Why do MB Dealers treat you like sh*t ?

[dhard]

the first merc I own was all so the first time I driven a auto so I ask the salesman what c - s were for on the auto he told me c was when it was cold and s was for when it was summer and to use them then . It was untill I bought my 2nd merc ( differnt dealership ) when the sales guy was showing me all the new buttons ( differnt model) he gets to the autobox and says u will now all about this as your last car was auto I said yer c- when its cold s-when it summer he look at me as if I had 2 heads and explained that c -s were comfort a sport setting I felt like such a twit ( or something close to that)

 

[johny5_uk]

Thanks I visit Grimsby regularly. Do you know who owns MB Grimsby? I hope its not JCT 600 so maybe we could sort something thanks for the kind offer.

I think it's Listers as their cars are on listers website?

 

[st4]

I think it's Listers as their cars are on listers website?

It is, Listers also operate MB Lincoln.

 

[Rory]

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

In sales roles generally (I'm a sales manager in another field) what you can find if you get someone who is an "enthusiast" in a particular field then they'll spend all day chatting about it, helping people out, doing favours etc etc and never actually selling anything.

You'll often find the best (by best I mean most successful for themselves and their employers) salesmen will say "don't know" when asked a question, when in reality they know the answer perfectly well, but don't want to invest the time to explain it, when they could be using that time to sell to someone else.

 

[crockers]

In sales roles generally (I'm a sales manager in another field) what you can find if you get someone who is an "enthusiast" in a particular field then they'll spend all day chatting about it, helping people out, doing favours etc etc and never actually selling anything.

You'll often find the best (by best I mean most successful for themselves and their employers) salesmen will say "don't know" when asked a question, when in reality they know the answer perfectly well, but don't want to invest the time to explain it, when they could be using that time to sell to someone else.

Jeez. Where I worked not knowing your products, legislation and just saying I don't know would have been a guarantee to a visit to the job centre.

 

[st4]

Jeez. Where I worked not knowing your products, legislation and just saying I don't know would have been a guarantee to a visit to the job centre.

As I have said in other threads financial services, and in particular retail banking are exemplary given the expertise of front line staff, regulation, business principles, and availability.

Imagine phoning your bank to ask about a savings account, or a credit card, or adding a standing order and being told either of this

1. Can you phone back and make an appointment.
2. I do not know.

You can do this 24hrs/day with a bank-service your account.

 

[grober]

I can only assume from the comments posted here that many [but not all] of the staff working at Mercedes dealerships are very unhappy people. Whether this is justified or not I am not really in a position to judge. However its pretty much a given that unhappy people like to spread that emotion around and from what's been said they're apparently succeeding!

 

[Rory]

Jeez. Where I worked not knowing your products, legislation and just saying I don't know would have been a guarantee to a visit to the job centre.

As does not hitting your sales target in most companies.

 

[kbhogalW126]

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

Try Gordon Boyd from MB in Giffnock.

Bought my CLK270 from him.

Quite a helpful chap - 0141 6291200

Regards,

KJ

 

[kbhogalW126]

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

Try Europa in Sheffield.

They can still get you a new mercedes even thought they are a subaru/prestige dealer now.

Their service department is really helpful.

They are an approved MB Service centre.

Good luck!

 

[MOCAŠ]

As I have said in other threads financial services, and in particular retail banking are exemplary given the expertise of front line staff, regulation, business principles, and availability.

Imagine phoning your bank to ask about a savings account, or a credit card, or adding a standing order and being told either of this

1. Can you phone back and make an appointment.
2. I do not know.

You can do this 24hrs/day with a bank-service your account.

Hardly a like-for-like comparison, ***. Those are all things you can do yourself via the bank's website, so if you choose to contact the call centre instead, the employee is basically just pressing the buttons for you. Even then, you can still be held in a queue if there's nobody immediately available to take the call.

If I rang up to discuss my business plan with a view to financing a new venture, or even if I just wanted a comprehensive review of my existing personal financial arrangements, then I'd be told to make an appointment to see someone.

And if I rang up and asked whether, for instance, their account/credit card/mortgage would leave me better off than a competitor's over a three-year period, I suspect (and hope) "I do not know" is exactly what I would be told.

 

[Dryce]

As I have said in other threads financial services, and in particular retail banking are exemplary given the expertise of front line staff, regulation, business principles, and availability.

We've gone through some of this before.

Availability? Not many banks open on saturdays.

Expertise? Nope. Seen too many staff struggle with their IT systems at HBoS and Santander to believe that - products too complex and too many rules/regs a lot of which are not about compliance but marketing restrictions.

Business principles? Don't get me started yet again. Part of the problem is product churn which is cynically designed to diminish returns for their most loyal customers (I mentioned the aged last time - it's a marketing ploy that I believe is specifically designed to screw pensioners) .

Regulation? Well some of it is to control excesses/problems. Some of it to be fair is just to add red tape.

The problem at the heart of it is lack of real competition. Why? Barriers to new entrants are high. That's why we see takeovers and rebranding rather than genuinely new startup banks.

 

[martin_a]

As I have said in other threads financial services, and in particular retail banking are exemplary given the expertise of front line staff, regulation, business principles, and availability.

Imagine phoning your bank to ask about a savings account, or a credit card, or adding a standing order and being told either of this

1. Can you phone back and make an appointment.
2. I do not know.

You can do this 24hrs/day with a bank-service your account.

The more direct comparison would be:

Imagine trying to buy a car and having to wait in a long queue to speak to someone in India. To speak to that person you would also have to enter your registration number and date of birth for confirmation of your identity. You would then be told something you didn't need to such as how many A class they have in stock and asked if you need anything else. If so, press 1

You now have more options. Press one for sales, press two for servicing etc.

Press one for A class sales. Two for B-class, Three for C-class etc

Do you have a trade in? if so press 1

Enter reg number again.

Do you want finance? Press 1

Enter reg number and date of birth.

etc etc once you get connected to India you get asked all the same questions again!!!!


We also bought a car this weekend though and the salesperson did it as much as the car.

We were looking for a family runabout to replace the Ford Fusion, main thing, has to be an auto because the Mrs is disabled and can't drive manual.

Cars on the list, Meriva, C-Max, C4 picasso, Scenic. Renault were the first stop. Very good showed us the cars. Nothing to drive though and not keen to do a deal for the Fusion. Tahnked and left.

Vauxhall. Friendly, pulled the car round for us. Again no auto demonstrator. Would do a deal for ours but delivery time is very very long at the moment and we wanted something a bit quicker.

Citroen. Mare, far too busy but sales chap friendly when approached. Didn't seem that interested though. C4 was a bit of a struggle to get in but the C3 Picasso, spot on - except no auto option. Most strange.

C-Max, dealership packed but one chap said he's get someone to us asap. Toys for the wee one to play with and books/jogsaws etc so that was good. Had a drink while we waited. Still no demonstrators though and long delivery time (bit shorter than Vauxhall though and to be honest an impressive motor although decided the seating position is a bit low for such a big vehicle.

Final curve ball, just because they were opposite the Reno dealer - Nissan. Mrs saw the Note and thought it looked great. Salesman gave us a quick look round the car and pointed out some of the features then left us to it. We had a questions, he came back straight away and helped us load the buggy and car seat in to check it all fitted then left us to talk about it some more.

Importantly they'd invested a fair bit in demonstrators so they actually had an auto we could drive. That made his sale really. That and they provided drinks and colouring pencils etc for the little one. Superb experience. We asked for a top spec car with sat nav and parking sensors in black. Brilliantly, we are buying British. One in that spec is rolling off the production lines in Sunderland in the next week or so, delivery by Feb. Couple more weeks for a special order, not the four months Vauxhall needed. Also, they were happy to do a deal on the Fusion too.

All in all the sales person (youngish chap) made the sale by being polite, helpful and not at all pushy. His dealership was smart and clean and they were happy to keep the little man amused. Weirdly, this was an Arnold Clark, same as the dealership over the road and same as the one neaerer our house where the service had been awful so well done that man. Just goes to show the difference it can make.

m.

 

[jpwilliams]

I found that employing people with the right attitude was key and importantly recognising that those who ran the extra mile NEVER ran out of breath !
Happy Motoring
Regards
John

 

[Gentabout]

Been reading this thread with interest and thought i would post our experiences with MB.

Last September we were looking to change my ageing Astra for something a little newer and something with a bit more class. We looked at a lot of different makes and models but could not find anything we both liked until SWMBO spotted the C coupe. We looked at a few in various car supermarkets etc on a Sunday but the sales staff put my back up, i remembered that there was a MB dealer near to the car supermarket so decided to go have a look at there used stock. We arrived at 3.30pm on and they had a car on the lot that we liked the look off so i enquired about a test drive and more info. The salesman could not have been nicer or more helpful, we both had a test drive there and then and started to talk numbers with him and the business/finance manager. The upside was that we bought the car there and then and arranged collection for the following Friday. When i got back in to our car to leave i realised the time, 6.45pm, not bad considering they close at 4pm.

During the week various phone calls were received to keep me informed as to what was happening and on one of these i explained to the sales guy that it might be tight time wise for me to get there on the Friday night due to work but i could do Saturday, he then offered to stay late on the Friday until we could get there. We arrived at 6.30pm due to traffic and work but he still spent an hour and a half with us on the handover and making sure we were happy.

To me that was top class service and considering the car was probably the cheapest on the used car forecourt went a long way in my book.

The dealer, MB at Lakeside Thurrock, salesman, Neil.

Fast forward 3 months and SWMBO car is written off by the insurance due to moron running in to the back of her. Now the long term plan was for her to use the MB and i was going to use my landrover for day to day stuff, but after driving it a few times she was nervous of the merc and found it a bit big to drive . So we were on the hunt for another car for her, lots looked at again but nothing suitable until she mentioned she liked the Smart she sat in a few months earlier, so off we went to the local MB/Smart dealer (Maidstone). To say i was disappointed was a understatement, it felt like i was looked down on and made to feel like i was not welcome. We did get a salesman to give us some info and even managed a test drive but all the time felt like they did not want to sell cars. I got on to the subject of finance options and that is were it all went out of the window, the best they could offer was going to be nearly £100 a month more than what was written on the side of a demonstrator, when i raised this i got told that that campaign had finished and there were no offers. PCP Deal on the car as written, £1000 deposit, £119.99 per month for three years, 7.9% on a new car. Best they offered after lots of back and fourth checking was £1500 deposit, £189.99 per month and with a higher final payment and that was on a demonstrator with 3000miles. Also told that there would be a 3 month wait if we wanted a new one in silver. Needless to say we left.

So the next day (Sunday) we visited Lakeside MB again as were passing to see what they might be able to do. Once again the saleperson could not have been more helpful, i told them what i wanted and how much i wanted to pay and that if they could get close we would accept a new or a pre reg and were flexible on spec and colour if it got the deal done and quickly. In the end they had a new silver one in stock that had just arrived and in the spec we wanted and at the money i wanted to pay, OK it was £20 a month more than the campaign that was on the Maidstone car but it is a Passion spec instead of the basic one and in the colour we really wanted. We collected the car on Friday night 5 days after first speaking to them and SWMBO is over the moon.

Salesperson dealt with was Holly.

Dean

 

[trapperjohn]

Some much difference and indifference in such a small area.

Thumbs up to Holly though

 

[jonnyboy]

The more direct comparison would be:

Imagine trying to buy a car and having to wait in a long queue to speak to someone in India. To speak to that person you would also have to enter your registration number and date of birth for confirmation of your identity. You would then be told something you didn't need to such as how many A class they have in stock and asked if you need anything else. If so, press 1

You now have more options. Press one for sales, press two for servicing etc.

Press one for A class sales. Two for B-class, Three for C-class etc

Do you have a trade in? if so press 1

Enter reg number again.

Do you want finance? Press 1

Enter reg number and date of birth.

etc etc once you get connected to India you get asked all the same questions again!!!!


We also bought a car this weekend though and the salesperson did it as much as the car.

We were looking for a family runabout to replace the Ford Fusion, main thing, has to be an auto because the Mrs is disabled and can't drive manual.

Cars on the list, Meriva, C-Max, C4 picasso, Scenic. Renault were the first stop. Very good showed us the cars. Nothing to drive though and not keen to do a deal for the Fusion. Tahnked and left.

Vauxhall. Friendly, pulled the car round for us. Again no auto demonstrator. Would do a deal for ours but delivery time is very very long at the moment and we wanted something a bit quicker.

Citroen. Mare, far too busy but sales chap friendly when approached. Didn't seem that interested though. C4 was a bit of a struggle to get in but the C3 Picasso, spot on - except no auto option. Most strange.

C-Max, dealership packed but one chap said he's get someone to us asap. Toys for the wee one to play with and books/jogsaws etc so that was good. Had a drink while we waited. Still no demonstrators though and long delivery time (bit shorter than Vauxhall though and to be honest an impressive motor although decided the seating position is a bit low for such a big vehicle.

Final curve ball, just because they were opposite the Reno dealer - Nissan. Mrs saw the Note and thought it looked great. Salesman gave us a quick look round the car and pointed out some of the features then left us to it. We had a questions, he came back straight away and helped us load the buggy and car seat in to check it all fitted then left us to talk about it some more.

Importantly they'd invested a fair bit in demonstrators so they actually had an auto we could drive. That made his sale really. That and they provided drinks and colouring pencils etc for the little one. Superb experience. We asked for a top spec car with sat nav and parking sensors in black. Brilliantly, we are buying British. One in that spec is rolling off the production lines in Sunderland in the next week or so, delivery by Feb. Couple more weeks for a special order, not the four months Vauxhall needed. Also, they were happy to do a deal on the Fusion too.

All in all the sales person (youngish chap) made the sale by being polite, helpful and not at all pushy. His dealership was smart and clean and they were happy to keep the little man amused. Weirdly, this was an Arnold Clark, same as the dealership over the road and same as the one neaerer our house where the service had been awful so well done that man. Just goes to show the difference it can make.

m.

This just goes to show the huge variance between dealerships. A while ago I was seriously considering leasing a new Navara. The facelifted model was imminent according to the rumours but the dealerships knew nothing till their demo's arrived one weekend.
We had a poor experience down near us with a very large dealer who genuinely couldn't give a ****. I was stunned - this is a £25k+ motor. Spoke to my stepfather who had been looking at the Note locally (Newcastle). He suggested we speak to the salesman up there they dealt with. The chap was pleasant but passed me over to their business consultant who was excellent, really appreciated the potential sale, and put the work in to make it happen. I wavered in the end and after a month or so she rang me to see how things were etc. I told her that we weren't ready to commit. She informed me that she was leaving to have a baby but would pass me over to her replacement via email intro.
Fast forward a month or so, v6 model launched, I was salivating uncontrollably. Rang him on a Wednesday to say we were coming up north Friday and would pop in - did he have all the details, pricing, lead times etc? He said he would get it all together. Got there around 4pm after a nightmare journey. What a complete and total tool he was, arrogant, I would go so far as saying he was borderline rude, eating crisps at his desk while talking at me (not with me). I would have signed on the line there and then if he hadn't been a t*sser. I walked out, very publicly, the place was reasonably busy.
Got a customer service call on the monday so I really went to town on them, the dealer principal rang me himself. I told him that when I'd dealt with the girl predecessor there was the option of another 2-3 vans within a year.
His response was staggering - "he is very good at his job, is my top salesman, and I trust him totally".

He did me a favour actually as I just shelved the idea in the end I was so disappointed with the apathy of the Nissan dealers.

 

[flango]

Update 2

Managed to set up some appointments for later this week in Germany.

Wednesday: BMW Munich
Thursday: MB Mannheim
Friday: Brabus

Will keep you all posted on how I get on

 

[trapperjohn]

Oh please do. Perhaps a little neagative feedback for the UK dealer when you drop into Mannheim and Brabus.

 

[st4]

Will be interesting to hear your views and experiences of the german dealers and the home land of the Mercedes and BMW