Checking in car for service at MB

[TC350]

My car is booked in for a service at my local dealership on Friday. Yesterday I received this email telling me that I could check-in online to save time:


It all looked highly suspicious to me, not least being called "Dear Customer" instead of using my name and then a strange looking link to follow (my editing to hide secure detail). The Check-In Online button is to the same link. The sender's address uses the same tjekvik.com hidden behind "Group 1 Mercedes ..."

Rather than follow the link, I did a bit of googling on tjekvik. It turns out that they're a genuine company based in Denmark that provides "Self-Service Solutions for Automotive Dealerships". I even recognised their check-in consoles from when I took my car in for last year's service. So the good news is that this isn't some sort of scam to steal data from me.

But I hate these things. Am I alone in this? I'm paying a fortune for Mercedes services, so at the very least I expect a bit of personal attention. It's like the "time-saving" check-in consoles at airports now - I hate them too. When I pay a lot for a product I don't want to have to do half the admin work myself.

I can understand online check-in for flights when you're wanting to reserve seats while there's still a choice. They also save queuing to check-in if you don't have any baggage to check. But I've noticed on recent flights that the baggage drop queues at airports can often be a lot longer that the standard check-in queues!

But why oh why do we need "express drop-off and pick-up" when leaving our cars for a service? They already have all the details they need from when the car was booked in, why do I have to type them in to their system again? In the past I've been greeted by a service manager who asks if there's anything I need to point out before asking when I'd like to collect the car. Then he/she takes my car keys and labels them before taking a copy of my driving licence then showing me out to my loan car. It all helps to help justify paying over the odds for servicing.

By all means have the facility there, like the self-service tills at supermarkets for those who choose to use them, but we're directed to the self-service check-ins at airports and no doubt I'll be asked to input my details at the bloody machine in the MB dealership on Friday! This retired research engineer hates so-called progress at times.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Airlines even expect you to put your own baggage tags on and load them onto the carousel now; in some ways it makes sense, but to me it just adds to the feeling that I'm paying more and getting less of a service.
When they start getting you to crew the planes for them I'll stop flying.........

 

[Trickythemerc]

You need to try the self service check in at my local hospital. After ten minutes of ticking and clicking on my laptop the evening before my appointment, on arrival at reception I proudly announced to the receptioist that I was checked in on line................???????????? Ahh!! she replied, take no notice of that daft system it never works, now what's your DOB and post code.

 

[markjay]

When I was a child, the way it worked was that your mother gave you a shopping list, you'd then go to the shops and tell the greengrocer what you wanted and he'd go and fetch it for you.

Then supermarkets came along... and now we're doing all the schlepping ourselves, pushing our trolleys through the aisles.

That progress... I guess.