Dude where's my car?

Still waiting for BMW to re-inspect the car after I had returned it to original specs, I called Zoila again and again but could not get her on the phone. So, I once again called up the bureaucratic chain and someone finally got her to take my call. I told her that the dealer and I were still waiting for BMW to inspect the vehicle as she had requested. She told me that since I had sent in a request for early termination of my lease, that BMW was doing nothing further on the matter and that I should contact BMW Financial Services (as if BMW's obligation to honor the warranty suddenly vanished). At that point I was sure that I would be filing a lawsuit against BMW.

After talking to the ever helpful Zoila, I remembered that I had left a couple of items on the car and I returned to the dealer to retrieve them.  When I arrived at the dealer the Assistant Service Manager greeted me and told me that my car "had been taken to another dealer."  I said "what? Did you get any advance call? Nobody told me anything."  She said, "no, they just showed up with a truck and said they were taking the car."  I replied, "did they take and account for all of the parts?"  She said, "well we gave them the parts we had in the box and they took it all and left." (Important because BMW later claimed that parts were missing). She told me that they had taken my car to the BMW dealer in Sarasota.  I remember thinking to myself "why would they take the car to another dealer?"  I have my suspicions, and I'll blog them after we're done litigating the case.

So, I called the dealer in Sarasota and spoke to the Service Manager.  He basically told me that he was instructed by BMW Financial Services not to allow me to get my personal effects from the car (classy way to treat your customer BMW Financial Services).  In Florida, such actions are actually criminal. When I made him aware that I was going to call the Sheriff, he apparently found someone at BMW Financial Services who could "give him permission" to let me get my affects.  When I met him, I gave him the extra key, owner's manual, etc. to the car.  (Important because later, in addition to more than $18,000 for "collection fees", BMW billed me for a "missing key").

Stay tuned for "The $18k bill for "collection fees.""