- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 4,928
- Location
- leicestershire
- Car
- R230 SL500 in teal blue, R231 SL500 in black. (Vauxhall insignia diesel now sold) Black Ford Mondeo
Any long term member of this forum will have read that I normally praise Mercedes Leicester for their good work and service but that praise has now stopped since my last service in August. Intrigued? Then read on…..
I booked my car in for its 10 year service and MOT in March (I book in advance to ensure a courtesy car) and agreed a date suitable to me in August. Two days before the service I had a young woman call me to confirm everything and make sure I brought my driving licence with me etc. and I asked what was going to be involved in this 10 year “B” service and was told oil service, brake fluid change, fuel filter and coolant change and MOT. I asked about the transmission service which was due every 5 years so due this service and was told that as it hadn’t done the mileage it didn’t need to be done I asked if it could be done and, reluctantly, she agreed. I dropped the car off on the Monday morning on time and soon drove back home in a GLC. Just after lunch I got a message from my car app telling me that my car had passed its MOT but with the following advisory “nearside front hydraulic brake calliper slightly damaged but function not Impaired bleed nipple missing but no leaks”. Now this annoyed me no end as during my pre MOT checks both nipples were intact. I got a call from the same young woman who informed me that my car was ready for collection but they couldn’t do the fuel filter change as they didn’t have one in stock and they couldn’t do the brake fluid change as the calliper nipple was missing so they recommended I replace both callipers at a cost of over £1700. I politely explained that if the calliper was missing a nipple then their “technician” had broken it as it definitely had two nipples when I drove the car in, I asked her to investigate it while I drove there to collect the car. When I got there she told me that the tech guy had reluctantly admitted snapping off the bleed nipple and she told me that it probably hadn’t been touched in many years if it was seized. I explained to her that that was a big problem as it had a brake fluid service two years and 6000 miles ago by that very same dealership. She went away and returned later saying that they would replace the calliper when I returned the car for the fuel filter change in two days’ time. I asked if I could have a courtesy car again but was told no, but it should only take an hour or so to fit a new calliper and fuel filter, so I arranged to take the day off and brought the car back on the Wednesday. I’d handed the car over, just sat down with a coffee when she came out again and asked how much fuel was in the car, about ¾ of a tank I replied and she went off again, a few minutes later she came back with a tech guy who told me they couldn’t do the fuel filter change as there is too much fuel in the car, can I go off, drive around till the car is below ¼ tank and bring it back, oh and they wouldn’t be replacing the calliper but taking it off to go away and be fixed so I’d be without the car for a few days.
It was at this point I carefully asked if I could speak to someone senior as I wasn’t very happy and a senior service manager came out to speak to me. I asked him to turn to the main doors and read the strapline painted above them which read something like “at Mercedes Leicester satisfied just won’t do, only completely satisfied will do”, I asked him if that was just words painted on a wall or an ideal that Mercedes Leicester tried to achieve? I then explained how unhappy I was with them breaking a nipple and still sending it for a MOT in that condition, asked why they offered to replace it then changed to repairing the calliper, why didn’t they have a fuel filter in stock seeing how I booked the service many months in advance and I was even called up to agree what work was going to be done and finally why wasn’t I told that the fuel filter couldn’t be changed with more than a ¼ tank of fuel? He apologised and we came to the agreement that they would collect and drop the car off the following week once I had used up some fuel, they would do the work and return the car with an extra £50 of fuel in it. I told him I also wasn’t very happy with my MOT record having an advisory on it when it shouldn’t have and he offered to write me a zero cost invoice for the repair of the calliper stating that they had damaged it during the service just prior the MOT. All of which they did.
I’m still not happy, as if I hadn’t of noticed that the nipple was there prior to the work being done, or if someone less knowledgeable had the same done to their car, they may have paid MB £1700 for two new callipers (they wanted to replace both in case the other nipple was seized too)!
Sorry for the long post.
I booked my car in for its 10 year service and MOT in March (I book in advance to ensure a courtesy car) and agreed a date suitable to me in August. Two days before the service I had a young woman call me to confirm everything and make sure I brought my driving licence with me etc. and I asked what was going to be involved in this 10 year “B” service and was told oil service, brake fluid change, fuel filter and coolant change and MOT. I asked about the transmission service which was due every 5 years so due this service and was told that as it hadn’t done the mileage it didn’t need to be done I asked if it could be done and, reluctantly, she agreed. I dropped the car off on the Monday morning on time and soon drove back home in a GLC. Just after lunch I got a message from my car app telling me that my car had passed its MOT but with the following advisory “nearside front hydraulic brake calliper slightly damaged but function not Impaired bleed nipple missing but no leaks”. Now this annoyed me no end as during my pre MOT checks both nipples were intact. I got a call from the same young woman who informed me that my car was ready for collection but they couldn’t do the fuel filter change as they didn’t have one in stock and they couldn’t do the brake fluid change as the calliper nipple was missing so they recommended I replace both callipers at a cost of over £1700. I politely explained that if the calliper was missing a nipple then their “technician” had broken it as it definitely had two nipples when I drove the car in, I asked her to investigate it while I drove there to collect the car. When I got there she told me that the tech guy had reluctantly admitted snapping off the bleed nipple and she told me that it probably hadn’t been touched in many years if it was seized. I explained to her that that was a big problem as it had a brake fluid service two years and 6000 miles ago by that very same dealership. She went away and returned later saying that they would replace the calliper when I returned the car for the fuel filter change in two days’ time. I asked if I could have a courtesy car again but was told no, but it should only take an hour or so to fit a new calliper and fuel filter, so I arranged to take the day off and brought the car back on the Wednesday. I’d handed the car over, just sat down with a coffee when she came out again and asked how much fuel was in the car, about ¾ of a tank I replied and she went off again, a few minutes later she came back with a tech guy who told me they couldn’t do the fuel filter change as there is too much fuel in the car, can I go off, drive around till the car is below ¼ tank and bring it back, oh and they wouldn’t be replacing the calliper but taking it off to go away and be fixed so I’d be without the car for a few days.
It was at this point I carefully asked if I could speak to someone senior as I wasn’t very happy and a senior service manager came out to speak to me. I asked him to turn to the main doors and read the strapline painted above them which read something like “at Mercedes Leicester satisfied just won’t do, only completely satisfied will do”, I asked him if that was just words painted on a wall or an ideal that Mercedes Leicester tried to achieve? I then explained how unhappy I was with them breaking a nipple and still sending it for a MOT in that condition, asked why they offered to replace it then changed to repairing the calliper, why didn’t they have a fuel filter in stock seeing how I booked the service many months in advance and I was even called up to agree what work was going to be done and finally why wasn’t I told that the fuel filter couldn’t be changed with more than a ¼ tank of fuel? He apologised and we came to the agreement that they would collect and drop the car off the following week once I had used up some fuel, they would do the work and return the car with an extra £50 of fuel in it. I told him I also wasn’t very happy with my MOT record having an advisory on it when it shouldn’t have and he offered to write me a zero cost invoice for the repair of the calliper stating that they had damaged it during the service just prior the MOT. All of which they did.
I’m still not happy, as if I hadn’t of noticed that the nipple was there prior to the work being done, or if someone less knowledgeable had the same done to their car, they may have paid MB £1700 for two new callipers (they wanted to replace both in case the other nipple was seized too)!
Sorry for the long post.
