Dealer Letter
April 1997To: All BMW Retailers
Subject: Diagnostic Time - Warranty Reimbursement
Dear Retailer and Operating Managers
Customers have identified "vehicle not repaired right the first time" as the biggest reason for not giving a retailer an excellent CSI rating. Some retailers may believe that it is BMW's worktime policy that restricts their ability to diagnose a vehicle properly.
To address this misperception, we have reissued the December 1995 bulletin, 01 09 95 (4318), announcing a warranty policy enhancement on diagnostic time. This policy permits payment of diagnostic time when it occurs rather than in conjunction with a later warranty repair. In addition, this bulletin deals with diagnostic time when no problem is found. It permits retailers with a warranty index at 100% or less for 3 consecutive months to immediately claim for diagnostic time without limits, whereas, a retailer whose index is over 100% have a 1/2 hour limit. Note: High index retailers can exceed this 1/2 hour limit and still be paid on a case by case basis with Market Team authorization. A copy of the bulletin is attached.
Finally, this bulletin has given us the opportunity to demonstrate that good performance should be rewarded with less procedural restrictions.
It has always been BMW's policy to pay all retailers diagnostic time when performed in conjunction with finding a defect and completing a repair. A credible time control system must be in place documenting the repair and the technician's work day. Good technical judgment must be exercised, the time record must support the request and the time should be reasonably compatible with that experienced by other retailers for similar work.
We do request your support in two areas. First, we need to make service advisors aware that many of the situations which result in extended diagnostic time and other work performed unnecessarily are the result of incomplete service write-up. Service Advisors need to take the time to carefully listen to the customer's concern, verify the condition and accurately document the job request on the repair order. This may require the Service Advisor to inspect the vehicle and perform a road test with the customer for clarification. Time expended and parts installed unnecessarily by the technician adds to the cost of ownership, loss of confidence in the vehicle and ultimately customer dissatisfaction.
Secondly, we need to be sure that work is being assigned to the most qualified technicians. A master technician should be assigned, especially in cases of intermittent problems and other difficult diagnosis. A properly trained technician with experience, given adequate repair order instructions will be best equipped to resolve these most difficult situations.
Above all, we need to encourage all service personnel to take all reasonable care necessary to "diagnose the problem and perform the repair correctly the first time." Accordingly, the retailer work time objective of 9% was eliminated effective April 1, 1997.
To assist you in troubleshooting high index situations, WT will still be tracked on your Warranty Composite.
It is BMW's intent to continue to introduce programs that recognize positive achievements. Ultimately, we plan to apply this philosophy to all areas of claim processing and warranty part return activities.
Please take a personal interest in your monthly warranty performance as you do with your Customer Satisfaction Index since they are both inter-related. Both will be a determining factor for program participation at a level that provides you with the greatest freedom of operation.