BMW Financial Services

I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the behavior I’ve encountered from BMW Finance. They have been not only dishonest in their dealings but have also shown an alarming level of unprofessionalism and unethical conduct. In my experience, they’ve been stealing money from consumers, overcharging without explanation, and consistently… Read more

failing to provide any clarity or support when questioned. To make matters worse, their customer service team has resorted to threatening behavior, rather than addressing the issues in a reasonable or professional manner.

I am shocked by the level of disregard for consumers' rights and integrity that BMW Finance is displaying. It’s not only financially damaging but emotionally distressing as well.

I sincerely hope that ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) investigates this issue thoroughly so that hard-earned tax dollars are not wasted on such unethical practices. Consumers deserve better protection and a company like BMW should be held accountable for their actions.

Avoid BMW Finance at all costs if you value your time, money, and peace of mind.

Unsafe and Antiquated Payoff Policy – They require you to send a check (recommend cashiers check!) in the MAIL to payoff your loan! What kind of unsafe and antiquated policy is this? Oh and when you send the cashiers check certified mail and it gets lost, they won’t waive any accrued interest ($129.27) even though you made a good faith payment and upheld your end of deal. P.S. Cashiers checks can’t be canceled for 90 days!!! Would not recommend to anyone!!! Show details

I called an was put on hold – I called BMW today, I had a basic enquiry - Ergon answer the phone “hello welcom to BMW finance how may I help you” Mr Hi I’m just calling as I’m planning on reading my car I was wondering if I can transfer the loan or if I need to take out a new loan? While I was asking the question Ergon had put me on hold, obviously not listening, I said it’s… Read more

obvious you have put me on hold shall I hang up he said nothing.

I called again and asked if I could speak with someone else or his manager, Ergon replied there is no one else in the office - I gave him a choice “could you please put me into someone else or your manager”?

He put me on hold for 3 minutes and came back to me saying everyone is busy.

I told him I’d write a review so here it is. I’ll call tomorrow l, normally the staff are respectful and polite and I was taken back from Ergons dissatisfying customer service. Absolutely appalling.

ABSOLUTE CROOKS – Their customer service is hands down the worst I have ever experienced. Due to their negligence my car was repossessed without them informing me it was going to be, I paid what was owed and now 2 weeks later still can't get my car back because they are impossible to get a hold or. Oh and not to mention the thugs they hire followed my wife around… Read more

and my kids to their school. Do not use these crooks! I'm about to start a lawsuit against them and opening a police report because they have essentially stolen my car. Absolute joke of a company

A Frustrating Experience with BMW/Mini Finance Company – I have been a customer of Mini Finance Company for over four years, and until recently, I had no significant complaints. However, my recent experience with this company has left me deeply frustrated and disappointed. Six months ago, I had to travel abroad to attend my father's funeral. During my absence, Mini Finance decided to charge me a… Read more

substantial fee of $770 through a third-party collection agency without any prior notice or explanation. I was completely unaware of this charge until it was taken from my account. Upon discovering the situation, I immediately paid all outstanding amounts.

What baffles me the most is the lack of transparency and communication from Mini Finance during this entire ordeal. I was never informed that additional charges would be applied for the outstanding $770, and I was not given an opportunity to address the matter directly with the company.

To make matters worse, Mini Finance sent the same debt to the collection agency again, resulting in an additional charge of $440. None of these charges were outlined in my initial signed contract with Mini Finance.

This experience has been incredibly frustrating and has eroded my trust in Mini Finance's services. The involvement of third-party collection agencies and the imposition of undisclosed fees are both questionable practices.

I have formally complained to Mini Finance, requesting a clear breakdown of all fees, refunds for unauthorized charges, and the removal of any negative impacts on my credit history. I am also seeking transparency and adherence to our initial contract.

I will never suggest this financial institution to anyone. Transparency, communication, and ethical practices should be a priority in any financial institution, and, unfortunately, these qualities were lacking in my recent experience with Mini Finance Company.

Dissapointed – I purchased a mini cooper s for my wife with a ballon payment at the end of 5 years. Due to covid we were able to extend the final payment, thank you, however last month we paid roughly $4800 leaving a residual to pay of $10200. Wepid yesterday the full amount of the residual and was told we had to pay an additional $300 for extra interest when we… Read more

were told by one of their customer service persons that although we had until 1st September to pay and given that we fully paid out the loan yesterday 15/8/2023 we still needed to pay the $300. After talking to the finance manager this interest was sreduced to approximately $30.00. The cuistomer service persons are we believe are working off shore and are very difficult understand not discounting the fact tht they cannot calculate the poayout. Aver bad experience and given that we have used BMW finance for 5 BMW purchased through BMW Bundoora melbourne we will not be using this company again. All I can say record every conversation with whowever your talking with as they will try and increase the payout irrespective of any conversations one has had.

Buyers beware

Car loan – Incompetent with the service they deliver. They are not helpful at all. Show details

Don’t trust BMW FIN – The worst FIN I have ever seen. It requires me to pay $2600 for early termination fee. Didn’t mention a word about it when pushing me to sign contract ! Protect yourself , Never use BMW FIN!

Appallingly bad to deal with! – Absolutely stay away! Bunch of incompetent lazy amateurs who couldn't be more unprofessional if they tried! Charged me penalty interest on a loan payout because it was taking me so long to pay out, but the delay was due to BMW Financial Services taking forever to provide the payout letter to the lender I was refinancing with (BMW's offer to… Read more

refinance to stay with them had the highest interest rate in the country - crooks!) and it was wrong when they eventually sent it causing further delays. They where so bad to deal with that it's put me off from dealing with BMW in general ever again!

Beware!!! – Beware and stay away!!. Due to personal circumstances I choose to sell my car and payout my loan earlier and they charged me close to $1300 for early termination fees. I mean are you guys serious???? I called them requesting to waive off the fees and they said sorry can’t help you. I had Audi before with VW finance and when I paid that off early… Read more

they waived off their $400 early termination fees. Would never recommend BMW finance to anyone nor would ever comeback to them.

I warn you with ever fibre of my body, to NOT take out any finance with this company – They regularly break consumer laws and have the worst policy and ethics of any company I have ever had to deal with. Just do a quick google of recent court rulings against this predatory company. Show details

Diabolical – I have never dealt with a worse organisation. Lazy, don’t care and won’t allow customers to speak with them. I received an email saying my tax statement was ready through their BMW ONE app. Well after downloading the app, it’s got no record of my business. I email and ask for the information and they still can’t find me. Funny that, they’re taking money from me every month. Never again.

Alphera/BMW Finance no longer financing non BMW Vehicles – It was with disappointment I was informed by Alphera that they are no longer financing non BMW vehicles. After 21 years of financing multiple non BMW vehicles through Alphera Finance and with an exemplary payment history over the years. I have been informed they no longer want my business. So much for customer loyalty which most businesses… Read more

aspire too! Obviously not Alphera/BMW Finance and a warning to others how you may be treated.

This is a good example on how to alienate a very good customer.

I will definitely will not be buying a BMW in the future.

Stuart Tyler

Be very carefully when visit BMW. Push a few thousand dollars deposit and confiscation of deposit is how they make money – Be very carefully when visit BMW. They push you to pay a few thousand dollars deposit and oral approve your loan immediately. Took 3 months to process my loan application and requested me to cancel two credit cards. Eventually deny loan and confiscation of deposit is how they make money. My case is under negotiation now, and potential end up to go Fair Trade Centre or court later.

An ongoing saga with BMW finance - keep away from this unethical organization – A copy below of a communique I sent BMW finance on the 7th of Jan 2021. The rest should be fairly self explanatory. I will add further details as this goes on. What is strikingly alarming is that BMW finance merciless and relentless pursued me during Covid to payout my contract. When the table is flipped and you engage them to explain and resolve… Read more

serious contractual breaches it goes on and on. In fact I'm still waiting. After 5 weeks and numerous communiques to them and AFCA I'm still waiting. What is the point of having a government toothless tiger organization such as AFCA when they don't pull these people into line?

To whom it may concern, Unfortunately I’ve had to deal with BMW finance recently which was an unsavory experience. Putting it mildly. However lets move on to my latest inquiry and allegations. After the episode of discharging our Zagame A3 acquired vehicle I decided to clean out much of my old paperwork. In doing so I found my original docs of the BMW 320i (appended for reference) which was traded in on an A3. Firstly there were serious typo mistakes in the contract regarding vehicle description and model. By all accounts it was a 320i and not a 323i as per contract. Perhaps what is more concerning, in fact 'alarming' is that $1000 of a $2000 deposit is unaccounted for in the Contract. Why? If you read the dealer Tax Invoice and the appended receipt both clearly show $2000 dollars was in fact deposited. On the other hand their contract clearly and in error tells us only $1000 was handed over. Put simply that is a serious accounting breach in BMW finances favor. This is nothing but simple blatant fraud and extortion. Clearly the evidence shows $1000.00 has been taken and not accounted for. Again why? This matter may have to be referred onto our legal counsel. Regards Bob

Below of what BMW finance just sent me. In short they are willing to reimburse through a good faith gesture the $1000 they took and kept for 10 years. No additional compensation offer, no interest rate recovery and no apologies. They have the audacity to call it a Gesture of Good will!!!

Dear Bob, I write further to our telephone conversation from 22 March 2021 and my email dated 26 March 2021 . Thank you for your patience whilst I reviewed your concerns further. My understanding of your complaint is that; • The vehicle model under loan contract number 693175 was incorrectly noted on the loan contract and • The deposit amount you provided to the dealership was $2000.00 yet the application for finance states you deposited $1000.00. Please let me know if I have misunderstood your complaint? Based on our internal records, I can confirm that the application for finance which you and the Business manager would have completed at the BMW Melbourne dealership, lists the description of goods as a BMW 323i Sedan. Similarly, the offer to purchase/contract which is also generated at the dealership also states that you had requested a BMW 323i Sedan. We note in our file notes however, that you first raised this issue and brought it to the attention of our Customer service department on 21 August 2013 via email. On 26 August 2013 our Customer service department confirmed that we had amended the details in our system and rectified the issue accordingly. We did not hear back from you after this date, and therefore, we presumed that you were satisfied with the resolution. With respect to the deposit amount provided at the time of sale, I do note that the offer to purchase/contract states that you made a cash deposit of $1000.00 yet, the evidence you have provided us confirms an amount of $2000.00 was paid to BMW Melbourne on 19 April 2021. Regrettably, as this application for finance was submitted almost 10 years ago, we are unable to reach out to the dealership for their commentary as the Business manager is no longer employed at BMW Melbourne and they would no longer hold all records regarding this transaction due to time limitations. Notwithstanding the above, as a gesture of goodwill, and in full and final resolution to your complaint, we are prepared to offer you a credit of $1000.00 to your nominated bank account. Should you accept this offer, please confirm your bank details with me by 9 April 2021 and I will arrange for the refund to be actioned. Should you have any further queries or wish to discuss this further please do not hesitate to call me between 9.00am-5.00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday, or email me. Alternatively, if you are not satisfied with my response, you may lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA): BMW Finance

high Fees and Average Rates – I've used dealer finance on a number of occasions because it is usually better and easier than my bank. I found my dealer was slower than normal to get documents and details to me and although the approval was fast I was surprised by the dealer and BMW establishment fees which were $1000. At the end of the day fees and interest rates are not the… Read more

key factors to worry about, you need to look at the total you end up paying. No real complaint, my fault for trusting the dealer and not insisting on getting all the documents up front, I certainly wont be using BMW Finance and that dealer again

Deceptive & misleading organization – If I could give them 0 stars I would. I will be reporting them to the relevant authorities for failing to disclose that I had been paying unemployment insurance for 5 years. I became unemployed due to Covid, informed BMW finance and they gave me hardship relief which meant I got a holiday from repayments. However nothing in life is free as they… Read more

put additional charges against my loan for this privilege . When they should of been telling me to use the insurance I had. Yes, I should of been more informed, but who remembers the fine print of a finance agreement they signed 5 years ago?

Furthermore... Highway robbery when you compare them to other finance options, I didn't read the fine print which is 100% on me, nevertheless they tell you mistruths throughout the whole process.

BMW FINANCE is a rip off – I would never recommend BMW Finance to any one. I have been a customer for more than 15 years, but how I was treaded this time by BMW finance is discussing, there are a total rip of, never go with them. Be very careful to what you sign. They don't explant clearly but at the end of the contract they stab you bad. even though they had made so much profit for 5 years of the contract. Dont go with bmw finance trust me. Show details

BMW Finance makes a profit on Agent fee – Been using BMW finance for 5 years, after we paid out the balance of the loan, found out today that BMW finance is making a profit by using Mercantile Agent as well and the margin is around 300%, good on them Show details

Daylight Robbery from BMW Finance – We have been using BMW Finance since 2012 till 2020, brought 3 cars from them, never missed a payment until 2020 March as our business got impacted by Covid-19, Instead of talking to us first, BMW has hired agent broken into our property and towed away one of the car with no show of paper works and left no paper works behinds. Caught by our… Read more

security cameras that the agent forced the front gate open and then took photos from his own photo to pretend the front gate has been left open since he's there.

We try to speak to BMW about the issues instead of investigate into the matter BMW send us a invoice of $1500 for the towing and break in.

Such good business model BMW!

Appalling attitude – Alphera/BMW finance customer for over 20 years, never missed a payment, never an issue until now. Apparently if I don’t buy a BMW or Mini from one of their dealers I can take my business elsewhere! I can and I will........... but what an attitude!........... Great way to lose customers guys, on finance and car sales!

Very easy to deal with – I approached BMW after reading about their offer of 0% loan on select motorcycles. I was a little worried at first because my credit score, when plotted on a chart, looks like a roller-coaster ride. However, unlike big banks that crimilise you for a credit inquiry on your file two years ago, BMW Finance asked me questions and let me explain my… Read more

credit history. Two days later, my application was approved and I was riding into the sunset. Just what I'd expect from a reputable brand.

Better finance company than others, low interest rate and low fees – I've been with BMW finance before and satisfied basically no monthly fees and low interest rate. the only issue is you need to be registered for GST otherwise its hard to obtain approval. You can customise your residual to suit your repayments. I had loans with other finance firms but interest and fees were high over 15% overall plus had to pay… Read more

huge early repayment penalty. With BMW this is not the case, you can repay early if you like only now small fee applies. Still better deal than other companies on the market and super low rate of under 6%.

Be afraid! – In 2016 BMW Finance was slapped down by ASIC with the largest remediation program in Australian corporate history: $77m. This followed several other fines for poor repossession practices. They are slow learners and they do not care. My partner's experience with this company has ruined his life. They lied to him on the phone about rescheduling his… Read more

loan, then swooped in a police-coordinated raid and repossessed his car. In the process he was injured by the reposession agent and finished in hospital suffering from a total breakdown. As a result he lost his business and everything he had worked for for six years.

Ritu Chandy, the regional CEO, doesn't have the balls to address his requests directly, but palms off the job to her Melbourne underlings.

Her company employs thugs, uses deceitful tactics, refuses to acknowledge any responsibility and will never offer compensation.

Take a tip and NEVER take out a loan with BMW.

Disgusting and unconscionable – Do not deal with this company. I made the mistake of signing up with BMW Finance / Alphera Finance at a dealership when buying a new car. The instructions I gave to the Finance Rep was that I needed to ensure that I could claim my vehicle use on tax and that I had never had a new car, so I wanted everything explained to me. Loan offered was a very… Read more

low monthly repayment amount, which I thought was excellent at the time, except the finance rep had neglected to explain to me that he had put a 60% residual on the loan - something I had no idea what it even meant at the time (fast-forward 4 years to today, I'm far more educated and significantly more distrustful and jaded).

My Accountant at tax time pointed out that the car had a 60% residual which was likely to be more than double of the value of the car at the end of the loan.

I promptly went back to Alphera Finance who told me that it wasn't a problem, and they would simply redo to the residual to a more appropriate level. The monthly costs increased by 50%, but now I had a residual which made more sense. What they didn't tell me was they had increased the term of the loan to 5 years again, and rewritten a new loan and lumped on another 5 years of interest even though I had only been in the loan for 12 months (I didn't find out about this for another 2 years)

Tax time came around again, and submitting to the ATO the costs on the car, they rejected my claim because the loan hadn't been set up correctly, even though this was one of the main reasons for getting the loan, so now I was out of pocket to the tune of about a $20,000 reduction on my taxable income.

I again went back to Alphera and they again told me "Not a problem". No apologies, about screwing up my tax return or costing me thousands of dollars. They the refinanced the loan into a business loan.

They again increased the loan term to 5 years and lumped another 5 years of interest on the loan. I didn't fin out about this for another year, when my account brought it up, but by then I had been in the loan for 4 years, and I still had 4 years to go. Now with 0% residual and monthly repayments at double from where they started which put me in a financial stretch position, the total loan cost was now around $100,000 from a starting point on the first loan of $80,000 and Alphera don't care, it's all about the money, money, money.

Alphera and BMW Finance have been subject to 7 fines from ASIC for poor practices and several enforceable undertakings where they have been told to repay borrowers due to their unconscionable conduct. It's a fact, Google it. Their business practices are shoddy and the people who work there act as if they are Demi God's. I emailed one of the Directors, to tell him about the situation and ask for him to intervene, he opened my email 17 times (I have a system on my computer which shows me when someone has opened my email), yet when I called him, he blatantly lied about having received the email. When I told him that I have an email program telling me that he opened it 17 times, he hung up on me and refused to take my call again, and never responded to me email.

They are happy just to screw you for every cent, and issue Repossession Notices a few days after a missed payment.

I applied for remediation under the ASIC enforceable undertaking, and compensation through the Credit Ombudsman, but it seems that they have someone in their back pocket.

Stay really clear of this company. I will NEVER buy a BMW again, even though I love the car, this company has left a significant hole in my pocket financially and such a bad taste in my mouth that I just woouldn't be able to bring myself to doing so. They prey on the uninformed and poorly educated (about Finance) and take advantage of their position.

They act like they are a law to themselves and I am shocked to see that after the amount of times ASIC has investigated them that they are still operating.

Do not work with them - you will regret it!

Don’t be fooled with them – Just a waste of time and will be giving the car back as there are lenders that respect the consumer as people below have said They are terrible but at the end they will not get there money back. Beware people not to get a loan with them.

Why is my review so different? – I've read the other reviews and I note that they are all negative. Is this because most people only write a review when they're unhappy? I've written a number of reviews, both positive and negative, always trying to be honest. My recent experience with BMW Finance/Alphera has been nothing short of excellent. Refinanced at end of lease, pleasure to deal with!

Money hungry – My late son who passed away 2014 had finance on his car through BMW/Alphera finance. That time I made sure everything was done and sent the car back to them. Couple of months ago my late son received a letter to say that they over charged him around $2800 in interest and only that the ACCC had investigate they had done this to so many clients .… Read more

they were offering to give just over $2000 back to him and the rest was admin fees, I phoned them to say My son had no will and I was his next of kin but they refused to send the money anyway wanting me to hire a public trustee to be able to get the money.

They can stick the money where the sun don't shine I lost the most important person in my life.

It is not getting the money it is the principal of the matter.

I would like them to donate all the extra interest they charged to kids with cancer.

Unprofessional Finance team, can do damage and create havoc – Very happy with my purchase but the Finance team created so much personal drama with incorrect reporting. Took action with Finance Ombudsman to resolve as BMW Finance did not understand the serious nature of their incompetence. Stay clear use any other finance group but BMW. Their negligence and ruin people with their poor level service.

Never Get Close To Them – Although I love BMW car but "BMW Finance" made me to change my mind and think about other brands for my next car! Having a loan with them for 3 years without missing any repayment after term request for refinance my residual and it took several months while asking 10 times more information than when a bank want to give you few million dollar… Read more

loan and won't give us any clear answer what happening on my application. Not to mention my credit score is over 850//1000 owning several businesses and full time job and few property still they freeze my loan, the local BMW finance manager (who resigned because of their HQ) has no control over anything and everything managing by HQ and look like after BLOODY media report about them they don't know what they should do and how they should control and manage their finance. Is just waste of the time, I got the loan from other finance company with a bit higher rate but NO HEADACHE and happy with them.

Do not use BMW/Alphera Finance – Over a week ago we applied for a simple 30k loan for a new car - the balance was being paid cash. We have had no end of issues and drama with Alphera finance. Pre-approving the loan, then coming back 24hrs later saying - oh hold on no we need XYZ now we forgot about this before. Alphera in one instant were telling us it's preapproved… Read more

again and then wanting my partner on the loan - even though I serviced more than enough on the application - which they pre-approved.

Confused - yes, so was I.

Their excuse was they were just doing due diligence.

Its a bit worrying that their due diligence is ad-hoc along the way...

They have been unclear with information they required, they have mis lead us at every step and it's been an absolute circus.

We were considering also changing our second car to be a BWM - however due to the service we have received from their finance company we have decided against a BMW and, have moved our application to another Lender - Macquarie - who have been fantastic - I'd recommend them any day of the week over BMW - their finance company in my eyes has affected my view on their auto-product.

Please keep away from this company. Their service is terrible.

'Sheer Driving Pleasure!' - are you kidding me? – After just a week at the wheel of my first BMW, I was hooked and could not imagine driving anything else. I admired, respected and believed in the brand. So much so that over the last 12 years I’ve spent over $750,000 on 7 new BMW’s. The turning point in my love affair with the German car maker came 10 months into the lease of my latest… Read more

purchase, an M series. It was December 2013 and I found myself in a dispute with a major insurance company. My legal counsel said there was no doubt the matter would settle in my favour but warned it could take months. In the meantime, it would cause a cash-flow crisis.

So, I called BMW Finance to ask for short-term financial hardship assistance. My purchase history would qualify me as a highly-valued client in anyone’s language and you would think such loyalty would account for something. However, it did nothing of the sort. What I experienced at the hands of BMW Finance beggar’s belief and is now the subject to an investigation by the Ombudsman.

Instead of the help I needed and asked for they worsened the situation, caused me to incur additional costs and added to the stress and anxiety I was suffering. The fact they lost the Contract was a sign of things to come. Next was the Hardship Application. Not for the faint hearted, it’s a document to rival ‘war and peace’ and before my ordeal was over they would make me complete and submit this on 3 separate occasions.

It would have been nice and even helpful to know what assistance I was applying for, but they kept this secret along with the outcome of the applications themselves. Well except for the third application that I was accused of not returning. It was rejecting on the grounds I failed to provide the support evidence that was in fact sent and received. To make matters worse, instead of a single point of contact I had to respond to 13 different people. I would reply to one with an update on my case and confirm I was unable to make payments until the settlement was agreed; only to receive an email from someone else asking for an update and another issuing a Repossession Notice.

When my case with the insurer was settled, I made a lump sum repayment to BMW Finance and implemented a plan to manage ongoing payments and clear the remaining $4K debt. Yet, regardless of my commitment and established pattern of repayments, BMW Finance sold my debt to a 3rd party collections agent who used false information to locate the car in the event of a repossession.

BMW Finance then denied this was done and claimed it was miscommunication but were unable to explain the $440 charge for collection agency fees that I discovered on my Statement.

A few weeks later, came a written offer to save $7000 off my lease followed by a phone call to confirm it was received and to encourage me to act. I assumed it was a goodwill gesture in light of the problems they had caused. I visited the dealership only to be told the offer had been withdrawn on instructions from BMW Finance. When I wrote to BMW Finance about this, they suggested I read their fine print!

The final straw came in December 2015 when the Dealership put forward a proposal to address this and issues surrounding how the car was sold. They offered to change the car for a new model with a new lease with a substantial saving.

Despite the written assurances I received from BMW Finance that I had met my obligations along with an apology for the difficulties they caused – BMW Finance refused to approve the deal saying it was a commercial decision.

When trying to address these issues with BMW Finance, it takes up to 4 weeks for response, if you get one at all.

I now own and drive a new Audi and I love it.

My only regret is that I should have changed my allegiance a long time ago.

Misleading and an absolute Joke – Took out car finance for a new vehicle in 2014. Paid out the loan through a refinance in August 2016. Confirmation email received, thanking me for my payment and that the loan is paid out in full. 2 months later (1st week October 2016) Email received saying there was an outstanding balance of $880. BMW finance is pointing the finger at… Read more

Alphera, and vice versa. This is not only unacceptable behavior, but also exceptionally unprofessional and an absolute joke. Considering Alphera Finance is a Subsidiary of BMW the lack of ownership between these two companies is astounding.

Would avoid like the plague.