Not the Premium Experience Expected

My experience with SMG Umlanga has been extremely frustrating and disappointing from the start.

The vehicle purchase process took far longer than it should have, requiring almost daily follow-ups on my part due to poor communication from the salesman.

When I collected the vehicle: 1. I did not receive the gift that normally comes with a car purchase. 2. I did not receive the spare keys and still have not received the spare keys, despite being repeatedly told over the past two months that they would be sent “overnight.” 3. There were issues with the tires and windscreen, which eventually got resolved, but only after I proactively took the car to another BMW dealership (Constantia), which provided excellent service in comparison to Umhlanga. The original dealership never took my concerns seriously and the salesman frequently claimed he was “unavailable” when I tried to contact him. Almost like I was not paying for the car.

On top of that, there have been major delays with the number plates and registration documentation. I have been driving the car without number plates for almost two months, constantly following up as temporary documentation kept expiring, which made parking at my workplace impossible and caused significant stress.

I ultimately had to escalate everything to head office in Johannesburg to get any resolution — something that should never have been necessary.

This level of service is unacceptable for a premium brand dealership. It shows poor communication, lack of accountability, and disregard for customers. I would not recommend this dealership to anyone and will certainly never ever purchase a vehicle from them again.