WTF is wrong with BMW's automated call system?

jimbethesda · 09-22-2021, 09:01 AM

My Garage shows my car is on a ship today, so I called BMW (as I have almost daily the past 2 weeks). The automated greeting voice is now has a (British?) accent and every time I answer a question, it doesn't understand me. Customer Relations! "Sorry, I didn't understand". Vehicle Production Status! "I heard broken down". NO!

I finally got to the customer relations queue and after 15 mins or so, it said they weren't available.

Anybody have luck calling today?

merlin3008 · 09-22-2021, 09:37 AM

No I'm having the same problem. Strange. It's like they routed the number to a totally different system.

aford · 09-22-2021, 09:56 AM

The new IVR is awful

chicagofan00 · 09-22-2021, 10:13 AM

They probably got tired of all of us calling them all the time and are doing this to screw with everyone.

iviegatron · 09-22-2021, 10:20 AM

Try talking in a British accent, then it might understand.

Only way I got a live person was by saying agent or selecting the option for agent (press 0 I believe).

Hawkdog · 09-22-2021, 11:08 AM

OMG…I called this morning and it was horrendous. The voice recognition is horrible and I could barely understand the British lady between the accent and the audio quality.

bri1042 · 09-22-2021, 11:21 AM

Unfortunately, the new IVR system is based on iDrive 7. "Hey BMW, please route me to the wrong number..."

bruce911_ · 09-22-2021, 11:40 AM

Same thing, waste of time

aford · 09-22-2021, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bri1042

Unfortunately, the new IVR system is based on iDrive 7. "Hey BMW, please route me to the wrong number..."

merlin3008 · 09-22-2021, 12:17 PM

I did get a callback from them. But it really felt like an entirely different system.

bruce911_ · 09-22-2021, 12:31 PM

Finally got through, took a while, asked to speak to a representative. Was told my car is scheduled for week 42 which is the 3rd week of October, the 18th-24th. Fingers crossed

Bumpinjeep · 09-22-2021, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbethesda

My Garage shows my car is on a ship today, so I called BMW (as I have almost daily the past 2 weeks). The automated greeting voice is now has a (British?) accent and every time I answer a question, it doesn't understand me. Customer Relations! "Sorry, I didn't understand". Vehicle Production Status! "I heard broken down". NO!

I finally got to the customer relations queue and after 15 mins or so, it said they weren't available.

Anybody have luck calling today?

What exactly are you calling them about?

jimbethesda · 09-22-2021, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbethesda

My Garage shows my car is on a ship today, so I called BMW (as I have almost daily the past 2 weeks). The automated greeting voice is now has a (British?) accent and every time I answer a question, it doesn't understand me. Customer Relations! "Sorry, I didn't understand". Vehicle Production Status! "I heard broken down". NO!

I finally got to the customer relations queue and after 15 mins or so, it said they weren't available.

Anybody have luck calling today?

What exactly are you calling them about?

To find out what ship it's on/eta to Galveston

nearwater4me · 09-22-2021, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iviegatron

Try talking in a British accent, then it might understand.

I've tried that. Didn't work lol

Bumpinjeep · 09-22-2021, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbethesda

To find out what ship it's on/eta to Galveston

Does your salesperson have any of that info or are you SOL?

jimbethesda · 09-22-2021, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbethesda

To find out what ship it's on/eta to Galveston

Does your salesperson have any of that info or are you SOL?

Yes, I emailed him and he told me arrival on 10/7. It used to be quick and easy to just call BMW so I would mostly leave my SA alone. I guess I'll just pester him for updates.

I figure nothing is going to happen until 10/7 at the earliest, so going to hang back for a little bit.

iviegatron · 09-22-2021, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbethesda

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbethesda

To find out what ship it's on/eta to Galveston

Does your salesperson have any of that info or are you SOL?

Yes, I emailed him and he told me arrival on 10/7. It used to be quick and easy to just call BMW so I would mostly leave my SA alone. I guess I'll just pester him for updates.

I figure nothing is going to happen until 10/7 at the earliest, so going to hang back for a little bit.

Below is the link Genius provided this morning for our ship. Currently the destination is BE ZEE, it will update after each pit stop it makes. Eventually it'll show Galveston once it's headed there.

https://www.marinetraffic.com

Search for "Polaris Highway" and you should see the details of whereabouts.

vj123 · 09-22-2021, 02:18 PM

Guess they were flooded with calls in the recent past and have changed the system so that people cant reach them easily as before.

razman · 09-22-2021, 08:22 PM

The trick is to enter in an unrecognizable command 3 times in a row for it to forward you to a real person. Like press 9 when 9 is not an option in the menu. Or do what I do, just make monkey sounds.

Once you're patched into the live agent queue just enter in your call back number. They're prompt about calling back.

Limegrntaln · 09-23-2021, 03:02 PM

Ive called about 8 times in the past 3 months, and after I got Jim about 5 times, I stopped calling. Like I don't want Jim to think i'm an imbecile. Plus I lost faith in Genius, when they told me there was no stop sale on my car, 2 days after I heard from the CA that there was.

Sinjen · 09-23-2021, 03:27 PM

I called yesterday and thought I dialed the wrong number. I stumbled through the shitty menu and entered the callback queue. I asked the woman who called back what they did to their system. She said it's a new one...I said there must be a stop sale on the IVR menu system. She didn't follow.

aford · 09-23-2021, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinjen

I called yesterday and thought I dialed the wrong number. I stumbled through the shitty menu and entered the callback queue. I asked the woman who called back what they did to their system. She said it's a new one...I said there must be a stop sale on the IVR menu system. She didn't follow.

09-22-2021, 09:01 AM	#1
jimbethesda Colonel 1856 Rep 2,303 Posts Drives: M3 (F80) Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Austin iTrader: (0)	WTF is wrong with BMW's automated call system? My Garage shows my car is on a ship today, so I called BMW (as I have almost daily the past 2 weeks). The automated greeting voice is now has a (British?) accent and every time I answer a question, it doesn't understand me. Customer Relations! "Sorry, I didn't understand". Vehicle Production Status! "I heard broken down". NO! I finally got to the customer relations queue and after 15 mins or so, it said they weren't available. Anybody have luck calling today? __________________ 2001 330Ci (sold) 2007 335i (sold) 2008 E90 M3 (sold) 2015 M3 (sold) 2022 G83
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09-22-2021, 09:37 AM	#2
merlin3008 Captain 891 Rep 869 Posts Drives: 2022 M3 Comp xDrive Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Chicago, IL iTrader: (0)	No I'm having the same problem. Strange. It's like they routed the number to a totally different system. __________________ 2022 M3 xDrive, Brooklyn Grey over Tartufo 2021 Tesla Model Y 2019 MB AMG C43 (Sold) 2016 M235i xdrive, Alpine White, Terra Leather, Orbit Gray Wheels (Sold)
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09-22-2021, 09:56 AM	#3
aford First Lieutenant 265 Rep 310 Posts Drives: G80 M3 Competition Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Philly iTrader: (0)	The new IVR is awful __________________ Current: G80 Competition Past: X4M Competition Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Executive Committee Member for Light The Night. You can help. Donate here.
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09-22-2021, 10:13 AM	#4
chicagofan00 Major General 19155 Rep 8,033 Posts Drives: 2024 X5 M60i Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Phoenix iTrader: (1) Garage List 2024 BMW X5 M60i [10.00]	They probably got tired of all of us calling them all the time and are doing this to screw with everyone. __________________ Instagram: @Phxrisingphotography Current - 2024 G05 X5 ///M60i in Java Green Past - 2005 E53 X5 3.0i in Titanium Silver; 2008 E92 335i in Montego Blue; 2019 G01 X3 M40i in Glacier Silver; 2022 G80 M3 Competition in Twilight Purple
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09-22-2021, 10:20 AM	#5
iviegatron Lieutenant Colonel 2542 Rep 1,682 Posts Drives: G80 M3 Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Richmond, TX iTrader: (0)	Try talking in a British accent, then it might understand. Only way I got a live person was by saying agent or selecting the option for agent (press 0 I believe).
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09-22-2021, 11:08 AM	#6
Hawkdog Second Lieutenant 628 Rep 290 Posts Drives: ‘22 M4 Comp xDrive Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Colorado iTrader: (0)	OMG…I called this morning and it was horrendous. The voice recognition is horrible and I could barely understand the British lady between the accent and the audio quality.
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09-22-2021, 11:21 AM	#7
bri1042 Brigadier General 5942 Rep 3,292 Posts Drives: 2021 IOMG M3 6MT Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Portland, OR iTrader: (0)	Unfortunately, the new IVR system is based on iDrive 7. "Hey BMW, please route me to the wrong number..."
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09-22-2021, 11:40 AM	#8
bruce911_ First Lieutenant 223 Rep 362 Posts Drives: 2022 M4 Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Ft Lauderdale Florida iTrader: (0)	Same thing, waste of time
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09-22-2021, 12:17 PM	#10
merlin3008 Captain 891 Rep 869 Posts Drives: 2022 M3 Comp xDrive Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Chicago, IL iTrader: (0)	I did get a callback from them. But it really felt like an entirely different system. __________________ 2022 M3 xDrive, Brooklyn Grey over Tartufo 2021 Tesla Model Y 2019 MB AMG C43 (Sold) 2016 M235i xdrive, Alpine White, Terra Leather, Orbit Gray Wheels (Sold)
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09-22-2021, 12:31 PM	#11
bruce911_ First Lieutenant 223 Rep 362 Posts Drives: 2022 M4 Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Ft Lauderdale Florida iTrader: (0)	Finally got through, took a while, asked to speak to a representative. Was told my car is scheduled for week 42 which is the 3rd week of October, the 18th-24th. Fingers crossed
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09-22-2021, 02:18 PM	#18
vj123 Brigadier General 3790 Rep 3,625 Posts Drives: 2022 M3c - sold Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: The Detroit iTrader: (0)	Guess they were flooded with calls in the recent past and have changed the system so that people cant reach them easily as before.
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09-22-2021, 08:22 PM	#19
razman First Lieutenant 334 Rep 354 Posts Drives: blah Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (0)	The trick is to enter in an unrecognizable command 3 times in a row for it to forward you to a real person. Like press 9 when 9 is not an option in the menu. Or do what I do, just make monkey sounds. Once you're patched into the live agent queue just enter in your call back number. They're prompt about calling back.
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09-23-2021, 03:02 PM	#20
Limegrntaln Major General 13475 Rep 6,962 Posts Drives: 2022 DG/BLk xDrive M4C Wk 34 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Sacramento Area iTrader: (3) Garage List 2022 G82 M4 Competi ... [9.23]	Ive called about 8 times in the past 3 months, and after I got Jim about 5 times, I stopped calling. Like I don't want Jim to think i'm an imbecile. Plus I lost faith in Genius, when they told me there was no stop sale on my car, 2 days after I heard from the CA that there was. __________________ 2022 DravitGrau /Black Full Merino M4 Competition M xDrive / Production Week 34/ Delivered 10/19/21/ IG: dravit_m4_comp YT: G Dubyou
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09-23-2021, 03:27 PM	#21
Sinjen Private First Class 257 Rep 148 Posts Drives: Grigio Telesto '22 M4CX Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: New England iTrader: (0)	I called yesterday and thought I dialed the wrong number. I stumbled through the shitty menu and entered the callback queue. I asked the woman who called back what they did to their system. She said it's a new one...I said there must be a stop sale on the IVR menu system. She didn't follow.
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