Completely Satisfied?

[Baldylocks]

Far from it I'm afraid! I bought a 2 year old ML420 a few months ago from a local main dealer and I am now at the stage where I would never buy any brand of car from this group again and I'm seriously questioning whether I would ever buy another Mercedes.

The dealership made such a **** up of delivery that they offered me £100 worth of diesel to fill in the Mercedes customer satisfaction questionaire showing me to be "completely satisfied". I wish now I had not accepted and had filled it in as I found things as it appears that this particular dealer isn't the slightest bit interested in customer satisfaction or repeat business, they just want a "one hit, maximum profit" deal.

As an example of the sort of thing they cocked up, my car has wider tyres on the rear than on the front. On delivery the front axle had one wide wheel and one narrow wheel, likewise the rear axle. Not exactly rocket science is it?!

What has anyones else's experience of main dealers been, would you go back to the same dealer?

 

[davethemus]

they don't call them the 'stealers' for nothing.

 

[markjay]

No way I'd go back to the MB dealer who carried-out my last A service.... they under-filled the engine oil by 2L and then gave me an argument that they only fill-up cars to the min level... because the oil expands when hot... never mind that I had just driven the car for 45 minutes in slow traffic on a hot summer's day... the temp gauge at 90... the fans were roaring... and the service adviser is standing there trying to convince me that if I leave the engine running a little bit more the oil level will magically rise from min to max... engine oil capacity is 5.5L... they filled it up only to 3.5L... yet charged me for 5.5L @ £14.95 each... guys am I in the wrong business, should have opened an MB dealership and get rich quickly....

 

[The mallard]

When I bought my used 203 from a main MB dealer, initially I had some problems that should have been sorted on the pre delivery inspection. In frustration at the salesmans attitude, I put pen to paper.
I was immediately contacted by the sales manager. The salesman who had been dealing with me had been sacked for 'undisclosed reasons' but to give credit where due, the sales manager gave me a very nice courtesy car, a tank of fuel, and my car was fairly quickly returned to me absolutely immaculate, all problems sorted with nearly a full tank, as the sales manager said ' this is how you should have received it in the first place'

So although initially unhappy the guy did do his best to resolve the problem once he knew about it, just a pity he did not check his staff better

 

[Rory]

Funnily enough I don't get sent satisfaction surveys by Mercedes anymore.

 

[jaymanek]

No way I'd go back to the MB dealer who carried-out my last A service.... they under-filled the engine oil by 2L and then gave me an argument that they only fill-up cars to the min level... because the oil expands when hot... never mind that I had just driven the car for 45 minutes in slow traffic on a hot summer's day... the temp gauge at 90... the fans were roaring... and the service adviser is standing there trying to convince me that if I leave the engine running a little bit more the oil level will magically rise from min to max... engine oil capacity is 5.5L... they filled it up only to 3.5L... yet charged me for 5.5L @ £14.95 each... guys am I in the wrong business, should have opened an MB dealership and get rich quickly....

well its not totally BS.

Anyone who services mercs regularly knows not to fill right to the max as the oil does expand and trigger the oil hi warning when hot.

Although 2 litres is way too low.

 

[markjay]

well its not totally BS.

Anyone who services mercs regularly knows not to fill right to the max as the oil does expand and trigger the oil hi warning when hot.

Although 2 litres is way too low.

As the old adage goes every lie has a kernel of truth.... yes, the engine oil should not be over-filled, and when I later added myself some Shell Helix Ultra to top it up after the service, I made sure that when hot and after a 10-minute rest on level ground the oil level on the dipstick does not exceed around 2mm below the max level, just to be on the safe side. But the car took another 1.5L to get to that point. There were other things wrong with the service, like a bill that was £60 higher than quoted ('computer error'), and other stuff... I was very annoyed, I did not mind at all paying £260 for a glorified oil change (Service A...), but the car wasn't really due service yet, I was facing a lengthy period in hospital so wanted to get this out of the way, the last thing I expected or needed at the time is to get this kind of aggravation from the MB dealer. The service advisor was arrogant and gave me an argument instead of saying sorry and just sort out the issues, as an example when I queried why they charge for 5.5L while filling-up only 3.5L, he insisted that they filled-up '5.4L'.... with 2L clearly missing between the max and the min! I really don't need that... it was all about the garage's incompetence and the service adviser's attitude, never about the money... as Alfie can testify, I am happy to invest in my car whatever it takes. I did not even mind that at £260 this was the most expensive A service quote of all the MB dealers in London... but I felt offended and insulted at a very low point of my life, where I could do with some good news in general, and this for me is unforgivable. rant over.

 

[Smiley]

Far from it I'm afraid! I bought a 2 year old ML420 a few months ago from a local main dealer and I am now at the stage where I would never buy any brand of car from this group again and I'm seriously questioning whether I would ever buy another Mercedes.

The dealership made such a **** up of delivery that they offered me £100 worth of diesel to fill in the Mercedes customer satisfaction questionaire showing me to be "completely satisfied". I wish now I had not accepted and had filled it in as I found things as it appears that this particular dealer isn't the slightest bit interested in customer satisfaction or repeat business, they just want a "one hit, maximum profit" deal.

As an example of the sort of thing they cocked up, my car has wider tyres on the rear than on the front. On delivery the front axle had one wide wheel and one narrow wheel, likewise the rear axle. Not exactly rocket science is it?!

What has anyones else's experience of main dealers been, would you go back to the same dealer?

I bet I could name that company. The bigger they get and the flashier the glass palaces the more the focus on the £££ and the bonuses for the directors.....ooo er did we forget who is paying us?

 

[Merco]

If it's the one situated next to a big Audi dealership, then I sympathise. Although my experience has been with their sales team, they were so bad it almost put me off MB completely. In fact, I was about 30secs from putting pen to paper with Audi before I finally gave in and bought the MB from another dealers.

 

[312 Sprinter]

Years ago I bought a brand new Merecedes 210 van. I was supposed to take it abroad for an exhibition, but there was so much stuff I needed to take a trailer,

I booked the van into the dealer to get a tow bar fitted to it. Excuses followed, the tow bar hadn't arrived from Germany etc etc. The upshot wass that I ended up picking up the van the evening before I was due to depart. The next morning I hooked up the trailer and plugged in the socket for the lights. Only then did I notice that they hadn't installed the socket in the middle but right over to one side of the van. The cable for the lights trailed on the ground when turning left, and was ripped out of the socket turning right. I wasn't best pleased....

I high tailed it back to the dealer in a foul temper. This particular dealer, it being a van, was a truck dealer, not car. The service reception was behing a plate glass window, right down to the ground. The service manager sat behind the window, with his back to the glass.

I drove into their yard, a bit too fast; my anger was in control of my right foot. It was raining slightly, the trucks had left lots of diesel in the yard.

My foot hit the brake pedal and I felt the tyres losing grip, I saw the window getting closer, I heard the tyres howl on the cobbles.

The front bumper of the van stopped about 3mm away from the plate glass window. The service manager had decided the quickest escape route was across his desk rather than around it.

I decided all I could do was play it cool and pretend I had consumate control of the van and always intended to stop 3mm away from the glass. I calmly walked through the door and started berating the service manager, who hadn't quite regained his composure, or decided whether to sit back in his chair or finish his flight across his desk.

They sent me a cheque for my inconvenience, re positioned the socket, welded up the stray holes, resprayed the rear valance and waived the bill for fitting the tow bar. I guess it pays to be perceived as totally nuts........

 

[Merco]

That's one way to deal with it although I think I might have ended up through the window and at the Scrubs! I think I'll stick with my wholly ineffective strongly-worded-letter-of-complaint!

 

[timwood2000]

Far from it I'm afraid! I bought a 2 year old ML420 a few months ago from a local main dealer and I am now at the stage where I would never buy any brand of car from this group again and I'm seriously questioning whether I would ever buy another Mercedes.

Is there any reason why you can't name and shame? I for one would like to know who to avoid.

 

[timwood2000]

...and my usual dealer who has historically been excellent, told me in February (and 9,000 miles ago) that I needed new discs and pads all round - which I declined. Still working fine and tomorrow is September.

Lost all trust in them. Now looking for a local-ish indy.

 

[camerafodder]

As a matter of interest, what were the other problems you suffered?

 

[splang]

I have recently moved away from Weston-super-Mare and have been delighted with the service from MB WSM over the last 7 years and 3 cars. I even put pen to paper in a positive sense and on Saturday I received a lovely letter back from MB Milton Keynes with a posh pen in a MB Box as a 'token of thanks for taking to time'.
Nice!

 

[MOCAŠ]

As mentioned elsewhere on this forum, I've been with Hughes of Beaconsfield ever since I ordered my A Class back in 1998, and have been very happy with them. I also bought my previous SLK from them, and would have bought my current one there too if they'd had the right spec at the time I was looking. I've had all my MBs serviced by them, apart for my elderly C Class estate that was handled by a more conveniently-located independent in central London.

The only minor niggle I can think of, which has only emerged recently, is the effort they take to remind you to complete the customer satisfaction survey. After the last major service a couple of months ago, the service manager politely asked me to complete and return the form when it arrived, which was fine, if a little unnecessary; but then a week later I got the customary (customery? ) call from a receptionist asking if I'd been happy with the service I'd received (which I had been) and reminding me to return the form (which hadn't even arrived at that point). She went on to point out that anything less than full marks is counted by MB as 'not satisfied', which I found a little irksome, but if it's true then it seems the fault lies more with MB for the way they assess the survey results. Truth was I didn't have a problem giving them full marks, but I would rather have been left to my own devices. I suppose the other dealerships all have to play the same game.

 

[Rory]

She went on to point out that anything less than full marks is counted by MB as 'not satisfied', which I found a little irksome, but if it's true then it seems the fault lies more with MB for the way they assess the survey results.

It's ridicuous really - another forum member who was buying a car wrote that he ticked the middling boxes for all the categories because the dealer had done OK, but nothing that left him astonished or exceptionally delighted, and nothing bad either. They just did their job and sold him a car. No big deal.

He got a call from the dealer general manager a while later asking why he shouldn't sack the salesman as it was the worst survey form they'd ever had!

Apparently you're supposed to give the top mark (extremely satisfied, or whatever it is) unless there a very good reason not to do that. So your "average" is MB's "extremely satisfied".

They all do it - I recently had my daughter's SEAT serviced and got an automated phone call asking me to press 1 is I was extremely satisfied and 2 if I wasn't satisfied - not much granularity there.

 

[Merco]

He got a call from the dealer general manager a while later asking why he shouldn't sack the salesman as it was the worst survey form they'd ever had!

I find this astonishing! It's also quite intimidating. I would be furious if a dealer had phoned me up and asked me that. It's certainly not my job to bargain for the job of an employee and it is also not my job to act as a Union rep or Employment Lawyer enquiring as to whether the manager was within his rights to sack an employee after 1 'bad' survey form. No doubt there is due process which would have to be followed. I would have told the manager exactly what he could do with his enquiry - politely or not so politely. Eurrrgh!!! Haven't even got my car yet and the dealers have already got my goat!!

 

[camerafodder]

Haven't even got my car yet and the dealers have already got my goat!!

I would never hand over my goat until the car was ready for collection!










...I'll get me goat...erm I mean coat.

 

[Merco]

I would never hand over my goat until the car was ready for collection!



...I'll get me goat...erm I mean coat.

Oh dear oh dear!