I applied online for the Credit Card and it took them forever to send me the card because they claimed they were having technical issues. Meanwhile they contacted me with very odd questions to confirm that I was the correct person who applied. Eventually I was sent the card but within a week I received a letter from them stating they had closed my account because they were not able to verify my address. Keep in mind they had called me before they sent the card wit the odd questions to verify who I was and verify my address which they were able to do. I have at least 4 other credit cards to this same address along with all my utility bills and this is the correct address I reside at. I called customer service, they could not help me but gave a credit department number which supposedly is open from 8:30am to 4:00pm but when I call during the business hours no one is available and I am asked to leave a message. What a horrible company "PARTNESFIRST" BMWCCA chose as a partner for these creadit cards. Is anyone else having similar issues?????
Nope, I did not apply for this card due to the last CCA credit card provider issues. Never again for me!
Credit Card Issue Verde, If you would like to contact me with some more details I will be happy to look into this matter for you. To date over 200 members have received the credit card and to my knowledge the process has worked well for them. I am sorry that you experienced difficulties and for any inconvenience that caused you. Frank
Frank, I was very detailed as to exactly what my experience was. I would be happy to accept any help you can provide but I am concerned you would not be able to do so unless I give you access to my private financial information. If there is another way I will be very happy if you can help me.
Information I definitely don't want to get into your personal information. More than anything if I had your first and last name that would be a starting point. I could look you up in the system but did not want to violate your privacy by doing that either if you did not want me to go any further. If you want to speak to me privately about this feel free to call me at the office 864-250-0022 or send e mail to my account frank_patek@bmwcca.org Thanks, Frank
Update!!!! I received a call from their credit department and they confirmed the reason why they closed my account was because they could not verify my address. My question was why then did they send my credit card to an address where they could not verify belonged to me? They had no answer, they were very apologetic and reopened my account.
Resolution I am very glad that the matter has been resolved. I wish that it has not happened in the first place. Frank
Card Image Quite a few members have switched out the Z4 image for their own. If you are having any trouble getting that done please call PartnersFirst directly and someone there should be able to assist you. If that does not work call me at any time and I will do whatever I can to help. Frank
Free Year Membership Frank, I got the latest offer about the card, and was wondering if I could forward it on to friends who are not yet CCA members and would they get a yrs free membership. I already have the card, so I can't benefit from it, but I know some friends who haven't joined the club. There is an "*" next to the "Free membershipf for a year" in the header, but I couldn't find the small print, and the link just took me to the enrollment site without any additional info about the free membership. Any assistance would be appreciated.
Can new members benefit from the Credit Card Offer For a potential new member to qualify for this offer they would need to join the Club, apply for the card and then once they are approved for the card and spend the requisite $100.00 they will receive an additional year of membership for free. Not quite what you had in mind, which was a great idea, but still a pretty good deal. Frank
Did not get free nenewal Frank, I just renewed my membership for another year and it was not free as I had asumed since I got the BMWCCA credit card. I have had over $20k worth of transactions on my account and thought I would qualify for sure.
Membershi Renewal Did you apply for the Card during the offer to pay for a year of membership? If you did then PartnersFirst will notify us that you are qualified and they will pay the Club to extend your membership by a year. The initial offer to pay for a year of membership was made at the very end of May and was only good for a very brief period of time. If you would like to provide me with more details I would be happy to research this for you through PartnersFirst. Frank
What information can I give to verify my claim? Yes, part of the reason I applied was because of the free membership.
I will need the date you applied and the name and address used when applied. You may want to private mail me that information. Frank
I just heard for a friend who has been a longtime BMW CCA member and recently applied for the Club credit card with the offer to extend his membership. He's a well-to-do individual who has owned his own business for years and at the time of his application owned three BMWs, one purchased new within the past two years. He was turned down for the card. He's now down to one BMW, bought a new Porsche, and isn't renewing his BMW CCA membership. Porsche felt he was qualified enough for their 1.9% financing on an $80k MSRP new car. You win some and you lose some.
If your friend would like to contact me privately I would be happy to contact PartnersFirst and ask them to review their decision. We don't want to lose anyone and if an error can be corrected we want to make that happen. Frank
Frank, I know that you and the national office staff will bend over backward for us, but the point is, you shouldn't have to. The card company shouldn't be making stupid mistakes. Since I have come to expect that from 'affiliate' card lenders, that is the reason I didn't bother to apply in the first place. I did have an affiliate credit card once: Honda Rider's Club. They were as dumb as a rock, so I didn't have it more than 3 months. The Shell Mastercard my wife applied for lasted about nine before we dumped it. I hope this deal is worth the sum total of the members like Phil's friend that we lose as a result of such bungling.
C.R. Your point is well taken, but I don't want to comment further as this is a matter of privacy for the member in question. You are correct that, if he chooses to contact us, we will work with him to make this matter right. Partners has made a significant contribution to the Club this year and for the next four years. Through similar offers they have extended hundreds of memberships this year. That said, I am sensitive to the effects of even one member being slighted. Frank
Frank, I'm sure he'd appreciate the concern but I'm afraid it's too late. Certainly his was a reactionary move, but not really any more so than members who buy an $80k BMW to get their $1000 rewards rebate. The point of this true parable is that unless the Club keeps an eye on Partners, like reviewing their rate of turn-down on members' apps, they'll never really know if they're engendering goodwill among a few members who are already happy, retaining some who may otherwise have dropped from the ranks, or precipitating the resignation of more than a handful of existing members who may not ever tell you the real reason for their leaving. To many, clubs are an emotional attachment-a bond more of passion than a reasoned, economic decision. And that bond can be broken when a member feels ostracized, even unintentionally. It's as risky a path to walk as a political discussion. Challenge the financial reputation of a successful, self-made businessman and he'll likely just take his business elsewhere rather than defend the "guilty" prejudice. You'll likely lose more than a handful of longtime members over the $8 increase than Partners will cost you, even though they aren't likely to tell you that's the reason. They likely swallowed hard before biting on the $30 dues, then hid the $40 dues from their wife and kids out of guilt. But $48 may just be enough increase to give the guys and gals who still drive their E28s and E36s to work to try and put money aside for their kids' college education pause to rethink whether they really read Roundel anymore. Or to wonder if chapter wine tours are worth giving up weekends with the kids. But they won't tell you it's the extra money, and in fact it may not be just the $8, but it is the $8 that starts them wondering what value the Club offers them these days, particularly if they only receive the magazine and don't participate in chapter activities. For them that's a 20% rate increase for a magazine that now contains 12% fewer pages than last year, and 25% fewer than the year before that. and of course it is these members who are paying for the rest of us who do participate. Which begs the question about whether or not the Club is still asking members who don't renew why they aren't renewing. But I'm sure we don't need to tell you how to do your job.
