problems with dealers - anybody else?

[citroennut]

hi all,

due to the continued problems i have been experiencing - c220 cdi poor fuel cons. and loud reverberation at 1200rpm- for over a year, i have told local dealer i want the car away. there has been a case raised with mb but no-one knows what is wrong nor how to fix it. this comes on top of 8 months trying to get the last cars paint warranty problems fixed- poor fit of doors and paint finish. i was told they would find a replacement vehicle and give me a good deal because of all the problems. due to me having the audacity to 'question the integrity of one of the salesmen' - phoned a dealer to see if a particular car was actually sold - it wasn't after being told it was, the gm of dealership said they would do no more for me.
so my question is - how many other people are having problems with their dealership? i am going to write to watchdog and mb in germany. if anyone else is in a similar position please get in touch to see if something cannot be done about these people and their poor attitude towards customers and service

 

[austria40]

I have an 190e, which I have put to the dealership in Weston-Super-Mare for a service.
They had my car for more then one week, a bill of over £1000, and they did not give me a courtesy car. Plus I must add, the dealership is a bit expensive, plus failed to spot a simple problem with me ECU (Plug not in). Words fail me...

 

[joem]

I have to say that whilst I have not used dealers for servicing, I have never had a new Mercedes, when I have used the dealers they have been superb.

Mercedes Truro were excellent in the summer sourcing me a radio code after I changed the battery just before going on holiday.
Mercedes Loughborough have always been very good at getting parts at a reasonable price and very helpful as well.
Mercedes Leicester have been absolutely brilliant in doing a rust repair on my 2001 W202 estate.
And Mercedes Derby found me a locking wheel key from nowhere when I went to Costco to get some new tyres and found I had left mine in the shed!!

Maybe I have been lucky but so far, nothing but praise.

 

[dan1w]

Had my first service with a dealer a few weeks ago and was not impressed one bit. The service 'executive' tried to say I needed a coolant and brake fluid change when it wasn't required, and then I can only assume invented some mileage interval when I questioned him about it.

The Smart courtesy car I received had the service light on! The insurance they provided me didn't actually cover me because they had answered all the criteria questions for me without asking and resulted in me having to take out additional insurance at my expense.

They put the wrong brand and grade of oil (cheaper) in a brand new service book that they charged me £6 for after paying their exorbitant labour rates, and then insisted on just 'crossing it out' when I complained about it. I insisted on a new service book, and received a tatty one with a creased cover, I'm sure they looked for the crappest one they had in stock seeing as it was being given away.

I received a courtesy call asking how the service was, and when I complained and asked for certain details to be raised by the 'executive' that dealt with my service, the message never got passed on, the girl who gave me the courtesy call seemed more interested in how I was going to fill out a satisfaction questionnaire that has never actually arrived.

My calls weren't returned regarding a corrosion warranty claim, and when I finally got through to someone I was told that I would hear something within 48 hours, needless to say I haven't heard a thing.

All pretty minor things really (apart from trying to get me to have work carried out which wasn't needed, which if I didn't know better would have cost me a fortune) but ultimately not what I expected from MB at all.

 

[Aussie Nick]

As soon as you walk in the Dealership door the young man with the double breasted suit arrives . Apart from the plastic painted on smile the only thing that alerts you to the fact that he is alive (and not some Cyborg) is the whirring dollar symbol you see reflected in his eyes. He introduces himself as the service manager.

" Yes Good Morning Sir . How can we help (rob) you today? "

I say "I have this problem which I enquired about on the Mercedes member's forum and one of the senior members sent me a detailed drawing of the replacement part and how to fix it."

He interrupts after casting a glance at the diagram for .0000019 of a nanosecond . "Sir that is Rubbish our super duper XRR>10 Blank computer has all the parts listed and that is not an authorised part and that's not how we do it here . You will need a new windscreen $1.000,000 and then there is labour $500,000 and you can book it in for three months down track we will need to have the car for three weeks to check for any other problems.Please sign here and see you in three weeks or thereabouts".

Hey does this sound familiar?????

 

[jubhi]

I have noticed that there seems to be a pattern of the bigger the actual dealership the worse is the customer service and this goes with all manufacturers not just Merc. The bigger dealers just want to get as many cars in and out as possible cutting corners in the process. In the West Midlands from experience I can say that the smaller 3 dealerships have much better service than the bigger 2 dealerships.

 

[kebo57]

Hi for me it all starts with the phone call “what service do you require” and I say “part’s please” then they say is the fit your self and I say “yes”. Then you become the lowest of the low.
I go to collect the part spend 15 min’s trying to find a parking space every where is full of new car’s, now there’s no side door to collect part’s, so I have to walk through the show room and press a button on the end of a desk, then in ten min’s the girl across say have you pressed the button, the parts guy comes out,
I used to get attitude but we have got past that now, he’s not too bad now he knows he can’t bull**** me.
Thing is now I’ve had a load of parts and fit my self and feel that if I did have a job done to my motor they would get even big style.
I’ve mentioned about this web site and the Russian part’s thingy which was a mistake on my behalf, In future if I were you I wouldn’t say anything about these sites just use them to your advantage.
I’m trying now to think of some thing good say, but for me it’s the price quality of the parts that’s the best thing.

Kevin

 

[jberks]

I have noticed that there seems to be a pattern of the bigger the actual dealership the worse is the customer service and this goes with all manufacturers not just Merc. The bigger dealers just want to get as many cars in and out as possible cutting corners in the process. In the West Midlands from experience I can say that the smaller 3 dealerships have much better service than the bigger 2 dealerships.

I'd go along with this. The Leeds 'mega' dealership is improving but still cock things up from time to time and can be hard to get hold of. They are a world better than they were a few years ago though. However, Harrogate is a far smaller afair and are more helpful as a result. It's all down to how close you are to the people doing the work. If you're 3 service execs away from the workshop, then the law of Chinese whispers means that its doubtful you'll get your message where it need to go. Plus the bigger they are, the more power the accountants have, and accountants are to businesses what brake fluid is to a car. A necessary and useful item in the right place but destructively corrosive if you let it get out and about!

I have to say to austria40 - why on earth are you taking a 190e to the main dealer? I'm not surprised you're paying over the odds and all you get in return is a mechanic who's never worked on a 190 before (but knows the 203 well!) doing the service. Find an indie.

 

[television]

Even so called good dealers can go bad very quickly,,,they replaced to struts on my SL costing some £2k and I had the ABC light coming on now and then. When the red warning car too low came up I had to take it back. no fault found was the answer. the fluid emptied out during the next 1k miles and I took it apart myself,,resealed a sensor and refilled the car and all is well.

I asked MB why the engineer did not even look to where all of the hydraulics are,,,there was oil on the front wheel and dripping off the sill.

Do you know that they could not even get someone who knew anything about the valve block just to have a look at it,, so that me finished with them.

I will not use them again

 

[grpar]

I'd go along with this. The Leeds 'mega' dealership is improving but still cock things up from time to time and can be hard to get hold of. They are a world better than they were a few years ago though. However, Harrogate is a far smaller afair and are more helpful as a result. It's all down to how close you are to the people doing the work. If you're 3 service execs away from the workshop, then the law of Chinese whispers means that its doubtful you'll get your message where it need to go. Plus the bigger they are, the more power the accountants have, and accountants are to businesses what brake fluid is to a car. A necessary and useful item in the right place but destructively corrosive if you let it get out and about!

Jberks and Television are spot again, as usual. The bigger the dealer, the more "hierarchies of hearsay" you have between yourself and the technician.

The MB Brentford dealer claims to do 100 cars a day. They've certainly "done" mine, at any rate. I remember one of my previous visits where I described the handling problems (as succinctly as possible) to the service person, only for them to write down "hard ride ???" on the job sheet. I mean, what chance does the technician have receiving that sort of garbled nonsense.

Learning point for MB ?? Well, when you go for an elective medical procedure (e.g. nose / teeth / face / boob job, laser eye correction, etc), you have to have a consultation with a doctor, not a salesperson. That's what the industry's code of practice says.

Garages would do well to employ the same practice, so you get to talk to the techy and not the smiling bod out front with the business card. It's so simple.

 

[stumpy]

Jberks and Television are spot again, as usual. The bigger the dealer, the more "hierarchies of hearsay" you have between yourself and the technician.

The MB Brentford dealer claims to do 100 cars a day. They've certainly "done" mine, at any rate. I remember one of my previous visits where I described the handling problems (as succinctly as possible) to the service person, only for them to write down "hard ride ???" on the job sheet. I mean, what chance does the technician have receiving that sort of garbled nonsense.

Learning point for MB ?? Well, when you go for an elective medical procedure (e.g. nose / teeth / face / boob job, laser eye correction, etc), you have to have a consultation with a doctor, not a salesperson. That's what the industry's code of practice says.

Garages would do well to employ the same practice, so you get to talk to the techy and not the smiling bod out front with the business card. It's so simple.

More and more true these days. I was once asked if my M5 was diesel by a service 'advisor'. What I sometimes do is insist I show, or roadtest the car with a tecky to demonstrate the problem. It's the only surefire way to do it. They have to do something to earn their 150 quid an hour.

 

[Rory]

All car dealers are all the same. If you go with absolutely zero expectations then you won't be disappointed.
Today I went with my daughter to pick her Mitsubishi Colt up from service at the local dealer (a friendly, one-off place, not part of a big chain). They had no idea why the bill was £200 when they'd quoted (by 2 different people) £125. The only fault with car (clearly baulky gearchange) came back as "unable to replicate fault".

 

[citroennut]

i do have to say that it is the management of the dealership not the service guys. i am on first name terms with the service dept. and would probably have been asked to their christmas party i have been in so often. the receptionist now knows who is calling by the sound of my voice. the service dept. have been great but, the management have been appalling in their attitude to customer service. we have a large dealership up here called arnold clark, and they don't tend to get a good reputation, but they are almost saint-like compared to the mb dealership.

 

[dan1w]

Jberks and Television are spot again, as usual. The bigger the dealer, the more "hierarchies of hearsay" you have between yourself and the technician.

The MB Brentford dealer claims to do 100 cars a day. They've certainly "done" mine, at any rate. I remember one of my previous visits where I described the handling problems (as succinctly as possible) to the service person, only for them to write down "hard ride ???" on the job sheet. I mean, what chance does the technician have receiving that sort of garbled nonsense.

Learning point for MB ?? Well, when you go for an elective medical procedure (e.g. nose / teeth / face / boob job, laser eye correction, etc), you have to have a consultation with a doctor, not a salesperson. That's what the industry's code of practice says.

Garages would do well to employ the same practice, so you get to talk to the techy and not the smiling bod out front with the business card. It's so simple.

That has always been something that has frustrated me. The service department never seem to want to accept that you know anything about your car.

The same thing happened to me at a Vauxhall dealership where I explained that I required a new pin for a handbrake shoe on the n/s/r as the shoe was loose, he wrote down 'handbrake' so I made sure he knew what I was saying, he smiled and didn't want to write anything down. I said to make sure it got replaced. Needless to say I got the car back with a over-tightened handbrake cable and no new pin and charged £30 odd quid for the privelige.

A bit of actual vehicle knowledge training would go a long way in both service and parts departments. I just bought a track rod end for my 202 and the parts man asked 'top or bottom?' I really don't think they are trained in anything more than using EPC, if that.

 

[philharve]

Behaviour & customer care.

i do have to say that it is the management of the dealership not the service guys. i am on first name terms with the service dept. and would probably have been asked to their christmas party i have been in so often. the receptionist now knows who is calling by the sound of my voice. the service dept. have been great but, the management have been appalling in their attitude to customer service. we have a large dealership up here called arnold clark, and they don't tend to get a good reputation, but they are almost saint-like compared to the mb dealership.

I have only visited my local MB dealership 3 or 4 times (now use an indie) and I have never had problems with the parts department people - I can talk to them. I suspect I could say the same about the technicians but they have always been kept at arms length from me by the service management, at least that's how it feels. If I wished to ask the technician a question or point out some important issue concerning my car, I have always done it through the service management who 'disappear' for 10 minutes and come back with an answer or observation. I have no idea what was said or whether the same emphasis was placed on my remarks.

My indie, who is Mercedes-trained and once worked at the same dealership, is very approachable and will stop work to talk to customers. It's an entirely different environment. Simple items like bulbs or fuses are replaced without charge and this 'goodwill' draws customers away from the dealerships.

I am reluctant to visit my local dealership because their service management seem to exude a superior aire and I feel they would rather like to keep me well beyond arms length as if I had the pox. I feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Is this behaviour instilled in the service management by the German company or is there some other phenomina at work here? It has been suggested above that the smaller the dealership the better the behaviour. Is this a clue?

My local dealership do send me invites and newsletters - I suspect in an attempt to win me back - but receiving them is like receiving an invite from Sweeny Todd to give me a free shave. Thankyou but no thanks!

REGARDS

Phil

 

[cj...]

Interesting to note that in this thread somebody has raised the issue about the dealer only being interested in how they are going to fill out the csi questionaire.
All the dealers in the country are obsessed with this questionaire now,as it is like some competion to see who is going to come out at the top of the chart at the end of each quarter (and of course the huge bonus paid to the dealer would probably have something to do with it also) but the lengths what the dealers are going to in order to get these csi qusetionaires at a 100% mark borders on the line of insane and the public humiliation around the dealer group if a sales person should get a 99% return and the nasty e mails from the powers that be if it happens to be you with the 99% return because the customers car has arrived a day late from germany and is totally out of your control but you are the one who is penalised for it.
I have always prided myself on giving excellent service and have a customer base that would support this claim and even they are amazed/appauled at the pressure from this csi questionaire and the consequence of a lower than 100% return.

If you are in a "cutomer focused" position/role then you should give 100% to the customer because you want to,not because you feel you have to.otherwise you shouldnt be doing the job... end of.

Sorry if this sounds bitter but thats because i am as i think that dealers are not really concerned about the customer experience but it is all about bonus and bottom line.

 

[Ashley H]

I note that Citroennut is a fellow inhabitant of Ayrshire - were you using the main dealer or the authorised repair centre?
As I have already covered in another thread, I received terrible service from the latter and filled out my MB questionnaire accordingly... I've never heard anything from either GH or MB so I'm not sure why dealers would get so paranoid about them. I would have thought a non-dealer would consider themselves even more exposed than a full-blown dealer.
I think a lot of the problem stems from the ever-increasing MB range and the dearth of experienced mechanics. There are plenty of spanner jockeys who can plug in the computer diagnostic system but if the computer doesn't know - and it often doesn't - they have no clue where to start looking.
My problem with the damage caused at the last service turns out to be a simple & semi-regular problem with a DIY solution on this forum but the authorised repairer couldn't spot it straight away because the computer didn't tell them.

 

[jpbp200]

I wonder if any people with any clout at any MB dealerships look at this site? They might be as well to! In any case perhaps someone could start a list of dealerships and allow members to vote on excellent, good or bad. Maybe subdivided by region to give members the option of going to a good one near them? In due course there would be a comprehensive list/leaderboard of the best dealerships in the country. Maybe it could also be extended to indies.... BTW my local MB bodyshop told me not to take any notice of anything anybody says on the "internet" as it is all rubbish and they don't know what they are talking about!

 

[jberks]

On CJs point - a lot of these frustrations are down to basic communication. Few people object to issues - we expect them, but what most people can't stand, is being promised something and then spending the day waiting only to ring up at 5pm to be told sorry - and they new last week thatgis would be the case.
All we ask is that someone calls us pro-actively to tell us there is a problem. A simple example was my ESP failure. They took it in, diagnosed it and ordered the part. They even told me there would be a 2 week wait as there wasn't one in the country. Ok no problem. 3 1/2 weeks later I call into the dealership to find out what's happening. They spent 1/2 an hour digging around and finally came back to tell me it would be here in 3 days time. If they'd diarised the 2 week promise and called me to say there'd been a delay, I'd have been happy. Its only when I have to chase them that my opinion falls.
So that's my recommendation for improved service. Put promises in a diary and check them daily. The moment you know you're going to slip, ring the customer and tell them. After all, they're quick enough to call when a service or MOT are due.

My other recommendation is to have an allocated mechanic (swap them daily) who is under utililised each day so they are available to look at customer's cars. Not necessarily to fix it, but to give it a cursory check over and advise on the most likely cause. I had to shout at the reception girlie before she would permit me to speak to a mechanic. She insisted that i book in (in 2 weeks time). I knew, though I doubt she did, that they wouldn't have the parts in stock and that the diagnostic would take less than 5 minutes. This is another crucial issue I've discussed before. Reception girlies (including the male ones). They write down 'handbrake' because they don't understand what a pin is. I have one guy I use at our dealership who knows his stuff, the rest haven't a clue, so how are they going to explain it?

Once I got my mechanic within that 5 mins, the fault was understood, diagnosed, I knew what was involved and the parts were ordered. Now I was happy to book in, knowing what would be done, confident that it would actually be fixed when I took it in and I wouldn't need a second visit. It's crazy, as this stupidity costs them dear. They can't charge for the diagnostic, have no idea how long it will take so can't plan properly and thats without the cost of the loan car they have to pay for.

"The computer says it's fine" is a third issue. I'm sure it does, but it's wrong. Been there, bough the T shirt. Apparently all MB V6 petrol engines misfire after around 3 years. Perfectly normal sir. All except mine it seems as I stubbornly refused to accept it until it was finally fixed by an indie.

 

[jubhi]

I wonder if any people with any clout at any MB dealerships look at this site? They might be as well to! In any case perhaps someone could start a list of dealerships and allow members to vote on excellent, good or bad. Maybe subdivided by region to give members the option of going to a good one near them? In due course there would be a comprehensive list/leaderboard of the best dealerships in the country. Maybe it could also be extended to indies.... BTW my local MB bodyshop told me not to take any notice of anything anybody says on the "internet" as it is all rubbish and they don't know what they are talking about!

In the past with my Civic Type R and Subaru Impreza I was a member of their respective forums. Now we all know that there is invaluable info on all car forums where people have posted about technical problems, fault diagnosis and how to resolve them through past experience.

However, when you go to the dealership and explain that you seem to have a certain problem and on the forum it advises to get a certain part changed they just say that people post a load of rubbish on the forums and they don't know what they're talking about. This really annoys me as you know exactly what needs changing but they're just going to waste time and maybe not even change that part. And then you wish you could just do the work yourself if you knew how.