M1 Auto Parts - Updated with a very positive end.

[Jandre]

I just had a major fall-out with the guys from M1 Auto Parts/ Old Bruces spares, or whatever they wanna call themselves these days.

Yesterday I spoke to one of the guys for a replacement lens for the right hand side headlight on my e39.

Yeah, the guy said, I have about 3 in stock. Come choose the nicest one for R750.00

So I ask my wife to pop in and pick one up for me.

My word. The part was a piece of shit.

Clips missing/ broken off, moulds broken and cracked. Plainly, it was just freaking rubbish.

They said to my wife some of the clips are missing, and that I could have it for R400.00. Sure I said, I have spare clips. No problem.

It wasn't missing clips. It was broken off plastic.

If you are not completely satisfied, bring it back they said.

Which i promptly did this morning.

So they proceed to bring me three more to choose from. Some where glued together with silicone, some had broken mounting clips, some had no mounting clips. One of them even had a broken indicator lens.

Then they bring me the piece de resistance. A complete light unit.

Sure I said, this looks great, I will have the lens.

So they ask, and the manager says no, they can't split it, I must buy the unit for R 2 000.00

No go, so you can refund me. Then they wanted to charge me 10% handling fee. For what? Returning shit? I don't think so.

Then the manager wanted to exchange some words, and I asked him to call Rolf.

"Nah, Rolf's in a meeting."

I don't give a rats ass. Call Rolf!!!!

Rolf didn't want to come out, and they gave me my R400,00 back.

That place will NEVER EVER see me again.

I actually told the manager(Hilton) he must take those lenses and chuck them in the bin.

He tells me he can sell it for R750,00 and people buy it.

I have some pics that I will upload now, and then you guys can tell me if I overreacted.

Lens retaining clip cut away with a hacksaw:

Entire corner broken away:

 

[Die_Miek]

i feel your pain.

i had the same issue a month back with clifton m3 spares. i needed a passenger side mirror unit for my e46. he said has one for R700, but the back cover is missing.

i said fine i can use my old back cover.

i arranged that the courier pick it up, when i got the mirror the the black plastic part was broken, the mirror were glued to make it stick, the mirror were written on with tip-ex, and the mirror itself were cut by some backyard mechanic.

i was not satisfied, when i enquired he said: when the mirror left his premises it was fine, maybe the courier company damaged it.

i have delt with the courier comany many times before and never had issues, but it was my first time dealing with him.

luckily i could salvage parts from my old mirror.

i feel your pain.

 

[msm]

I think this is universal "scrap yard" customer service ... some of these guys think these parts are made from gold :thumbdo:

 

[Rolf]

... no no... not all the Rolfs are THAT bad guys :nonono:

 

[Jandre]

i feel your pain.

i had the same issue a month back with clifton m3 spares. i needed a passenger side mirror unit for my e46. he said has one for R700, but the back cover is missing.

i said fine i can use my old back cover.

i arranged that the courier pick it up, when i got the mirror the the black plastic part was broken, the mirror were glued to make it stick, the mirror were written on with tip-ex, and the mirror itself were cut by some backyard mechanic.

i was not satisfied, when i enquired he said: when the mirror left his premises it was fine, maybe the courier company damaged it.

i have delt with the courier comany many times before and never had issues, but it was my first time dealing with him.

luckily i could salvage parts from my old mirror.

i feel your pain.

Funny how things work. I have dealt with Cliftons on 3 occasions and all 3 has been very pleasant.

 

[FaSTandFurious]

That is plain robbery. Luckily you didn't budge

 

[Sankekur]

I am just glad you got your money back....have had my fair share of interactions with crooks at scrapyards :nonono:

 

[Jandre]

I will pay good money for good second hand spares. But I will not pay any money for shit.

I would not even have fitted that to my car if they gave it to me for free.

 

[zabbo]

I was considering going there this afternoon but now I will stay away.
I need a grille for the front bumper .. Dealers want R1500 for the M3 grille and R1200 for the individual style (slatted) one like i have.

 

[Chucky]

You didn't over react, and good you didnt pay a handling fee I think the CPA states that if you are not satisfied with what you have bought you are liable for a full refund from supplier. <-- why did i just say that i dont know

 

[Jandre]

I was considering going there this afternoon but now I will stay away.
I need a grille for the front bumper .. Dealers want R1500 for the M3 grille and R1200 for the individual style (slatted) one like i have.

Grills are a difficult thing.

I bought some universal mesh from Racing Edge to replace mine on POFS, but it does not work. Take my advice.

Try and find the proper thing, or just bite the bullet and buy a new one.

The car looks horrible without it.

 

[Philip Foglar]

This is really poor service!! And unfortunately we as South Africans are often too easy to eat it up and accept it!! They should actually be extremely apologetic and even offer to pay for the fuel used driving up and down for nothing!

Buying used parts means that the parts are in all intents and purposes still whole and free of significant damage. So it either needs to be free of damage, or at the very least, economically and practically fixable - that is just rubbish and belongs in the bin!!

 

[freerider]

I deal with Wallied and Jacques for very good reason, if I cant get it there and I dont want to pay the new price, I'll rather wait until they can source me a good part or until they have the part I'm looking for.

 

[Bayn46]

Crap service indeed, sorry to hear. Is Bruce selling spares out of his new place? He seemed like a good guy when I met him, so hopefully better service there.

 

[Jandre]

I picked up a minter from Wallied yesterday. Unfortunately they only had a left hand side one.

 

[M1_Auto]

Hi Everyone

I would like to take this opportunity to respond to this situation.

We do not want anyone to be unhappy with the quality of our products and it certainly is never our intention to overcharge or provide inferior quality goods.
But as in any business, mistakes are made and sadly everyone notices the one mistake and not the thousand customers that leave our premises very happy with our products, services and pricing.

The 10% handling charge was mistakenly applied in this case, when it should not have been. We are always willing to exchange or refund spares which our customers are not happy with.

We apologize that you regretfully had a bad experience at our store and have taken the appropriate actions internally to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

The practice of repairing lights and selling them as good condition items is something that our company has ceased. This was always a practice carried out by Bruce while he worked here.

Yours Truly

Rolf

 

[Jandre]

Guys,

I have just had a very pleasant call from Rolf, who was totally unaware that the defective lenses were on his shelf.

We had a nice chat, in Afrikaans nogal, and I completely withdraw my initial response.

I will close, and actually remove this thread, but before I do, I would like to thank Rolf for the openness, the pursuit of customer satisfaction and the all round professional way in which he dealt with the situation.

Rolf told me that he has had some staff changes in the last few months, and that mistake do happen.

I agree mistakes do happen, and I completely understand.

I have been to them for various spares on 3 or so different occasions and have always left there completely happy.

Rolf subsequently phoned me back again to tell me that they are busy stripping the complete light unit, polishing the lens, and that I am welcome to collect it tomorrow morning. They also have a set of lens covers for me.

Rolf, thank you. I appreciate what you are doing for me and I apologise for my rant.

 

[rick540]

I have known Rolf for a while now and I can second that he certainly does care about his reputation and customer service.

Good to hear a happy ending :thumbs::thumbs:

 

[zaleonardz]

Now my question is.

If it was not for this very public platform, and had this not have been discussed with a group of BMW people, ie potential customers, would the outcome have been the same, had you taken the above and addressed it in an email to management.

.....

 

[Dr Evil]

I'm glad that M1 realised that our forum reaches lots of bmw owners in CPT and that great service is important to us.