BMW owners club

[richtea]

When are the subs due, Brian?
Are you putting the rates up from 1 pint per meeting? 

[Phmode]

I think its going to be a pint and a tot this year...

[slparry]

tot .... of night nurse?

[richtea]

tot .... of night nurse?

Same effect, but more pleasant taste.  So I've heard.

[Phmode]

When you are of a mind, a tot of almost anything is better than no tot at all 

[TomL]

I totally agree, I joined the forum last year with a view to becoming a member of the club, I had an R1200GSLC at the time and dared to criticise a BMW dealer who had been rubbish. I got a PM telling me the post was removed and I was not allowed to be negative to any BMW dealer or indeed BMW UK, who were also crap by the way!

After I explained I was being totally honest and 100% factual in what I had put, and could also provide emails from the dealer and BMW UK to support my remarks, I was told it was still not acceptable to criticise BMW. Was this guy for real?? 

James

I think the complication is that they are affiliated with BMW, and are scared to criticise them.
The official BMW logo and an insurance ad is on the website. Follow the money, as they always say.

I always understood that the BMW Club was totally independent of BMW.

[richtea]

I think the complication is that they are affiliated with BMW, and are scared to criticise them.
The official BMW logo and an insurance ad is on the website. Follow the money, as they always say.

I always understood that the BMW Club was totally independent of BMW.

Why would an independent club have an advert for official BMW insurance on its website?
At some monetary level there is definitely a link*. It may be minimal (like BMW pay for the web server, or offer club members a discount), but it's definitely there.

The bit I remember from 5 years ago is some worry about denigrating the BMW logo used on the website & magazine with criticism of said logo owner via the forum. But maybe I read too much into that, and they're just control freaks.


*From http://www.thebmwclub.org.uk/abouttheclub.asp

The BMW Club is affiliated to The BMF and maintains links with BMW AG, BMW (UK) Ltd, other BMW clubs around the world, and The International Council of BMW Clubs.

And from https://www.bmw.co.uk/global/legal-notice

BMW AG is the ultimate parent of BMW (UK) Limited and BMW Financial Services and references to “BMW AG” are to Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft whose address is Petuelring 130, 80788 Munich, Germany.

(my emphasis in both cases)

[black-k1]

When I was involved with the BMW club many years ago there was some “tie in” with the BMW “mothership”. I think BMW allowed use of the BMW name (as in The BMW Club) and provided approved club logos etc. that did not infringe trademarks. There was a big fuss because the original club logo had the roundel in it (apparently with BMW permission from when the club started) but no one could find any evidence of this permission so BMW were “encouraging” (read strong-arming) the club to adopt the BMW approved logos.

I think there was some other minor financial support from BMW to the club but couldn’t be sure of the details. As a member though, you were still allowed to be critical of BMW!

Any organisation that does not allow (let alone, encourage) its customers to be critical of it is likely to wake up one morning and find it has significantly fewer customers. Nothing is ever perfect but understanding where your customers think improvements can be made is marketing gold dust.

[Matt]

I'm definitely not avoiding doing real things but I went to Companies House as that's always good fun...

In their Memorandum and Articles of Association, the third bullet talks about why it exists and says for the first sub-section:

To be independent, and therefore promote the interests of the Company as a Club

But I dunno exactly what that "to be independent" implies, given there's then a crap load of other line items about assisting and establishing things that have the same core goal as theirs.

Ok my willpower is sapping as I can't copy-paste a stupid ass scanned pdf so I'll probably give up soon, this wasn't as fun as I'd hoped.

Anyway, the badge bit:



Oh yeah, and their site says

It is totally self-financing and is completely manufacturer independent.

[jesim1]

I'm not sure of all the bits surrounding this, all I know is their attitude was very much like an old school master and it was not a nice place to be if you had your own opinion - and I actually like the bikes! I just don't like the some of the politics and sycophantism that goes on there.

I have no axe to grind though, it was not for me and I voted with my feet, and looking at their numbers I'm sure most others do this after joining up also, which is sad, but entirely understandable under their current leadership - it's not a club, its a dictatorship.

James

[richtea]

... it's not a club, its a dictatorship.

Where's Brian when you need him?

[Phmode]

Who the fark is Brain?

And I thought I was a dictatorshit...

...it's just that no one listens or cares 

[TomL]

I think the complication is that they are affiliated with BMW, and are scared to criticise them.
The official BMW logo and an insurance ad is on the website. Follow the money, as they always say.

I always understood that the BMW Club was totally independent of BMW.

Why would an independent club have an advert for official BMW insurance on its website?
At some monetary level there is definitely a link*. It may be minimal (like BMW pay for the web server, or offer club members a discount), but it's definitely there.

The bit I remember from 5 years ago is some worry about denigrating the BMW logo used on the website & magazine with criticism of said logo owner via the forum. But maybe I read too much into that, and they're just control freaks.


*From http://www.thebmwclub.org.uk/abouttheclub.asp

The BMW Club is affiliated to The BMF and maintains links with BMW AG, BMW (UK) Ltd, other BMW clubs around the world, and The International Council of BMW Clubs.

And from https://www.bmw.co.uk/global/legal-notice

BMW AG is the ultimate parent of BMW (UK) Limited and BMW Financial Services and references to “BMW AG” are to Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft whose address is Petuelring 130, 80788 Munich, Germany.

(my emphasis in both cases)

I can assure you that the BMW Club is totally independent from BMW. When I was a member BMW forced the BMW Club to stop using the BMW roundel under threat of court action.

If you look at the BMW Club web site it states quite clearly "It is totally self-financing and is completely manufacturer independent".

BMW insurance will pay to advertise on the BMW Club web site the same as others such as Motobins do.

[Phmode]

That makes their attitude about negative marque comments even more difficult to understand.

I'm not really a 'joiner' of clubs so have never looked into it, but what exactly do you get for your subscription, apart from heavy-handed censorship and immoderate moderators? 

[Matt]

Maybe it's like a very amateur version of this "influencer" thing on the instagrams, where they're hoping if they only say good things they'll get free stuff... have you seen that Lego Technic GS they got?! I'd definitely say i love their shaft drive that's tried to literally kill me twice to get my hands on that