BMW Just Made a Huge Change That Has Customers Very Angry. It’s a Lesson in Emotional Intelligence

[Dashinka 24,778]

I can see subscription services for a vehicle working for some things like driver assist features, navigation software, etc., but I can see some people angry about paying for heated seat hardware, and then needing to buy a subscription to use them.

 

BMW Just Made a Huge Change That Has Customers Very Angry. It’s a Lesson in Emotional Intelligence

 

Like it or not, we're living in a subscription-based society. You know, Netflix, Apple...BMW?

 

That's right, the German automaker made headlines this week when some internet sleuths discovered that in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom and South Korea, BMW has begun charging for monthly access to features like heated seats. In other words, while the car may come equipped with the necessary hardware, new customers will need to to pay a subscription fee (or a larger one-time fee) to unlock features through software.

 

As customers take to social media to express outrage, business owners can take a major lesson from this debacle. That's because by stealthily introducing these features in various countries, BMW made a major mistake: It underestimated the emotional impact it would make, and the potential hit to its reputation.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/bmw-just-made-a-huge-change-that-has-customers-very-angry-it-s-a-lesson-in-emotional-intelligence/ar-AAZx2Kg?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=f81987bee7ee4fa383326c8b522f030c

[AlaMike 231]

Maybe they are looking at building all the cars the same, as this would make them all the same and make them cheaper to build.

Then a person could pay for the options they want and for how long they want them. Making the more expensive models affordable to some that do not want all the "bells and whistles".  

Here in Alabama, heated seats are OK for a month or 2 but not all year. 

[Dashinka 24,778]

I don't disagree, but the question is will they recoup the cost of putting all the hardware in every vehicle with those that pay subscriptions?  if the cost of building the vehicle is cheaper, will they pass that on to the customer?  To me though it seems they are trying to glam onto the entire Netflix, etc. crowd, but maybe too late, there seems to be some cooling to that as people realize they are paying more than they did for "cable" with all their subscription services.

 

As to heated seats, that would be fine for me, even in Michigan, I never use them, but my wife uses them sometimes even in Summer.  If they were to tailor the subscription so I only had it for the front passenger seat that would be nice.

 

It will be interesting to see how this goes and who follows suit.  I expect there are other companies watching this very closely.

[LIBrty4all 3,754]

Toyota is doing it with their remote start feature.  Ridiculous.

[Dashinka 24,778]

Now when they start requiring a subscription for putting the windows down, or turning on the HVAC system it will be very interesting.  

[beloved_dingo 1,983]

5 hours ago, AlaMike said:

Maybe they are looking at building all the cars the same, as this would make them all the same and make them cheaper to build.

Then a person could pay for the options they want and for how long they want them. Making the more expensive models affordable to some that do not want all the "bells and whistles".  

Here in Alabama, heated seats are OK for a month or 2 but not all year. 

Fellow Alabamian here, and 100% agree. My husband's car has heated seats that we enjoy in Jan/Feb, but I never miss it in my own car. Certainly wouldn't pay a subscription for a feature already built into the car 😂

 

Anyway, this seems ridiculous to me. Everything is a money grab these days. But I also like my cars and appliances to be "dumb", so what do I know?

 

[Ban Hammer 13,519]

and i thought this was going to be about BMW's being equipped with turn signals.

[Dashinka 24,778]

2 hours ago, beloved_dingo said:

Fellow Alabamian here, and 100% agree. My husband's car has heated seats that we enjoy in Jan/Feb, but I never miss it in my own car. Certainly wouldn't pay a subscription for a feature already built into the car 😂

 

Anyway, this seems ridiculous to me. Everything is a money grab these days. But I also like my cars and appliances to be "dumb", so what do I know?

 

What happened to crank down windows.  So easy to adjust to where you wanted them, with these express up express down windows, it is a pain when you only want to crack them.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,378]

8 hours ago, AlaMike said:

Maybe they are looking at building all the cars the same, as this would make them all the same and make them cheaper to build.

Then a person could pay for the options they want and for how long they want them. Making the more expensive models affordable to some that do not want all the "bells and whistles".  

Here in Alabama, heated seats are OK for a month or 2 but not all year. 

Bingo

[TBoneTX 46,075]

8 hours ago, Dashinka said:

a subscription for putting the windows down, or turning on the HVAC system

It's less like Netflix and more like the airlines, I think.

  -- Charges for checked bags, then charges for carry-on bags.

  -- Charges for food & drink.

  -- Charges to choose your seat/seating section on the plane.

All these things and many more used to be free (included in ticket price).

If the auto-makers adopt this thinking, we're all sunk.

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

 

My first thought was, screw them, I will never buy a BMW, and others will not too, sales will go down, and bye bye subscriptions.  It may work out like that.

 

However, after reading the whole article, it might be a valid strategy.  One no one is mentioning is that apparently you can pay a one time fee (just like options now) and have it forever.  For short term owners (and leases) you the option to weigh the cost/benefit.  If the one time fee is $1000 and the subscription is $18 a month, you would need to keep the car for 55 months for the one time fee to be worth it.

 

Also, is the monthly fee something that can be turned on and off when needed?  Subscription usually means you have to keep paying.  Who wants heated seats in the summer?

 

This will be controlled in the computer.  People will find a way to hack it.

[LIBrty4all 3,754]

24 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

It's less like Netflix and more like the airlines, I think.

  -- Charges for checked bags, then charges for carry-on bags.

  -- Charges for food & drink.

  -- Charges to choose your seat/seating section on the plane.

All these things and many more used to be free (included in ticket price).

If the auto-makers adopt this thinking, we're all sunk.

\Don't fly Spirit and you'll avoid a lot of this.

[LIBrty4all 3,754]

4 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

 

My first thought was, screw them, I will never buy a BMW, and others will not too, sales will go down, and bye bye subscriptions.  It may work out like that.

 

However, after reading the whole article, it might be a valid strategy.  One no one is mentioning is that apparently you can pay a one time fee (just like options now) and have it forever.  For short term owners (and leases) you the option to weigh the cost/benefit.  If the one time fee is $1000 and the subscription is $18 a month, you would need to keep the car for 55 months for the one time fee to be worth it.

 

Also, is the monthly fee something that can be turned on and off when needed?  Subscription usually means you have to keep paying.  Who wants heated seats in the summer?

 

This will be controlled in the computer.  People will find a way to hack it.

The scarier aspect of this is that when your ESG score drops to a low enough level, your vehicle can be disabled.

[TBoneTX 46,075]

1 hour ago, LIBrty4all said:

Don't fly Spirit and you'll avoid a lot of this.

True, but the legacy airlines have the same, or elements of it.

[Dashinka 24,778]

8 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

 

My first thought was, screw them, I will never buy a BMW, and others will not too, sales will go down, and bye bye subscriptions.  It may work out like that.

 

However, after reading the whole article, it might be a valid strategy.  One no one is mentioning is that apparently you can pay a one time fee (just like options now) and have it forever.  For short term owners (and leases) you the option to weigh the cost/benefit.  If the one time fee is $1000 and the subscription is $18 a month, you would need to keep the car for 55 months for the one time fee to be worth it.

 

Also, is the monthly fee something that can be turned on and off when needed?  Subscription usually means you have to keep paying.  Who wants heated seats in the summer?

 

This will be controlled in the computer.  People will find a way to hack it.

It really depends on how far they want to go with this.  Heated seats is one thing, but if they start doing this for things like HVAC, key fob access, window actuation, etc., it may piss more people off.  I expect they will not be able to do this for things that are considered safety, or compliance related, but who really knows.  I do agree that at some point there will be hacks out there to get around the subscription since this is all software, connected car related.  My big issue though is I will be paying for the hardware for these features regardless of if I decide to pay a monthly fee to use them or not.  If the industry is heading this way though, I am sure we will learn to live with it, but I would rather see a smaller interval (maybe $1 for a days use of heated seats, or $5 for a week of enhanced cruise control), and all subscriptions should be set to auto cancel instead of auto renewal so forgetful people are not charged again.