A Class AMG Night Edition problems .....Crap customer service problems....

[Sobana]

Hello Guys,

I'm a newbie on this site and to the world of Mercedez Benz.

So here's my story.....

1 month ago I bought a A 180d CDI AMG Night Edition (gorgeous it is!) absolutely thrilled to bits, I was told it would be delivered 1 week later (I'm from Manchester, Car bought from Nottingham).

I had not so good customer service to start with and had problems right up until delivery day where I am told the car cannot be released until they have deposit money in their account, Ive told them your ring me on the day of delivery to tell me this? They've had my card details for a week, but something to do with not being possible with card etc etc I said fine my brother will deal with it as he's taking delivery for it. So I thought that's it and Ill have a lovely shiny new car when I get home from work - indeed it did!

Fast forward 6 days Im at work getting read for my night shift , decide to move my car nearer the building and BAM .....my dashboard electronics are going mad ....Power steering fault, left dipped light fault, right dipped light fault, ABS fault....plus my power steering has gone very heavy...... ...Naturally I decide ok park up! park up! & call Mercedes roadside assistance they will sort it, did this happen I hear you ask...well no they said its something else thus needs to go into a Merc Garage. So off it goes and 3 days later when I decide to pop in branch (as they havent call me back) to whats going on Im told one of the units went bust and theyve replaced and its ready to go....:bannana: ...WAHAY!

Now fast forward 10 days again and guess what Im ready to go cruising and low and behold exact same fault and Ive only switched the engine on , Im angry at this now because I rely heavily on my car day and night, havent even gone on the motorway and it keeps failing on me.....Needless to say I decided to reject the vehicle and got back onto Roadside assistance to get it out of my garage to tow away.

I logged a complaint with Mercedes complaint department who told me to write a letter to the branch I bought the vehicle from and formally put in writing that Im rejecting it- which I did.

A few days later the used car manager rings me up and says no to rejection because I didnt give their branch a chance to fix the vehicle, so I either take the car back or exchange from the same group for a similar priced vehicle or more and pay the difference. I was speechless! - I dont know how he was expecting me to get the car down to Nottingham, and if he was suggesting that theyre better than other Mercedes mechanics etc ...either way his blunt response seriously ****** me off after my initial .

Now nearly 2 weeks later I feel like Im not getting anywhere with them and have refused to speak to Nottingham after that phone call....Ive got in touch with the financial Ombudsman too who has written a letter to them.

So after my venting (apologies for typos,grammar and french if any ) has anyone else experienced such awful customer service from them and or any tips for me please?

From

An unhappy Mercedes customer

 

[andyjay123]

Mercedes benz customer service is shocking. I am surprised they have repeat customers

 

[TripleD]

Welcome and sorry to hear your issues which it seems are far too common. I am currently in the position of rejected my car. And now had it confirmed in writing, but as for customer service, it seems dealerships and MB customer services don't give a toss!

Your rights according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is that you can reject the car outright within 30 days, between 30 days and 6 months the manufacturer had 1 chance to fix the issue.
Depends when you allowed them to repair it before you could technically argue 1 repair has taken place.

Speaking to Mercedes Benz is pointless, they refer you to the dealership. So you need to speak with them, they will blank your calls and emails, but make sure you document everything!

 

[SamW]

Without sounding blunt, what are you trying to achieve?

It sounds like an unfortunate chain of events and bad communication on their part to start with. Of course they'll need payment before releasing the car but it's bizarre nobody said anything sooner. That's totally the dealerships fault and causes the standard dissatisfied customer - their loss and you move on.

Mechanical faults happen, hence why manufacturers give warranty. It'll wrong to assume that if a fault happens once or twice that it's money back time, it needs to be identified and fixed. They resolved it for 10 days before so they're getting there, give them chance.

It sounds like you're straight in at the deep end now by including MB head office, the financial ombudsmen, trading standards, watchdog and whoever else. The dealer will have a set of guidelines to work to in this situation and will no doubt do just that. By sticking to these guidelines they'll keep the governing bodies happy but may not get you the result you are after.

Moving forward I would say keep calm and remain rational, go and visit and discuss face to face. There's a lot to be said for building relationships with your local dealer in times like this.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Without sounding blunt, what are you trying to achieve?

It sounds like an unfortunate chain of events and bad communication on their part to start with. Of course they'll need payment before releasing the car but it's bizarre nobody said anything sooner. That's totally the dealerships fault and causes the standard dissatisfied customer - their loss and you move on.

Mechanical faults happen, hence why manufacturers give warranty. It'll wrong to assume that if a fault happens once or twice that it's money back time, it needs to be identified and fixed. They resolved it for 10 days before so they're getting there, give them chance.

It sounds like you're straight in at the deep end now by including MB head office, the financial ombudsmen, trading standards, watchdog and whoever else. The dealer will have a set of guidelines to work to in this situation and will no doubt do just that. By sticking to these guidelines they'll keep the governing bodies happy but may not get you the result you are after.

Moving forward I would say keep calm and remain rational, go and visit and discuss face to face. There's a lot to be said for building relationships with your local dealer in times like this.

I thought that it was just me.

 

[TripleD]

I guess until you are in the situation your views would be very different.

Building a relationship, giving them time, following procedure mostly doesn't achieve anything!

Things go wrong, yes it's true, but if they handle it right you feel looked after, and by this I mean things like constant communication when they said they would. But this is seldom the case. It seems very much like once they have your money they don't care.
This is not just directed at Mercedes but dealerships as a whole. There are a few exceptions but I think this is more to do with the people, and it's these people that hold relationships and move customers from brand to brand as they move about.

 

[oldguy57]

I guess until you are in the situation your views would be very different.

Building a relationship, giving them time, following procedure mostly doesn't achieve anything!

Things go wrong, yes it's true, but if they handle it right you feel looked after, and by this I mean things like constant communication when they said they would. But this is seldom the case. It seems very much like once they have your money they don't care.
This is not just directed at Mercedes but dealerships as a whole. There are a few exceptions but I think this is more to do with the people, and it's these people that hold relationships and move customers from brand to brand as they move about.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Sobana]

Hey,

Unfortunately I had already signed on the dotted line so couldn't just move on. I've tried to keep calm but it feels like no one is listening to me at Mercedes-Benz, I'm sorry but how do you build a relationship on that? Surely you should be able to meet in the middle, but no they don't care. What car develops the same fault after 10 days? How can one have any confidence in a vehicle thats not even been upto standard in its first month? I do not want to be arranging for my car to be going into the garage every 2 weeks. Is this asking too much?

They've not even had my first payment just the deposit. As someone else mentioned if you're looked after then yes you would think differently but I've not had a call back from them since, I'm doing all the chasing up.

 

[supermonkeyman]

Same thing happened to a courtesy car I was given, lots of faults when I tried to drive it such as sos unavailable, power steering man function, without changing gear consult workshop, restraint system malfunction etc

Apparently it's was the reverse camera that caused all these, not sure when it'll be fixed as there's no stock anywhere.

 

[Zeplin000]

I have been in this situation with a c350e hybrid. It had a major fault within 30 days and I rejected the car. You are within your rights, as mentioned above. In my case the dealer was quite willing to take the car back, probably because they could resell it at only a small loss (residuals are very good on the hybrid due to government grant I got being withdrawn). My advice is persevere with the dealer. If you have no luck take it to citizens advice, resolver, and then a disputes resolutions service.

 

[TripleD]

I have been in this situation with a c350e hybrid. It had a major fault within 30 days and I rejected the car. You are within your rights, as mentioned above. In my case the dealer was quite willing to take the car back, probably because they could resell it at only a small loss (residuals are very good on the hybrid due to government grant I got being withdrawn). My advice is persevere with the dealer. If you have no luck take it to citizens advice, resolver, and then a disputes resolutions service.

What happened after they accepted your rejection?
Did you walk away or did they offer something for you to stay?

 

[Zeplin000]

They gave me my money back in full, including all lease payments made while the matter was resolved and threw in £250 goodwill gift vouchers. It was enough for me to want to stick with mb. The dealer has no come back if there is a major manufacturing fault within the first 30 days.

 

[flowrider]

I think the MB dealership in Nottingham is a franchise and not owned by MB so your best bet is to get in touch with the dealer principal as MB head office will have very little influence over them, if any.

 

[whitenemesis]

Surely if they are a franchise they have everything to loose? MBUK could take away the franchise...

 

[Red C220]

Is this a new or used car we're discussing?

 

[flowrider]

Surely if they are a franchise they have everything to loose? MBUK could take away the franchise...

Nope......in MB the dealersships are King.

 

[TripleD]

Surely if they are a franchise they have everything to loose? MBUK could take away the franchise...

Only if they have done exceedingly bad and had a negative effect on MBUK sales.
At the end of the day it's a sales business, if you don't buy one, someone else will, and that's very much the stance that is taken.