If I Never Deal With A Main Dealer Again, It'll Be Too Soon, The Shysters!

[C240Sport97]

Does this apply to the pre-facelift CLS as well?

yes, you have SBC

 

[bpsorrel]

 

[John]

"Get rid of CLS checklist"

SBC? Tick

 

[MOCAŠ]

SPX, did you not sign a consent form to pay for the diagnostic work when you booked the car in? I know you'd already had this done elsewhere, but it's not really reasonable to expect a garage to replace a part, especially under goodwill (or part-goodwill), without actually checking themselves that the part is in need of replacement. They also have a duty to check for any other related work that may need doing, or else they could potentially have handed the car back to you in a dangerous condition.

Whenever I leave my car in at Hughes, there's always a form ready for me to sign to authorise them to carry out the work I've requested; anything over and above that, they'll call me to explain and ask whether I want to proceed. Seems a pretty simple way to prevent any nasty surprises.

In any case, £80+VAT sounds like a standard charge for 0.5hrs labour. Surely you can't begrudge them that? They might even have waived that if you'd gone ahead and had the work done, but if you were just going to walk away, they'd have been out of pocket just for having had your car in their workshop.

 

[markjay]

To my mind, in this particular case, the question of MB's willingness to replace the SBC pump FOC is secondary.

This is about customer service. Whoever gave out the initial information clearly didn't bother to find out the facts first.

And even if the dealer made an honest mistake and was not aware of MB's change of policy (which, as dealers, they should have been), at the very least they owed the customer an apology rather than slap on a £96 charge for diagnostic.

During my last visit to an MB dealer (owned by MB UK) I raised a minor issue. The car was 3.5 years old and had full MB service history at the time. Yet the dealer's 'Service Advisor' dismissed the whole issue and refused to take it further saying that MB will not even consider a goodwill claim. There was no reason for that - it seemed to me that he simply could not be bothered with the paperwork.

It is sad to see senior executives at MB UK come up with statements saying how they have this great plan to fix the poor customer service issue, only to come out with the very same statements again a few years later.

Some dealers do get positive feedback from members here - e.g. MOCAS, and BTB_500, but sadly these are few and far between.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Mocas,
Two results were conveyed to me;
1. Mercedes have never rejected a claim for an SBC unit at this dealer.

2. The pump might just need a software upgrade, this will be £96.

I left the dealers in exactly the same position as I'd entered, with a car needing an SBC fault sorting, but £96 lighter.

They should have asked Mercedes about the SBC issue before I took my car there, but no, they thought they'd get a nice little touch out of me.

I've not heard a good word about this dealer, in fact I'd go as to far as to say that all I've ever heard are bad experiences.

My cousin walked into this same dealer about a year ago looking to order over £100k worth of W212's and they kept him standing there for five minutes, even though he'd made an appointment!

 

[markjay]

SPX, did you not sign a consent form to pay for the diagnostic work when you booked the car in? I know you'd already had this done elsewhere, but it's not really reasonable to expect a garage to replace a part, especially under goodwill (or part-goodwill), without actually checking themselves that the part is in need of replacement. They also have a duty to check for any other related work that may need doing, or else they could potentially have handed the car back to you in a dangerous condition.

Whenever I leave my car in at Hughes, there's always a form ready for me to sign to authorise them to carry out the work I've requested; anything over and above that, they'll call me to explain and ask whether I want to proceed. Seems a pretty simple way to prevent any nasty surprises.

In any case, £80+VAT sounds like a standard charge for 0.5hrs labour. Surely you can't begrudge them that? They might even have waived that if you'd gone ahead and had the work done, but if you were just going to walk away, they'd have been out of pocket just for having had your car in their workshop.

MOCAS, I submitted my post before reading yours, and I want you say that it all makes sense under normal circumstances. And yes, the dealer would have to run their own STAR testing anyway before submitting any claim to MB, so can't rely on the customer's report.

However I think the point here is that the customer was misinformed by their own member of staff, and I would expect them to take some responsibility for this error - again, for me this is a customer service issue.

Obviously, I don't expect the dealer to shoulder the cost of the SBC pump, but some dort of goodwill gesture was appropriate given that they failed to convey material information regarding MB's policy, e.g. the age of the car and the service history - it is likely that SPX may have not bothered to go there at all if he knew in advance that his car only qualified for 50% contribution.

A bit of good customer service on the dealer's part would have clarified all this in advance and prevented both disappointment and the need to start this thread.

 

[flango]

Customer service and MB are not normally words you would use in the same sentence As SPX says shysters all of them and another reason i would not buy a new MB

 

[nick mercedes]

Now this bit is very important, so let these pearls of wisdom sink in...

'Only Mercedes dealers are allowed Star diagnostics, which costs ( said to me in a slow voice for emphasis) thousands upon thousands of pounds'

To be fair to MB, only MB dealers tend to have real Stars, everyone else just seems to have Chinese knockoffs, so you can see why they get a bit fed up give how much real ones cost.

 

[MOCAŠ]

I think what I find objectionable about this is the idea that the dealership deliberately swindled SPX (ie: shysters, nice touch...).

They said they'd never had a claim refused so far; that may well have been 100% true, and it was clearly good enough for SPX to go by, rather than asking them to check for certain that his claim would be honoured. They said the most they'd charge him would be £96, and that's what they charged him. Yes, it would have been nice if they had done the diagnostic work for nothing, but I don't really see why it should be expected, especially for someone who's only minded to use them if MB are picking up the tab.

I would have said this represented standard (as opposed to exceptional) customer service on the part of the dealership. Yes, they could have gone the extra mile, but does the fact that they didn't really make them swindlers?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

To be fair to MB, only MB dealers tend to have real Stars, everyone else just seems to have Chinese knockoffs, so you can see why they get a bit fed up give how much real ones cost.

Once I quoted the indie that I used with Star, the face soon dropped...

 

[MOCAŠ]

My cousin walked into this same dealer about a year ago looking to order over £100k worth of W212's and they kept him standing there for five minutes, even though he'd made an appointment!

Is a five-minute wait even worth mentioning? Sound a little petty to me.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Let me put it like this Mocas,

You walk in to a tailors with a hole in your trousers, tailor tells you worse case scenario £96 if they're not covered by the suit makers warranty, you leave the trousers, come back later to collect them, they're not repaired yet you owe the tailor £96.

Your in exactly the same position as you started, only £96 lighter.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Is a five-minute wait even worth mentioning? Sound a little petty to me.

Even when you've made an appointment and they know how much you're potentially going to spend?

Would you class that as good customer service?

Bad timekeeping is probably my biggest pet hate and I know it certainly is for my cousin too.

 

[nick mercedes]

Let me put it like this Mocas,

You walk in to a tailors with a hole in your trousers, tailor tells you worse case scenario £96 if they're not covered by the suit makers warranty, you leave the trousers, come back later to collect them, they're not repaired yet you owe the tailor £96.

Your in exactly the same position as you started, only £96 lighter.

Up until the last few months pumps were just replaced without a murmer, you'll have to do something though?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

you'll have to do something though?

I've got some sticky back plastic and a couple of 3" nails, they any good?

 

[nick mercedes]

I've got some sticky back plastic and a couple of 3" nails, they any good?

Face it, it's scrap now, a car with no brakes is no use to anyone, I'll do you a favour and give you £500 for it, it's more than you'll get off the local pikeys...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Face it, it's scrap now, a car with no brakes is no use to anyone, I'll do you a favour and give you £500 for it, it's more than you'll get off the local pikeys...

Hold your horses there! The brakes still work, it's just the pump is nearing its 'end of life' so I've only got so many presses left.

The do as you likeys round here wouldn't drive anything as old as this, they all drive new E350 CDi's, FFRR's or RRS's all of which are generally in white.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Let me put it like this Mocas,

You walk in to a tailors with a hole in your trousers, tailor tells you worse case scenario £96 if they're not covered by the suit makers warranty, you leave the trousers, come back later to collect them, they're not repaired yet you owe the tailor £96.

Your in exactly the same position as you started, only £96 lighter.

Did they tell you that they'd fix the car for £96 if the work wasn't covered by a goodwill payment? The impression I gained from your OP was that they meant that the goodwill offer may not include a software upgrade required as part of the fix. I think you read into this that if MB wouldn't pay for the work itself, then the dealership would, but that's just wishful thinking.

So your tailoring comparison is a little skewed. However, if I was told that I would be charged for half and hour's labour even if they spent that time looking to repair them but were not able to do so, they I would say fair's fair - I wouldn't expect them to work for nothing. Having said that, I've been blessed with a tailor that seems to love doing small jobs for nothing, even when I'm fully expecting to pay.

 

[nick mercedes]

Hold your horses there! The brakes still work, it's just the pump is nearing its 'end of life' so I've only got so many presses left.

The do as you likeys round here wouldn't drive anything as old as this, they all drive new E350 CDi's, FFRR's or RRS's all of which are generally in white.

A £2k car needing a £1600 part is always the kiss of death, £400 and I'm doimng you a favour...

You're right about the pikeys, no ladder rack or towbar, no use.