MB Newcastle capricious reply

[Bert_W164]

You said you were ignored at the BMW dealer so you went to the Mercedes dealer over the road.
Because you were ignored did you then buy a lesser product?

He didn't like how he was treated at a BMW dealership so he went across the road to a Mercedes dealership and bought a car.

How does that translate to him throwing his toys out the pram or buying a lesser product?

Each to their own, some people want to walk in, buy said item and walk out. In this scenario that wasn't an option, so he went elsewhere. Had he made a huge fuss, that would be a different story.

 

[sambam2006]

I ordered something for my car 1-2 years ago from MB Newcastle on eBay, they sent the wrong item, kept telling me it was correct but Mercedes of MK told me it wasn't correct for my car when I booked to fit it, MB of Newcastle even vin checked against my car apparently, anyway I returned part back then they stop replying to my messages and didn't bother giving my money back so had to get eBay involved. After 17 days of them receiving it back eBay refunded me.
MB of Newcastle parts department and the managers are the worst dodgy shady human beings on the planet, even cut off my calls and told me not to call again when I asked where's my money.

Ordered from MB Edinburgh on eBay and the chap was very helpful and went the extra mile. Even called to check if I had received the items and all was good.

After a call to MB Head Office in MK, I was compensated for the headache, apparently if the parts department order the wrong part they are lumbered with it and cannot return back to Germany and this apparently affects their job performance review so I kind of see why I had this experience lol.

Price was close to £2k!!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

the worst dodgy shady human beings on the planet

Golden.

 

[Dryce]

If you actually went to buy a BMW but threw your toys out the pram because nobody jumped to their feet and bought a Mercedes instead only goes to show that you’re not a serious buyer or you haven’t done your research. A serious case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Can I ask why you didn’t go to a different BMW dealer?

No quite the same - but our initial switch to BMW came about 10 years ago after a bad MB dealer experience. Previously we were ignored by Porsche when SWMBO was thinking of a Boxster. Rather than being annoyed we tend to treat it as a joke on the basis we probably looked too old and scruffy to be worth talking to.

Tale of the unexpected | General Discussion

SWMBO set out to buy a used R171 this weekend. Local MB dealer seems a bit confused as to what cars they actually have in stock and where they are. Phoned before hand to check they had a car SWMBO was interested in. Arrived and no sign of car and they knew nothing about it. Excellent. Just...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

SWMBO is on her second Z4 now - and I defected temporarily to BMW as well.

Our local MB dealers were all part of he same group a the time.

As regards Volvo - we see a lot of the large saloons, XC60 and XC90. I think they have managed to hit a spot in the market where they are distinct sitting along side MB/BMW/Audi but none of thes companies.

 

[Darrell]

No quite the same - but our initial switch to BMW came about 10 years ago after a bad MB dealer experience. Previously we were ignored by Porsche when SWMBO was thinking of a Boxster. Rather than being annoyed we tend to treat it as a joke on the basis we probably looked too old and scruffy to be worth talking to.

Tale of the unexpected | General Discussion

SWMBO set out to buy a used R171 this weekend. Local MB dealer seems a bit confused as to what cars they actually have in stock and where they are. Phoned before hand to check they had a car SWMBO was interested in. Arrived and no sign of car and they knew nothing about it. Excellent. Just...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

SWMBO is on her second Z4 now - and I defected temporarily to BMW as well.

Our local MB dealers were all part of he same group a the time.

As regards Volvo - we see a lot of the large saloons, XC60 and XC90. I think they have managed to hit a spot in the market where they are distinct sitting along side MB/BMW/Audi but none of thes companies.

Regarding large Volvo saloons etc, they’ve dropped the V40 (based on a Focus chassis) and so now the smallest car in the range in the XC40.

Regarding dealers, in 2003 I wanted a Suzuki GSXR600 so I went to the nearest Suzuki dealer in north London. The staff were dickheads and I just got the feeling that I wasn’t welcome in their shop. I went to another dealer in Peterborough and got my Suzuki there.

The point I was trying to get across before was the poster went out to buy a BMW and came home in a Merc!! He couldn’t of wanted the BMW that much could he?

A bad dealer wouldn’t put me off a brand.

 

[Darrell]

He didn't like how he was treated at a BMW dealership so he went across the road to a Mercedes dealership and bought a car.

How does that translate to him throwing his toys out the pram or buying a lesser product?

Each to their own, some people want to walk in, buy said item and walk out. In this scenario that wasn't an option, so he went elsewhere. Had he made a huge fuss, that would be a different story.

He went to buy a BMW and came home in a Mercedes all because of the dealer? Couldn’t of wanted the BMW that much then.

 

[Dryce]

He went to buy a BMW and came home in a Mercedes all because of the dealer? Couldn’t of wanted the BMW that much then.

But also consider that the reality for many owners of new cars is that they expect to stick with that local dealer for service on a new or AU car.

In our area I came to the conclusion that it was the chain rather than just one branch that was the issue. The local MB dealerships were all Stratstone. I tried purchasing at the two most local and wasn't happy. Went back to the BMW dealership that my wife bought hers from and at that time things seemed a lot better. Ended up with a BMW 640d instead of a CLS350. (eventuay came to be disapponted in the 640d - but that's another story).

Really by now if MB had been on the ball SWMBO would have been on her third SLK / SLC by now - or perhaps an SL. And I would have been in a CLS or E.

 

[Darrell]

But also consider that the reality for many owners of new cars is that they expect to stick with that local dealer for service on a new or AU car.

In our area I came to the conclusion that it was the chain rather than just one branch that was the issue. The local MB dealerships were all Stratstone. I tried purchasing at the two most local and wasn't happy. Went back to the BMW dealership that my wife bought hers from and at that time things seemed a lot better. Ended up with a BMW 640d instead of a CLS350. (eventuay came to be disapponted in the 640d - but that's another story).

Really by now if MB had been on the ball SWMBO would have been on her third SLK / SLC by now - or perhaps an SL. And I would have been in a CLS or E.

So you weren’t happy with Stratstone Mercedes so you bought a BMW that you were disappointed with!! You couldn’t make it up could you?

In all serious though I would’ve done some research and used a totally different chain altogether. You might say that the nearest dealership belonging to another chain is 100 miles away but when you’re forking out the thick end of anything up to £60000 then travel shouldn’t need to be a deciding factor.

 

[Dryce]

So you weren’t happy with Stratstone Mercedes so you bought a BMW that you were disappointed with!! You couldn’t make it up could you?

You couldn't - in those simple terms.

But the thing to note was that I didn't become disenamoured until about 18 months into the experience.

In all serious though I would’ve done some research and used a totally different chain altogether. You might say that the nearest dealership belonging to another chain is 100 miles away but when you’re forking out the thick end of anything up to £60000 then travel shouldn’t need to be a deciding factor.

Still got to get it serviced.

And don't assume it's always some sort of petulant decision.

Thing is once you get steered away from one product or service and start looking at others then the decision process can shift. So I didn't just march in and get a 640d after deciding against MB - I went through a revaluation over a couple of weeks. Where the MB dealer messed up was that I was initially an easier MB sale than a BMW one. The 640d moved from being down the list to up the list - and then when looking at it the pricing on it started to look more attractive.

 

[Oskar13]

Same thing here- needed a new van and the choice was all ways down to either a Vito or transporter but had previously stuck with volkswagens ( the early Vito’s did rust rather quickly!) so my first visit was to the vw van dealer and had assumed I would be buying another vw (better the devil you know) but the salesman couldn’t be bothered to get out of his chair so we went up the road to the Mercedes van dealer and it was a completely different story- came away with a brand new Vito sport dualiner. That was over 7 years and 180 thousand miles ago and it’s still the best purchase I’ve made

 

[Will]

He went to buy a BMW and came home in a Mercedes all because of the dealer? Couldn’t of wanted the BMW that much then.

Isn’t this why quite a few brands do well - the cars are nothing special, but the dealers are great. Eg Lexus - never going to set your soul in fire, nor are they on many people’s dream car list but you know they products are good quality and the dealers are supposed to be superb?

I’ve never been too bothered about the dealer experience - it’s just an obstacle to getting the car you want. Pay the money and take the car, hopefully you’re not going to be visiting very often once that’s done.

You can have it serviced wherever you like

 

[Darrell]

Isn’t this why quite a few brands do well - the cars are nothing special, but the dealers are great. Eg Lexus - never going to set your soul in fire, nor are they on many people’s dream car list but you know they products are good quality and the dealers are supposed to be superb?

I’ve never been too bothered about the dealer experience - it’s just an obstacle to getting the car you want. Pay the money and take the car, hopefully you’re not going to be visiting very often once that’s done.

You can have it serviced wherever you like

The last 3 brand new cars my sister has bought have been delivered on a low loader. She’s never been near the dealer.
Personally I think they’re a thing of the past.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Isn’t this why quite a few brands do well - the cars are nothing special, but the dealers are great. Eg Lexus - never going to set your soul in fire, nor are they on many people’s dream car list but you know they products are good quality and the dealers are supposed to be superb?

I’ve never been too bothered about the dealer experience - it’s just an obstacle to getting the car you want. Pay the money and take the car, hopefully you’re not going to be visiting very often once that’s done.

You can have it serviced wherever you like

I agree. I know the car I want, and there are no poorly designed/built cars these days so the risk of buying without a test drive is low, and if the specific car has an issue then it will have a warranty or legal rights if buying from a a dealer.bThese days I prefer to keep it fast and transactional.

This year I’ve bought two secondhand cars where I just reserved over the phone with the condition that if it’s not as described upon arrival then I expect a full refund. In both cases I arrived by train asking that they collect me from the nearest station in it, and I drive it back to the dealer. I paid and left in it.

Buying new cars I’m the same too, because there’s even less risk involved. I have no interest in spending time talking to the salesperson - I already know everything about the make and model which I need to know because I check in advance, and I can spec it myself too.

I must be a salesperson’s dream these days.

 

[Bert_W164]

He went to buy a BMW and came home in a Mercedes all because of the dealer? Couldn’t of wanted the BMW that much then.

That was my thoughts too about BMW, he couldn't have wanted one that bad. I do understand where you're coming from, but it sounds like he wanted a car that fits his criteria as opposed to a specific model/brand.

 

[Darrell]

That was my thoughts too about BMW, he couldn't have wanted one that bad. I do understand where you're coming from, but it sounds like he wanted a car that fits his criteria as opposed to a specific model/brand.

Maybe he could elaborate.

A useless dealer most certainly wouldn’t put me off a particular brand, there’s plenty of other dealers about.

In fact on this very forum the majority of posts about Merc dealers slag them off yet members still buy them.

 

[Oskar13]

Whilst a poor dealer wouldn’t put me off buying the brand I want if I were interested in two different brands (i was) a good dealer could (and did) sway me.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

I’ve never been too bothered about the dealer experience - it’s just an obstacle to getting the car you want. Pay the money and take the car, hopefully you’re not going to be visiting very often once that’s done.

You can have it serviced wherever you like

This^^

Amuses me when people get disgruntled when salesman fail to really suck up to them. Being called Sir etc. If they need a salesman to make them feel special then they have fairly low self esteem.

 

[Darrell]

This^^

Amuses me when people get disgruntled when salesman fail to really suck up to them. Being called Sir etc. If they need a salesman to make them feel special then they have fairly low self esteem.

Which is pretty much what I wanted to say from the outset but unfortunately I don’t have the patience or diplomacy these days. (If I ever did).

 

[rf065]

Maybe he could elaborate.

A useless dealer most certainly wouldn’t put me off a particular brand, there’s plenty of other dealers about.

In fact on this very forum the majority of posts about Merc dealers slag them off yet members still buy them.

OK, my post was only to point out that a dealer who insists on appointments will miss out on any passing customers or anyone who takes a sudden inkling to look at cars and buy one.
As for BMW, I've no idea if the dealer was good or bad, they simply ignored me so I walked across the road to look at a few MB's. I was fed up with the likes of Ford & Vauxhall etc and wanted something better.

Within 10 minutes the Mercedes salesman came out and said I'll be with you in 5 minutes, then came back with the keys to 3 of the cars I'd been looking at and asked if I wanted a test drive in any of them.
No one threw their toys out the pram, no one complained, I was simply browsing and fancied something different. If appointments had been necessary I would not have even been looking, I'm now on my 3rd MB but it could have been my 3rd BMW if they had showed any interest in selling any.

 

[Darrell]

I’ve never been too bothered about the dealer experience - it’s just an obstacle to getting the car you want. Pay the money and take the car, hopefully you’re not going to be visiting very often once that’s done.

You can have it serviced wherever you like

We bought a new Transit from Ford in Alperton many moons ago.
The only 2 times I went there was to pick it up and drop it off 4 years later when we chopped it in for the next one.

I really don’t need all the big fuss. Just give me the keys, show me where it is and I’m off