MINI of Fairfield County

Reviews 4

GR

Gregory Collins

I had by far the worst customer service experience of my life at this place. I have a Mini Cooper S, which I love, but the clutch went after 18,000 miles but just outside the warranty period. I have driven a manual (stick) for my entire life as has my wife and have never had a clutch go, let alone at 18,000 miles. The Service Rep at the dealer recommended I purchase a service contract as this would cover the clutch but not the fly wheel, I thanked the rep but said I didnt really want a service contract for a car that has done 18,000 miles in 4 years. After many weeks of back and forth, Mini called me to say they would cover the cost of the parts. When I went to collect the car, I was asked to pay for the Service Contract. I explained that I dont want a service contract and Mini were paying for the repair. I was then told I needed to talk to the Service Manager who wasnt there; the Service Rep was extremely polite and professional. When the Service Manager, Stephan N. Parrett, returned, he sat in his office pointedly ignoring me for an hour. When he finally came out, he was immediately extremely aggressive and said that I had to pay the maintenance contract as I had agreed it. I asked him to show me any evidence that I had done so as I clearly hadnt. He asked the Service Rep to show him my credit card details; which he obviously didnt have. Mr. Parrett then said he had to call Mini and returned to his office. When he returned, he said that he had spoken to four people at Mini, that there was nothing they could do and again told me I had to pay for the Service Contract. I called my Rep at Mini who said that no one had called hi, there was nothing he could, I had a Service Contract and Mini had agreed to pay for the flywheel which was what had been requested of them. I explained the situation, he told me that there was nothing he could do as Minis system showed a service contract and there was no way I could even open a request for a new clutch because of this. I explained to Mr. Parrett that the Mini rep had not been called and asked him how we called rectify the situation, the reasons that I had no interest in a service contract and what our next steps should be. He replied that my only options were to pay $4.5K for the new clutch, a number I had never heard until this point or pay the mtce contract. I replied that I didnt like either option. At this point, Mr. Parrett became extremely aggressive, seize my keys and threatened to take a legal lien on my car so that I couldnt have it until I paid what he asked. Given no further option, I paid the Service Contract fee, wrote UNDER DURESS on the contract and put a line through the signature column. Mr. Parrett simply turned his back on me, returned to his office and closed the door leaving me with the extremely embarrassed Service Rep. I cannot recommend dealing with Mr. Parrett under any circumstances, he is highly unprofessional and unsuited to his job. My experiences with Mini of Fairfield County had been excellent to this point but they chose to employ this individual, I also cannot recommend a car where the clutch failing after a lightly driven 18,000 miles is acceptable. I am exploring my options at this stage.

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A

A Private User

Let me start with, I hate shopping for cars; but this changed that. My first time at the dealership there was no pressure. They asked if I needed help, I said I was just looking and they left me alone. Then when I asked for help they had a salesperson right away. Marco was great. He knew the cars inside and out and there was no sales pressure. He took me on a great test drive where he made sure I understood every inch of the car. Told him I wanted to think about it and asked if he could call me in a few days. He called me back when I had asked and I told him the options I wanted and the colors I would take. They had it in stock, we took care of the price and the financing without having to go back in which was great. 2 days later I picked up the car. I showed up to pick up my new car and they were ready and waiting. Randy the business manager was great to deal with, really. He didnt have that slick willy attitude of telling me how hard he worked to get me the best rate or trying to up sell me on a bunch of stuff I didnt need. Randy was just straight forward, honest, and took the time to make sure I understood every piece of the sale. He was so well organized that in just a few minutes everything was signed and I was out of there. Car was perfectly detailed on pick up, not a thing was missed inside or out. If you are in the market I would highly recommend going to see them, it was a great experience.

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JA

Jaren Havell

I called ahead and came in to look at a 1 owner, low mileage 2011 VW JSW TDI in January 2016. I had been looking for a while, in dealers as well as craigslist. Barbara Reiniger helped me with scheduling a test drive and the sale. She was very nice, polite, sincere, and not at all pushy. This was not the traditional "used car" sale that I was used to! She was very transparent about all details, from pricing to finance details, and was able to give me a her best price (around 3% less than sticker, on an already under-market value vehicle) without any stressful salesmen tactics. The only person who I did not feel happy with was Barbaras manager, who had to approve the price, but we only had to speak to him for 30 seconds. ( he was pushy, this is my best price, take it or leave it, others already lined up to see the car, ec... I dislike traditional pushy car sales people.). Anyway, Barbara gave me a price I was Very happy with, so I decided to purchase. Steve the finance guy helped with those details, and he was also pleasant. I had a check engine light for an 02 sensor about a week later, and they fixed it for free, and gave me a Cooper S to borrow. Kind of a fun experience. Overall, I would recommend this dealership for its friendly, clean and inviting atmosphere. I highly recommend you ask for Barbara Reiniger for a stress free and pleasant car buying experience. She rocks.

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ED

Edward Miller

I would give this place no stars if I could. This place is terrible... One of the secretaries, Leann, thinks that she can treat customers as second class citizens. "Im trying to get an appointment to replace a high pressure fuel pump that is still under warranty, my local mechanic said the code for it comes up." Her response when I asked if my wife could receive a loaner, I would have to wait 7-10 days for one, and that was only going to be after they determined it was in fact the high pressure fuel pump. Did I mention its under warranty? Eventually, after complaining to corporate, it got fixed, but now my wife is having issues when it accelerates (mind you we brought it in because this was the issue). This was suppose to be a follow-up to their service after they messaged us about how everything was. I spoke with Stephen, the service manager, who told me there would be no charge since we just got the car serviced there. When my wife brought it down there (its about a 45 minute ride), they inform her there is no way to avoid a $200+ diagnostic fee. This after I was told there would be no fee. I dont know what kind of establishment this is, but trust me when I say that corporate will get another call, and I will never buy another Mini, not from this place at least... Did I mention it is still under warranty?

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