MB Dealers - have I just been unlucky so far?

[Ubi]

I've had two experiences with MB franchises recently and neither of them inspired much confidence in the brand.

In December I sent a dealer an email via the MB web site, asking if I could view a car they were advertising as having "delivery mileage." Fully 48 hours later I got a message on my answering service saying, "The answer is yes." By that time I'd made alternative travel arrangements and couldn't make the viewing. I sent them back a text saying thanks but no thanks. I later saw the car advertised with >9000 miles. I wonder where it was delivered from? Singapore?

I went another MB franchise. Had to phone several times to arrange a drive and get an indication price. In the two days after the drive I sent six emails asking for a formal price and delivery, explicitly telling them I was ready to do business. I've still not heard a thing.

Contrast that with a BMW I enquired about. The salesman was keen as mustard to do business and stayed keen even after I told him that I am probably going to buy a Merc (which I haven't yet ordered.)

Have I just been unlucky so far? Or is this what I should expect from MB? Is this laid back style prevalent in the service departments too?

Thanks.

 

[carabind]

My experince at local dealer is not great for servicing or even sales, but MB direct were keen enough selling to me. and they always have a good selection of cars.
it makes you wonder if they can't be bothered to sell to you , what happens when it goes wrong and you need help?

 

[Ubi]

It's a rule of life for me that if they can't make an effort to get your money there's no chance of them making one after they've got it.

 

[rf065]

I went to a couple of BMW garages and the salesmen seemed to be quite keen in ignoring me. Maybe they felt it was too cold to leave the showroom as I surveyed the rows of cars outside. (thinking back, it was may or june, must have been another reason)

I went to the MB place and the salesman shouted over he would be with me in a minute as he was dealing with another customer. When he came out of the office he had brought the keys to both cars I had been looking at and offered a test drive straight away.

It always amazes me how car salesmen treat potential customers, I now drive a CLK because BMW couldn't be bothered to assist me when I was walking about their car lot with cash in my pocket.

Russ

 

[NJones59]

I had heard lots of bad things about the dealer network before I bought my first Mercedes a couple of weeks ago.

Reality couldn't have been more different. MB Tonbridge were very helpful from start to finish. After my first inquiry, via the MB website, I was called back very quickly and offered a test drive the same day at a time to suit me. Compare this with the Jaguar dealer, which is about 30 miles from me, who wanted me at the dealership first thing on Saturday morning (the conversation took place on a Monday!) if I wanted to test drive a car with them.

Nothing appears to be too much trouble as far as Mercedes Tonbridge is concerned, let's hope it continues.

 

[carabind]

I had heard lots of bad things about the dealer network before I bought my first Mercedes a couple of weeks ago.

Reality couldn't have been more different. MB Tonbridge were very helpful from start to finish. After my first inquiry, via the MB website, I was called back very quickly and offered a test drive the same day at a time to suit me. Compare this with the Jaguar dealer, which is about 30 miles from me, who wanted me at the dealership first thing on Saturday morning (the conversation took place on a Monday!) if I wanted to test drive a car with them.

Nothing appears to be too much trouble as far as Mercedes Tonbridge is concerned, let's hope it continues.

we hope it lasts, but then, you haven't had a couple of years dealing with their service department yet!!

 

[Rory]

Sweeping generalisation but I find most dealers pretty useless, and I've yet to come across any who've discovered email. The MB dealers I've been to are pretty average.

I've wandered around my local BMW dealer on serveral occasions but I've yet to speak to a sales person. They, and BMW UK, have never answered a single email I've sent. I'm a 40 something company director and must be a prime target for 5 Series but BMW don't even know I exist.

The best response I've had recently was when buying my daughter's Mitsubishi Colt - they were keen to deal and nothing was too much trouble. It was a bit of a shock actually and I felt compelled to buy the car!

 

[Ubi]

It's definitely a factor in the purchasing decision. Where I live the group which has the MB outlet also controls the MB franchises for the next four nearest towns.

One other group controls the local franchises for both BMW and Audi and also for both of them in the next town sixty miles away.

How that acts in the interests of free and fair competition is not immediately clear.

The motor industry has always benefited from a policy of coercion.

 

[jberks]

Like all these things, its down to the individual.
When I bought my E240, I had found a car I liked in Bradford. The salesman at the Leeds dealership rang me every night to discuss what he could do to get my business and after a few days sourced a better car for the same money, which I bought.
When I bought the 270, one guy spent an entire afternoon bringing a 320cdi for me to see. I had a test drive and we sat down over a coffee for a hour and discussed me buying it. Understandably I asked him to talk to his manager and improve the deal a little. I never heard another thing. The guy I bought my 270 off never chased me either. He simply had the car and the deal I wanted so I went back to him.
But, it's not confined to Merc.
BMW wouldn't even take my name when I was interested in an 5 series. "None in, sorry-try us again in a week"
Went to Ford looking for an escort cabrio many years ago. When I finally collared someone, "Sorry - we don't have any" and walked off. Bought a rover instead.
Same story over the last month with the Freelander. Spent over an hour at a dealership. He said he'd put some numbers together and call us. He didn't. In the mean time, we found a better one a few miles away and did a deal over the phone. That salesman has been brilliant, nothing too much trouble and even pro-actively called us and sent us a windscreen repair man to repair a minor stone chip, without us mentioning it and having already bought the car and driven away. He didn't have to.

It's not the franchises, its the salesmen.
But, 2 things from your experience.
1) Forget emails - they are far too easy to ignore or delay responding to. Always phone. Even at work, where email is the primary point of contact, I commonly follow up with a phone call if it matters and I work in IT. As has been said, salesmen, who have customers in the showroom and on the phone will view emails as something to attend to when there is nothing else to do. They also have to gauge how serious a buyer is before spending time on them. An email is the least serious method of contact so I'm not surprised you're being ignored.

2) Never travel to a dealership. Fine if they're local but if not, they will come to you. If they won't bring it, don't buy it. (I've never had a refusal). A friend bought his E from a dealer 250 miles away. To compromise he met them at a service station 100 miles away for a test drive, did the final negotiaition over the phone and when he bought it they delivered. He's never stepped foot inside the showroom and if it's inconvenient, neither should you. My C220 was brought to me and I signed the paperwork in my living room. If they want to sell you a car, let THEM put the effort in.

 

[Rory]

It's not the franchises, its the salesmen.

As someone who is basically a salesman, the behaviour of most dealer salespeople astonishes me. How on earth do they get away with the mystery shopper checks, which I know they carry out? My daughter had a Saturday job in a retail store and the manager was in fear of their job if they got a couple of bad reports. There was apparently hell to pay recently when the Alfa UK MD did an unannounced showroom tour and was frequently ignored!

He's never stepped foot inside the showroom and if it's inconvenient, neither should you. My C220 was brought to me and I signed the paperwork in my living room. If they want to sell you a car, let THEM put the effort in.

That's interesting - presumeably you could then invoke the distance selling regulations and reject the car if you weren't happy with it?
MB Direct were keen to deliver my car to me, but I subsequently determined that this was so that they could dump it and run! I've never collected a car (other than the Colt mentioned earlier) that hasn't needed various things sorting out on collection. Our Honda Jazz collection was a disaster - I ended up getting the first service free, useful compensation at Honda prices.

 

[David Nock]

What general area are you in?
Perhaps you have been unlucky. I've been tremendously lucky with the service I've had.

 

[jberks]

I've never collected a car that hasn't needed various things sorting out on collection. Our Honda Jazz collection was a disaster - I ended up getting the first service free, useful compensation at Honda prices.

Nor I.
The steering lock barrel on the C220 collapsed 2 hours after collection and it had to return on a low loader, the E240 had to go back with bodywork problems, the E270 had a couple of minor bracket issues, I had a brand new Audi that blew up after just 60 miles and even the freelander, which I'm very impressed with, keeps throwing up a 'Gearbox error' so will be returning to the dealership shortly.

However, non of this is location dependant. My friend had a couple of 'niggles' too. But as Merc used warranties are national rather than dealer specific, he simply popped it down to his local dealership and they sorted it. There was one issue I believe that was down to the supplying dealer (missing bit of trim or something) but the two garages sorted that out between them.

So, there is no need to return to the supplying dealer when the anticipated problems arise.


As regards the distance selling regs, there are normally ways around that. Technically once youve driven the car, the distance selling regs don't apply to the product and if you need to sign finance docs on the premises then there are probably ways around this too. Worst case, you do make the journey, but only on the day of collection so only if you've actually bought.

 

[Buster73]

I could write a book about apathy in salesmen.

Our local MB dealers , one salesman was reading the sunday paper at his desk and looked over his glasses as if I'd stopped him mid paragraph.

No standing up , no handshake , nothing at all to make me feel welcome.

Appalling customer service at best , basic common decency should give you better service.

His job is to SELL cars , my job puts me in a postion where I can buy them.

I was at a party last year , where three out of four men ( existing customers )would not buy another new car from the same dealer, one of us could be wrong but not three of us.

An issue on servicing lead me to speak to the DP , only 5 days to return my call as he did not put it as high priority .

The apathy comes right down from the top.

Shameful.

 

[grpar]

Until late last year, I had used MB Brentford for 3 years. In the early days they were pretty poor indeed, but they were the closest MB dealer to where I lived. With almost every problem they simply concluded that "they could not replicate", and with every warranty issue they delighted in making you squirm when it came to who would actually be paying. The default position was always that YOU had to tell them that it was a warranty job, otherwise they would try to charge.

Things did improve over the 3 years, but you know what, it was all pretty much just a veneer. An excuse at improving customer service. Lip service in its most basic and unconvincing form. The same poor service rehashed with a smile this time.

You see, good customer service is NOT paying some "greeter" to meet you at the door who then ticks you off the list and points you towards the appaling coffee and the sofas. Good customer service is also NOT taking an investigative test drive around town when they were specifically told that the problem exists is at motorway speeds (result, "we couldn't replicate"). And good customer service is certainly NOT about refusing to tell you what warranty work was done on your car simply because MB picked up the bill rather than you as owner.

I have seen a small ray of sunshine emerge having recently switched to MB Park Royal (A40 and A406 for those familiar with west London). The difference at that dealership was that at least they listened and they tried. Almost full marks just for achieving those 2 basic components of good customer service.

Boil it down to its jam though, and the worst thing by far is that too many MB dealers have the cheek and the gaul to treat us as though we were idiots. Quite how they reach that conclusion baffles me. But I guess they work on the same principle as the credit card companies who knowingly annoy us with multiple mailshots every month (MBNA, Capital One, etc) ... whilst they know it annoys no end, they also know that a good proportion of mugs go along with it and sign up.

Alas, I've had my fill with MB so it will be BMW next for me and then Lexus after that if BMW doesn't work out ......