Another thumbs down for MB Bristol

[kusanku]

I decided to test drive a c-class today. Went to MB at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, where they had a number in stock, and asked if I could try a c-class sport. Salesman took all my details, then asked when I would be looking to change cars. I answered any time in the next 6 months, at which point he said he was too busy to let us have a test drive for at least an hour. To his surprise I said no problem, at which point he said "actually it will be more like two hours". Again I said ok, and said I would come back at 3. Busied myself at Cribbs for the next two hours, and went back. Girl on reception seemed surprised to see us back, especially when we told her we had arranged a test-drive with said salesman, but said she would pass message on. After about 10 minutes he appeared to say he was far too busy, and that he had tried to phone us three times, but the phone was off. Needless to say the phone had not been off, and there were no missed calls registered.

Clearly when I said I would change my car in the next six months, rather than straight away, he decided it was a waste of his time to allow us a test-drive. But what really annoys me is wasting my time by telling me to come back in two hours, when he had no intention of letting me drive the car, and telling a pack of lies about how he had tried to phone us to let us know.

Moral of the story: when forum members tell you to avoid a particular dealer, as many have done with MB Bristol, best heed the advice.

 

[320's Plenty]

My car came from that dealer via Sytner Cheltenham & Glos. They were terrific and cannot recommend C&G enough. Maybe you should give them a try, they're not to far off of the M5.

 

[davidjpowell]

I have been in and out of MB Bristol a few times over the years. Never had anyone speak to me.

Only experience of C&G was after overfilling (by a fraction) my W210 a good few years ago. Had a red warning say stop now. Mobilio took me through to C&G on a lorry for 8.30 after collecting me from the M5. I was out by 9am, was impressed.

MB at Taunton not bad either.

 

[LTD]

It's just part of life that your honesty was met by lies from someone who never saw anything to gain.

Maybe you should have told him that you were off to try a BMW or Nissan 370 whilst he readied the car for you ..........

 

[219]

What a disgusting attitude ! That sales assistant is employed to assist prospective customers and generate profit for his employers , not to be 'too busy' to be available .

I would write both to the dealer principal and to MBUK stating what happened , presumably you have this salesman's name , quoting it .

Ask whether they are interested in selling cars , or in the business of turning away prospective customers to buy elsewhere , and possibly non-MB ? I would also ask what the sales assistant could possibly have been doing that was more important than assisting a prospective customer , and why no one else was available ?

Ask for a written response .

It would be interesting to see what happens .

 

[davidjpowell]

The dealer was originally a Mercedes Direct sales outlet, which have the reputation of being much more focused on immediate sales than perhaps more 'normal' dealers. I suspect they it's a culture in that dealership somehow.

 

[The Pan Man]

This type of attitude really gets to me. They are EMPLOYED to sell cars it does not matter if it is next week or 6 months away they are all short sighted. The MB Direct thing is a very good point, I have TRIED to deal with my local one twice with different sales men and the the sales manager who OK's the deal having the last say, well my advice to him would be "Get some better salesmen" This was drummed into me in the late 70's ::: People buy off people, it always worked for me.

 

[st13phil]

What a disgusting attitude ! That sales assistant is employed to assist prospective customers and generate profit for his employers , not to be 'too busy' to be available .

I'm not going to defend the "not available for an hour, no make that two, I mean never" attitude, but I do have some sympathy with the salesman which I'll attempt to explain.

Saturdays & Sundays are the easiest day for most people to visit a showroom, which means that it's also easiest for the timewasters (no judgement about the OP's intentions made or intended) to go there too. Now, if I were trying to sell cars and it was a busy day, would I prefer to devote my attention to someone who is clearly intending to buy soon, i.e in the next couple of weeks, or someone who "may buy sometime in the next six months"? Hmmm... difficult one

Professional sales people are normally very adept at weeding out the tyre-kickers from the serious potential, and the more skilled ones can deter the former without seeming totally disinterested. As such I'd suggest that the salesman who saw the OP needs a bit of training in that respect, but I also guess that they made the right decision to prioritise their own time the way they did.