MB Servicing 'Extras'

[Adamccc]

I had heard this from a friend but then both a salesman and some other AMG owners denied it...

But what on earth is with the extra charges whilst you have a service?! -

+£20 to sit and wait for your car whilst works is being carried out
+£50 to have a courtesy car

Was with Audi over 5 years, had a host of courtesy cars including R8's, RS6's, A8's etc and never paid a penny (even put 1000 miles on the RS6!) Surely Mercedes arn't that stupid to realise that courtesy cars are as much of a marketing cost as a customer service things - if the RS6 would have been a touch cheaper I'd of ripped someones arm off for one!

And as for £20 to wait for your car, are they trying to make some good margin on the tea & coffee?

:fail

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I recall this being positioned differently when it was first launched, the cheaper options were shown as a saving.

 

[Adamccc]

Just got off the phone to MB CS to ask why this is so, and why VW feel it's justifiable to give a courtesy car to my girlfriend on her £9k Polo; yet you buy a £110k AMG from them, pay over the odds for a £700 service and they want you to then pay £50 for something that'll probably be a A180d!

... "That's just Mercedes-Benz policy sir"

Morons.

 

[BTB 500]

As already mentioned, the idea was that you effectively got a discount by only paying for what you needed. I've never used an M-B courtesy car for example, so if I can choose to pay £50 less for not having one that's fine by me.

I guess if you do want one then having an extra £50 automatically included in the service cost (no choice) and getting a 'free' courtesy car might seem more acceptable.

The £20 for an 'appointment' to have work done while you wait is nothing to do with tea and coffee - you are paying to jump the queue in the workshop. I'm sure you can sit there from 9:30 till 4:30 (standard drop-off & collection times) without paying the extra £20 if you really want to

 

[Rory]

I don't think much of my dealer but they've never charged me for a courtesy car.

Time before last I was asked if I'd like to pay for the courtesy car and I said "no thank you". Last time they added on £30 to their quote - I emailed back and said I don't usually pay and they took it off. It used to be that the charge was to waive the insurance excess and my own insurance covers me anyway. But last time they said they'd changed the excess policy from £1000 to £50 so I left it on their insurance.

What MB is trying to do is get the dealers to force people towards MyService. It's become impossible to negotiate pricing with the dealer - last service, which was a major one, I hit a complete brick wall trying to discuss a deal.

Having said that, exactly the same happens with our VW - the local dealership won't discuss pricing at all - they refer you to the group call-centre who appear incapable of doing anything other than giving menu pricing. So our VW goes to an indie for its servicing.

 

[KennyN]

I took out a service plan for my CLS at fixed monthly costs. I have had a courtesy car , twice, whilst my car was being serviced at no extra cost.

Kenny

 

[Flackadder]

I dropped off and used the free taxi into town...and the one back to them. Down side was the wife should not have been with me in town :-( That cost me dearly LOL

 

[MartynW]

I took out a service plan for my CLS at fixed monthly costs. I have had a courtesy car , twice, whilst my car was being serviced at no extra cost.

Kenny

So if you go for this monthly payment thingy, they don't care if you use these extras like courtesy car or lounge? Cynical me expected it to have secret small print saying 'basic service cost only'.

 

[Rory]

So if you go for this monthly payment thingy, they don't care if you use these extras like courtesy car or lounge? Cynical me expected it to have secret small print saying 'basic service cost only'.

The T's&C's are here: http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/cu...ervice-care-terms-conditions/service-care.pdf

I've seen it stated that courtesy cars, collection and delivery etc are regarded as Retailer Offers and they're not included (at a glance, there's no mention of them in the T's & C's). But I can't recall anyone saying they'd actually been asked to pay extra.

 

[KennyN]

So if you go for this monthly payment thingy, they don't care if you use these extras like courtesy car or lounge? Cynical me expected it to have secret small print saying 'basic service cost only'.

I have had two services , both cost me nothing more than the £42 i am paying per month. Whether the "extras" are included in the price i dont know , but i doubt it.

Both times i have had a courtesy car ,a C class estate and the last time it was the service managers brand new E class estate.

I booked my car in a month prior to its service date just to give them plenty of time to reserve the CC.

It is a PITA for me to get to the local dealership so i figured that i am paying plenty for the service work so why not take advantage of what they have available.

Kenny

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

My service plan is £34 p/m but it costs £30 for the courtesy car

 

[RJ C63]

Loan cars etc are included in the service plan according to my dealer.

 

[leef44]

yes those options were also confirmed to me as included in my £47/month service plan. However, courtesy car is not guaranteed. you must book service well in advance.

 

[SLKGirl]

Servicing? extras? oooh errr.... what sort of a place are you guys going to?

 

[snipez999]

I took out the servicing plan despite only intending to have my car for 2 years (3 year service plan paid upfront so on-selling should be made easier with that in place).

Guaranteeing myself a "happy ending"!

 

[StuartK]

It's called taking liberties out of your own customers!

 

[GLK]

I'm on a Service Care plan, had a major service recently (end of March) - courtesy car for a full day (ATF change, sparks, etc), no extra charges.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

I'm on a Service Care plan, had a major service recently (end of March) - courtesy car for a full day (ATF change, sparks, etc), no extra charges.

How come we share the same dealer yet you get better perks lol

 

[GLK]

How come we share the same dealer yet you get better perks lol

In all honesty, this was the first time I needed a courtesy car, in almost five years (my old W168 was on a care plan too).

 

[Adamccc]

Loan cars etc are included in the service plan according to my dealer.

Called MB Customer Service & Service Plan dept + my dealer - all said that the lounge service was included in the plans but courtesy cars were extra

It's called taking liberties out of your own customers!

100%. As I said, this should be considered a marketing and customer service cost rather than trying to recoupe money. I've been to a tonne of dealers at different brands and never heard anything so stupid! I'll most likely take mine to MSL after hearing this, which is a fail for MB as they won't get to over charge me for parts and labour and not tempt me into a newer model all over £50, that's an absolutely tiny customer acquisition cost on a product worth £10,000's!

</rant>