I have been banned from Mercedes, why-I complained.

[G-A-R-Y]

After a long running dispute over an engine noise which could not be remedied, I involved Mercedes Customer Services.
After two months I received the response below. I take it I have been banned from their garage and services.


Thank you for your telephone call of 25th June 2007 regarding the issues that you have experienced with your Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
We have been in contact with the Service Manager at Mercedes-Benz of Bristol, Mr **** *****, in regard of the issues that you have brought to our attention. Mr ***** has informed us that you authorised the replacement of the injector for which your vehicle had been booked in for one and half hours with the cost of the injector, and that they let you see the injector that had been removed to confirm that it was faulty.
In regard of the wheel arches of your vehicle, a report and photos were submitted by the dealership to DaimlerChrysler UK Ltd for a goodwill contribution towards the rectification work. This was succesfull and this work will be carried out free of charge.
Mr ***** feels that some of the comments that you have made in regard of the service that they have provided has been unjustified and they are not prepared to carry out any repair work on your vehicle in the future and will not be reimbursing you the cost of the injector

Thank you for contacting the DaimlerChrysler Customer Assistance Center with your concerns, we are sorry that we can be of no further assistance with this matter.


PS. I have posted this on both of my Mercedes forums.

 

[jaymanek]

what was the basis of your complaint? Doesnt sound unreasonable to replace an injector and charge 1.5 hrs?

 

[television]

Something is going down hill now with MB and their care and support, it is drying up, I will never again recommend any authorised dealer again, there is no point in paying double. You are lucky they did give you a letter, I only got a phonecall

 

[G-A-R-Y]

what was the basis of your complaint? Doesnt sound unreasonable to replace an injector and charge 1.5 hrs?

Here is the letter which I sent to the garage three times, to date I have had no response. Unconventional? I know.

Dear Mercedes people, please read my story “My Mercedes experience”

I came to your garage on 5th June at 10.15. My car was suffering with a strange “cracking/tapping” noise. A master technician from reception accompanied me to the car park where the noise was demonstrated. The car was booked in for the following day (6th June). I agreed to pay the labour charge for the required diagnosis and testing.

At 4.30pm I was called and told that my car was ready to collect, it had been repaired. Parts had been fitted without asking but I was pleased the noise had been remedied and paid the invoice of £335.72.
I left the garage and went home, it soon became apparent that the noise in my engine remained.

I returned to your garage 8th June at 10.00am and explained. A master technician from the workshops was called; I again demonstrated the strange cracking noise. After an hour in reception I was told “Mercedes Technical” would have to be contacted, advice was needed. I returned the car the following week to have more parts fitted. At the end of that week I was called and asked to collect the car, the fault remained; I was told more advice was needed from Technical and I would be contacted.

After nearly a month and no response to my many calls, I found it necessary to involve Mercedes Customer Service. Today they told me that my car cannot be repaired and the noise is a well-known characteristic of this engine. Why were your staff unaware of this “well-known” characteristic?

I paid you £335.72 and still have the noise.
I feel “hard done by” and saddened by the whole Mercedes experience.
To summarise; I am reluctant to return to your garage even though I have a large service pending. The service I received was not satisfactory, I am not happy.

If you have taken the time to read this, I thank you.

 

[television]

There was nothing wrong with that letter, it was very well put, funny life, I do not get paid for what I do not fix.

 

[miro]

After a long running dispute over an engine noise which could not be remedied, I involved Mercedes Customer Services.
After two months I received the response below. I take it I have been banned from their garage and services.


Thank you for your telephone call of 25th June 2007 regarding the issues that you have experienced with your Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
We have been in contact with the Service Manager at Mercedes-Benz of Bristol, Mr **** *****, in regard of the issues that you have brought to our attention. Mr ***** has informed us that you authorised the replacement of the injector for which your vehicle had been booked in for one and half hours with the cost of the injector, and that they let you see the injector that had been removed to confirm that it was faulty.
In regard of the wheel arches of your vehicle, a report and photos were submitted by the dealership to DaimlerChrysler UK Ltd for a goodwill contribution towards the rectification work. This was succesfull and this work will be carried out free of charge.
Mr ***** feels that some of the comments that you have made in regard of the service that they have provided has been unjustified and they are not prepared to carry out any repair work on your vehicle in the future and will not be reimbursing you the cost of the injector

Thank you for contacting the DaimlerChrysler Customer Assistance Center with your concerns, we are sorry that we can be of no further assistance with this matter.


PS. I have posted this on both of my Mercedes forums.

Why waste time helping people when you can cover your own butt by making customers look stupid and preserve your factory bonus by not losing any merit points.

What Mercedes dealers doesn't tell you is that they obtain financial incentives from Mercedes to maintain a level of customer satisfaction. By allowing problems to fall off the register they can retain their ranking and keep the rebates.

I bet that on your customer service form they marked it with a special code "do not contact" which is generally reserved for VIP customers who dont like getting surveys. So knowing they took you for a ride and did wallet surgery they made sure you looked like a complete tool in their statement to DC.

What Mercedes are generally forgetting is that their statistics are being pruned by smart dealers who are letting problems fall off the radar.

Sooner or later this is going to cause hard times for dealers. A major global cash shortage is on the horizon (as opposed to a recession) and that means that new car sales are going to slump. People will shop around for service and where does that leave dealers ?

For now .... just make sure your car is running well. Things like your problem really need to go to Germany directly. Go over the head of your local network and make sure your next letter is drafted by a professional letter writer like a solicitor or a clerk of claims.

 

[gbjeppm]

Unbelievable behaviour from the stealer, and subsequently from MB themselves.

What were the comments you made in regard to the service as stated by MB? if they were only the ones in the letter to the dealer, I don't see that as justification to "ban" you.

 

[grober]

Move on perhaps.

Sounds as if the dealer involved is not prepared to service your car in the future. This wouldn't prevent you from getting it serviced by another MB dealer though and since you have obviously lost faith with the previous one thats probably the best solution all round. I don't think MB dealers have a "black list" at least not an official one.

 

[portzy]

I don't think MB dealers have a "black list" at least not an official one.

The one that resides in a famous Yorkshire spa town don't ring me anymore , least not since I filled in the last DCUK customer satisfaction survey .

That said, and to be fair, it was one individual who really pi**ed me and that experience caused me to ''mark down'' the whole dealership, which was all rather sad

Portzy

 

[e55]

You should take this further and publicise their treatment of you.
I agree with Miro and maybe you should try Germany and see what kind of response you get.

 

[Rory]

That letter from MB is unbelievable - I'm astonished that MB would be prepared to sanction, never mind tell you themselves, that you're not welcome in future at your local dealer. I reckon you should go to the press, perhaps What Car, with that.

This business of customers being expected to cough up for the dealerships trial and error method of fixing things is just absurd. If you feel strongly about it, issue a claim under MoneyClaimonLine.


On the original problem, is this thread any use:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=33970

 

[IanA2]

That really is outrageous....a letter to the MD is in order....his email is on here somewhere I think....no doubt someone willl point you to the right place.

 

[pammy]

Unbelievable. I would look to take that further - perhaps Watchdog or even try trading standards because if what you say is true and they effected repairs without securing your agreeement then they have no right to charge you. iirc

 

[glojo]

Mr ***** feels that some of the comments that you have made in regard of the service that they have provided has been unjustified and they are not prepared to carry out any repair work on your vehicle in the future and will not be reimbursing you the cost of the injector
.

Are you saying that this part of the letter is completely unjustified? If you have not said anything out of order then I would be extremely angry with both the dealership and Mercedes-Benz. If you were rude then I would back my service department to the hilt and respectfully ask you to use another Mercedes-Benz main dealer.

There is no way the manufacturer could possibly stop you from going to another dealer and since the relationship between yourself and this particular dealership has broken down, then you might be better off going elsewhere. Was it this dealership that arranged the free goodwill bodywork repair?

John

 

[jaymanek]

sounds to me like the injector has simply popped up as new ones sometimes take time to seat...it has come loose causing that cylinder not to fire properly and your tapping.... very common on CDI's...
Also it could be that they over tightened the retaining bolt and stripped the thread, also very easy to do!

 

[frog1520]

Disgraceful though isnt it. You pay top dollar for a motor, then get service like that. I like Mercedes cars, but if I got a letter like that, I'd flog mine and buy a lexus.

 

[crockers]

Sorry to sound thick here but you stated MB said...

Mr ***** feels that some of the comments that you have made in regard of the service that they have provided has been unjustified


I then read your letter and these are your comments...

I paid you £335.72 and still have the noise.
I feel “hard done by” and saddened by the whole Mercedes experience

Is it me? But I can't see anything in your letter that justifies this response....not wishing to be rude but have you also made comments via telephone or in person? If so what did you say?

 

[Fandango]

I'm not doubting in any way that your grievance is genuine.
However, there must be more to this than those 2 letters.
Surely the dealer would not ban a person for complaining in writing?
It would be nice to get the full story including what was said when you visited the workshop.
There are always at least 2 sides to a story.

 

[G-A-R-Y]

Sorry to sound thick here but you stated MB said...

Mr ***** feels that some of the comments that you have made in regard of the service that they have provided has been unjustified


I then read your letter and these are your comments...

I paid you £335.72 and still have the noise.
I feel “hard done by” and saddened by the whole Mercedes experience

Is it me? But I can't see anything in your letter that justifies this response....not wishing to be rude but have you also made comments via telephone or in person? If so what did you say?

My letter is the only correspondence I have made in writing, I called the dealer a few times, my calls were unreturned. I then involved Mercedes Customer Services who have taken six weeks to come up with this reply. I have never asked for my money back and not made any other comments other than those in my letter. I feel Mercedes Customer Services are taking the dealers side.
I don't know what to do next (I can't be bothered)
I may put all this in a letter and send it to Mercedes UK. Every thing has been by phone or e-mail so far.

 

[timskemp]

MB customer service left me less than impressed when due to waiting for parts at an approved bodyshop for three months they refused to extend the warranty of my car by three months. I'd had the car <1hr at the time of the accident...