Hi folks! I'm looking for help finding a good indie merc specialist in the Glasgow area. If anyone can help with details and recommendations, I would be very appreciative.
It would appear from looking through previous threads on the forum that many of you would be able to guess immediately why I'm looking to go indie as opposed to dealer for servicing in future... yip, because my local dealer is an out-and-out crook.
Took my 2 year-old 14K miles E320 CDi Sport for the recommended 'B' service. All I got for a whopping £357 was an oil change. I like to think I'm a pretty smart consumer, but on this occasion, they really saw me coming!!
My suspicions were raised when they called my mobile 5 mins before the workshop was due to close stating that the tyres were "very low" on tread, and that there were "issues" with the brake discs and would need refurbished or replaced, then asked did I want the work to be carried out? Hmmm…
I look after a fleet of 8 cars in my family, and keep a regular eye on these sorts of things, so imagine my surprise when my immaculate Merc needed new tyres and brake discs? I honestly thought that they had somehow mixed up my car for someone else’s, so I asked them to leave the suggested work until I had had a look for myself.
I returned to collect the car the following day and asked them to bring it round so that I could inspect the tyres and brakes (pre suggested work). While I was outside checking it over, I asked the customer service assistant to present a copy of the service report for review. Meanwhile inside, another member of staff hornswoggled my wife into paying for the service.
The tyres and brakes were all in good condition, so I went back inside to look at the service report. The report showed that none of the tyre treads were under 4mm (with some as much as 6mm), and that the brake discs showed 'signs of pitting'.
I put it to them that the tyres had plenty of life left in them, and that the discs would clean up the next time I held the brakes on down a long straight hill. They had no reply to this, so I asked to speak to the technician... who I was told was on holiday. So, I asked to speak to the customer service assistant who called me the previous evening to discuss these 'issues'... who was also strangely not working on a Friday.
As I looked through the rest of the service report, I noticed that they had not carried out any of the listed ESS 'B' service work, other than an oil change and filter. No fuel filter, no combi filter, no air filter, no brake fluid change, etc. Actually, I tell a lie... they topped up the windscreen washer bottle and replaced the battery in the key fob, but managed to break the attached keyring in the process.
I was somewhat baffled at that point, so I asked them to explain why they missed the all the other serviceable work, to which they replied that these were 'additional' elements of the service. Seriously?
Then came the hilarious moment where I told them that I refused to pay £357 for 8 litres of oil, an oil filter, half a bottle of washer fluid, and a watch battery... only to feel the hand of my wife on my arm and a wincing smile on her beautiful little face as she whispered, "I've paid it already... I thought it would save us some time". Bless her, she meant well.
In my naivety, I spent the next half hour arguing with the 'brick wall' that is the servicing manager. It dawned on me soon enough that he was way more than used to having this conversation with customers, and I suspected that he was being blatantly smug whilst toying with the latest fly to end up in his beautifully engineered web of deceit.
Clearly, the two main issues I had with their service (or lack of therein) were that a) standard serviceable parts came at an extra, and b) many hundreds of pounds worth of unnecessary work were being suggested by a ‘qualified’ technician.
In reply to my line of questioning that they had not been forthcoming with this information when I booked the car in for its service, he said that I had "not asked what was included in the service", and that, "the details of the service are available upon request". Virtually every other point I put to him was met with, "well... that's your opinion, and your perfectly entitled to that"... the mating call of the smarmy bas**** !!!
Then an event from a previous visit to the dealer clicked in to place. I recalled a seemingly well-to-do gent sat next to me going from calm/assertive to ballistic/mental within a few minutes. I remember him shouting across a desk at this same servicing manager, stating in no uncertain terms that he had specifically NOT authorised any work done, and was demanding everything be put back on his car as he was taking it to another garage, and that he wouldn't be giving them a penny... to which the manager suggested they wouldn't give him the keys until he paid... to which the irate customer stood up, reached for his mobile and demanded the return of his car before he called the police.
In Glasgow, professional negotiations and physical violence aren't mutually exclusive, and I did notice an increased number of mechanics enter the showroom at that point, so it's anyone’s guess how that ended. Perhaps the police were called, but not necessarily after the report of vehicle theft.
Anyway, I've learned my lesson, and can assure you that I will never have my merc serviced at ANY main dealer in future, hence my original question: does anyone know of a GOOD indie merc specialist near Glasgow?
It would appear from looking through previous threads on the forum that many of you would be able to guess immediately why I'm looking to go indie as opposed to dealer for servicing in future... yip, because my local dealer is an out-and-out crook.
Took my 2 year-old 14K miles E320 CDi Sport for the recommended 'B' service. All I got for a whopping £357 was an oil change. I like to think I'm a pretty smart consumer, but on this occasion, they really saw me coming!!
My suspicions were raised when they called my mobile 5 mins before the workshop was due to close stating that the tyres were "very low" on tread, and that there were "issues" with the brake discs and would need refurbished or replaced, then asked did I want the work to be carried out? Hmmm…
I look after a fleet of 8 cars in my family, and keep a regular eye on these sorts of things, so imagine my surprise when my immaculate Merc needed new tyres and brake discs? I honestly thought that they had somehow mixed up my car for someone else’s, so I asked them to leave the suggested work until I had had a look for myself.
I returned to collect the car the following day and asked them to bring it round so that I could inspect the tyres and brakes (pre suggested work). While I was outside checking it over, I asked the customer service assistant to present a copy of the service report for review. Meanwhile inside, another member of staff hornswoggled my wife into paying for the service.
The tyres and brakes were all in good condition, so I went back inside to look at the service report. The report showed that none of the tyre treads were under 4mm (with some as much as 6mm), and that the brake discs showed 'signs of pitting'.
I put it to them that the tyres had plenty of life left in them, and that the discs would clean up the next time I held the brakes on down a long straight hill. They had no reply to this, so I asked to speak to the technician... who I was told was on holiday. So, I asked to speak to the customer service assistant who called me the previous evening to discuss these 'issues'... who was also strangely not working on a Friday.
As I looked through the rest of the service report, I noticed that they had not carried out any of the listed ESS 'B' service work, other than an oil change and filter. No fuel filter, no combi filter, no air filter, no brake fluid change, etc. Actually, I tell a lie... they topped up the windscreen washer bottle and replaced the battery in the key fob, but managed to break the attached keyring in the process.
I was somewhat baffled at that point, so I asked them to explain why they missed the all the other serviceable work, to which they replied that these were 'additional' elements of the service. Seriously?
Then came the hilarious moment where I told them that I refused to pay £357 for 8 litres of oil, an oil filter, half a bottle of washer fluid, and a watch battery... only to feel the hand of my wife on my arm and a wincing smile on her beautiful little face as she whispered, "I've paid it already... I thought it would save us some time". Bless her, she meant well.
In my naivety, I spent the next half hour arguing with the 'brick wall' that is the servicing manager. It dawned on me soon enough that he was way more than used to having this conversation with customers, and I suspected that he was being blatantly smug whilst toying with the latest fly to end up in his beautifully engineered web of deceit.
Clearly, the two main issues I had with their service (or lack of therein) were that a) standard serviceable parts came at an extra, and b) many hundreds of pounds worth of unnecessary work were being suggested by a ‘qualified’ technician.
In reply to my line of questioning that they had not been forthcoming with this information when I booked the car in for its service, he said that I had "not asked what was included in the service", and that, "the details of the service are available upon request". Virtually every other point I put to him was met with, "well... that's your opinion, and your perfectly entitled to that"... the mating call of the smarmy bas**** !!!
Then an event from a previous visit to the dealer clicked in to place. I recalled a seemingly well-to-do gent sat next to me going from calm/assertive to ballistic/mental within a few minutes. I remember him shouting across a desk at this same servicing manager, stating in no uncertain terms that he had specifically NOT authorised any work done, and was demanding everything be put back on his car as he was taking it to another garage, and that he wouldn't be giving them a penny... to which the manager suggested they wouldn't give him the keys until he paid... to which the irate customer stood up, reached for his mobile and demanded the return of his car before he called the police.
In Glasgow, professional negotiations and physical violence aren't mutually exclusive, and I did notice an increased number of mechanics enter the showroom at that point, so it's anyone’s guess how that ended. Perhaps the police were called, but not necessarily after the report of vehicle theft.
Anyway, I've learned my lesson, and can assure you that I will never have my merc serviced at ANY main dealer in future, hence my original question: does anyone know of a GOOD indie merc specialist near Glasgow?
