joeyza

I had my car serviced at a dealership last week. When I got the car back I opened the center storage and noticed two things: the cap that I keep in their for when I have the sunroof open was turned upside down (OCD demands that I place it cap up, bill forward) and my prescription Maui Jim sunglasses were missing. Because it was raining, it took me 10 minutes before I noticed the missing glasses. I reported the missing glasses to the service rep and asked him to look in lost and found. He looked and also tracked down my loaner in case they were inside of that car. No glasses turned up. For those of us that rely on prescription glasses notice that they are missing pretty quickly.

I didn't go bananas just in case they somehow turned up. Today (3 days later) I realized that my, ALWAYS full, change tray had only about $1.00 in loose change left. I had just topped it off last Monday. It took a few days to notice the missing coin because my wife had made me coffee to go this week. I usually get my coffee every morning at a local store and pay in exact change in the drive thru.

It's not the loose change or even the missing sunglasses (although they were $400 with prescription lenses) that has me frosted. It's the violation by a trusted source.

Has anyone else has stuff go missing at the dealer service? What do you recommend that I do about it? Report it thorough the service rep, or take it to the GM?

thefisch

Wow. That's terrible. Last time I had stuff taken was at a car wash in a questionable area near my work. And the manager there took care of it right away.

I would get the GM involved if the SA and service manager don't resolve this quickly for you. You can always call MBUSA and have them be an advocate for you in case the dealer doesn't respond to your satisfaction.

Have them look around the dealership for the idiot who can't see with his new sunglasses on.

El Cid

That's too bad, but I would complain to the SA (already done that?) and if no response then the service manager and then the GM and then MBUSA.
Did the dealer wash your car? Most dealerships have lower level employees to wash cars, move them around, etc.
You can also go to dealerrater.com and comment on the dealership. If you enter a negative comment, they hold it for a few days for the dealer to contact you and resolve the issue first.
NOTE: Almost every dealership, car wash, whatever I have been to has a prominent sign: Not responsible for items left in car.

joeyza

This is a very large multi-location MB dealership. Drive-in service bay, and hand over the keys. Show up later to a services and clean car. My guess is that there are several people that interact with the car during the day - greeter, SA, mechanic, cleaners, etc. What happens in between drop-off and pick-up is on the dealership.

I'm going to work the chain of command. This will be interesting and probably a minor PITA. I can presume one thing; no dealership of this size wants a public reputation that a customer's property is not safe in their hands.

pamiboy

It's despicable and should be followed through to the end. You should get compensated for at least your glasses. I always clean up my car at home a day before service.

mleskovar

Took my parking quarters from the ash tray. Probably $10. Next visit told the SA and he gave me a tank of gas. He explained it was probably a new car jocky, they hire them often, and usually figure out who's been doing it fairly quickly. Huge dealer.

bob2011

Did you check like In the trunk or something? Because my dealership compiles all my change, and loose items like glasses and all that mumbo Jumbo, puts it in a bag, and sets it in the trunk.

El Cid

I vacum and clean my car before I take it the dealer. Sort of in the hope that if they see I am taking care of my car, they will as well.
Incidentally, I keep change in the ashtray and sunglasses in the console. Nothing has ever been removed at a dealership of any brand. knock on wood.

nycphotography

Hey, that's a great idea. I should get a t-shirt made:

* I'm not responsible for your valuables left in plain sight.

That way I can walk in and take whatever I want.

JALLEN4

Over the years, I had a multitude of reported thefts from customer cars. Everything from loose change to guns were reported missing and the majority of the reports were true and accurate. But, at least 25% of the time, these reports of missing items were eventually proved to be in error. Some items were eventually found at home, in another car, stolen at another location, or in some cases a pure fabrication. There are just too many people wandering through most dealerships, employees, customers, and intruders to assure that everything can be safeguarded all the time.

g4benz

Most likely the dealer won't do anything. There's probably a sign somewhere that they are not responsible for lost items. If there isn't maybe you have a fight. I always clean out my car of valuables before sending it for service. Also, many people think that people working for Mercedes are somehow "high-end" and wouldn't do such a thing. People are people. Sucks for your loss. I hope the dealer helps you out.

dbldpr

Had that happen at a dealer a long time ago. went to the owner of the dealership right away. Found out that one of the car jockeys had taken my stuff and quite a bit more from other cars. They found all the stuff in the Jockeys car and some of it on him. They guy was fired on the spot and The owner gave me 2 free oil changes and an apology and my stuff was returned. I now have the recording device in the car for audio and video. Does not have video inside the car but it has audio which will pick up the opening and closing of things. It is a shame that this happens but it is a fact of life.

thefisch

I do remove valuables beforehand not that I really carry any. Some things like the ipod connected to the media cable I just leave in there out of convenience. I always make a point of checking before I drive off. Just old habits.

Not that excuses them from taking something though. Chances are if they took stuff from your car they took stuff from others.

2014e350

Like im sure he did you dumbass

joeyza

There is literally nothing superfluous in my car. If it's not used fairly regularly, I remove it. Also, I keep nothing of real value in the car. We're not talking about leaving a Patek in the glove box.

The point of the issue is far less about the actual items, than it is about the violation of a trusted business relationship. Additionally, I second guessed myself when I first noticed my glasses missing, even though I was more than confident that I didn't lose them on my own. I've been wearing glasses for 35 years and the only pair I ever lost actually fell off when I was deep sea fishing and leaning over the rail to bring in the fish. I also realized the "he said, she said" aspect of the situation, so a softer approach was appropriate. Now that the change is gone, it has become a matter of certainty to me that someone pilfered the goods.

Lastly, it's wildly unreasonable to remove every single item from a car for a one day service.

g4benz

True you can't remove everything and it's not an excuse either but I would have removed my 400 dollar glasses. Anyway,good luck.

cetialpha5

You should be very careful about recording audio. I think you're in a one party consent state, but whoever you're recording hasn't consented if you're not in the car and I think you may be violating federal wiretapping laws which have severe penalties. Video recording without audio is fine though.

Dema

I am really sorry to hear about your loss. indeed it affects trust between you and the dealer. I think you will stop services your car at them.

I always remove all valuables from car at any service. I do not think a dealer is responsible for any missing things and better to be safe. I also clean some navigation destinations and phone numbers. I do not want a dealer could black mail me about visit some places my wife may not like.
From other side I found some dealer's belonging in my car like a knife or a flash light after a service. I was really lazy to return them to a dealer. Should I?

bob2011

So I type a personal opinion that might potentially help the OP, and I get called a dumbass.


Cool dude! what a great and helpful response you have typed out.

The G Man

The SA is not going to do anything for you, I think you are starting too low. Almost all large dealers have a customer relation managers, that's the person you want to talk to. I had this happened to me once in an Audi dealer and they compensated me for my lost. As someone already mentioned, make a post on dealerrater.com, that's the best way to get a the attention of the customer relation manager. Good Luck.

dbldpr

I would gladly take the fine for recording on Audio if it proves that the person did something wrong. As a matter of fact, if I was fined then I would put the recording on line and it would probably go viral. At my age if I go to Jail at least I would get free medical. Either way I am not worried. Car has on window that there is Video and audio recording that cannot be turned off. So whoever does something has the option of not doing it or they will be recorded. I would think that since they did something and the sign was there they are giving permission to be recorded.

egalt

"Car has on window that there is Video and audio recording that cannot be turned off"



Fair Warning.

CEB

It must be noted that a sign that says "we ain't responsible" means nothing. Regardless of signage, a store has the responsibility to safeguard a customer's property. They can't just point to a sign and say "too bad".

The same holds true for shopping carts and parking lots. While the store obviously isn't responsible for every loon that abandons their cart on a slope, they have an obligation to police the lot regularly and collect carts. They also must collect carts more often on windy days.

The bottom line is that any business has the legal obligation to take care of others' property and can't hide behind a sign.

On the other hand, it is also your responsibility not to leave $100 bills on your dashboard and you'll have to figure out some way to show that the $100 bill was there when you drove in and wasn't there when you got the car back.

Arrie

+1 on all of this.


Like some dump trucks have written in their back to stay 500 feet behind and not being responsible for windshield damage. Well, most of this text you cannot even read from 500 feet distance and legally it means nothing. If something falls from the vehicle in front of you and causes damage that vehicle is responsible for it. The problem is how to prove it. A dash cam can be a big help with this.


Some states have "no fault laws" that cover some damages like this but in general if your "load" falls off your vehicle you are the one in fault.


What comes to people stealing your stuff from your car while the car is at possession of the servicer it is the servicer responsibility. The problem again is to prove what you had stolen from your car. If you go thru everything in your car and make the service location to sign for it I guarantee nothing will be missing from it when you get the car back or you will not have any problems to get paid for the missing articles.


The issue here is that we trust our service too much and then find out after an incident that the service location we used was not worth the trust.


I have never asked for the service location I use to sign for the content in my car as I feel I should not be worried about it. I don't recall seeing a sign about not leaving valuables in my car either but I cannot say they don't have a sign like that either. Perhaps just never noticed it.


But if I would ever have anything stolen from my car while at the service I would be a WAR!

MBSebas87

Haha he's back...what a tool