News

New Commercial Auto Insurance Features

• by Oleg

Two major insurance companies Allied and Nationwide announced new commercial auto product features with the Commercial Auto Plus Endorsement. It provides the following coverages:

New Vehicle Replacement Cost Coverage – can cover new private passenger vehicles, or pick up trucks up to 20,000 gross vehicle weight, without depreciation, if they are in an accident resulting in a total loss.

Hired Auto Physical Damage with Loss of Use Coverage – can cover rental vehicles for collision or comprehensive coverage, if the business also purchased hired auto liability coverage, and has collision & comprehensive coverages on owned vehicles.

Auto Loan or Lease Coverage – If a leased vehicle is a total loss because of an accident, Commercial Auto Plus Endorsement can cover the difference between the unpaid amount on the loan or lease and the actual cash value of the vehicle.

Expanded Towing – Standard business auto policies do not provide towing coverage for trucks. With Commercial Auto Plus Endorsement, Allied Insurance covers trucks and private passenger autos for the cost of towing, jump starts, and minor roadside repairs.

Rental Reimbursement – Standard business auto policies do not pay for a rental car, but Allied’s Commercial Auto Plus Endorsement makes sure that business owners are covered when they need a replacement vehicle.

Personal Effects of Insured and Property of Others – Commercial Auto Plus Endorsement provides $250 of coverage for property of others that is in a business’ custody or control while it is being transported. It also provides $500 for personal property of the insured that is lost or damaged while being transported, with no deductible.

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BMW

Europeans intend to dominate US auto market

• by Oleg

In case you missed it. There is some interesting article on WSJ web site, “Europeans Raise Pressure on Detroit”. According to the source US auto makers will face new stronger competition from European car manufacturers.

While US companies shorten production and facing cash flow troubles Volkswagen AG (further VW) and BMW AG are preparing the expansion of their US market share withing few years.

US small vehicle market historically is dominated by US and Asian auto makers. Autodata’s research from 2001 shows steady decline of US manufactures share and Asians and Europeans shares are steadily increasing.

VW is building their first US factory since they close their previous one in July of 1988 due to some quality problems and high cost of production with unionized labor.

This time VW is betting on non union workers. They plan to introduce several new models specifically designed for US market. VW get its optimism from other markets. For example VW has bigger market share in China than Toyota has. I would attributed that to centuries old tension between China and Japan so Chinese do not like to buy anything made in Japan in my opinion. New US factory is going to open in 2012 with production of 250000 cars a year. VW’s luxury unit Audi is also planning to increase its marketing spending. So we are going to see more Audi ads including on Super Bowl.

BMW is also planning to increase its market share by introducing more One  series cars and by selling more of their Mini cars. Although BWD has already increased prices for most of 2009 models. So unless hyperinflation really hits the US as most classic economics law suggests. It is going to a little harder for them to compete on price level  with other manufacturers when they start to clean up stock.

BMW

BWD Key tricks: running car without key

• by Oleg

I bet you owners of newer BMW cars with that start/stop engine button did not know you could run your car without the key in ignition lock. Apparently if you had your engine running and when you turn it off, remove the key from ignition lock you then have 15 seconds to push start engine button and drive away without your keys.
Some say it is anti hijacking feature some say it is BMW new comfort access option. Hmm, I guess if hijackers got your keys and you are still sitting in your seat you can drive away… that is of course if you are still conscious and without gun pointing at your head. But by all means though if your life is in danger don’t try to be a superman and drive away from gunpoint. Your car is most likely insured, but scientists yet to discover way to resurrect people from death.

Business Development

PayPal fights for merchant rights afterall

• by Oleg

Several months ago I wrote about the how easy it was for one dishonest customers to initiate a chargeback and get money from our PayPal account. It seamed like we as merchant did not have any rights at all. Majority of people who we talked to about the situation was saying that chargebacks are just another cost of doing business and the rest of respondents blamed PayPal. They were saying that it was really the PayPal’s fault and it is very unfair to just withdraw money from merchants accounts. At the time we thought about looking for  alternatives to PayPal, not taking credit cards at all and quite a bit of other crazy things.

It has been a while since then, but today I am very pleased to report that PayPal has actually fought for our money and won. I am really impressed with how PayPal managed to win the chargeback from VISA credit card company. It took it awhile, but after several months we actually got our money back.

So if you are selling anything online or accepting payments via PayPal or any other service follow these simple recommendations to maximize your chances for keeping your money in your pockets:

  • Ship merchandise with carrier that provide package tracking and proof of delivery.
  • In case of returns, require from clients that they use your preferred (see above) carrier.
  • Keep all record. E-mails, snail mail, tracking numbers, proof of delivery, proof that you did not receive anything (like in our case), anything that is even remotely related to your business. You will never know when you will need that information, but it could literally safe your business in some cases.
  • In case of dispute with client and if it is not going to be resolved peacefully notify PayPal promptly about the dispute. I think their requirement is like within 20 days.
  • If chargeback is actually initiated you will have a chance to present your case. Keep in mind that in most situations it is your only chance. So present all the records that you have collected with your full description what they are and how they are related. Include history of the dispute. Most likely you will not hear from them until the case is either won or lost.

So good luck to you all.

DIY

E39 Manual Transmission Fluid Change

• by Oleg

After a brief struggle with my parsimony, I have finally decided to buy original BMW transmission fluid. Sticker on side of gearbox was worn out, but it was of yellow color indicating that I needed MTF-LT-2 fluid. Local BMW dealer had it for MSRP price about $140 for 5 liters. It is a bit more expensive compared to everybody’s’ favorite Red Line MTL, which one could buy from for example OGRacing for just under $9 per liter.

The manual gearbox fluid change is really easy DIY project.

You will need the following tools:

  • 17 mm 6pt socket
  • Some ratchet
  • 17 mm box end or combination wrench, 6pt is the best in my opinion since plugs made from some very soft metal and you can very easily strip plug’s flange if using open ended wrench.
  • Torque wrench
  • Some hand pump
  • one or two feet of clear plastic tubing
  • Floor jack or similar to jack up the car

First of all you’ll need to jack the car up. I usually just drive rear wheels onto ramps and jack up front of car with floor jack, then secure jack stands. Some people drive front wheel onto ramps and jack up the rear. I personally find it a bit dangerous since car can roll away once rear wheel s are off the ground and besides my E39 has rubber jacking point in the front and nothing except rear differential on the back that I could use as jacking point.

Find transmission under the car after car is off the ground and leveled. Read the label and make sure you are going to use the right fluid for you gearbox. Here is view of transmission from under the car.

Photo from BMW325i.NET

Before you remove drain plug make sure that fill plug is not seized. And definitely use either sockets or box-end wrenches to break seize. I almost stripped my fill plug flange when tried to use open end of wrench. Believe me it is very soft.

Here is what color fluid came from my gearbox after 52000 miles. I seriously doubt that it is healthy to have it in the gearbox for the life of car. Well I have to agree with thought that the lifetime fluid is most likely BMW marketing gimmick to attract more customers. It is very unlikely that BMW cares what happens to our cars after 50000 mile warranty and they will gladly offer us replacement transmissions for one forth of car price.

Once plugs are removed and old fluid drained. Replace drain plugs and torque it, on my BMW E39 car it is to 70 Nm. Using hand pump and plastic tube pump transmission fluid into fill hole until it overfills and it starts to leak out of the fill hole. Replace fill plug, tighten it to same torque as drain plug (70 Nm). Check for leaks and you are done.

One more thing, do not forget to lower your car on the ground.

e39

Could you guess what that noise is from?

• by Oleg

I have discovered some unusual sound from my BMW E39 with M54 engine. I have noticed it when applying gas slightly in second, third and forth gears. I think I do not hear it on fifth gear or first or whenever it is in neutral or whenever gas is not applied.

Could you please listen to this Unusualy loud sound sound I recorded while I lightly shifted from first all the way to forth gear. And please let me know what could be the source of it.

I have changed transmission and differential fluids last weekend, but it did not help at all. Could that be the engine noise and I just do not hear it while it is not in gear?


DIY

Are there any tricks for using cheap spring compressor on E46 BMW?

• by Oleg

Is there any trick/technique/know-how regarding how to compress front strut spring with cheapo spring compressors like these ones, maybe location when you bite on the spring matter? I have all three of them know, borrowed and even bought last one. But I could not release the spring so it rests on lower rubber pad nicely.

strut spring compressor 1Strut spring compressor 2Strut spring compressor 3

My latest attempt last night looked almost as it should be. Just on one side rubber pad seamed a little bit off. And here is how it looked by this morning. Spring pushed rubber out completely on one side. So I have to compress spring again and try to realign everything. I just wonder what I was doing wrong since I can not get spring in place correctly.

I also wonder if compressors like the one below works on E46 since although they look similar BMW’s one shown in TIS. The one from TIS uses kind of ring adapter to press against upper plate. For some reason it seams like it should compress spring more evenly. Did anybody try such compressors?
BMW Spring Compressor fro TISHere is screenshot from TIS. The tool is shown assembled for E46 and upper adapter (it is the right one on the picture) is actually a ring. It does not look like anything from kit above could be used like that ring. And without such ring it would be worthless as any other cheap compressor just because there are not enough coils in spring
Business Development

Is your Business Protected Against Chargebacks?

• by Oleg

Some time ago I have written about two way to deal with returns of merchandise from business point of view. Today I would like to share how that story has developed since then.

Let me refresh how story has began. We had a customer who has purchased couple of sportswear items online. Several weeks after she received those items she claimed that she did not like them and wanted to return them for refund. By that time it was already way past of expiration of return policy. So we could not accept return even if we wanted to make an exception. Anyway she claimed that she mailed package to us and demanded the refund. She could not provide any proof of shipment and we did not receive the package. She requested chargeback via her VISA credit card company and managed to get money from our PayPal account after 5 months after the purchase.

Let me mention few things about PayPal. PayPal has become huge on online payment solution market. Sellers reports drop in sales if they stop accepting PayPal, especially on eBay auctions. But PayPal is not the bank and does not really have to obey strict Federal banking regulations so they can take money from your account you have with them, freeze account and funds. etc even without any warning to account owners.

PayPal offers seller’s protection policy and it seams like by complying with few requirements you as sellers it protected, but just take a look at this quote from the policy:

A Chargeback is covered if it was due to non-receipt of merchandise, or an unauthorized payment. A Reversal is covered if it was due to an unauthorized payment. The Seller Protection Policy does not cover Claims for Significantly Not as Described or for non-receipt of merchandise, or sales of intangible goods, services, or licenses for digital content. PayPal Claims are not covered by the Seller Protection Policy. For more information on winning a PayPal Claim see the Buyer Protection Programs section of this agreement.

What they basically say is customers have 100% chance to win chargeback if they claim that merchandise was not as described.

In our quest to fight this particular chargeback we have researched a lot of related forums, blogs and talked to a lot of retail industry gurus. And it seams like everybody agrees with saying that customer is always right and there is nothing businesses can do about it. Before that sounded to me like “of course we as a business want to be nice with our clients, but we would want fair resolution of dispute if there is one.” Now though it seams like chargeback is really just another cost of doing business, and buyers have a lot more rights than sellers.

In order to protect themselves against such situations businesses could stop accepting credit cards in general because of this and also because of fees that various merchant account providers charge per transaction. But there were too many research done that clearly indicate drop in sales volume if there is no credit card present as a payment option. PayPal says that based on their one research adding PayPal Express button can increase sales by 14% on average. So I guess we are sticking with it for a while.

Business Development

Two ways to deal with returns

• by Oleg

As you already know we own part of retail business. it is growing slowly, but steadily. This is my first experience with specifics of retail business. One of such specifics is dealing with returns and unsatisfied customers.

Lately we had a customer who wanted to return merchandise way after period of time allowed by our return policy. Initially we got defensive since it is really against our return policy and because that particular merchandise was supposed to be returned to manufacturer within short time frame. So we could not just resell it on eBay or something. So we did not issue RMA number to the customer. So she just mailed it anyway and threatened to dispute the charge with PayPal. Then in over one month after she mailed she contacted us again. But we did receive it. My guess is that it was shipped to address of distribution company.

This time I have decided to do some research and find out what other retail business veterans do in such case. So I have interviewed handful of SCORE experts and posted my questions to several forums and I can summarize all answers to basically two:

  1. Customer is always right. The company should accept charge backs as another cost of doing business.
  2. That the company have full rights to refuse refund if it is stated so in its policy or if there was no policy then State Law applies, which in our state is 20 days refund.

So what do you do in situations like this?