all the details and said she would contact the branch and get back to me in 48 Hours. That was on Friday 18th. She got back to me on Monday, and I was totally Gob smacked but not really surprised.... Apparently, BMW had said that they were really not interested in this case and were not even going to "Waste any time" trying to prove themselves!" Talk about Smug and very suspicious!!!!

Hardly living up to their "Principles" on their website,

"The philosophy of our business is based on two primary principles – integrity, and a sincere belief in building meaningful relationships with our stakeholders, namely our suppliers and principals, staff, and customers."

The Manager did his best to intimidate me, but I'm not letting this go. I'm taking it further and would love to know of anyone else who has had this experience recently.