Why are main dealers such a let down?

[Palmball]

I've just got home and am feeling very disheartened and disappointed.

My car been in my local main dealer for the last 4-days having a few things repaired under warranty and it's first service (already on over 11k miles ).

The following is what they did (or didn't) do:

1. Replace steering wheel as the alcantara part had already worn out - done! :bannana: (Apparently at a cost of £800 to MB )

2. Carry out Service A - done :bannana: (Of course it was...I was paying for this!)

3. Replace the front foglight as the chrome had started to peel - done! :bannana:

4. Replace the left hand side boot carpet as part of it broke. Not done (Despite me telling them about it two weeks ago giving ample time to order the part).


5. Sort out squealing brakes (just give them a clean basically) - not done.


6. Fix the creaking drivers seat backrest - very obvious and easy to replicate just by leaning on the left hand side bolster - not done and as it's exactly the same as before.


Does anyone think the above results reflect them having the car for 4 whole days?


To make matters worse, as I opened the drivers door I was horrified to see they'd left me a nice 2-inch scratch on the front of the leather seat bolster. There was also a lot of dirt and marks on my nice cream leather interior as if they didn't use a seat cover...a disgrace from a main dealer don't you think?

Absolutely gutted, I went back in and got the service guy to come out and have a look. He said it's too late to do anything today and he'll call me on Monday but I've said I don't want it repaired and want the whole leather seat-back replacing.

Do you feel this is reasonable and if so whats the best way of insisting that this happens?


And back to my original question....why are these dealers so consistently bloody poor and why don't MB UK do anything about it (do they even care)?

 

[Simon_M]

1. Replace steering wheel as the alcantara part had already worn out - done! :bannana: (Apparently at a cost of £800 to MB )

I am quite concerned about this too, I think they will wear very quickly. I had hell getting a worn out gearknob (after 8000 miles) replaced. Basically my car went in for an iPod kit to be fitted and came out with a gearknob from a car about 10 years old - something fishy! And then I had to push really hard to get it swapped over.

Very poor service, I bet they were raggnig your car every day too!

S

 

[Palmball]

My last C63 went through 4 steering wheels! Not because they wore out but because the alcantara bits weren't fitted properly. I just kept sending it back till a good one came along!

 

[whitenemesis]

IIRC there are two grades of alcantara, one for seats (very hard wearing) and one for roof linings etc (soft with good drape). I wonder if MB are fitting correct type, well clearly not!

As to the main thrust of your post. Not all main dealers are the same. Yours appears to be in the bad group. I would be tempted to give MB Milton Keynes a call and advise them of your disappointment.

 

[rizzer]

My fathers E280 goes in on Monday for a service. He is always dissapointed by the dealers general attitude and also MB in regard to warranty issues he has had. I will ask how it went on Tuesday. I dont think MB do care, if they lose an MB owner they know theres another waiting to buy one.

 

[Rashman]

Palmy, I feel for you bud.

When I took my 63 in to have its fluids dropped and changed, I had to sit them down and tell them exactly what I am like with my car.

A pretty lengthy converation, but I told them exactly what I expected from them.

I even went as far as saying that if they didn't feel they could provide me with the service I expected, I would happily take it elsewhere, with no hard feelings.

They acknowledged that they would be handling a flagship model and would treat it as such.
I do not feel that I should have to do this, but I have to, for peace of mind and to ensure we have a complete understanding before they even see the car.

In fact, I make such a big deal of it, so that they remember me and the car each time they see it/me.

I was very impressed with the way they treated my 63.

Word was that the technicians were even scared to move it while they had it, so they left it in one place and did not move the car until I collected it.

I was very happy with this.

Having said this, I feel it is a great shame that one should feel the need to "lecture" the dealers on how to handle a car of this nature.

I'm sure I do not have to tell you how I would feel if I found in-complete work, scratches and marks on the car, caused by carelessness or incompetency!!

Without sounding like a jumped-up little hard-on, I feel that this standard of service is completely unacceptable.

I find it shocking that dealers would be so careless with any of their products... especially a 63!!

Especially considering all the fine "talk" and "promises" that you read in all of Mercedes booklets and brochures.

Complain?.... I say knock yourself out!

 

[Rashman]

....
I bet they were raggnig your car every day too!

S

Which is exactly why I am happy to take a day off and wait with the car.

lol.... you should have seen the sales staff.... giving me proper odd looks as if to say "is that guy still here"???

 

[st4]

Palmball, I am sorry to here this but not surprised. They never get a good press as a whole.

Why?

The way the place works. You don't normally get speaking to the folk that work on your car, who drive it around the lot etc. Usually just a "suit" on the desk who passes the instruction on to someone in the workshop, who then passes it on. Your feedback/instructions gets lost in a breakdown of communication/lost in translation.

My dealings are a perfect example

For the dealers to improve a comprehensive review and change on of the process of the customer liasing with the workshop needs changed. It might very well be that the front help desk suit is a thing of the past, and you go to the way the Indies work, where you speak to the person and liase with them about your car. Works for them.

 

[Smiley]

I went through all this disappointment years ago. In the end I decided it was not worth the hassle and that was the main reason for not buying a new car - I could then escape the main dealer network.

 

[davidjpowell]

I was with a client earlier this week meeting at a remote top secret location... Had to divert when she had car trouble - she left her car at the Dealer, and we used mine for the rest of the day.

The dealer knew that she was needing the car back that day, but still did not return calls, as she never even managed to get past reception when checking on progress.

In the end we had finished, so she decided to just sit and glower at them until they sorted it.

Should not happen this way though. Dealers charge enough, return calls or even better answer the first call would make sense...

 

[MarkF]

It makes me sad to read this, I remember the first MB car my dad bought 20+ years ago, a 190. The service we got from Drayton at Stoke was like being part of a family, nothing was to much for them. They have been that way for a great many years but 2 years ago was the last time dad stepped in the dealers, he had a A service plus plug change on his C class which was then 4 years old, £600.00 and plenty of new faces that could not give a dam SIR.
So now he goes to MB Tech with the car and has had nothing but first class service, like I get with my indi here in North Wales Trefnant Garage.
I have worked for a German keyboard company in the late 80's the attention to detail was great, but customer service not so, take it or leave it.
Yep makes me sad to see a great product spoilt by crap customer care.

 

[Charles Morgan]

I suspect the people at the top of MB care about service and quality. Their subordinates in each division probably care too, as I am sure they tell their bosses regularly. Etc etc all through the many layers of a hierarchical organisation to the people at the almost very bottom, the ones you meet to handle your service and standing between you and the person doing your service. So the people who have the most impact on the customer never meet a customer. All the strategy, branding, PR, HR, TQM etc etc in the world is meaningless if no one at the sharp end gives a toss.

You should complain, politely, clearly but loudly to the person heading up the service department. If he or she does nothing write to the CEO in both Germany and the UK. Hasn't Mercedes just spent a fortune on an advertising campaign "The Best or Nothing"?.
Point out how far from the best your experience actually is. Someone at the top does care about this.

 

[bluevenetian]

you've certainly scared me! good on you

 

[Neiltodd]

Had v good service & care at Weir Mercedes in Inverness

 

[A210AMG]

Its a real shame this level of service and too be completly honest there should be NO difference in service from a Basic A150 to a top spec S63 AMG. In fact it shouldn't matter if your servicing a kia or a ferrari the level of service should be the same.

It would seem most dealers are as happy as they can be until you collect the car....then once paid and deal done the real face of the dealers is shown. I'm pretty sure they are not all bad however.

Seems simple things like covering the seats / wheel with a platic cover should be done as a matter of routine, I'm always amazed when you spot a grubby hand print on trim etc...just shoddy no matter what garage.

I would complain to MB UK or the dealer principle.


Hope you get it sorted

 

[Ian B Walker]

I think the difference is that with an Indie you get a person who has a passion for his job. At the dealers its just a person who has a job he has to do to get paid at the end of the week.

 

[e55]

Not acceptable at all.!!!

As you brought your car new you dont have a choice but to get it serviced within the MB network. I will never take mine to a MB mains dealer unless I really have too. Much rather take it to a good indie who charges half the price and the service and care is twice is good.

I had a really bad experience at MB Stratford in London earlier this year when I got the SBC pump replaced. They lost the leather case to my servicing books which was never replaced and they denied all knowledge and left some oil marks/stains on the body of the car which luckily I managed to get out.

Generally you are jst a number to them and they couldnt care less!
I know if I take my car to PCS or GEM-tech its being taken care of and Olly and Richard know I like my car to be looked after.

 

[bluevenetian]

I know in an ideal world all customers should be treated equally, but the mere fact this garage seems so cavalier with a C63 -- which presumably attracts a higher dealer margin than cheaper mercs? -- does not bode well. If they can't be ****d to look after their flagship models (and customers) they are unlikely to be bothering with the more run of the mill models

 

[whitenemesis]

The vehicle is immaterial, it's the customer that matters!

 

[Rashman]

The vehicle is immaterial, it's the customer that matters!

I beg your pardon??


lol!