What is it with Mercedes dealers!?!

[r129sl]

Classy6 said:

Reason? MB are trying to hit CSI (Customer satisfaction Index) targets which will make them #1 in customer satisfaction by end of 2010 - relating to the JD Power Surveys - hence the reason all the stops will be pulled out to ensure your satisfaction.

This is the problem not the solution. It is the same problem that we encounter whenever we deal with any "big business". They have very expensive and well-honed "systems" and "processes" designed to provide customer satisfaction. The staff (or "colleagues" as they must be called in public, "operatives" in private) must, must, must stick to the system and will be in big trouble if they do not because the operation of the system guarantees customer satisfaction... all of which is great unless (1) you want genuine personal service or (2) you want something which the system cannot accommodate. I suspect enthuisasts like us often want (1) and (2). Then we just end up banging our heads against the wall as the computer says no.

The next aspect of the problem is that car dealerships are owned by huge companies which are driven by their accounting function and, generally, have too much debt. They're not interested in old cars because old cars cannot be turned round quickly at high margin. They're not interested in diagnosing and repairing faults because that too takes time. They're interested in carrying out fixed price servicing that one tech can do 20 times over each day. They are certainly not interested in carrying a big parts inventory because a big parts inventory is cash tied up doing nothing.

Another problem is us. Cars are no longer bought by enthusiasts: they're just white goods bought on tick these days. The customers want plate glass, free coffee, pretty dolly birds on reception, a retail experience that has nothing to do with buying or repairing cars. The whole objective is to hide the spanners from the customer because the customer isn't interested. Most morons are repelled by the kind of traditional garage workshop that we all wet our pants about (I love mooching about in my specialist's workshop). Don't forget that many customers these days are women (!) who are intimidated and alienated by such environments. The salesmen are loan sharks not car guys. They're finace salemen: it is pure coincidence that they work in car dealerships. They would sell finance for anything, it just happens to be cars this week. But they're what the customers deserve because most of the customers have no interest or desire for the things that made Merc great: they just want the brand on this year's tin box, as in yer face as possible, with a load of stupid moron-gadgets to boot, something to impress the equally dumb neighbours.

I tell you what, it boils my piss.

Edited by r129sl on Wednesday 24th March 11:20

[MHT223]

My nearest MB dealer is awful - I used to look at all the people standing around talking and moving bits of paper around and thinking about how over inflated the service costs must be to pay for them all. And they're so unhelpful, its like they watched 'computer says no' as a training video.

I looked on the Mercedes site and found a Service Only dealership and they have been excellent. It takes me another 20 mins each way to get there but they couldn't be more helpful. There's a receptionist and 2 service managers so you can ring and speak to them directly.

On my last S-Class they made me so angry...I had a problem with the sat nav and dropped it off. In the DVD drive there was a recording from a Sky channel that I'd burnt onto a disc to watch in the car. When I went back to collect the car they said they hadn't done any work on the car as I'd voided the warranty on the sat nav by having an aftermarket Freeview tuner installed in the car! I said I hadn't, the guy said I had and an technician had assured him of the fact. I asked him to get the technician and show me how to access Freeview on the TV, the went away for 15 mins came back and said they'd fix it no doubt having found the DVD! I could have told them that on the phone but they waited for me to go back at 5pm to pick it up.

[Stegel]

marc.l said:

phumy said:

marc.l said:

With my first Merc, which was a Merc Corporate E320 Estate lease car shipped up on a transporter from wherever and hence no local supplying dealer, had a numpty at the nearest Mercedes owned dealership advise that a tendency to steer to the left was a safety feature designed to avoid oncoming traffic - I do not jest! - I advised him they would never see me or the car as I somehow doubted the car's ability to identify when it crossed the Channel.


In fact most modern mercs do that, the idea being if you fall a sleep at the wheel you end up off the road rather than across the other side into on coming trafic.

Absolute ballony, as the poster said above, what happens on the continent......I think its the camber on the roads pulling the car to the left, linked with the type of tyres that Merc use

Ballony ? no fact acording to my merc hand book !!! I will scan it and post later today.

I no longer have the E class so cannot check, but a quick flick through the CLS handbook (E class under the skin) and I can't see any reference to this feature. It was far more severe than "camber sensitivity", and if it was a design feature the second dealer (like the first, Merc owned) surely would not have adjusted it out without resistance - it still pulled with the camber after adjustment (and the CLS has from new), but before the adjustment would run up the camber. This was from brand new, with no signs of kerbing. As a safety feature, surely questionable anyway - roads rarely go in straight lines and it would be a brave call to say that veering left was always safer than to the right.

[Classy6]

J_S_G said:

Good feedback - great to hear the other side of this. Thanks for that.

Think I might write a letter of complaint - have no interest in heading back there again, but to be fair, unless they hear how much it offends customers, guess I can't expect them to act any better.

For what it's worth, I was the only customer in the enter place. 2-3 sales guys and woman on reception all doing nothing when I walked in. Not on the phone, not at their keyboards, etc. one making a coffee, one wandering about, and the woman was - literally - filing her nails. (11am in the morning is probably not their busiest time!) Don't doubt the service guys were tied up with other customers. But refusing to book me another appointment/apologise for the fact I'd wasted a day off work and a 40 mile round trip across a city centre and back despite having arranged to go in at that time was ridiculous.

Again - fair comment that there are probably a lot of very busy, stressed people there and we can all catch someone on a bad day.

Like I said, I wasn't justifying your experience, my input is irrelevant in sense because it's already happened with no particular reason. I can comment on my dealership, people that work there & maybe be able to justify excuses for poor customer service - yet believe me I know some real sh!t hole dealerships where the staff are about as useful as paper tea pots, nobody gives a crap about anyone or anything & the only reason they turn up is fill the day.

My local VAG dealership is like that (I'm building a Mk2 20vt - so I'm constantly in there for parts) I actually hate going in there the customer service is so p!ss poor I always feel like I'm making them go out of their way to serve me!

r129sl said:

Classy6 said:

Reason? MB are trying to hit CSI (Customer satisfaction Index) targets which will make them #1 in customer satisfaction by end of 2010 - relating to the JD Power Surveys - hence the reason all the stops will be pulled out to ensure your satisfaction.

This is the problem not the solution. It is the same problem that we encounter whenever we deal with any "big business". They have very expensive and well-honed "systems" and "processes" designed to provide customer satisfaction. The staff (or "colleagues" as they must be called in public, "operatives" in private) must, must, must stick to the system and will be in big trouble if they do not because the operation of the system guarantees customer satisfaction... all of which is great unless (1) you want genuine personal service or (2) you want something which the system cannot accommodate. I suspect enthuisasts like us often want (1) and (2). Then we just end up banging our heads against the wall as the computer says no.

With regards to CSI - it's dealership dependant, governed by them with an apparent indirect pressure, though massive incentives off MB to achieve.

There isn't really much of a system in place, what sort of system can you put in place that will guarantee you will satisfy every single customer that walks through the door? It's mostly down to Service advisor's customer facing at the door & the technicians ability in the workshop. Service advisor being the major factor. These are the guys that meet & greet, feed the work to the technician, stay in touch throughout the process, give estimates/quotes, offer advice, talk through repairs, take your money, invoice the work & say good bye.

Being the major factor or 'system' in customer satisfaction process, if they make any simple mistake (forget to call back one of many customers?) - the whole thing can go wrong & the customer gets pissed off. Keeping in mind, they will see anywhere on average from 20-30+ customers a day, keeping in mind they all call throughout the day, need calling throughout the day, turn up, leave etc etc...

I'll tell ya something they are CSI pretty much. Whoever the person you get to deal with is in the 'service advisor' role is responsible for practically your entire experience & I'll tell you something else, you couldn't pay me all the money in the world to do that job lol...



The next aspect of the problem is that car dealerships are owned by huge companies which are driven by their accounting function and, generally, have too much debt. They're not interested in old cars because old cars cannot be turned round quickly at high margin. They're not interested in diagnosing and repairing faults because that too takes time. They're interested in carrying out fixed price servicing that one tech can do 20 times over each day. They are certainly not interested in carrying a big parts inventory because a big parts inventory is cash tied up doing nothing.

What you say there is true, for every business in the world. Nobody wants hard, time consuming work, everyone wants quick easy work with the largest profit margins.

Edited by r129sl on Wednesday 24th March 11:20

[scs1]

Recently sold my C6 Corvette and while looking for a suitable replacement visited "a well known flagship mercedes dealer"in Weybridge. I asked to look at an SL55AMG that they had sitting outside. The battery was flat and the doors would not open via the keyless button. The salesman shrugged his shoulders and said I would have to come back another time .I now know that with very little effort the metal key could have been extracted from the fob and the car opened manually. Needless to say I did not go back. I then looked at a Jaguar XKR at Guy Salmon and a Aston V8 vantage at HWM. Salesmen at both dealerships saw me arrive in my daily driver (Fiesta), but could not have been more professional and helpful. I then spotted a one owner SL55 AMG at my local Mercedes Dealership. A test drive very quickly convinced me that this was the car for me and before I picked the car up the saleman promised that it would pass through the workshop for a complete check. A couple of days ago I went to get into the car and the doors would not open via the keyless button. A quick call to Mercedes Asssist for advice revealed that my car was "very overdue' a major service and if this was not completed very soon my entitlement to roadside assistance would be invalid. To give the dealership credit they had the car in today and did a major service and replaced the secondary battery free of charge. The staff at the dealership are all very helpful but I am disapointed that a major oversight could have had major reprecussions for me and the car further down the line. They are on probation!