Green Flag- my experience

[Steve_M]

I have mentioned elsewhere that the bike broke down last week while we were on our annual tour. This is a quick précis of our experience as I remember it. Please bear with me as I may need to do this in several instalments. Some of the 

 

Day 1.
Starting the bike after our overnight in Comus it failed to rev properly. A warning light and the engine symbol was displayed on the dash. 

 

As Comus is somewhat remote we decided to ride the bike in limp home mode to the nearby town of Camurac from where we called Green Flag. 
 

The call centre response time was better than I anticipated (under 10 minutes as I recall). The call handler followed a script and asked a few security questions and details of what the issue was with the vehicle. 
 

At this point I was making it very clear that the “vehicle” is a BMW motorbike (emphasised as I’ve heard stories about recovery vehicles not equipped for bikes) needing to be taken to a workshop with BMW  diagnostic tools. 
 

Once done, the call centre handler outlined terms and conditions for the recovery and repair. 

 

I gave the location using the town name and the name of the town square where the bike was located. The call centre operator asked for the what3words location. 
 

I had to go out of the call to find the app on my phone - he stayed on the line so I was able to give the location..

 

He then asked for payment of the excess by entering my card details on the keypad. Unfortunately, having gone into what3words the keypad wasn’t available. He suggested we end the call and he would call right back (I had little faith ….). He called right back. I then paid the excess.

 

He advised that the recovery vehicle would be with me in the next couple of hours. We went and had a cup of coffee in the cafe over the road while waiting. The recovery vehicle arrived after about an hour and a half.

 

The driver spoke no English, and our French is minimal - and certainly insufficient for the task ahead. Somehow we muddled through confirming this was the bike, supplying VIN number, and managing to ride the bike onto the back of the truck for the driver to tie down. The driver took numerous photos and then we headed off to Villeneuve-d’Olmes - not that we knew that at the time - squashed together in the cab of the truck.

 

Having arrived at Garage Sgobbo we were led to the reception area and left to our own devices for a short while. One of the Sgobbo guys who spoke English popped by and told us that they were trying to find a BMW dealership to take the bike, but we’re having difficulty as they were shut. It might be in Toulouse or Narbonne based on their previous experiences of BMW bikes. 
 

I asked about the chances of getting a coffee. He offered to take us just up the road where we could get one - an offer we accepted (and a mistake!).

 

We were dropped at a shop which had a seating area and abandoned To our own devices. Toilets? Non! We had to wander out into the nearby country lane and pee in a ditch.

 

I then had a call from a phone number from Chelmsford: this is a company called NWBA (I forget the full name) and a young lady by the name of Mariyam asked me about what our situation was. Having explained that the bike wouldn’t be fixed, she said she would arrange overnight accommodation and a taxi to take us there (picking up our overnight bags on route).

 

Accommodation? Up to £45 pp/night does not get you luxury. We ended up in a hotel, La Gargantua (see photo), in Lavalanet. Clean. Basic. No restaurant no breakfast option. As a place to stay overnight and eat out, Lavalanet is far from ideal.

 

Day 2… 

 

TBC

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2024 by Steve_M

[Steve_M]

Day 2.

 

Advised that the bike would be going ro “a BMW garage in Toulouse” during the day. No other information received. Internet search revealed one BMW bike dealer; Moto Ride in Labège.

 

Time to get relocated to near the bike.
A word with NWBA to discover they couldn’t find a hotel in their price range in Toulouse. We offered to subsidise to a more expensive hotel - they counter offered that if we find a hotel they’ll refund £90 of the cost for the night.

 

No hotel rooms under £500 Toulouse*. Bugger. A second search revealed on at £130 for the night. Quickly took that one up (later found it was a last minute cancellation which we spotted moments after it was released)..

 

Taxi to take us to Toulouse arranged by NWBA. Thankfully they picked up the whole tab for that (>€300).

 

Booked in to the hotel St Sernin mid afternoon. Phoned NWBA to see if they had an ETA for the bike to be fixed (yes, optimistic) to find that it was up to me to manage that communication. 
 

Phoned the garage - used google translate to work out wha5 to say first- handed to someone with a decent smattering of English. ETA? No idea, could be two days, could be a week. 

The Green Flag options now appeared to be 

1. Bike fixed in the next few days: they’ll pay for hotels and reasonable transport
2. Bike not fixed for a week: They’ll get us home and repatriate the bike.

Now it all depended on what the garage found and how soon they found it.

 

Complication: the garage couldn’t find the right part by part number. Anywhere, not even from BMW in Germany. 
 

Uncertainty is a killer. Still, Toulouse is not a bad place.

 

With no hotels available for the next day we booked a hotel in Carcassonne for the following evening and decided to go there by rail.

 

*There were major events, including a celebration of the Olympians and Paralympians happening.

[Steve_M]

Day 3.

 

Rail trip to Carcassonne, booked into hotel early.

 

Spent the afternoon wandering around and trying to kill time between calls to the BMW garage and NWBA in an attempt to get some idea of probable outcomes.

 

Early afternoon the BMW garage discovered that an alternative part might work. Asked my permission to try it… 

 

Booked hotel in Labege for the following evening in the optimistic hope the bike would be ready to collect later.

 

Train to Labege: I popped in to the BMW garage on route to the hotel. The part had been fitted but not road tested. That should happen the next day.

[Steve_M]

Day 4. 
 

Called the BMW garage at around 10am. the bike’s not yet tested.Call back at around 11 and bingo! 
 

Collected the bike, paid the bill (£lots) and set off around midday.

 

[husoi]

Lesson from this?

Don't buy a phoking beamer

[Steve_M]

Summary.

 

Green Flag didn’t do a great deal, having apparently outsourced actions to NWBA while retaining control of the benefits that I, as the customer, anm entitled to. 
 

It’s tricky to understand the actual relationship between Green Flag and the people actually doing the work but it seems there’s also a French Agency between NWBA and the French service providers. With this number of links in the chain communication is poor. Ultimately, as the key stakeholder, I took the responsibility for progress chasing and communication between the end supplier and NWBA - which is not the service I anticipated. 
 

I will continue to use Green Flag but would go into a similar situation, should it arise,  by managing across the line of communication right from first contact. 

Edited September 24, 2024 by Steve_M
Correcting grammar

[Steve_M]

10 minutes ago, husoi said:

Lesson from this?

Don't buy a phoking beamer

It’s been said before but there’s no other bike on the market that fills our requirements to the same degree. 
 

 

[husoi]

I know the feeling.

Same things when I looked to replace the pan

 

[Nick the wanderer]

If you never had any cover and had to pay to get it moved and fixed yourself would it have been any cheaper?

Could you have limped it to the dealer for instance? How much was the dealer fix?

I always find breaking down in a foreign country an adventure in itself, and the French have always been very helpful, to me anyway.

[Steve_M]

43 minutes ago, Nick the wanderer said:

If you never had any cover and had to pay to get it moved and fixed yourself would it have been any cheaper?

Could you have limped it to the dealer for instance? How much was the dealer fix?

I always find breaking down in a foreign country an adventure in itself, and the French have always been very helpful, to me anyway.

The post was to share my experience and help set expectations for those who might think that it’s a “one touch and done” service. In my case I did expect a better managed process  and communication but, with hindsight, getting involved in the process myself was beneficial - and, at times, enjoyable (utilising some of my project management skills from a previous life).

 

I wouldn’t consider an alternative “do it yourself” approach for something this technical and with the challenges of finding a garage that can diagnose and repair a BMW in an area quite so far out in the sticks. 
 

I have no issue with the people involved: the processes, though, would benefit from a  “fit for purpose” review and systems thinking used to improve it.

Edited September 24, 2024 by Steve_M

[bonio]

I once used BMW Motorrad Roadside Assistance to rescue my bike.

I was going down to Devon one Friday evening, when I noticed rain coming out of cloudless sky as I was going up Telegraph Hill on the A38; odd, I thought. I got to where I was going and parked the bike up on the road. Saturday morning, though, I noticed a pool of fluid under the bike - the radiator had sprung a leak and deposited its contents onto the road. 

So I phoned the magic BMW number and spent about half an hour passing over my details. They agreed to come and collect the bike, take it to my local dealer in Hertfordshire, and give me a replacement vehicle for a few days.  About a couple of hours later some guys tipped up to pick up the bike and drop off a BMW M3 - there weren't any replacement bikes available .

On Sunday I drove home in the car. Quite quickly. On Wednesday, I got a call from the dealer to say the bike was mended, so I drove over, picked the bike up and left the car there. 

I still pinch myself that it was all that simple. It's not a completely fair comparison, as it all happened here in Blighty, but if it works anything like that when you're abroad it going to be about as nice an experience as you can hope for.

[AstronautNinja]

33 minutes ago, bonio said:

I once used BMW Motorrad Roadside Assistance to rescue my bike.

I was going down to Devon one Friday evening, when I noticed rain coming out of cloudless sky as I was going up Telegraph Hill on the A38; odd, I thought. I got to where I was going and parked the bike up on the road. Saturday morning, though, I noticed a pool of fluid under the bike - the radiator had sprung a leak and deposited its contents onto the road. 

So I phoned the magic BMW number and spent about half an hour passing over my details. They agreed to come and collect the bike, take it to my local dealer in Hertfordshire, and give me a replacement vehicle for a few days.  About a couple of hours later some guys tipped up to pick up the bike and drop off a BMW M3 - there weren't any replacement bikes available .

On Sunday I drove home in the car. Quite quickly. On Wednesday, I got a call from the dealer to say the bike was mended, so I drove over, picked the bike up and left the car there. 

I still pinch myself that it was all that simple. It's not a completely fair comparison, as it all happened here in Blighty, but if it works anything like that when you're abroad it going to be about as nice an experience as you can hope for.

They gave you a rental M3? Awesome 

[bonio]

39 minutes ago, AstronautNinja said:

They gave you a rental M3? Awesome 

Wasn't really a replacement for the bike, but hey ho, you learn to make do with what you've got.

[Stu]

@Steve_M but of a shitter for the holiday but glad its sorted 

 

What was the issue with it in the end? 

[Steve_M]

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

@Steve_M but of a shitter for the holiday but glad its sorted 

 

What was the issue with it in the end? 

Non-functioning throttle body. 

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, Steve_M said:

Non-functioning throttle body. 

 

Bugger! pretty rare for those to go pop to be fair 

 

Although the other week I had an engine management light come on when I started the bike up on the way back from Wales! turned her off and restarted and it went stayed off 

 

I plugged it in when I get home and read the diagnostic codes and the bike failed to read to position of both of the throttle bodies! 

 

I think I hit the starter too quick once turning the ignition on and interrupted the startup sequence its been fine since

 

[Steve_M]

14 minutes ago, Stu said:

 

Bugger! pretty rare for those to go pop to be fair 

 

Although the other week I had an engine management light come on when I started the bike up on the way back from Wales! turned her off and restarted and it went stayed off 

 

I plugged it in when I get home and read the diagnostic codes and the bike failed to read to position of both of the throttle bodies! 

 

I think I hit the starter too quick once turning the ignition on and interrupted the startup sequence its been fine since

 

The bike’s booked in for service tomorrow - booked before we went away - so I’ll have a chat with the service guy in Carlisle. 
 

I wonder if hitting the button too quickly contributed to my issue: Something I probably do due to impatience. Of note, also, there had been a frost overnight though not sure that’s significant

[Stu]

Just now, Steve_M said:

The bike’s booked in for service tomorrow - booked before we went away - so I’ll have a chat with the service guy in Carlisle. 
 

I wonder if hitting the button too quickly contributed to my issue: Something I probably do due to impatience. Of note, also, there had been a frost overnight though not sure that’s significant

 

possibly! you never know these days! without knowing what had actually failed it would be hard to say what the cause was 

[AstronautNinja]

29 minutes ago, Steve_M said:

The bike’s booked in for service tomorrow - booked before we went away - so I’ll have a chat with the service guy in Carlisle. 
 

I wonder if hitting the button too quickly contributed to my issue: Something I probably do due to impatience. Of note, also, there had been a frost overnight though not sure that’s significant

Did you take any faulty parts home? Was just wondering if some investigation could yield anything? 

[Steve_M]

8 hours ago, AstronautNinja said:

Did you take any faulty parts home? Was just wondering if some investigation could yield anything? 

We didn’t. The bike was fully laden and we just wanted to get on the road and head home by this point. 

[rob m]

Interesting point about the startup. If I don’t wait for my K13S to go through its startup procedure and hit the starter button, I get the EWS flash up too.

[Stu]

2 hours ago, rob m said:

Interesting point about the startup. If I don’t wait for my K13S to go through its startup procedure and hit the starter button, I get the EWS flash up too.

 

It's all to do with battery voltages if you hit that starter too early while doing its checks if you hit the starter too early then it will cause low voltage and bring up errors 

[Mickly]

16 hours ago, Steve_M said:

The bike’s booked in for service tomorrow - booked before we went away - so I’ll have a chat with the service guy in Carlisle. 
 

I wonder if hitting the button too quickly contributed to my issue: Something I probably do due to impatience. Of note, also, there had been a frost overnight though not sure that’s significant

Even my ancient 2002 F650GS used to throw a hissy fit if the correct start up procedure wasn’t followed ( wait for engine temp light to go out and don’t touch the throttle before hitting the start button )