My experience of buying a new Mercedes

[c250blu]

I would wait abit longer for the E350 if i were you. As others have mentioned ask for a loan car.

 

[JBD]

Have asked for a loan car. MB in Bury is small, so the guy isn't sure but he'll go through to "group". I said any old car would do...S Class Coupe, SL or an AMG GT!

That's my group, wonder if we can help at all. Sounds bizarre to me. Never heard of a car going missing like that before

 

[Bonecho]

I had the same problem years ago with a brand new Citroen C5. I was expecting to pick it up the day after I returned from a foreign holiday only to find out that it was lost in transit.

They never did find it and had to order another one.

 

[Tiim533]

That's my group, wonder if we can help at all. Sounds bizarre to me. Never heard of a car going missing like that before

Yes, help help! It's Jack at Bury St Edmunds!

 

[JBD]

Yes, help help! It's Jack at Bury St Edmunds!

To be fair, I don't currently have a car to go home In today because it's been loaned to a customer I'm not sure we have anything else! Is there any news at all?

 

[Tiim533]

To be fair, I don't currently have a car to go home In today because it's been loaned to a customer I'm not sure we have anything else! Is there any news at all?

Jack is on a day off today; he said he'd try and sort it out tomorrow. As to MB Customer Service... well have you ever spoken to them? They sound extremely young (then again schools have broken up now) and their stock response is "It takes 5 working days to get you an answer"

:fail

 

[Dryce]

Never heard of a car going missing like that before

Hmmmm.

Heard a similar sort of story a few years ago. Not MB.

But ..... it was during the summer and it was a convertible.

Coincidence?

My deeply cynical suspicion would be that the car had been diverted within the supply chain in the UK for a more favoured customer.

However these days given a VIN? I'd also wonder if there had been some damage or loss en-route. They might be a bit coy about that if there were several vehicles involved while figuring what their position was.

 

[JBD]

Hmmmm.

Heard a similar sort of story a few years ago. Not MB.

But ..... it was during the summer and it was a convertible.

Coincidence?

My deeply cynical suspicion would be that the car had been diverted within the supply chain in the UK for a more favoured customer.

However these days given a VIN? I'd also wonder if there had been some damage or loss en-route. They might be a bit coy about that if there were several vehicles involved while figuring what their position was.

No, that definitely won't have happened.

 

[Williamwoo]

I certainly wouldn't go for an A5. We had a 12-plate A4 (same basic chassis) for a while - completely numb to drive. It looked ok and the dealers (who we saw a lot of during our tenure) provided nice coffee but that was about it!

 

[Tiim533]

Well just had Rachael at MB Customer Services phone me.

Basically they don't know where the car is, or when it will be delivered. I asked will it be in August, and she couldn't confirm that either. She then said she couldn't confirm if the car was actually built on 8 July (even though I have the VIN and had previously sent them information from their own system).

I did ask if perhaps they'd sold my car to another more important MB client, and she didn't deny that may be the case either.

I asked if it was possible that someone in MB who may be a little bit more senior could call me with any re-assurance, and she said no to that.

Haven't heard from the dealer yet about any sort of loan car, but in the mean time I'm building up quite a healthy rental record with Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

German efficiency?

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Sounds to me that you need to be a lot more assertive if you want MB to sell you this car.

 

[Tiim533]

Sounds to me that you need to be a lot more assertive if you want MB to sell you this car.

I was very firm over the phone, and I'm pretty confident when I'd finished she went outside for a ciggy and a coffee to get over it.

But shouting and swearing over the phone doesn't generally get me anywhere, so I've stopped doing that. Anyway, it's not her fault after all.

 

[Dryce]

Basically they don't know where the car is, or when it will be delivered. I asked will it be in August, and she couldn't confirm that either. She then said she couldn't confirm if the car was actually built on 8 July (even though I have the VIN and had previously sent them information from their own system).

Sounds perhaps as if the car has been in the system and just about ready to go with a build slot scheduled and then something has changed - lack of parts or a reschedule of the build slots.

I'm guessing that the VIN may exist some days before the actual build - once the specification has been locked down and the parts/subassemblies scheduled - and the factory is ready to go. Except in your case the slot was lost because something didn't go right - lack of specific parts - or a problem with the line.

It's somewhat disappointing that there is an inability to actually tell you whether or not the vehicle exists and if it does exist what has happened to it.

 

[Gareth Kent]

Either way ask to speak to the dealer principal and explain the history. I bought my CLS from bury St Edmonds and its s big dealership and should accommodate you. Failing that just trawl through the other dealers until you find a similar spec in build or demo.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I was very firm over the phone, and I'm pretty confident when I'd finished she went outside for a ciggy and a coffee to get over it.

But shouting and swearing over the phone doesn't generally get me anywhere, so I've stopped doing that. Anyway, it's not her fault after all.

For clarity, I wasn't having a pop at you rather making an observation.

Shouting and swearing will get you nowhere but you already know that.

Looking at the situation as an impartial observer I wonder how effective your approach has been so far, you have only spoken to junior staff and have accepted a refusal to escalate. That is why I commented.

I'm not an advocate of going straight to the CEO or starting a Twitter whinge but as you seem to be getting nowhere I would start thinking about how you intend to escalate this issue (and also what your next step/steps will be should your next one fail).

It's a little pointless winding up some junior girl to the point of needing coffee and fags given that she won't have the ability to give you what you want.

 

[Tiim533]

For clarity, I wasn't having a pop at you rather making an observation.

Shouting and swearing will get you nowhere but you already know that.

Looking at the situation as an impartial observer I wonder how effective your approach has been so far, you have only spoken to junior staff and have accepted a refusal to escalate. That is why I commented.

I'm not an advocate of going straight to the CEO or starting a Twitter whinge but as you seem to be getting nowhere I would start thinking about how you intend to escalate this issue (and also what your next step/steps will be should your next one fail).

It's a little pointless winding up some junior girl to the point of needing coffee and fags given that she won't have the ability to give you what you want.

Well I made her life pretty uncomfortable for her, but I didn't wind her up. I just asked questions like "Where is the car", "Can I speak to someone more senior", "Has anyone phoned up for factory" and all the answers were no.

I started on Twitter and it was they who said CS would sort out all my woes. The dealership is as much in the dark as I am. If they said, "Look mate, we've had a lot of dodgy engines we need to sort/we've run out of paint/there's gearbox problems, and we're going to sort you out as soon as you can and we're very sorry. We'll loan you a car (a Fiat 500 would do) whilst we get this sorted", that would be absolutely fine.

But no. Zip. Nothing.

 

[brucemillar]

The shame here is that you are having to call anybody.

It is MB who should be calling you apologising and sorting out the mess that they have created.

It speaks volumes for you that you are mindful about your behaviour when confronted by what, on the face of it looks like absolutely carp customer service.

 

[David J]

I think if it was me id let my feet do the talking.

 

[Tiim533]

Update: No Loan Cars available.

Delivery now moved back to the end of August. No reason given.

 

[brucemillar]

Update: No Loan Cars available.

Delivery now moved back to the end of August. No reason given.

Shocking.