Hi all,
Just need to vent as I am fuming at the moment.
I recently decided to get the leather changed on my driver's seat. I rang BMW Brighton (VIC) to ask how much for them to do it, they said they just outsource that kind of work to Blackman's Leather in Moorabbin. So I gave them a call, arranged it, and and now I have a complaint.
I have drafted an email to them, I will just copy and paste so I don't have to retell the story. Feel free to throw any criticisms of the tone or content of the email back at me, as I have not sent the email yet, and am still proof reading and tweaking the formatting etc.
NB. I provided the seat to them by itself, without the car.
I am contemplating ringing them on Monday to ask if I can get the email address of the manager, instead of the just sales staff, but I guess we shall see what their response will be in due course.
Photos included below, sorry if they are big, I wanted to keep the detail for the purposes of the email. I have also only included a selection of the 19 photos, just to give you an idea.
Hi,
I recently purchased a new leather cover for the driver’s seat in my BMW. It was a genuine OEM leather seat cover from BMW, because I wanted to make sure it would look good. Given my past experience with automotive seating, I contemplated fitting it myself. However, not being at all familiar with BMW seats, I was afraid that I could get some things wrong, for example break the plastic clips on the trim pieces, and I was hoping for an immaculate job, so instead I decided to get it done professionally.
After calling several places, I spoke to Blackman’s Leather, and asked some questions. After finding out that you specialise in prestige (in this case BMW) interiors, I thought, despite it being more expensive, it’s the way to go.
I picked up my seat today after having the new leather fitted, and I have to say, I am absolutely appalled at the craftsmanship. I was also very surprised to learn that the operator fitted the leather entirely with the seat folded, as he did not know how to unfold it! This is coming from a BMW specialist.
I have attached photos that are numbered corresponding to the line items below.
1. I was very disappointed to learn that a few of the retention clips on the plastic trim pieces were broken, one trim piece came back loose with the seat, not retained at all, it could be just picked up off the seat. I managed to clip it in, but now it unclips again over rough roads. That is just one example.
2. Another plastic trim had marks from a screwdriver where the operator used the screwdriver to pry the trim piece off.
3. The leather is creased in corners, and around edges, and on most surfaces.
4. There are lumps under the leather, not sure how, but it looks as if material has been folded over underneath. In the picture, you can clearly see a defined bulge, and to the touch, one can feel excess material underneath.
5. Not well illustrated in the photos but, the hinges of the seat back are now exposed as can be seen in (a & b), (c & d) is the passenger’s seat, and how it should look. I would guess this would have something to do with the leather being applied with the seat folded.
6. It appears as though the leather insert tie downs are not tied down.
7. The whole seat back appears to have changed shape completely, but I suspect this might be due to item (6). The insert is now shallower, the bolsters don’t appear to be as pronounced. (a) is the driver’s (b) is the passenger’s for comparison, however, it is much more obvious in person
8. There was grease in several places on the leather, I tried to scrub it off, so it is less obvious now in the photos. Also, more locations that I did not capture.
I have to say, that in its overall presentation, the seat looks worse than before I had the new leather fitted. I am confident that I would have been able to do a better job.
I would like to get this fixed, so please get in touch with me to discuss further.
Regards,
Kuba **********
Applications Engineer (Mechanisms & Glazing)
Product Development - Body Exterior
Ford of Australia
1735 Sydney Rd, Campbellfield VIC
Ph: +61 3 **** ****
M: +61 ************
Email: ********ford.com
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