Are all Mercedes dealers like this?
Discussion
My wife drives an Audi RS6 Avant. We are thinking of replacing it with the new RS6, but I thought we'd try an alternative. I am not an expert on Mercedes, but the AMG Shooting Brake seemed a good starting point. My wife tried 2 main Essex dealers. There isn't one to test drive, but we can look at one, apparently. Really.
My experience of the MB main dealers in Essex (and other counties actually) was that I started to vow to never ever buy a Mercedes.
Unfortunately the perfect storm happened and there was my perfect C63 sitting at MB Lakeside - Thankfully the sales folk I dealt with there were (and have continued to be) nothing short of excellent. Before anyone says "oh yeah that's just because you wanted to buy an AMG", they were attentive and courteous before they even knew what I wanted ('cos I didn't even know at that point as I hadn't seen the car, just stopped in there to kill some time while the OH was shopping).
Unfortunately the perfect storm happened and there was my perfect C63 sitting at MB Lakeside - Thankfully the sales folk I dealt with there were (and have continued to be) nothing short of excellent. Before anyone says "oh yeah that's just because you wanted to buy an AMG", they were attentive and courteous before they even knew what I wanted ('cos I didn't even know at that point as I hadn't seen the car, just stopped in there to kill some time while the OH was shopping).
rgw2012 said:
My experience of the MB main dealers in Essex (and other counties actually) was that I started to vow to never ever buy a Mercedes.
Unfortunately the perfect storm happened and there was my perfect C63 sitting at MB Lakeside.
You probably walked in on a 'bet you can't sell that guy a car' challenge. Win on both sides. Unfortunately the perfect storm happened and there was my perfect C63 sitting at MB Lakeside.
ecain63 said:
You probably walked in on a 'bet you can't sell that guy a car' challenge. Win on both sides.
I've no doubt that goes on but I actually got talking to the guy while he was having a fag outside at the back of the showroom (I started wandering into the cars that had already been sold holding area).Still won't ever entertain going back into my nearest main dealer though. Complete obnoxious
s!I had exactly the same treatment from MB Eastbourne a few years ago. Arranged to test a particular C220 Elegance on their demo fleet.
On arrival, the guy I had been speaking to wasn't there, nor was the car. All I got to have a short drive in was a C220 of different spec and colour. As I had arranged to test the exact car I was thinking of buying, and had already driven other C Class cars, this was just a waste of time for me.
Bought a BMW in the end.
PS don't you think the Shooting Brake is the most ugly thing? Maybe you were lucky?
On arrival, the guy I had been speaking to wasn't there, nor was the car. All I got to have a short drive in was a C220 of different spec and colour. As I had arranged to test the exact car I was thinking of buying, and had already driven other C Class cars, this was just a waste of time for me.
Bought a BMW in the end.
PS don't you think the Shooting Brake is the most ugly thing? Maybe you were lucky?
I went in over half a dozen times and made around 10 calls asking to test an E250 vs E350 estate, didn't even mind testing a saloon, simply wanted to compared the 250 with the 350 to see if I could live with the 4cyl and to see if it was any more economical when say at 85mph.
Never managed a test of the 350 so just bought one from another dealer as it was cheap.
Mercedes are crap in this regard. Don't deserve the business.
Never managed a test of the 350 so just bought one from another dealer as it was cheap.
Mercedes are crap in this regard. Don't deserve the business.
I've never bought any of my cars from a Merc dealership, but can say from personal experience the level of service i get from their Glasgow Dealership is amazing. When my old SL was struggling to start in the winter their mechanics told me how to fix the issue myself (another garage had quoted me #200) with some WD40 and a dry cloth. When my 1996 S-class electric window broke they happily supplied me with the appropriate part and as it was only 2-3 pounds didn't bother charging me when i came to pick he part up. Only downside is their showroom staff always seem to panic when i enter as i normally look a bit disheveled and not the usual clientele their used to.
I've bought a few cars from MB and over the years (new and used, expensive and cheap run-arounds) and the standard of dealership sales and aftercare has got so bad that I now no longer wish to visit them nor buy any metal from them ever again. I have just recently started the purge of all the MB/AMG cars I have left in the family fleet and once the last one goes (sadly it is a black series) I will not look back. It's a shame really, but from my experience MB dealers seem to attract the same types of customer care culture regardless of geographical location (my experience is London and South East area). Obviously some purchases have been pleasant enough, but on average there is a distinct lack of professionalism.
I guess it is because of the volumes that they do as well as the fact that the product range caters for the market as a whole (basic spec A classes right up to £200K AMG SLS and beyond) has something to do with it, but still the basic fundamentals of customer care and service should apply.
Anyway, I am sure that I am just one of the minority, but no more MB products for me. No matter how seductive their engines notes are on start-up!
I guess it is because of the volumes that they do as well as the fact that the product range caters for the market as a whole (basic spec A classes right up to £200K AMG SLS and beyond) has something to do with it, but still the basic fundamentals of customer care and service should apply.
Anyway, I am sure that I am just one of the minority, but no more MB products for me. No matter how seductive their engines notes are on start-up!
I bought an SLK for my Wife about 5 years ago from MB Chester.
The sales guy was an idiot and thought it a good idea to take the ps out of my TVR Tuscan.
After I had requested and got a different sales person, we completed the SLK purchase.
With the SLK and a previous ML and now with a CLS that I purchased earlier this year, its more conveniant to us MB Stoke-on-Trent.
They are an absolute pleasure to deal with.
The sales guy was an idiot and thought it a good idea to take the ps out of my TVR Tuscan.
After I had requested and got a different sales person, we completed the SLK purchase.
With the SLK and a previous ML and now with a CLS that I purchased earlier this year, its more conveniant to us MB Stoke-on-Trent.
They are an absolute pleasure to deal with.
I think it s very much a personal experience - had a super pleasant experience with MB in Sheffield and Portsmouth both with AMG testdrives and at MB world the seemed disappointed that I did not want to drive a C63 (had driven one the same day and just wanted to look and discuss finance options of a car with them) rightly they know once you sit in it you ve lost....
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