Is this the worst treatment from a MB dealer ever ?

hawk20

Senior Member
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
4,971
Reaction score
11
Your Mercedes
ML250 BlueTEC Sport
What was the response? If you don't mind me asking.

That's awful what's happened, I can't get over them putting your car up for sale before they've given you the money!! :shock:

It all depends what the contract said. Unusual deal this where the part ex took place some fair while before the new arrival came. I think ML420cdi did the right thing. An awesome beast with a V8 diesel, great looks, 0-62 in 6.9 seconds and a topspeed of 150 -- should be adequate for the UK's congested road system! Good luck with your new purchase.
 

hawk20

Senior Member
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
4,971
Reaction score
11
Your Mercedes
ML250 BlueTEC Sport
This is poor but, like my experience with Purslow, I am not surprised. So we ordered a BMW instead.

And I had such lousy service from the local BMW dealer that I went back to Mercedes.
 

slim_boy_fat

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
154
Reaction score
0
Most of me previous cars were BMW and this is my first Mercedes so hope it lives up to my expectations. Will go to Glen Hendersons for servicing etc as so hacked off with Vardys. Will try them for running boards as well.

Vardy in Giffnock is my local dealer my father in law uses them to service his car.

I get the impression that they are very poor, not heard anyone say a good thing about them.

Was there tonight buying a front wiper blade.

Nice SLK55 in the front.

Very nice BLack SL55 with sold sticker on it sitting in show room, with a sign rubbing up against the wing and scraches on the bonnet.

Hope they prep the car before the owner picks it up.
 

Stevie A

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
440
Reaction score
0
Location
Scotland
We visited Mercedes Benz of Giffnock mid July looking for a new car.
In the following days they offered us a trade-in deal of £40k for our Audi RS6 against a new ML420CDI. This fugure was based on the trade-in value at that time and we also asked for a value when the new car was ready ( October 2006) and were told it would drop by £2k. We paid a £1000 deposit for the new car. After a couple of weeks , we decided to just trade the car in now and take advantage of the extra £2k we would be saving. I telephoned the garage Grant Cameron told me that was no problem and , as soon as the private plate was off it , bring it in and they would give us a cheque for £38k. This was due to part of the £40k being a £2k discount from the new car.

We took the car in on Thursday 10th August and on arrival we were told that there was a problem with the mileage on the HPI check and they couldnt give us the cheque that night until it was sorted. We were assured it would be sorted the following day. We agreed to leave the car and they took our bank details , agreeing to make the transfer when the problem was sorted out.

After telephoning several times over the next week , I was not getting any answers and kept being told it would be sorted the next day. On Sunday 20th August I happened to be looking on the internet and came across my car for sale in another Glasgow Garage , Killermont Motor Co in Maryhill Road. As I had not yet been paid for the car , it seemed that they had sold on my car without consulting me or paying me for it.

I called them and their excuse was that they didnt have space to keep it and had to move it on. They said that no money had changed hands for it . It seems strange if there was a problem with the HPI check that they were happy to move it on. I told them , in writing ,that I wanted the bank transfer done that day or I was coming back to collect the car. They then said they couldnt do a bank transfer but would give me a cheque for £36k that night. I said that the figure agreed was £38k but they now tell me that they cant give me that as a few weeks have gone by and that is the new trade-in figure ! They said that the other £2k would be taken off the price of the new car, making the same changeover figure. I asked them for this in writing .

I have banked the cheque for £36k but I want confirmation of the £4k discount on the new car.

24/8 - Grant Cameron called at 09.13 and left message to say Order and HPI report were on the fax " this minute".

24/8 - fax arrives at 10.38am but with £1000 less than promised on the order form. Rang him and tries to offer £500. I have told him that we go with the original deal or nothing. He then suggest a free servicing package to the value of £500 to which I agreed but he says he will have to get this agreed with David.

31/8 - Phones again and Grant suggest a meeting if he doesnt sort it out before weekend. Hear nothing

4/9 - Phones again and was told that should be sorted out today but if not will arrange meeting for Wednesday. He will speak to David this afternoon and will definitely call before he leaves at 5pm. Heard nothing as usual.

7/9 - Spoke to David McBennett and he says that this is the first he has heard of the problem and asks me to fax all the details through which I have done.

10/9 David McBennet phoned back and says that Grant Cameron tried to handle the deal himself without consulting anyone and if thats the deal that was done , then he will stick to it. Promises to post out a revised copy of the order with the correct car on it and the correct level of discount ,together with a copy of the factory order by first class post on Monday 11th. I asked him to confirm the delivery date and he says he cant look that up as it is a Sunday but will post it with revised order.

12/9 - nothing arrived in post
13/9 - nothing arrived in post
14/9 - nothing arrived in post. Called David McBennet at 11.30 and was told he would call me back.
14/9 - 4PM - No return call so called them again and was told that David McBennet was very busy and was not taking calls , not returning them either by the look of it !
15/9 - Nothing in post , called David McBennet , told he will call back again. Grant Cameron calls back to see if he can help. Says he will fax the information and guarantees to do it today.
16/9 - still no fax. Spoke to Grant Cameron at 12.45pm and was told it would be on the fax in 5 minutes. He didnt manage to speak to David yesterday.
17/9 - fed up waiting so drove to Glasgow and collected the paperwork. Sales order still says ML500 petrol but given print out of order to factory for ML420CDI . Delivery date shown as 6/11/06.

23/10 - 10.am Phoned Grant Cameron to get an ETA on the car. He told me he has been off for 2 weeks and will check it out and call me back within 2 hours. Heard nothing.

24/10 - 11.30am - Phoned again and was told that he was busy but would call me back.
24/10 - 11.55am - Grant left message on answering machine to say that the car is built and has a chassis and engine number on the system but no delivery date as yet. He will monitor it over the next day or two to make sure it comes up with a date and will advise me of it.
26/10 - I called again and was told Grant was busy and he would call me back. Heard nothing as usual.
30/10 - 10.30am. Phone yet again and Grant said he never got my message. He says he will go and check if there is a delivery date on the system yet and call me back " very shortly". He again re-assures me that the car is built and on its way to them.
1/11 - Rang Grant again and he now tells me that he thinks the car will be late and will be nearer the middle to the end of the month but still no delivery date on the system. He will keep monitoring it and let me know.
9/11 - rang and left message for Grant to call me back , he didnt
11/11 - range and left message for Grant to call me back , he didnt
12/11 - range and left message for Grant to call me back and guess what , he didnt !
12/11 - Grant eventually called me back. He now tells me that we wont get it until mid December. He tells me it is very much dependent on the weather and if they get a tail wind we might get it a week sooner. There was every excuse from the weather to Christmas holidays !I have never heard so much bull**** from start to finish on this whole saga in my life. He also admits that the never ordered it as soon as they could have either .
27/11 - phoned for update and left message for Grant to call me back. He didnt as usual !
29/11 - Grant phoned back and says that the car is due between 10th and 15th December. I asked him if the towbar and sidesteps were organised and he said he has already checked and they are there ready to be fitted when the car arrives. He promises a 2 day turnaround when the car arrives. I told him that , if the car is any later than 15th , I dont want it registered until Jan 2007.

8/12 - Get a phone call from Helen to say the car is arriving this afternoon or Monday. I asked about the towbar and side-steps and she says the side-steps are on back order ! I told her that I had specifically check this with Grant and he said the 2 extras were there to be fitted when the car arrived. She will call me on Monday to sort out the insurance etc. She also asked about the private reg and I advised her that it is to just go on a 56 plate at the moment.

12/12 - Grant rang to say that they cant fit they side steps as there is a "worldwide shortage" of Mercedes side steps. I suggested he took them off them ML63 he has in his showroom but he tells me that that doesnt belong to them ! I asked about the payment and he suggests paying by switch after we see the car and are happy with it. He says he will fax through the final invoice , which believe it or not , he does !

Helen then rang to say the car will be ready for collection Wednesday afternoon . I arranged Mercedes 1 week free insurance to allow them to tax the car when the cover note gets emailed to them. She agrees to take the payment by switch.

13/12 - Collected the car !!!! ( minus the running boards)

I think once you get obsessive about things then it becomes like banging your head against a brick wall. ;)
 

CMR

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2006
Messages
90
Reaction score
1
Location
London
Your Mercedes
W203 C240
I always like to say to people that this call is being recorded for reference in much the same way I get told that my calls "may be recorded for training purposes" or whatever they say on those 'spin out the minutes messages' before you actually speak to someone. Its surprising to find the change in tone and attitude when they know its on tape.
 

GSM1

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2006
Messages
82
Reaction score
0
Location
Glasgow
StevieA, I think your out of order for trying to suggest that ML420cdi is becoming obsessive, He clearly has kept a diary of events and phone calls due to the crap he has endured when buying a £40k+ car.
In my opinion this kind of detail helps others who may suffer a similar kind of crap from merc dealers.
Hope it's not a jealous streak!!!!!!!
 

hawk20

Senior Member
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
4,971
Reaction score
11
Your Mercedes
ML250 BlueTEC Sport
StevieA, I think your out of order for trying to suggest that ML420cdi is becoming obsessive, He clearly has kept a diary of events and phone calls due to the crap he has endured when buying a £40k+ car.
In my opinion this kind of detail helps others who may suffer a similar kind of crap from merc dealers.
Hope it's not a jealous streak!!!!!!!

But is it a proper Mercedes dealer? Someone said Reg Vardy was a car supermarket gone upmarket. What has happened to ML420cdi would never happen at my local Mercedes dealer. I agree no sign of obsession here. heavens above, we would all be furious in the situation described. As always it would be nice to hear the dealers version but that is always true on a forum.
 
OP
M

ml420cdi

Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2006
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Your Mercedes
ml420cdi amg 2006
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #28
I would like to hear the dealers version as well but as they 1) dont call you back and 2) blame each other within the dealership for problems , it would be very difficult.

Dont think I am being obsessive , when my £40k car was sold before I was paid for it , I had to take legal advice and catalogueing every bit of correspondence was one piece of advice I was given. Reg Vardy operate at least 3 dealerships in the area and although the likes of Glen Hendersons etc are reputed to be excellent dealerships , they are only service centres and cant sell new cars. ( I approached them when I was ordering)

I have to say the ML420 is a cracking car so far and must be the quickest and quietest diesel I have ever sat in.

As someone says , these forums generally generate negative comments but they are very useful to let others see good and bad models and good and bad dealers.
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
1,471
Reaction score
2
Location
West Sussex - UK
But is it a proper Mercedes dealer? Someone said Reg Vardy was a car supermarket gone upmarket. What has happened to ML420cdi would never happen at my local Mercedes dealer. I agree no sign of obsession here. heavens above, we would all be furious in the situation described. As always it would be nice to hear the dealers version but that is always true on a forum.

but Stumpy had similar problems at Tony Purslow, and they are a "proper" MB dealer so unfortunately I think it just depends on the individual dealer and possibly your perception of them.
 

Shambolic

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2006
Messages
235
Reaction score
0
I believe Reg Vardy now own Western Mercedes in Glasgow too bu they seem to be very good although you will have seen some of the probs i have had on here( Car was from Reg Vardy in Hamilton)
The dealer dealt with all these probs very well!!! so no real complaints there.
I am a memeber of another forum that deals with all things Gadgety!
This inclues a sub-forum dedicated to Sky and Hd etc and you find the same on there that most people come on there looking for advice when they have a prob looking for similar probs or just to vent off, it human nature!!!

My old boss used to tell me that "do a good job and the customer will tell 1 or 2 people. Do a bad job and they will tell 10-20"
This is what you find with forums so its a slightly skeltered view (unsure if skeltered is right but you know what I mean):Oops:
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
1,471
Reaction score
2
Location
West Sussex - UK
don't get me started on Sky boxes, I think I've had about 6 now. Always going wrong. HD is a waste of money too (at the moment). Too little of it and what there is tends not to be very good quality. The Beeb puts out about the best HD. And yes, I do have HD and a HD LCD telly.

Anyway, that's for antoher thread (maybe the one I started on Sky and HD)....;)
 

Blobcat

Moderator
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
39,033
Reaction score
27,866
Location
Grange Moor
Your Mercedes
R171 SLK280, Smart R451, Land Rover 110 County SW, 997 C2S, R1250 GSA TE 40th, CBR600FP
don't get me started on Sky boxes, I think I've had about 6 now. Always going wrong. HD is a waste of money too (at the moment). Too little of it and what there is tends not to be very good quality. The Beeb puts out about the best HD. And yes, I do have HD and a HD LCD telly.

Anyway, that's for antoher thread (maybe the one I started on Sky and HD)....;)
Your trying to get ahead through technology but not doing too well.
 

dagd

Active Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Messages
40
Reaction score
0
Location
Surrey, UK
but Stumpy had similar problems at Tony Purslow, and they are a "proper" MB dealer so unfortunately I think it just depends on the individual dealer and possibly your perception of them.

Interesting; just had a mail shot from Tony Purslow (Basingstoke) explaining their BMW Services, so they not just Merc! Don't expect Stumpy will be using them!
 

stumpy

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
1,611
Reaction score
2
Your Mercedes
various
Funnily enough we didn't order our new BMW from Purslow.
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
368
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
don't get me started on Sky boxes, I think I've had about 6 now. Always going wrong. HD is a waste of money too (at the moment). Too little of it and what there is tends not to be very good quality. The Beeb puts out about the best HD. And yes, I do have HD and a HD LCD telly.

Anyway, that's for antoher thread (maybe the one I started on Sky and HD)....;)

I have changed 5 boxes this week,so i can buy some food for Xmas:D

Malcolm
 

stumpy

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
1,611
Reaction score
2
Your Mercedes
various
now there's a surprise ;)

btw, what Beemer did you order in the end? I'm sure it's in the post somewhere but it's Friday afternoon so......


535d Spt Touring. Will be the facelift car produced from March 07. We had one for 4 days from our normal BMW dealer. It's a very different car to the Merc so you can't really compare, but it is awesome to drive. But BMW have gone back to the bad old days of charging extra for things that should be standard on a car at this level. I mean, 110 quid for mats! C'mon............ Got a good deal though and the dealer has been superb.
 


Chris Knott Insurance, see oursticky posts here!
www.ckinsurance.co.uk
Top Bottom