Why do MB Dealers treat you like sh*t ?

[JohnDeere8530]

I must admit that I had a similar experience 2y ago. Being a farmer (hence the screen name) I turned up in work clothes, knew exactly what I wanted to buy and showed politely that I meant business as I said I had my debit card on me now and was happy to do a deal right now and leave a 10% deposit.

The salesperson was polite, but unfriendly and slighlty stand offish in nature, he thought he knew it all (after all he did have an MB tie pin on ) I gave him the spec and the price I was prepared to pay for it, he went to see his manager twice and a deal was struck there and then within about 30minutes.

I left thinking it was not a pleasant experience, if the women on the tills at Sainsburys can smile and chat to you when dealing with 100s of customers a day, then a MB salesman dealing with 5 or so a day should be able to do a damn sight better than he did.

I was kept waiting initially for about 1hour ( i had made an appointment), admitteldy I looked slightly scruffy and drove a dirty but new farm car (RR sport). I guess he took one look at me and thought that I was about to waste his 'precious time' even though this was just before scrappage started 2yrs ago and the dealerships were totally empty. I was not even offered a coffee, that nice young lady came up to both of us and asked, he answered immediately for both of us saying no !!!!

I had problems picking the car up as the insurance document came through with the wrong details on. I telephoned him to tell him this on the morning I was due to pick the car up and asked if I could take it anyway. He refused, even though I owned the land immediately behind the garage all the way to my house the otherside of the farm !!!

I did not realise at the time that MB offer free 7 days insurance on purchases. Had I done so I could of picked the car up that day instead of about a week later. He was in a position to offer this, but chose to keep quiet about it and make me wait.

I went in about 2months afterwards for something trivial and saw him sitting at his desk again doing nothing, he saw me waiting at the parts counter and didnt even acknowledge me. You would of thought common courtesy would dictate he would walk 10foot to come and say Hi and ask if everything was ok etc. No he got his sale and that was the end of it as far as he was concerned.

I change my cars every 18months or so and am now thinkin BM for a variety of reasons, him being one of these. Why oh why are most salesmen like this, they lose so many sales through being snobby and/or ignorant. A bit of common courtesy does not cost anything and will often reap huge rewards if continually practiced in that line of business.

I wonder if the people doing the interview delibertely choose the most obnoxious people for the job. It seems that way !

 

[mika]

if the MB is the car you want, I wouldn't let (Listers?) group put you off.

.

hello flanaia

*** is so right
car salesmen can be very mediocre and or junior
only a mug salesman would underestimate a potential buyer
and there are some and they do

take a deep breath and find another dealer

just imagine when i went for my c63 last summer in jeans and a tshirt
and unshaven (!)

get that merc - dont let them put you off!
good luck

 

[Paul Dawkins]

I went to the local Merc dealer in my Transit van and they were very helpful to me.

I bought the car as well.
Thats was the Mercedes dealer in Southampton so there not all bad.
My local Ford dealer that I use for the companys Transits is alot worse.
There just rude and thats why I will never buy another transit after nearly 20 years of using them.
when I have all new vans I will arrange a drive by as soon as there all sign written.
I will call the salesman on his mobile and tell him to look out the window.
Its all over the price of fitting tow bars and bluetoothe phone kits.
They just would not move at all and had the wrong attitue.
They even charge £500 for delivery to the ford dealer and the main ford Transit plant where there made is 3 miles away.
We are talking 5 vans over 6 months as well

 

[flango]

just waiting on someone to recommend a good dealer, distance not a problem

Got an 11am appointment at BMW tomorrow so well see how that goes

 

[mika]

just waiting on someone to recommend a good dealer, distance not a problem

Got an 11am appointment at BMW tomorrow so well see how that goes

maidstone MB
PM me if you want some help
(ill tell you some funny stories too re buying the c63)

 

[Brian WH]

just waiting on someone to recommend a good dealer, distance not a problem

Got an 11am appointment at BMW tomorrow so well see how that goes

I can highly recommend the Derby Dealership, ask for Martin he will treat you right.

Mind you you always get treated right if you treat them right and are a regular customer.

 

[renault12ts]

just waiting on someone to recommend a good dealer, distance not a problem

Got an 11am appointment at BMW tomorrow so well see how that goes

Isaac Agnew, Boucher Crescent, Belfast.


http://www.mercedes-benzofbelfast.co.uk/

 

[timk]

This whole thread really hammers home that fairly unavoidable truth, that customer service is as important, if not more important, than the product itself. Doesn't matter whether it's cars, or ahem, laptops, if you feel like you have been treated shoddily you lose a lot of respect for the brand, which can be the fault of just one inept salesman/simpleton. I think MB UK need to look at their dealership network - many of the showrooms are glossy, impressive places. Perhaps if they focussed on the core values of service and lowered the overheads by being in less flashy premises they could spend the money they save on better training. That, and employing staff with proper people skills, might help retain/ attract more customers and build some brand loyalty.

 

[Druk]

Pity you can't get a hold of the email for the dealer principal in Sheffield. Send him a link to this thread.

 

[MOCAŠ]

I made an appointment to see them I didn't just walk in off the street yet they kept me 20 minutes before sending out the first nerd. I turned up in a £50k car dressed in trousers and shirt and spoke very politely as I always do to the girl on reception. If you think that is the wrong approach then I would love to hear what you think the correct one is????.

If you read my post, which was a general response to all those I'd read up to that point - not just yours, you'll know that making an appointment was exactly what I recommended. However, the perceived value of the car you arrived in and the clothes you were wearing are of little interest, and being polite to the receptionist is surely a given?

I would respectfully suggest you keep your opinions to yourself about my approach unless you know me The reason for the language is I was so p*ssed at the dealer I vented my anger on the forum. Those that know me will vouch that my style is nothing less than courteous and I treat others as I expect to be treated myself as you say mutual respect goes a long way.

Apologies if I overstepped the mark with the suggestion that you may have been the architect of your own misfortune. However, this is a public forum, and I was merely putting forward my view based on the invective you had chosen to use in your post. That said, I remain intrigued to know why they have given you short shrift on two occasions now. Have you not bothered to ask them?

And if it's recommendations you're looking for, I have been a customer of Hughes of Beaconsfield for over 12 years now, and I have no complaints about them.

 

[Bellow]

Any of our Scottish members have experience of a good dealer North of the border? would be happy to make the trip?

I have nothing but praise for J.R. Weir in Aberdeen - and that's just with a smart.
They also have a branch in Perth, but try giving Derek a ring in Aberdeen on 01224 634211. I'm not sure of Dereks position within Weirs, but he is one of those helpful guys that once you explain why you're phoning will find you the appropriate person. You will be able to gauge on the phone if they are a company you want to do business with.

 

[Setanta]

As for the chap who posted that anyone who is approaching retirement and still doing a job that a 20-year-old could do is a "moron", all I can say is that you must have very limited experience of the employment market. The fact is that everyone has different abilities and aptitudes; if someone's strength is in sales/customer service, they may choose to remain in that field, and there is every reason to expect that a lifetime's experience of dealing with people will make them far better at it than their 20-year-old counterpart would be. Not everyone is cut out to be CEO material, but it doesn't mean they should be written off.

That would be me.

Let's see.

- 9 years experience in retail
- my current role would see me on the streets if I lacked the ability to deal with clients

and you have missed the point completely.

By the way, don't misquote me or put things out of the context that they were in. My comment was:

That, my friend, is why you are in your late 50's/early 60's, approacing the end of your career, and still doing the same job that a 20 year old is doing. No motivation. No ambition. No intelligence.

That moron (and he is a moron as only a fool whose very livelihood depends on selling something would not bother to enter a few keystrokes to find out whether something was in stock) obviously made a value judgment and simply could not be bothered.

Most people enter the job market with a view to climbing the ladder and becoming more senior. They don't have to be the CEO. They don't have to be the dealer principal of the dealership. But if one is content to be sitting at a desk on the showroom floor, amongst all the other rank and file, while others make it to the offices around the showroom, then so be it. Not a problem at all. Maybe they don't want stress. Maybe they just want to deal with the people at the coalface and be customer facing.

This particular guy did not. He quite simply could not care less.

Let's put aside WHY he was at that level (for the record, I have absolutely no problem at all with anyone coming into another career later in life, starting at the bottom etc which in fact should be applauded and encouraged) and look at WHAT he did.

If it was HIS dealership and HIS business, then he could carry on like that all he wanted. The fact remains he is an employee, employed to sell a product, promote a brand, establish a returning customer/repeat sale model and positive referral to other such that the customer does not walk out to a competitor and sign on the dotted line with them.

He is not employed to sit there staring into space and do sod all when someone makes an inquiry about a not-inconsiderable priced car.

He is employed to make sure that I buy from his dealership, that I am so overawed by the level of service that I bring my car there to be serviced (which is where the real profit is made as I am led to understand it), to say to everyone that I meet "You should go see X, they were fantastic" and they may reconsider an Audi, BMW, Lexus or other competitor car and overall, to ensure that I come back at upgrade time and buy again.

He failed on each and every one of those very simple tasks.

That I had better service from the youngster stacking some shelves when I was out later than evening, who could not do enough to ensure that I found what I was looking for, puts that "sales executive" in a very poor light.

To put it bluntly: if I found out that an employee had brushed off a potential sale well into 5 figures, they would be clearing their desk.

Customer service and sales is not hard (I should know as I did it for long enough) but so many just don't seem to get it.

 

[gunning]

Ive read most of the replies and I can relate to most! My father and I dress down most of the time as we will be working about the place so don't want to have to care what we r wearing... We drive in separately I was in my mini and dad was in the w221 and we walked in... A new salesman asked us if we needed directions, we both said no... He said well I'm sorry u aren't aloud to use the toilets this is a Mercedes dealership not a public toilet! Now my old man is an ex army boxer, he asked this bloke if he knew what respect was and said I've come in here to put an order down for the new E63 amg estate... Which was his intention... If what he said was t bad enough, he sniggered at us :s I was shocked and my father felt like knocking him spark out! So we spoke to the manager, he said yeahh he's new!! Thats it!!!! To say the least we won't be buying from them

 

[st13phil]

just waiting on someone to recommend a good dealer, distance not a problem

Hughes of Aylesbury. Chris Leach (salesman) is a good guy; Justin the Sales Manager is very good too. I've also found MB Oxford (part of the Inchcape Group) to be good.

 

[Fizzer]

Anyone know if you can order a car to UK spec through a German dealer? I can find out the answer next week whilst I am in Germany but wondered if anyone knew or had done it [/QUOTE
Along similar lines, I was wondering if anyone on here has ever ordered a LHD Mercedes at a UK dealer?

 

[dhard]

I can highly recommend the Derby Dealership, ask for Martin he will treat you right.

Mind you you always get treated right if you treat them right and are a regular customer.

not allways after buying my 3new car in 5 years from same dealership.the deal a handover were fine and I tick all the boxs 10/10 inquestionnaire. Get miss call from the salesman saying to ring him back which I try 4/5 times evertime he out/ in a meeting ECT so I give up couple weeks later get call from service dept saying my car being recalled , so bring it in and the salesman desk next to the reception I nod over to him and say hello he just blanks me I waiting at the reception desk looking over to him he never acknowledge me once . To this day I don't know what I did to him expt get him commission

 

[dhard]

just to say did not mean derby dealership , the dealership in the northwest

 

[CRASH67]

Its a shame so many dealers are seen in this light.
but after speaking with a veiw different people it seem mainly car dealers suffer this, and commercials are so much better.
I wonder why?

 

[gunning]

I can highly recommend the Derby Dealership, ask for Martin he will treat you right.

Mind you you always get treated right if you treat them right and are a regular customer.

Sorry but why should you have to be a regular customer? My dad bought a car off them in 2002 and they treated him like ****e... but if theres a car we like (there is also a young saleswoman who has changed our opinion of mercedes dealers) then why should we have to go in and buy a car off them on a regular basis just so they dont talk to us like sh*t

Im sorry but this is typical stuck up Mercedes attitude i cant stick! We've owned mercedes non stop since 1983 and had a fair few before that on and off, but because we dont use the same dealers, does that make us not welcome? The problem is they think the brand sells itself, well for 99% of people it doesnt! Ive know people to just say sodd it and gone and bought, Jags, bmw's, lexus's all maybe not as good but its due to this stuck up attitude, and i cant say BMW are like it around my area! As ive had dealings with them for 2/3 years now, i also find jag and landrover very good

 

[CRASH67]

the sad think is it allways sales that seem to effect the preception, there are times when even the salesman i work with fustrate me, you may get a customer in buying parts who generally in converstion enquire bout new models or current offers you try and do you best help offer an opinion take thier details etc yet when you pass them to a saleman couldnt be less intrested if they try, YET when they want something to help with the sale ie accessories etc etc they expect us to jump, can be annoying at times, but that said on the most they aint all that bad.