We Told You About BMW Of Coconut Creek’s Surcharges. BMW Corporate Won’t Say That It Supports The Practice. No Mention Of Fee On Service Website.
BY: CONSUMER DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
COCONUT CREEK, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — We told you last week about the 3-percent credit card surcharge added by BMW Of Coconut Creek to all service, parts, and automobile purchases made at the dealership. It’s a legal — but highly questionable — practice employed by the BMW dealership once known as “Vista Motors.” A set of four tires, which can easily run $1800 at BMW of Coconut Creek, will incur a $54 charge if you want to pay using a credit card.
After being threatened by the General Manager of BMW of Coconut Creek, BocaNewsNow.com reached out to BMW media relations both in the United States and Germany. No one will tell us that the company supports the dealer charging a credit card surcharge. It’s unclear if the dealership is now being reviewed or monitored by BMW Of North America.
Businesses traditionally accept credit cards — and incur their fees — as a service to customers. Credit card processing fees are a tax deduction for businesses and often just a small part of operating expenses. The convenience offered to customers, often incentivized through airline mile or hotel points, is seen as a win-win. Customers get a bonus. Businesses get a customer.
But BMW of Coconut Creek apparently sees it differently. The dealership, as we reported last week, is seemingly so concerned about negative attention from its 3-percent processing fee that the dealership isn’t mentioning it on its website where service appointments are booked. The dealership also won’t tell you that paying with a credit card ensures that a customer has rights. Smart consumers know that if they’re unhappy with a product or service, you can initiate a dispute through your credit card company which freezes the charge while an investigation is launched. You can’t do that if you pay cash or write a check.
Tim Kramer, the General Manager of BMW of Coconut Creek threatened BocaNewsNow.com following our recent article. Here’s a transcript of the message he left: “My name is Tim Kramer. I’m the General Manager of BMW Mini of Coconut Creek. You’ve just posted a slanderous ad and a consumer alert about avoiding BMW of Coconut Creek. Gonna give you a real short period of time to drop this. I’ll have my legal team on this in the morning. Yeah. My name is Tim Kramer. I’m the General Manager, BMW Mini of Coconut Creek. Need to hear from somebody or we’re gonna come after you.”
Despite the threat, we’ve not heard from the dealership’s lawyers. Perhaps because they know that reporting the truth — and warning South Florida customers — isn’t illegal. We are compiling a list of other businesses that are assessing credit card fees. Please use the news tip menu above. We’ll update our readers if BMW Corporate issues an official statement regarding BMW Of Coconut Creek’s credit card fees.
hee hee you hurt their fee fees
awesome; thats when you know you are in the right; when they are trying to bully you
Thank you for watching out for and advocating for us!
BMW isn’t the only one charging a fee for using a credit card. Lou Bochrodt Chevrolet does the same thing.
Thank you for keeping the viewers on top of this mindless charge from BMW. I think it’s horrendous that they are tacking on extra charges. Their Cara, parts, and service is too expensive and the they wish to charge the customer even more? I’m glad I done drive a BMW.
Just FYI car BUFFS….
BMW is the ONLY brand in the world that would charge its UGLY car owners to use CARplay. It was $40 a month THRU bmw no other car brand ever charged for Apple car play use.
Let’s not bash them for something that isn’t true. Neither on my current BMW or my previous BMW did I had to pay a penny for Apple Car Play!
That dealership went downhill real quick once Vista sold it. Same with their VW dealership.
Vista was horrendous also. I switched dealerships and now I’m into a different and better brand of car.
If they have nothing to hide then they should not worry. My question, do they point it out to the customer, or do they say just sign in 2 places on the front and one on the back? Tim Kramer, the General Manager of BMW of Coconut Creek did you decide this or BMW?
Looks like this is not the only case of BMW dealer charging cc fees. I stopped by Patrick BMW in Schaumburg, IL and I was charged CC fee for my purchase
This happened to me. I was shocked when I went to pay at the cashier. The policy was just implemented the day before. The old owner never did anything like this. I tried to argue the fee, but the cashier was extremely rude and said this is the new rule. The dealership was sold to a large group in January. All the management that has been working at the dealership for 25+ years were let go. Not a happy customer
They did this to me also at volkswagen delray Beach and didn’t know about it until.i went to pay for my oil change and my total was different than what was quoted .
The credit card fees are only a tiny amount of the real scam. BMW of coconut Creek often charges 50% to 100% more than list price for parts you buy from them. I had a $130 list price part I could buy online for around $104, but coconut Creek wanted $260 for the same part. I bought it at fort Lauderdale BMW for $130. They are truly criminals. This wasn’t a one time thing, either. I do my own work on my car and found this is consistent with all their parts and fluids they sell. Avoid them like the plague!
This is a trend across the USA. Gas stations have done it for years. Many restaurants also do this. Slowly states are changing the law to allow either dual pricing, where both cash and credit prices are posted conspicuously or cash discount (usually 3%) where stores must post the highest price. NY changed in Feb 2024 because of customer complaints.
You can blame it on all the greedy restaurants. They started this madness!
One thing the article mentions is the fact that the credit card fee is tax deductible. Are they charging and taking the write off as well?
Excellent question. No idea.
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