Don't Complain at MB DARTFORD

[Tan]

Recentley my car went into MB dartford to have the climate control looked at, they ended changing the complete Control system, a bill of the best part of £900 including some other work.

A couple of weeks later i experienced the same problems again, so back to the dealer. This time they decided the AC Gas had run out. The cost to find this out and replace the Gas £150.

This i felt was a bit steep considering they were charging 1 Hours Labour of which 30mins was them investigating their previous work. As i was unhappy i expressed this to the service manager basically asking why i had to pay for them to investigate the work they did. He then told me they would not charge for the investigation just the regasing which at that point was to take 30 mins plus the Gas, ie. about £100. This seamed logical to me but then MB dartford decided that they would charge for 1hrs labour and invented another 1/2 hour investigation that never existed.

This matter then got passed up to customer services who said "ignore all that the service manager has said and the bill would be £150".

Again i was not happy thus it got escalated to the head of customer services who reiterated the same blurb given earlier, eventually she saw the point i was making, but decided i was wrong to DARE QUESTION their pricing. In the END she said that they would carry out the repair FREE of Charge.

Great i thought but then she added THAT I WAS BANNED FROM Using the service Department at Dartford.

This though a pain, i could live with it. However when i collected the car I was told that the Ban extended to Bromley and Orpington also.

HOW CRAZY?? Since they own all my local dealers thus have a Monopoly this ban is over the top.

I have complained to MB Headquarters in Milton Keynes, so now i have to wait. If i get no joy i will take it to Watchdog.

Sorry for the long post but i am furious!!! I am even thinking of selling the SL and Buying a Porsche 911.

Regards

Tan

 

[Shude]

Erm? That's a bit extreme! What is their problem?

They soak you for the price of the car. They soak you for servicing, both labour and parts. They spread the word that a non-FMBSH car is worth half that of a car WITH service history and THEN argue about £50 or something? IMHO that is really poor.

Good look with HQ, although I wouldn't hold your breath...

 

[fuzzer]

Erm , i don't think ive woken up properly yet , i thought i just read that you got banned from a MB service department


THIS IS INSANE !!!!!!

 

[Guy]

Originally posted by Tan
Recentley my car went into MB dartford to have the climate control looked at, they ended changing the complete Control system, a bill of the best part of £900 including some other work.

A couple of weeks later i experienced the same problems again, so back to the dealer. This time they decided the AC Gas had run out. The cost to find this out and replace the Gas £150.

Tan

Why not question whether the first change of complete control system was ever necessary in that case?

You don't seem to have anything at all to lose?

 

[fuzzer]

Im begining to realise that the customer service is s**t no matter what you drive in the dealerships.

 

[Sp!ke]

Unless I am missing something...

It sounds to me that you might be within your rights to ask for a refund on your car.

MB have now put you in a position where they have made steps to make it impractical to continue with MB Dealer servicing which in my view puts them in breach of contract.

I'm sure the press would love this one.

See if you can get this 'Ban' in writing.

 

[rirhill]

Tan
Mate I understand exactly where your coming from.
As some of you are aware I bought my car there and I have had problems. I have taken the car to them complaining about the Tracking to be told its fine the check my tyres 3 weeks later to discover they are worn to the metal on the inside edges. My car has spent a total of about 2 weeks in there mainly because of their lack of communication. With the exception of Frances in Service who is great and the helpful Paul in parts the rest are useless. No one takes responsiblity for dealing with my problems and they just kept saying "you will have to talk to the exec who sold you the car" even though he's on 2 weeks holiday.

Shelia Phillips is the Customer Service Manager and she is not much cop.
Advice Advicethey are lovely to you until you part will the cash then forget any kind of After Care service or Customer Service Be warned. IMHO

Tan
I would take it Watchdog. If you want any back up about them let me know and I will send a letter in too.
What about Gillingham or Maidstone ask Paul or Dave Elcome they might have used their services as they live local.

Cheers
Ian

 

[simonl]

Write to Autoexpress. Every week it seems that once they get involved things start going the customer's way.

I'm currently having a load of trouble with my roof. It goes back to the garage (Edinburgh) on Monday for the third time this month so they can play "guess what's wrong with the Merc and chuck more parts at it".

My first service (36k) was at the Glasgow garage where I bought it. They said the front-ball joints needed replacing (£400). There was nowt wrong with them. I've never been back.

This is my first Merc and it may well be my last. I love the car and the brand but the reliability has been unacceptable. The slightest thing goes wrong and MB rob you blind.

My mate has a similar age BMW 3-series. He's never had anything go wrong and got a great servicing deal when he bought it. I'm seriously considering a BMW next.

 

[Tan]

Hi

Just a quick note to say thanks guys for all your support. I will keep you posted on how things progress.

Regards

Tan

 

[Dave Elcome]

Tan.

I have just read this thread with a sense of disbelief, it even prompted me to check the date just to see if i was 24 days ahead of myself!!

I have been into the dealers in question in the past in order to get spares, and i have to say i have never felt that welcome, then your tale of woe comes along which underlines this.

THE best dealers in Kent used to be Drake and Fletchers in Maidstone, and/or Vikings at Sturry, (Canterbury), both now sadly no longer MB dealers after the big bang shake up.......... I wonder why??

Medway Mercedes: well i have had troubles with them on the parts supply front, we'll leave it there. But what i will say about them, is that if you ever find yourself in a position to have to complain to the service manager, then be prepared to be insulted, i've known of him for years ( i spent 15 yrs in the trade in the area), he is, and always will be an Ar*ehole!!

So that basically leaves the new dealers in Maidstone who are an unnown quantity, or Rawsons at Tonbridge, who are most pleasing to deal with, (absolutely nothing to do with the nice young lady on reception!!)

Hope this helps, remember it can only get better from here on.:bannana:

 

[GRAV888]

What about Gillingham or Maidstone ask Paul or Dave Elcome they might have used their services as they live local.

Cheers
Ian [/B][/QUOTE]
I wouldn't bother with these 2 either. Had loads of problems with them. Remember my thread "poly belt tensioner"?

p.s. Tan : I have a 1968 911 for sale

 

[hash]

WOW i am sooooooo shocked by this.
I have had many mercedes, so have the family and the dealers are really on the slide. But is the same when yopu buy the car, they are not really interested in a long term view. Once they have the money they dont care.
but we did have a good time with what used to be rycroft of oxford, they spent £7000 on trying to stop our 99 T Ml from rattling. and it was out of warranty by over 8 months.

so we thought we would use them when we bought a new c220, a year later we went to get a new ML and they offered 12000 less than we paid 1 year ago.

so back to the cheapest source of a car (broker)

oh well we live and learn and sorry Tan

 

[Paul]

Originally posted by GRAV888
What about Gillingham or Maidstone ask Paul or Dave Elcome they might have used their services as they live local.

Both Dave and I have the same thoughts on Medway Merc' DONT BOTHER!!!

I have discovered a new place to go in the Medway area, I will post details elsewhere on our site.

 

[andy_k]

speaking from what we know, our W124 is a car that rawsons supplied and serviced until we bought it - the previous owner had nothing but praise for their service, saying they were just about the best Merc dealer he had come across - maybe time to head a little way south in search of good old fashioned service - there's always a plus - you get to thrash the pants off the courtesy car for those few extra miles

Andy

 

[simonl]

Originally posted by simonl
I'm currently having a load of trouble with my roof. It goes back to the garage (Edinburgh) on Monday for the third time this month so they can play "guess what's wrong with the Merc and chuck more parts at it".

Just to follow up on my wee problem here, credit where it's due to the Edinburgh garage. I had a nice chat with the Service Manager last week. He got involved with the issue and I'm now very pleased with the outcome.

Got the car back yesterday, it had all remaining roof switches replaced and extensive testing. When it came to the bill the Service Manager came up trumps - better than I had hoped.

I have a B-Serv coming up soon and they have won back my loyalty.