I recently purchased a 1 year old C220 CDI Sport (W204) from the Mercedes Dealership in Salisbury. My previous vehicle had been supplied by their sister Dealership in Poole and the service and experience was absolutely first class. Not so with Salisbury!
My wife and I visited the Dealership to view and test drive a vehicle we had seen advertised. Upon returning from the test drive, the salesman made a comment "please do not ask me for money off" which we found odd given that we had not even talked figures at that stage. True to his word, the salesman would not budge on the price or any additional accessories. Not by even 1p!! This was the start of the erosion of the "buying experience" that they hold so dear. I had been interested in having a Universal Media Interface fitted and given I was spending £22k cash, thought there may be some room for negotiation with this. No way, niet, Nada!! The saleman would not move from the £899 being quoted to anyone else off the street. Even offering £800 cash just elicited a blank stare and refusal.
If my wife had not been so taken with the vehicle, I would have walked away.
We wanted to transfer a cherished number from the current car to the new one and as well as the usual DOT fees, were charged £45 for the trouble. We were quoted a transfer time of up to 2 weeks which seemed excessive but subsequently turned into closer to 4 weeks!! We were not kept updated with how things were going and had to actually call the Dealership to find out progress.
The handover of the vehicle is promoted as a "great experience" and true, it is quite in-depth. The handover executive put a few brochures into the Pack he was assembling and recommended looking at these at our leisure in due course. That evening, I perused the brochures only to find that one of them was a membership to their Mercedes Owners Club. This entitled the member to a 10% discount on accessories so I could have had this applied to the fitting of a UMI but no mention had been made of this at all. Strange!
Within a few days, I received the customary "customer service Call" to see if we were happy with the car. I confirmed this was the case but then referred to the various points above which were greeted with an "Oh Dear, that is unfortunate. I will mention it to the Sales Manager." This gave me encouragement that I would most likely receive a follow-up call from the Sales Manager to apologise and even offer a slight reduction on the UMI fitting as a gesture of goodwill. Did that happen???......No. Nothing. Not a postcard. Not a call. Zilch!
The upshot is that as is customary, I have told 20 people of my experience, who have told 20 people, who will have told 20 people....
The most disappointing aspect is that the Dealership gave all the indications that they were very good at customer service but I guess I was saying things they did not want to hear and they just hoped it would go away.
I will now be arranging for the UMI to be fitted at Poole with the 10% discount and will steer clear of Salisbury for servicing etc.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Salisbury due to this experience which is a shame as their sister Dealership in Poole was first-class.
My wife and I visited the Dealership to view and test drive a vehicle we had seen advertised. Upon returning from the test drive, the salesman made a comment "please do not ask me for money off" which we found odd given that we had not even talked figures at that stage. True to his word, the salesman would not budge on the price or any additional accessories. Not by even 1p!! This was the start of the erosion of the "buying experience" that they hold so dear. I had been interested in having a Universal Media Interface fitted and given I was spending £22k cash, thought there may be some room for negotiation with this. No way, niet, Nada!! The saleman would not move from the £899 being quoted to anyone else off the street. Even offering £800 cash just elicited a blank stare and refusal.
If my wife had not been so taken with the vehicle, I would have walked away.
We wanted to transfer a cherished number from the current car to the new one and as well as the usual DOT fees, were charged £45 for the trouble. We were quoted a transfer time of up to 2 weeks which seemed excessive but subsequently turned into closer to 4 weeks!! We were not kept updated with how things were going and had to actually call the Dealership to find out progress.
The handover of the vehicle is promoted as a "great experience" and true, it is quite in-depth. The handover executive put a few brochures into the Pack he was assembling and recommended looking at these at our leisure in due course. That evening, I perused the brochures only to find that one of them was a membership to their Mercedes Owners Club. This entitled the member to a 10% discount on accessories so I could have had this applied to the fitting of a UMI but no mention had been made of this at all. Strange!
Within a few days, I received the customary "customer service Call" to see if we were happy with the car. I confirmed this was the case but then referred to the various points above which were greeted with an "Oh Dear, that is unfortunate. I will mention it to the Sales Manager." This gave me encouragement that I would most likely receive a follow-up call from the Sales Manager to apologise and even offer a slight reduction on the UMI fitting as a gesture of goodwill. Did that happen???......No. Nothing. Not a postcard. Not a call. Zilch!
The upshot is that as is customary, I have told 20 people of my experience, who have told 20 people, who will have told 20 people....
The most disappointing aspect is that the Dealership gave all the indications that they were very good at customer service but I guess I was saying things they did not want to hear and they just hoped it would go away.
I will now be arranging for the UMI to be fitted at Poole with the 10% discount and will steer clear of Salisbury for servicing etc.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Salisbury due to this experience which is a shame as their sister Dealership in Poole was first-class.
