Why do MB Dealers treat you like sh*t ?

[dhard]

Have to say never had bad exp with mercedes service dept allways firstclass ( though they all ways tick outstanding before u get a chance)

 

[Lecky]

Any idea what sort of commission these guys are on? May go part way to explain some of the previously highlighted attitudes. These stories just confirm my belief in never buying a new car (plus I can't really afford one!!).

 

[Aoraki]

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

Highly recomended are both Chesterfield and Derby, neither far away.

PM sent

 

[therigpig]

Here here
I live in Chesterfield and I find them very helpful and when something does go wrong they have helped me out no end

 

[finisterre]

£50 approx -AFAIK

MB Sheffield were unhelpful and brusque, BMW Derby on the other hand sold a Z4.


You do have to wonder why the people that employ salespersons think that that level of bonus is going to make a difference.

Money is money, but if dealers pushed service and paid their staff enough to want to provide it, it would cost not a lot and we would all benefit.

 

[kusanku]

My last attempt to buy a car from a MB dealer was when the salesman told me he was too busy to let me have a test drive, after I said I was looking to buy a car in the next two months, but not necessarily that day. He said he there was no chance of a test drive for at least two hours, so I said I would come back. He clearly had not expected me to come back, and spun me the same line that they were rushed off their feet (they were not), and said to come back another time. He clearly did not want to waste time with me if I was not going to buy a car that same day. I went home and wrote a letter of complaint to the manager, which recieved no reply. In it I stated I still intended to buy another Merc, but would do so elsewhere, which I did.

However, my experiences of MB dealers have not been as bad as my encounters with Jaguar. Around 5 years ago I thought of getting an S-type, and booked a test drive at the Jag dealer in Cardiff. Went to the garage at the appointed time, to find no S-types there and no record of my booked drive. Salesman appologised and re-booked me for the following weekend. I went along to the dealer, and experienced exactly the same thing again. Stupidly, I booked a third test-drive, went back the following weekend, and again found no car and nobody expecting me. I gave up and bought another Merc.

Recently, I thought I would trade my e-class in for a Jag XF. Went to the main dealer (this time in Bristol rather than Cardiff). Spoke to salesman in a cheap suit spelling of Jaguar aftershave, who was trying to sell me a 3-litre diesel for around £30. I know full-well that XF prices start at a lot lower than that, so asked him about the 2.7 diesel. He responded by saying it was a perfectly good engine, but then followed it up with the astoundingly condescending comment "if that is all you can afford"

Guess what? I've just bought another Merc, and did not go to a main dealer.

 

[219]

I've never bought a brand new Merc , nor am I likely to , so I guess I'll never find out .

Parts depts and service depts of all dealers near me have always been pleasant to deal with , though .

 

[kusanku]

I have never considered a new car either, but main dealers often have some of the best quality used cars up to five years old. Cars like the Jag XF, and the 204 series C-class are not that common outside the main dealer network yet.

 

[219]

He responded by saying it was a perfectly good engine, but then followed it up with the astoundingly condescending comment "if that is all you can afford"

I remember making that very mistake as a pimply-faced youth when I was just starting out on my early career selling hi-fi equipment .

Showing an elderly gentleman some equipment in the shop , I was asked "what about that one" , to which I replied (he had already stated his budget) " Oh , that one is more than you can afford " Being a nice old chap , he tactfully pointed out that he could 'afford' to buy anything in the shop that he wanted , realising my mistake , I immediately apologised and corrected myself stating " It is more than you wanted to spend " .

It was a lesson well learned and never forgotten .

( He did buy an amplifier from me that day , too ) .

 

[finisterre]

Cheers for that pontoneer, I lose track of reality on this forum. After an hour of reading it is as if I spend bucket-loads of brass on flash motors. I don't 12k is my limit. Even if I was much flusher I would spend little more.

And Sheffield BMW didn't have the car they had advertised and I had arranged to try. It ain't just Jag, MB, Ford, Mini, and... who else has been mentioned?

 

[219]

That's still roughly 10x what I tend to spend on my cars

 

[finisterre]

pontoneer

I've a mate that does that, We totted up what he had spent on 20+ cars and he was well behind our spend on three.

I tell myself it is less hassle.

But I suspect some sort of desire to feel successful powers my spend.
Which is okay I guess.

 

[amgmaster]

the thing i have found is that salesmen dont know the product that they are trying to sell which i think is terrible.
i was in leeds so i went to the dealership to see what they had,when i asked if they had any c63 amgs (when they first came out my friend was after one) the sales guy said there are no c63s in the country there is a embargo on them till may, i said to him how comes there is one outside(mine) he went running out he could'nt believe it he called the rest of the sales people out to have a look at it.
eventually we found one at mb liverpool we were told we could have it for march delivery but kept been delayed and we picked it up in april the sales guy was adament that it was the first one in the country until we told him to bring it round the front where he saw ours which i had from the first of march.he was lost for words.
i think sales people should know everything about what they are selling if it is amg they should have a specialist and treat every person that walks through the door as a potential customer rather than a tyre kicker.
the best customer service i have had was from mb belfast by a chap called ross moffat were we got our cl63 amg from.when we got to belfast they picked us up from the airport they showed us the car when i looked one of the tyres had a rip on it not a major one but a rip none the less they replaced the tyre straight away gave us euros for the tolls didnt have no money in exchange gave my wife flowers a box of cakes for the journey home rang us later to see if we had got home safely some times the little gestures are the best.

 

[st4]

I don't even know if it is the car I want couldn't even get a test drive Never driven the New E saloon or Coupe but driven loads of BMW's so unfortunately nothing to compare against yet

MB World have an E class coupe 500 you can take round the handling circuit....

£80 for a half hour....

I am sure you'll put those 30mins to good use.

Or when you are up here on work, have a curry with us all, and go car shopping the next day. Shortly after testing the Merc, try a BMW so you have a back to back comparison of the two cars.

If its an E coupe you are after, bear in mind its based on the 204 chassis and interior room IMHO is good on those cars, but not 211/212 good.

You know my views on the 212, seat needs set about 2 inches lower so you do not feel like you drive a 4x4 but nice enough to drive, and in every way a significant jump over a 211.

 

[rizzer]

Lasr week my father arranged a test drive in a BMW 325d, he currenlty drives an E but feels its a bit big for hime now, although it was arranged the week before with the sales guy the car was not available when we arrived as arranged. We spent well over an hour going through the options etc and getting a quote. After, we went to the Mercedes dealer, my father test drove a C250 sport. He wanted to drive the 325d and C250 sport back to back. He didnt really like the C250 so he has tried to rearrange a 325d drive this week, only to be told a car is not available he might just keep his E for now.

 

[dvb247]

I think there is a lot we don't appreciate about the inner world of the car sales person, the bits I do know make me go cold when I hear how they are treated and the environment they work in, I am amazed to here that JohnDeer saw the same salesman that sold him his car 18 months later, from what I know salespeople are hired and fired on a monthly basis and move brand with alarming frequency which means they understand the sales process and systems but not the product.
The funny thing is I always thought that I would have made a great car salesman if I sold a brand that I liked, I am sure if I had a month at an MB dealership I would sell everything from an A to an S class because I love this particular brand and anyone buying would be made to feel very special, easy to say I know but the reality is far from an enhusiastic, positive etc, it's pressure all the way and that kicks the life out of most of these people IMHO
PS parts dept have always been good for me so not all bad!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I think there is a lot we don't appreciate about the inner world of the car sales person, the bits I do know make me go cold when I hear how they are treated and the environment they work in, I am amazed to here that JohnDeer saw the same salesman that sold him his car 18 months later, from what I know salespeople are hired and fired on a monthly basis and move brand with alarming frequency which means they understand the sales process and systems but not the product.
The funny thing is I always thought that I would have made a great car salesman if I sold a brand that I liked, I am sure if I had a month at an MB dealership I would sell everything from an A to an S class because I love this particular brand and anyone buying would be made to feel very special, easy to say I know but the reality is far from an enhusiastic, positive etc, it's pressure all the way and that kicks the life out of most of these people IMHO
PS parts dept have always been good for me so not all bad!

You are describing my own train of thought; I would love to sell cars that I have a personal interest in.
I had this conversation with one of my friends who is a salesman and he describes it almost exactly how you have- he has worked for about 6 different car manufactures in 7 years.....

 

[flango]

Update

Well today I visited BMW, Lexus and Volvo so how dis I fair?

BMW

Buying experience a little better than MB but not by much, condescending salesman but he knew about his product although he also thought he was Michael Schumacher on the test drive, never been as scared in my life soon put that one right when i got behind the wheel though As for the car does exactly what it says on the tin and drives like every other 535d I have driven a very competent car, when we got back tot he showroom though all he wanted to do was sell me finance, suspect this is where they make most of their commission as it was very high pressure, so he lost interest when I told him no finance would be involved and couldn't wait to get rid of me, but I would return to do a deal if this was the car I decided on. I would also suggest that BMW give their sales staff some better sales training as when I asked the question " Why should I buy this than a MB E class ?" he was stumped and said I don't know anything about the E class I'm afraid. I always thought the first rule of sales was know your competition?

Volvo

Dropped in off the street to see what was on offer greeted immediately and treat well salesman showed me the S80 & XC90 and although none were available at the time he offered me test drives of both later in the week very knowledgeable and we chatted over coffee on delivery times spec's etc and a host of other things all in all a good effort from Volvo and I'll probably take them up on the test drive offer this week. This was also not the dealer I bought my current Volvo from.

Lexus

Again dropped in on spec and treat like a king offered coffee straight away sat down and chatted with the salesman about the car (IS) and specs I was very impressed by his knowledge of not only the Lexus brand but also the marques he was competing against, no pressure I looked at the showroom car whilst he went to get the one for test drive, took me on a test drive covering over 30 miles (motorway, twisties, town) with him and me driving no rush at all. Back at the showroom we chatted more on delivery times etc, gave me his card and asked me to get in touch if I wanted to take it further.

Problem is I don't think I like the product the IS is probably too small a lot of hard plastics and it gives the impression it's a posh Toyota not a brand in it's own right and I certainly would not put it in the same class as the prestige German marques.

He did tell me one thing I did not know though and that is Audi are bringing out a new A6 which is supposed to redefine the benchmark in the large prestige category, so i'll call our Audi dealer tomorrow see what the score is and go from there might be an option I had not considered.

Will visit the German MB & BMW dealers this week and see what can be done from there.

But so far the league table for customer service is

1. Lexus
2. Volvo
3. BMW
4. MB

 

[Bellow]

But so far the league table for customer service is

1. Lexus
2. Volvo
3. BMW
4. MB

Make that 'prospect' service. None of them gained your custom today!

Out of interest, what car did you turn up in?

 

[flango]

Make that 'prospect' service. None of them gained your custom today!

Out of interest, what car did you turn up in?

True but I had no intention of doing the deal today and was very up front with them about that.

Turned up to all 3 today in the Volvo.