Useless Dealers?

[maxc666]

Does anyone else have poor experience of incompetent main dealers? I cannot be alone in this and am apalled at what I have experienced recently.

My wife has a 2001 CLK320 cab that I bought from Denmark (saving around £8K!). For some time it had been ripping off the window seal that is stuck on the leading edge of the passenger rear window - the one that seals against the front window. As you put the front window up, it ripped the seal off. The local dealer had the car in 3 times and each time fitted a new seal. The record was ripping off the new seal before leaving the forecourt... Fortunately, they never billed for this as it was an ongoing problem. I again asked then to fix it properly and took the car for them to have another look, thinking it was an adjustment problem. They spent 30 minutes with 4 "engineers" looking at it, and told me they would need it in for at lkeast 1 day as it was a major job to strip the whole window mechanism and realign it. To top this, they stated that since they discovered it was an import (like I'd never told them?), it was all chargeable - including the other 3 failed attempts. At least there was no charge for this diagnosis.

So - I took a good look at things and found the seal along the bottom of the rear window was worn away. It should have a lip that just overlaps the bottom of the front seal, so preventing the seal ripping off. £13 later I had a permanent fix.

Then a few weeks later, the drivers' side rear window started to drop down too low and needed to be guided back past the seal. Since I wouldn't trust the local dealer to fix a Lego model, I took out out the back seat and side trim panel and discovered the window stop bracket had broken. Itb is a poorly designed plastic clip with a flange that provides a positive stop. With the part in my hand I called the dealer, quoting the 208 number on the clip - to be told there was no such part! They said it was not evident on the microfiche and were pretty unhelpful, asking me to bring the car in so their technicians could sort it "as it is a complex system". Faced with this challenge I made a new alloy bracket in a few minutes and it works fine.

All of this gives me a very poor impression of the dealer. They have a fantastic new multi-million £ glass showroom and lots of technicians, but they have no real engineering skills and only seem to be able to follow their computer-driven instructions like trained monkeys....

 

[Ian B Walker]

Not all dealers are useless. Mb Blackpool have to stand out as one of the only ones who actually care. Advice is often given for free. Quick fixes are mostly done on a "ok its a quicky, we will sort it now" and when I ask how much? the answer is usually "nothing sir". I once asked them why and was informed that they like to keep their customers happy. My car is not one of the new breed so I was a little inquisative to this statement. The reply to that was "well whenever you want to purchase a new one we would hope to see you here". Lotusmark2 has also had a good experience with them.

 

[fuzzer]

Does anyone else have poor experience of incompetent main dealers? I cannot be alone in this and am apalled at what I have experienced recently.

My wife has a 2001 CLK320 cab that I bought from Denmark (saving around £8K!). For some time it had been ripping off the window seal that is stuck on the leading edge of the passenger rear window - the one that seals against the front window. As you put the front window up, it ripped the seal off. The local dealer had the car in 3 times and each time fitted a new seal. The record was ripping off the new seal before leaving the forecourt... Fortunately, they never billed for this as it was an ongoing problem. I again asked then to fix it properly and took the car for them to have another look, thinking it was an adjustment problem. They spent 30 minutes with 4 "engineers" looking at it, and told me they would need it in for at lkeast 1 day as it was a major job to strip the whole window mechanism and realign it. To top this, they stated that since they discovered it was an import (like I'd never told them?), it was all chargeable - including the other 3 failed attempts. At least there was no charge for this diagnosis.

So - I took a good look at things and found the seal along the bottom of the rear window was worn away. It should have a lip that just overlaps the bottom of the front seal, so preventing the seal ripping off. £13 later I had a permanent fix.

Then a few weeks later, the drivers' side rear window started to drop down too low and needed to be guided back past the seal. Since I wouldn't trust the local dealer to fix a Lego model, I took out out the back seat and side trim panel and discovered the window stop bracket had broken. Itb is a poorly designed plastic clip with a flange that provides a positive stop. With the part in my hand I called the dealer, quoting the 208 number on the clip - to be told there was no such part! They said it was not evident on the microfiche and were pretty unhelpful, asking me to bring the car in so their technicians could sort it "as it is a complex system". Faced with this challenge I made a new alloy bracket in a few minutes and it works fine.

All of this gives me a very poor impression of the dealer. They have a fantastic new multi-million £ glass showroom and lots of technicians, but they have no real engineering skills and only seem to be able to follow their computer-driven instructions like trained monkeys....

Welcome to " the joys" (as quoted by a dealers service departmemt) of owning a mercedes

 

[pepper&boulou]

Not all dealers are useless. Mb Blackpool have to stand out as one of the only ones who actually care. Advice is often given for free. Quick fixes are mostly done on a "ok its a quicky, we will sort it now" and when I ask how much? the answer is usually "nothing sir". I once asked them why and was informed that they like to keep their customers happy. My car is not one of the new breed so I was a little inquisative to this statement. The reply to that was "well whenever you want to purchase a new one we would hope to see you here". Lotusmark2 has also had a good experience with them.

That's just the service and attitude I would expect from MB dealers shame they're not all like that.

 

[weebobster]

I have said it before, but Issac Agnews (MB Belfast) are tops! Check out the Saturday Club which is means free coffee, buns and valet whilst you read the papers or snooze!!!

 

[Brian WH]

I also have TWO good dealers who I have used near me.

So they are not all tarred with the same Brush??

 

[Vlad]

Tony Purslow's (Dealer of the year for the last three years) in Basingstoke have always provided me with top class service, be it new car sales or servicing.....for cars over 8 years old they also offer 40% off labour costs and will come all the way over to Reading (20 odd miles) pick your car up and deliver it back the same day.

Whereas my local dealer (Greenoaks) who are 1 mile away are mediocre at the best of times and expensive and their parts department is a nightmare....can't find parts on their computer as they claim they don't exist....which then means I have to go away and find out part numbers from members on forums such as this.....back to the dealer and surprise surprise the part now exists.

Other dealers should take a leaf out of Purslows book and take note of how to run a successful dealership

 

[Shude]

People have to bear in mind that stealerships, while at least now all owned by the same parent company, were all run as franchises a couple of years ago and as such they can be very different to each other.

I think the problem is the balance between expectation and reality. The people that sell the cars, servicing and parts really don't care about the cars at all, much like most people aren't that passionate about their jobs! Some of the people in the stealerships get truly dumped-on by customers and subsequently the service the customer gets back is basically the bare minimum - this is human nature . I think if some people were a little more pleasant with the stealership staff they might get better results

My local stealership has always been excellent with me. I put that down to me buying them some cadbury's miniature heros a couple of years ago

 

[Vlad]

Hmmm.....Kind of understand where you are coming from

I would say that its normally down to the management of a dealership to instill the benefits of good customer service in its staff and employing people who are passionate about the product or at least getting them to understand that the boss is passionate about the product his company sells and that he will not suffer individuals who couldn't give a damn.

If the dealership is well managed and is a happy ship, customer service tends to come naturally even if the staff has no interest in the product they sell....I generally believe, that in the main, people like providing good service, but if they are working in a badly managed business or badly paid job it can be hard to go that extra mile and provide service with a smile.

I whole-heartedly agree with not being rude to people, but if you suffer genuinely bad service you need to complain (in a constructive manner) as nothing will change otherwise.

From my experience good customer service should be one of those things that you don't even notice....ie; it shouldn't be one of those things that you notice as an exception.

If you are buying any product but especially a premium product such a Merc, I do genuinely believe that you should experience the best possible customer service....with Purslows I do, with Greenoakes I don't and its the same product....conclusion....the Purlsow's franchise has a quality management team....the Greenoakes franchise don't

Companies that provide quality customer service in my experience are the likes of John Lewis, Lexus, Virgin (airlines...not trains) etc, who all understand the power of good customer service and the loyalty it instills in customers.

Mercedes used to have this but over the last 7 years its been bad and sadly you see far more loyal Merc owners saying they are swapping brands....mainly the result of bad service followed by bad product....you can forgive a product once or twice as long as you get good customer service...if you don't you owe it to yourself to look elsewhere.

 

[silverarrow]

we should all get our cars serviced in europe when on holls a business friend saved £400 on a service in northern france than in london and warranty for what its worth still valid

 

[Mondorich]

we should all get our cars serviced in europe when on holls a business friend saved £400 on a service in northern france than in london and warranty for what its worth still valid

Good point silverarrow but you are not tied to franchised dealers anymore. I had my L-R Defender serviced at an Independent concern and my warranty is still intact. [Recent warranty work done for nowt confirms this].

Mondorich

 

[glojo]

Does anyone else have poor experience of incompetent main dealers? I cannot be alone in this and am apalled at what I have experienced recently.

My wife has a 2001 CLK320 cab that I bought from Denmark (saving around £8K!).

Hi Max,
I cannot help wondering if buying your car from abroad has anything to do with your bad experience?

I realise that it should have no bearing on where you buy your vehicle, but in the real world, I just wonder.....

Regards,
John

 

[maxc666]

Good points made on this. There is a clear lack of goodwill from the dealer with this car whereas I have had a couple of new (company) cars from them before and they were always great - provided they were getting their $$$ out of them.

The main point I wanted to make was the lack of engineering knowledge - the technicians just seem to only know how to change modules rather than figure things out and get to the root of any problem. At least I'm happy to do most things on the car and it will be seeing a trusted local garage in future as required.

max.

 

[Ian B Walker]

The main point I wanted to make was the lack of engineering knowledge - the technicians just seem to only know how to change modules rather than figure things out and get to the root of any problem. At least I'm happy to do most things on the car and it will be seeing a trusted local garage in future as required.

max.

It doesnt matter what car you have these days it all boils down to the same thing. It is quicker to change a part than remove it, repair it and re fit it. With mass production parts are made more quickly than they were years ago and cheaper too. Alas the dealers (whoever they may be) cant or dont want to pass the savings down. They all have overheads. I agree though, a technitian should be able to figure out what is basically wrong with said part, changeng / repairing it though is a matter of finance.

 

[glojo]

It doesnt matter what car you have these days it all boils down to the same thing. It is quicker to change a part than remove it, repair it and re fit it. With mass production parts are made more quickly than they were years ago and cheaper too. Alas the dealers (whoever they may be) cant or dont want to pass the savings down. They all have overheads. I agree though, a technitian should be able to figure out what is basically wrong with said part, changeng / repairing it though is a matter of finance.

Totally agree with every word you have wrote, plus I suppose fixing something will take time and time to the customer is perhaps £60 - £70 per hour labour. (these figures are only approximations to highlight why perhaps they elect to replace parts)

At my local dealership the mechanics\technicians are constantly going away to be trained up on the latest Mercedes-Benz technology. What a shame that some problems are still causing aggrievation?

Regards,
John