Not a great first MB service experience

[Rory]

They might have jet-washed it off. Or perhaps it's been removed as the info on it was wrong - although in that case you'd expect a new label to have been attached.

 

[markjay]

Interesting. My car has been through 3 services at a Mercedes main dealer (it's leased so it has to be done there), and hasn't had the gearbox oil and service done, despite me asking before having the third service done (at 45,000 miles approx.) They say it's not required.

The usual recommendation is once 37,500 miles or 40,000 miles (varies by model). No time limit is mentioned.

However, at some point the schedule changed to 'sealed for life', and then changed back to 37,500 miles. I believe the 'sealed for life' period lasted around two to three years.

No one knows quite why this happened, given that the gearbox has not changed, so this was possibly an aborted attempt to reduce the overall maintenance costs and attract more fleet buyers.

MB dealers however will follow ESS religiously - if you car happens to fall under the 'sealed for life' schedule, they won't service the gearbox.

 

[automaniaman]

Mmmm. I recently booked my car in for a "B" service at my local MB dealership, and was quoted a telephone number price. On shopping around different MB dealerships I found the quotes to be a lot less. Subsequently, my local dealership having being advised of this have now reduced their asking price by a considerable margin!

 

[st13phil]

On shopping around different MB dealerships I found the quotes to be a lot less. Subsequently, my local dealership having being advised of this have now reduced their asking price by a considerable margin!

...Which is why it's always worth shopping around. The power of the market and all that

 

[developer]

At MB Birmingham you sit down with the service agent who talks you through a copy of the service schedule - not foolproof, but more transparent.

It only works if you're handing the keys over in person though.

 

[After Shock]

Mmmm. I recently booked my car in for a "B" service at my local MB dealership, and was quoted a telephone number price. On shopping around different MB dealerships I found the quotes to be a lot less. Subsequently, my local dealership having being advised of this have now reduced their asking price by a considerable margin!

This always really annoys me!! It someone can give you a product or service for £X then they should do. Due to this way of trading customer loyalty no longer exists.

 

[Rory]

The usual recommendation is once 37,500 miles or 40,000 miles (varies by model). No time limit is mentioned.

However, at some point the schedule changed to 'sealed for life', and then changed back to 37,500 miles. I believe the 'sealed for life' period lasted around two to three years.

There have been at least a couple of sealed for life periods - mine was, and then the first W204 C Class was.

In addition to the common 37,500 mile interval, I've seen ATF change intervals of 31,000 miles or 2 years and more recently 77,500 miles or 5yrs.

 

[spwells2002]

A Final Word

Following the service I had two emails with quick surveys about my experience, one from M. B. and the other from Inchcape. As you can imagine I gave them my views! Then on Tuesday the After-Sales manager from the dealership rang for a phone discussion of my experience of the service. I expected that it was in response to my survey response to Inchcape, but it quickly became clear that he had no knowledge of that. So as I had a bit spare time I gave him my views in some detail and he made all the right noises about retaining my custom and trying to learn from the experience. He even said that if you picked up something in a supermarket and it was priced at 99p and they tried to charge you 1.99 at the till you would rightly be annoyed. He talked about some consideration being made to compensate for the experience and that he would get back to me in 10 minutes, when he had discussed the issues I had raised with the Service Team Leader. I said that was fine as I was sure that he needed to understand their side of the story.

When the phone rang it wasn't the Manager but the Team Leader whose attitude was one of the issues I raised with his manager. I was somewhat surprised to be dealing with him without being asked if it was o.k. but I don't have any problems raising issues of dissatisfaction with anyone? To be fair I did get an acknowledgement that there had been a failure of their systems and he listened to my views about how the customer care could be improved. The Service Team Leader reiterated that his manager would be back in touch to sort out any compensation and whether I was now satisfied.

It is now Friday and I still await the promised call. Actually I am not waiting for it. There might have been a possibility of a second chance given the initial seemingly genuine concern from the Manager. But his failure to deliver on his promise of a phone call means I will look elsewhere for future servicing.

 

[After Shock]

I think we all accept mistakes can be made but simply not returning a phone call is just unacceptable.

I would be tempted to phone and ask the exact reason for failing to return your call. Just in case of something genuine. Highly unlikely but......

I'd then write to MB UK with the list of ... Ummm ... "Mistakes" seeking their views on how a prestige mark is now looked after in their opinion.

Be interesting to see the official line on this.

 

[markjay]

...Unless you're keeping the car for a long time, you're changing it for the next owner rather than for your own benefit.

Incidentally, this is true for almost all scheduled service items.

If you keep the car for no more than say two or three years, and your annual mileage is modest, chances are it will be fine even if you never service it. The indirect cost of lack of servicing now is more likely to be born by future owners.

This is of course a theoretical point - there are other good reason for keeping a car regularly serviced, such as warranty and resale value.

 

[John]

It is now Friday and I still await the promised call. Actually I am not waiting for it. There might have been a possibility of a second chance given the initial seemingly genuine concern from the Manager. But his failure to deliver on his promise of a phone call means I will look elsewhere for future servicing.

Lol - they are probably sitting back and laughing at the irony.

Absolutely classic - and I could tell from the rest of the post you were going to end up saying this before I even read it!

 

[chrisdean]

I think we all accept mistakes can be made but simply not returning a phone call is just unacceptable.

I would be tempted to phone and ask the exact reason for failing to return your call. Just in case of something genuine. Highly unlikely but......

I'd then write to MB UK with the list of ... Ummm ... "Mistakes" seeking their views on how a prestige mark is now looked after in their opinion.

Be interesting to see the official line on this.

Time to go straight to the top now. Write to the head office, the monkeys have had their chance, speak to the organ grinder.

 

[spwells2002]

Time to go straight to the top now. Write to the head office, the monkeys have had their chance, speak to the organ grinder.

I entitled my post "a final word" because that is what it was. Life is too short, other servicing options too available. I have moved on, literally!