OT RANT: Awful Mercedes-Benz Customer Care

[Eric_Shea]

OK… here's my rant. I’ve actually had a few weeks to think about it before I hit the boards with what I think you guys should know.

I’m extremely disappointed in Mercedes-Benz Customer “Care” or lack thereof.

First a little history; Besides my love for vintage Porsches, I’m a Mercedes guy. I bout my first Mercedes 12 years ago at Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake City (one of the absolute worst dealerships you could ever impose upon a car buyer). It was a 300TE 4-Matic. My brother had a 300TD and I fell in love with the car. Since then, I’ve owned an ML320 (still own) an E320 4-Matic Wagon and the current car in question our E500 4-Matic Wagon. I’ve been a mouth piece for Mercedes with all of our wagons and my ML that won’t stop running.

Here’s my story; I bought the last wagon used. It had 48k on the clock when we decided to get a few last minute details buttoned up while still under warranty. I brought the car to Ken Garff Mercedes with complaints of the automated CD door not shutting. They looked at it and replaced the door under warranty. My wife got in the car and drove it away. Never checking the door… it was down, life was good, we rarely use the CD player anyway.

Fast forward about 1.5 months later. We’re in Yellowstone on vacation with the car. We decide to load a CD. Push the button. Door goes up. Won’t come down. Same problem. I think “no problem, they should still fix this even though the car is now 1k over the warranty period”. Upon further inspection, they misdiagnosed “why” the door was not functioning. The problem was the CD player not the door. I still thought nothing of it.

Wrong.

They now wanted me to pay for the CD player as the car was now out of warranty. This is where things started to get weird. Do you like the run-around? I got a plain and clear “run-around” Ken Garff stated unequivocally; “You need to talk to Mercedes-Benz Customer Care. They are the ones denying your claim.” I spoke to Mercedes-Benz Customer Care and they stated unequivocally; “You need to talk to Ken Garff Mercedes. They are the ones denying your claim.” Back to “Ken Garff Mercedes” who states it’s Patrick Tam from Mercedes-Benz USA.

Furthermore (ready for this car guys?); because I change my own oil and do my own routine maintenance on my vehicles (brakes etc.) I was told the claim would not be granted because “I do not have a good service history with the dealership”. Keep that in mind… big brother is watching your VIN.

After 4 days of holding our car hostage they come back to us acting like the “Good Guys” and say. We’ll pay for ½ of the CD player and your bill will be $440.00. More calls to Mercedes-Benz Customer Care. I couldn’t believe my ears. To me this was cut and dry. The car was brought into a Mercedes-Benz dealership while under warranty complaining of the problem. I have the receipts. They know this to be true. It was not fixed properly and they “both” are unwilling to stand behind the problem and simply admit error and fix the problem.

Ready for more? I told them to fix the door and I declined to pay for the CD player. They then proceeded to erase all of my previous backordered items that were to be covered under warranty and told me this fine trick “It’s all or nothing. You either take the CD at ½ off and we’ll repair the door for free or it’s full price for everything.”

At that point I had the moron service writer print me an estimate to have the car repaired. The new total is now $1,200.00. I have taken all invoices and notes to my attorney. I even have a phone message from Mercedes declining the coverage.

Why litigation? I don’t know… I’ve never sued anyone in my life but this is clear cut wrong. A claim was made under warranty and not fixed properly. I was told by both the dealership and Mercedes-Benz Customer Care that because I am not a regular customer at Ken Garff Mercedes my claim was being declined.

Shame on Mercedes-Benz Customer Care. I would say shame on Ken Garff Mercedes but they are beyond moral reprehension. They are simply the worst automobile dealership I’ve “ever” had experience with.

I do not recommend anyone purchase a new Mercedes-Benz automobile.

Now back to your regularly schedule chatting...

[widgeon13]

Ridiculous, leave it w/the attorney, screw Mercedes!

[Bill Verburg]

I think that in general the Germans have been very unresponsive to customer issues(that includes VAG), the Japanese have not. Eventually they will run out of suckers and go the way of GM & Chrysler

[Dottore]

I have owned Mercs most of my life and the dealer experience varies—just as it does with every car except perhaps a Lexus.

I am fortunate now in that the two closest dealers to me are Mercedes-owned (not independant), and their service is superb. I mean really superb. Nice loaner cars. Punctual. Thorough. Clean the car. etc etc.

Perhaps there's Mercedes owned dealer in your area???

[Eric_Shea]

Perhaps there's Mercedes owned dealer in your area???

That would be great but, no. Just Garff and now Larry H. Miller in Lindon, UT.

How F'd up is this though??? Literally taunting me... "If you were a better customer we'd cover it." Now THAT will make me a better customer for sure.

I guess 2 Mercedes in the driveway isn't enough for them...

[onewhippedpuppy]

Dealer by dealer. My local MB dealer is excellent, BMW and VW dealer are a joke. Sorry about your luck, stories like that are why I consider any warranty to be damn near worthless. I've never had work completed under ANY warranty without a fight.

[motion]

I can't begin to tell you how good the service is at our MB dealer, Laguna Niguel Mercedes Benz. I picked up the car today after some warranty work to find the thing absolutely spotless, freshly washed. The tires were even Armor All'd. The service guy is amazing & was bending over backwards to make the experience perfect, as always. Every time we bring the car in, there are no questions asked, they do more stuff than we even asked, and we get a brand new loaner Mercedes for free. I usually get a DTM car (yeah right).

I guess it really must vary from dealer to dealer. Maybe your dealer is in trouble and morale is low?

[herr_oberst]

I've never owned a Merc, but until they merged with Chrysler, I used to hear the most fantastic stories about the top-notch service - my favorite was the replacement of an entire front suspension corner when it failed catastrophically - on a 20 year old car - for free. Probably urban legend, but the reputation started somewhere.

Now I guess they are just another car, service wise.

[RWebb]

this sounds like a warranty issue - document everything very specifically; then look in the owners manual to see who is the next step up to contact

do it in writing

FWIW - when I had a Benz the Service guy was very nice at the dealership; the head of the dealership not so much & the regional rep was awful - I told them I'd never buy another one (and didn't).

[HardDrive]

I'm sorry that happened, but my local Mercedes dealer (Barrier Motors) has treated me very well. I bought a certified used car from them. I got about $2500 worth of free service the last time I took the car in.

I had the car for just over a year, and had put about 6000 miles on it. Brakes were making noise in the back, a major service on the transmission was due, and I need basic oil change done. It turns out the car need pads in the back, and I explained that I didn't think I should be paying for pads considering the low number of miles I had put on the car. Service advisor tells me they will look at the situation and call me. Well he calls me to basically tell me the car was done, and all of the service (with the exception of the oil change) had been taken care of at their end. He and his boss agreed that I shouldn't be getting a bill for stuff that should have been taken care of as part of the certification process! They did a full brake job, front and back. No charge.

Add to this the amazingly great service I got from Barrier Porsche when I owned my Boxster....hey, anything can happen, but at this point I'm a customer for life.

[K9Torro]

Wow - Stange our local MB dealer (Brumos - Jacksonville) always akes very good care of us when the wifes SL goes in, it had a positioning sensor for the top go bad the other day and did not have the part in stock they offered to loan her another SL until the part comes in, she told them no since it is cold the top would just stay up...lol

My only gripe is when they seperated the MB and Porsche store a few years ago I now have to walk down the street to hang out while her car is being serviced,

Todd

[azasadny]

We have a VW dealership here that sounds about the same as youe MB dealership, that's the reason I won't even consider a VW. The dealership you do business with is just as important as the car! We do business with Gorno Mazda/Ford in Woodhaven, MI and they are an example of what a dealership should be.

[89911]

We have a local BMW PORSCHE dealer here that thumbs their nose if you didn't buy the car there and get it regularly serviced there and expect to get anything done that similar to your issue. I have an Acura that I bought used and I have taken it back for the most nitpicky items and they replace them no problem and give me a loaner. Your problem doesn't surprise me.

[NICKG]

the truth is that the experience you have with ANY brand really lies in the hands of the dealers...who are lacking in alot of places. There are NO bad cars, just bad dealers really. That doesn't know brands...although VW does have a good hold on the crown for the worst dealers

[Eric_Shea]

I'd say it's a 70:30 issue and I agree... the dealership is the problem here.

Where I point blame at Mercedes-Benz Customer Care is; they know, through our conversations, that this is wrong. They admitted as much. It is my understanding that they could simply authorize this as "Goodwill" even though it's a clear case of a repair not performed properly under the warranty period.

They chose not to.

Also:

The "Runaround"
The "We'd fix it if you were a loyal customer."
and the "Take-away close"

are "all" dispicable ways to treat "any" customer, let alone one with 2 Mercedes-Benz automobiles in the garage.

Though all of this I've heard "many" stories about "great" MB dealerships. They are no doubt out there and they value their valuable customers. Ken Garff is simply not one of them.

* They misdiagnosed problems with my 300TE which cost me thousands and lost me as a customer.
* They misdiagnosed this which will cost me and MBUSA headaches.

It's not fair and I will do whatever I can to correct it.

Thanks for letting me lay on the couch.

[osidak]

The MB dealer in Charlotte NC and Hickory NC are great as long as your car is 4 years old or less. Show up in something older and you are not worth their time to even give you something that resembles service

I am personally done with MB as I think they are building pure crap these days