[drmohitg]

For a change this thread or post is not about a bad experience. But on the contrary my experience with BIRD Automotive was quite good barring one incident which compelled me to write a word of appreciation for them. Also the fact that a lot more people have started buying luxury cars these days and it would be helpful for people in NCR region.

I recently bought my 320d from them and the experience was very pleasant. A major part of the credit goes to the SA ( and now a friend) that we were lucky to get, Mr. Shiv Pahuja. I would not be wrong in saying that he is everything that an ideal SA should be.

Coming to the dealership, Bird automotive is one of the larger BMW dealers in the country along with Navnit in Mumbai. The showroom in Gurgaon is quite large with ample parking space available given the fact that the number of footfalls expected in a premium car maker's outlet are few compared to mass volume players like Maruti. The display section is quite large and they had the 1,3,5,7 series and X1, X3 and X5 at display when I went. The cleanliness levels were as good as one would expect from BMW. Refreshments are served without much delay and repeated at frequent intervals. Lastly the TD car was duly arranged and was quite clean and well kept. My experience with the other dealer in Delhi , Deutsche motors, wasn't too good. There showroom was very small and cramped with only 2 or 3 cars in display and the whole ambience wasn't very premium.

The service area also is quite huge and is located in there basement. Although I haven't yet got my vehicle serviced but from what I could observe the staff was handling the cars with care and there were a lot of them including those which had come for service and those which they had kept as stock.

The only bad experience I had was in registration process where after some effort I had got a special number blocked at the RTO and the dealer's agent was required to go there with all the documents at sharp 10 AM. But he went there after lunch and by that time the number was already allotted to someone else. Also the agent was quite rude and uncooperative. The registration wing of the dealership is quite lazy and doesn't follow up with the customer and I had to call them again and again to get status updates. Finally due to there laziness had to settle down for a random number. Anyways barring this my experience was quite good all the way from booking to delivery and I would surely recommend them.

Another thread on the same dealership:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ent-india.html

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

I would not be wrong in saying that he is everything that an ideal SA should be.

Feels nice to hear positive things about premium German dealer, at the NCR.

One question. How knowledgeable were the SAs at the dealership in terms of explaining the differences between variants in terms of features, look and feel and other nitty gritties?

I have found this area wanting at most places/people that I ve dealt with.

[StarScream]

My limited experience with Bird made me feel exactly the same way - they are much more polite and receptive than Deutsche Motoren. The latter don't call back, don't follow up and generally don't seem keen to make a sale. A colleague who recently bought a 320D felt the same and ended up buying from Bird although Deutsche was the closer dealership.

It must be something about these Gurgaon dealerships. In Volvo's case Swede Auto in Gurgaon is so much better than Kashyap.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Feels nice to hear positive things about premium German dealer, at the NCR.

One question. How knowledgeable were the SAs at the dealership in terms of explaining the differences between variants in terms of features, look and feel and other nitty gritties?

I have found this area wanting at most places/people that I ve dealt with.

Yup I agree with you. More so because during my buying experience, the treatment we got at Mercedes, Audi and Deutsche motors was quite bad. The Mercedes and Audi people clearly did some profiling and we didn't appear as customers to them. The BMW chap at this other dealership had the guts to say and I quote: " Beta apne gaadi chala li, koi nahi, ab khush raho". What he meant to convey was that we had just come for a fun TD and have no intention or capacity to buy the car. This was told when we asked him for a discount of 2+L that Bird was offering against his offer of 1.5L or something.

I would rate the SA I dealt with at Bird a 7/10 when it came to features. He knew the basics but was unsure at a few places. What I liked was that he didn't shy away from it and called someone who knew it. Also at the time od delivery along with the SA, a different guy came and he explained the features in detail. It was almost a half an hour presentation covering the very basic like operating FM stations to everything fancy that the car has. In the end we had to tell him to stop as it looked like we were cramming up for an exam and not actually taking delivery of our dream car.

Originally Posted by StarScream

My limited experience with Bird made me feel exactly the same way - they are much more polite and receptive than Deutsche Motoren. The latter don't call back, don't follow up and generally don't seem keen to make a sale. A colleague who recently bought a 320D felt the same and ended up buying from Bird although Deutsche was the closer dealership.

It must be something about these Gurgaon dealerships. In Volvo's case Swede Auto in Gurgaon is so much better than Kashyap.

Deutsche was horrible for me too. That was the reason why even though Deutsche has an outlet 2 kms away from my house, I opted for Bird in gurgaon located some 33 kms from my place and practically in another state!
And yes the Swede Volvo outlet in Gurgaon is just simply mind-blowing and I had an amazing experience there. Well maintained outlet and very knowledgeable and professional staff.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The BMW chap at this other dealership had the guts to say and I quote: " Beta apne gaadi chala li, koi nahi, ab khush raho". What he meant to convey was that we had just come for a fun TD and have no intention or capacity to buy the car. This was told when we asked him for a discount of 2+L that Bird was offering against his offer of 1.5L or something.

Seriously?! I hope you gave that mindless SA an earful. Thankfully my experience with both mercedes and bmw has been quite good here in Pune even though I don't look like a prospective buyer looking at my current ride, that is a VW Polo.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Seriously?! I hope you gave that mindless SA an earful. Thankfully my experience with both mercedes and bmw has been quite good here in Pune even though I don't look like a prospective buyer looking at my current ride, that is a VW Polo.

No even though it sounded very tempting to go to Mercedes and Audi and Deutsche motors with my new 3 to show them they missed out on me as a customer, but I am not going to do so. I am happy with the end result and my experience with Bird and hence just want to enjoy my car than to prove a point to those imbeciles.

The result is that I already sent 3 inquiries to my SA regarding 3 series and in the process of confirming one deal this coming week. So its there loss and not mine.

[coolboy007]

My pre sales experience with Bird was average and the same continues with the service experience as well. This is one of the reasons why i went to Krishna Bmw, Chandigarh, from the time of booking the car, to the day i took delivery, Krishna people really handled all the procedures in a beautiful manner and really made us feel special as the 320D was our first premium german. To keep it simple - Krishna Bmw, Chadigarh felt like Toyota and Bird Auto, Gurgaon felt like Volkswagen.

I took my car in for service last week, had to go some where so i booked in an early morning 8 AM slot, thanks to traffic i reached by 8:40, parked the car and went inside to find my service advisor, now the advisor had the audacity to tell me that i came 40 minutes late , i was about to give him a healthy dose on how to speak to customers but i politely informed him that i got stuck in traffic. After 15 minutes, another advisor comes, checks the car and tells me it would take 2-2.5 hours as just oil change is required and the CBS does not mention any filter change, i requested for a wiper change as the left wiper was streaking a bit and in BSI, you are allowed to have 1 wiper set every year (they cost around 7k for a set).

Now the fun part, while i was waiting for 2 hours there, no one had the decency to ask me for water/tea/coffee. I requested the reception people and they said they would send a cup of coffee, 20 minutes later, no one comes and then i lost it. I had to raise my voice for it and the guy hurriedly brought a cup of coffee for me. The advisor informed that car is ready, i asked him to check the right speaker and then he vanished again, it took 25 more minutes and i had lost my cool by then, asked the GM to find him and get my car out.

The service experience was really pathetic, wish i had known they are so poor. My car regularly goes to Chandigarh and i swear that i would never send my car to Bird for any maintenance work from now, i would send it to Krishna Auto, Chandigarh as they know how to handle customers. I received a feedback call from dealership yesterday and i explained the lady on the other side that how poor the experience was.

When i had faced alignment issues in my new car, Bird was not able to solve it in 2 tries and i had to give the car to Chandigarh dealership who fixed it in an hour. Bird guys are so loose, it is one of the reason why they could not sell the car to a customer who resides 20 kms away but chandigarh guys could manage to bring me from 250 kms away.

Dealers like Bird are the reason why BMW is no. 3 in luxury sales and this would continue until they have more control over their dealers and set them right. I know all german companies offer average service levels and that is not an issue with me, i do not like Japanese cars and do not prefer to own them despite them offering great service/resale but the dealership ought to have decency to atleast ask a customer who has spent 35 lakhs on a car to have a cup of tea.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

My pre sales experience with Bird was average and the same continues with the service experience as well. This is one of the reasons why i went to Krishna Bmw, Chandigarh, from the time of booking the car, to the day i took delivery, Krishna people really handled all the procedures in a beautiful manner and really made us feel special as the 320D was our first premium german. To keep it simple - Krishna Bmw, Chadigarh felt like Toyota and Bird Auto, Gurgaon felt like Volkswagen.

I am sorry to hear that. Really not done on their part. Is BSI dealer specific or a pan India applicable thing?

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

I am sorry to hear that. Really not done on their part. Is BSI dealer specific or a pan India applicable thing?

Sadly, the experience was like that Mohit, i was prepared for a not so special treatment after having a word with you but they went beyond my expectations. Does no harm to me, neither am i recommending any friend to visit them and am also getting the bmw Alpine audio upgrade kit in my car worth 80k, this experience ensures Bird would not get any business from me now.

BSI is on a pan India level just like warranty, you can get it done at any authorized BMW workshop.

[Turbanator]

Dealers like Bird are the reason why BMW is no. 3 in luxury sales and this would continue until they have more control over their dealers and set them right.

I think BMW India acknowledges this and that's the reason for the third dealership in Delhi despite low numbers . Both Deutsche and Bird are too big now and most of their managers are running the show. I have not had any personal sales or service experience with Bird for a while but booked at their resort near Airport recently . You won't believe I walked off with my luggage even before checking in. And no one was bothered to do even a follow-up call on what went wrong.

[bhp]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Is BSI dealer specific or a pan India applicable thing?

Originally Posted by coolboy007

BSI is on a pan India level just like warranty, you can get it done at any authorized BMW workshop.

Its applicable worldwide at all participating BMW Service Centres.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I think BMW India acknowledges this and that's the reason for the third dealership in Delhi despite low numbers .

Which one is the third dealership? I thought there were only two.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Which one is the third dealership? I thought there were only two.

There is one more coming up.

Cant reveal who until it's public knowledge.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Which one is the third dealership? I thought there were only two.

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Cant reveal who until it's public knowledge.

Is it a secret? There were discussions on team bhp and if am not wrong, the 3rd newly appointed dealership is Libra Autohaus, Naraina. There are launch party photos on Bmw India's fb page as well.

Only time will tell if the new dealership is good or not, as Turbanator said, these NCR dealers have got too much business and they do not give a damn if they lose some customers because of their average sales/service.

[Turbanator]

the 3rd newly appointed dealership is Libra Autohaus, Naraina

Yes, they were appointed at end of May. I believe they are presently operating from makeshift arrangements and will shift to new showroom which will come next to T&T Motors by next Year on Ring Road, Rajouri Garden.