Phil, If his decision was in reaction to Partners decision alone, no one regrets that more than I do. It was a visceral response, however we can all understand that urge from time to time. ;-) Without being able to ask questions on your friends behalf I really cannot speak to what precipitated Partners decision. Your friend's right of privacy trumps in this matter and I won't say more beyond the monthly reports that I receive show a higher than average approval rate for our members. Having worked within membership organizations throughout virtually my entire career I could not agree more with you that joining and remaining a member of any club is a personal decision. We can place monetary values on things like Roundel, parts discounts, chapter newsletters, Membership Reward rebates, etc. The fact remains that its the intangibles that are, as they say, priceless. Friendships made at the chapter level and strengthened by attendance at multiple O'fests. Memories for a lifetime created giving rise to a new chapter or activity and seeing it grow into more than we dreamed it could. Sharing the story of a restoration project with a Club pal, because no one else gets it. These are the same reasons that I pay alumni dues to a Fraternity I have not been actively involved with for more years than I want to admit. ;-) They don't even send me a magazine every month...and when they do it does not begin to compare with Roundel. ;-) I know that all sounds pretty esoteric and does not put gas in the tank, but I honestly believe the Club is about more than the magazine, more than the office and staff, more than chapter congresses and rebates to the chapters, more even than the cars. From humble beginnings forty years ago you and many others built a structure that is quite impressive. A structure that requires the support of those who enjoy and benefit from it most. Will we lose some members because of the increase? Probably so. Was that a risk that the Board considered? Absolutely. Would they have avoided doing so if there was a viable and realistic alternative? Without doubt. We are where we are, and our course lies forward by continuing to grow the Club by adding to its intrinsic and hard dollar values. Giving our members more chances and ways to enjoy the cars they love and to do so with like minded individuals. I welcome and encourage everyone to share their comments and concerns with me. As I am not perfection personified I can use all the good, contructive advice I can get. ;-) Frank
Dear all, I am in full agreement with all that was said in the previous posts of this thread... except with the comment about the impact of a $8 dollar increase. I do understand that all of us do not have the means to buy a brand new M3 or a 7-series every so often (I myself feel really privileged to have been able to do so after many years of saving), and that the people who can might not be the biggest group that constitutes CCA, but still! I would be (really) surprised if people could not afford an additional $8 a year. Well, may be it is just me but I would find lots of ways of saving or making that amount so that I could keep my membership. Anyhow, Frank, Satch et al., thanks for your dedication and please keep us the good work!!
My point was it doesn't take much for a member to begin to question if they're really getting what they want out of the Club. It can be a credit-card denial, or a small dues increase. It's the same philosophy at work in BMW's CSI ratings and why we now have extended service intervals and life-time lubrication: If the customer has fewer occasions to return to the dealership, there's less chance for an unfavorable customer-satisfaction report. So the question remains, regardless of what causes a member to choose not to renew, is the Club asking that simple question, "Why?" And if the answer is "yes", is such a survey of non-renewing members being done in a way that results in statistically significant data? Is the member able to reply quickly using multiple choices? Are those choices relevant and do they allow freedom of opinion? Is there an opportunity for a non-renewing member to give a more-complete explanation if they so wish? Is the survey simple to complete and mail postage-free? Can it be completed on-line, too? Are regular reports on non-renewing members made available to the BMW CCA Board? The chapters? The members? Ask any businessman which is cheaper: To retain an existing customer, or to develop a new one. Are we losing members and not knowing why while we spend more time and resources to develop programs to attract new members than we do to retain existing ones? And what is the Club doing to make sure they can answer that question?
That's not exactly true. Only cars less than 6 years old effect AVP return from BMW now. Anything older than that doesn't mean much anymore. By the time you might have an issue related to extended svc intervals or life time fill components, BMW knows it's on the client. At that point you should be accepting responsibilty for your own car anyways.
I don't think you got the point. I wasn't referring to BMW's internal CSI, but the ones in which the public see the rankings. No published CSI ranking gives a gnat about old cars, either. JD Power's oldest is a three-year reliability rating. Power and others used to rank brand CSI by repair incident over the first year, and polling owners. I'm not talking about BMW's internal CSI by which they parse holdback, factor what a dealer has to pay for lease returns, or whatever they're doing now. I'm talking about surveys that can't catch new owners if they no longer return for 1,200-mile services, or 7500-mile oil services, or even 15,000-mile oil services in some cases depending on how the car is driven (or, these days, how much fuel runs past the injectors). It's now those dopey Initial Quality survey that measures satisfaction over the first 90-days of ownership so no service visits means less opportunity to complain. The dealers usually scam the internal surveys anyway by bribing you to five all fives if they wash your car, imply future damaged relations if you don't. Power has reacted to the void left by extended intervals in initiating surveys of the sales process instead (Jaguar won. BMW was simply "better than most" in some categories), and "performance and design" ratings not based on customer interaction with dealerships. So it must be working for manufacturers. I can even remember the good-old-days when Consumer Reports slammed the E28 with black spots on its "reliability" ratings in the electrical category. Turned out when an E28 went through a car wash and it's dirty antenna mast wouldn't go down all the way and got bent further, the owner rated that flaw as "electrical". And that's why BMW's haven't had motor-driven mast antennae since the E28 and E30s. It certainly wasn't for better radio reception since the E34 went through quite the ordeal with its antenna in the rear glass, with BMW even suggesting electric masts to improve reception before adding more lines, and eventually going to those silly fins on the roof. It was all CSI-related. The only point of even mentioning CSI was to say you just don't know why someone got ticked if you don't even bother to ask. And you probably shouldn't tick them off on purpose, or cause some affiliate to do it in your name.
Since PartnersFirst chose to increase my interest rate to a higher rate then my other credit cards and to give me an option to either accept or reject their offer within the first year of it's usage, I rejected the new terms thereby cancelling the card and forfeiting about 3,000 rewards points.Since it was a newer card and the new rate was higher then my other cards, seemed logical to do this. Call me impulsive but I felt this was the old bait and switch. I know other financial institutions are doing this but at least they could have waited for my 1 year anniversery with BMWCCA.
That will not happen! Waited too long for this car and I'm very happy with the product. Besides, I've driven a 911 and although I thouroughly enjoyed it I consider it a toy for someone who can afford it along with another car.
