toobrokeforC63

Car dealership are sensitive nowadays wow. I can understand the ban if you shoot for a double leg takedown on the president and drop a couple mean elbows. But a bad survey...

hyperion667

exactly.......I have been told by dealer employee's: if you are not going to give a 'good' survey, then don't take the survey


age of entitlement?

ItalianJoe1

The survey is job critical. You can be fired over a bad survey. Pay/bonus is all dictated by surveys. That's what the company wants on a corporate level, awesome customer satisfaction, because happy people come back and spend more money on service, and buy within the brand when they purchase the next car.

The reality is, that happy people don't take surveys, only pissed off ones with an axe to grind use the survey as an opportunity to cry about the service. That's why they make a big deal out of it. They need all the positives they can get, to balance out the 5% of people that give you 50% of your surveys.

The best way to resolve your concerns is to escalate them right then and there, go the the service director, or the GM of the dealership, or MBUSA corporate. All of those will get you results quicker than a bad survey. A bad survey just costs all of those people money, even down to the SA and the tech to a minor point (not having proper CSI can exclude the tech from certain performance bonus programs but they aren't much). Bonuses for commissioned employees are heavily weighted on CSI.

AMG 17GT

I have a real problem with this JD power BS customer ratings and surveys.

Went for a 60k major, here comes the call from dealer, the 3 emails from corporate, then a survey ok that's fine.

Then an oil change and the same 2 months later. Then again for exhaust rattle one month after that. Big waste of time.

hyperion667

I've failed to mention that many of the techs I have spoken to have been very friendly and professional.......I even knew some of their names, as well as the folks in the boutique.....they were all full of helpful information and nice to deal with......some of the others......not at all

ItalianJoe1

The survey comes from MB corporate. But it rates the dealership. They reach out to you to make sure you're happy before you get the survey, as anything less than 100% is a failure essentially.

This is exactly what I mean. You didn't have a bad service visit, but you feel the survey is a waste of time. The upset customer with an axe to grind loves to blast everyone on the survey. So dealers need happy people to fill out the survey to compensate.

eclapton24

Just the opposite experience. My 2016 Ed 1 GTS is in for Service B (20k service) and the front diffuser lip as coming off as the car has rubbed against the street a couple of times as I drive off the driveway due to a little bump. The SA told me it would be $570 to replace that rubber part. After speaking to him and complementing him on the prompt service, loaner vehicle, and excellent communication (I got text/phone/email updates), he was able to take care of the problem for free. Treating people well will take you a LOT further!

pjw1967

Amen.....

Mike450

If one survey carries that much weight, it's a flawed system. It's no wonder some of these guys seem so disinterested in their jobs at times.

Lone customer feedback should (almost) never dictate negative management actions against an employee. Never. That's like business 101 stuff, because as described here, it's (almost) never an unbiased opinion.

A sample of customer feedback is supposed to be used as a guide to shape your management/customer service offerings/needs/wants/spot poor trends/etc. One douchebag *****ing because he can is generally tossed into the "not valid" pile in any other business.

Car business is so screwed up.

PaulE550

I hate to break it to you, but this mentality of getting all 10's on a customer survey or else isn't just limited to the auto industry. Many of the major computer companies have the exact same mentality. The mandate comes down from corporate HQ to get all surveys back each and every quarter with all 10's or there is hell to pay. Part of senior executive management's comp is based on this number, so they make sure everyone below them is also tied to this metric. So anything less than a perfect score results in tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, lost in both quarterly performance bonuses at the senior executive level, as well as a major ding to their annual performance reviews and bonuses which also could impact their career path too.

If the senior executives lose money, everyone below them also loses too as they are tied this number. It is a truly insane process where you and your people can execute flawlessly for your customers, but because a single customer in another state or region that you and your people have nothing to do with either didn't send the survey back (that counts as a ZERO to corporate) or gave less than all 10's, you and all your people not only lose out comp wise, but are then at risk of being fired in the next round of layoffs. So as you can see, this insane mentality is not limited to merely the auto industry.

Mike450

I stand corrected ... Lol

Thanks for the info. GL to anyone that has to deal with that. It's an assinine way to evaluate any performance metric that drives your company's profitability.

Td33

Extremely flawed system for sure!

PeterUbers

My understanding is that these surveys are destroying healthcare as well... forcing doctors and hospital admin to focus on patient satisfaction not their best quality of health care ... the patient doesn't always know what is right for them ...

agreed --- this survey centric model is killing business on the one hand but giving the customer an advocate on the other hand and a source of leverage

my SA always seems so nervous after I bring the car in encouraging me to give him a perfect survey

Mike450

Well yes, the patient did pass, but have you seen this satisfaction survey? She died with a smile.

hyperion667

now that you mention it, the salesman that sold me 4 cars told me not to fill it out unless it was perfect........so I never did it.....for him in particular....

pjw1967

You know, after reading the responses about surveys and who sends them, like my doctor, I want to thank those who have expanded on the meaning of them, and how they are basically self-serving. I *****ed up a storm on a survey that I got from MBUSA about the change in their website that now restricts the ability to do a distance search for a particular model CPO. I wonder if the genius who pushed for the change will get to see my comments.....

ItalianJoe1

It's completely ****ed up, but that's what it is. The focus becomes all about avoiding the bad survey, because it costs everybody money, rather than actually fixing the car. Sad but true. The internet has killed the car buisness.

PeterUbers

i hear ya; and quite frankly "very good" is not good enough; they need perfect/excellent ... and it's better not to receive the survey than to receive a "very good" but not perfect survey

pjw1967

There's a movie called "The Point". One of the lines was "a point in every direction is the same as no point at all". If the only survey answers are the ones that are all 10's, what's the point? They're useless. As someone else mentioned, if you're unhappy, deal with it on the spot......

PeterUbers

i couldn't agree with you more-- my thought is that these guys are manipulating the surveys obviously to gain better traction with their incentives and bonuses/kickbacks

MTV10

Sounds very political.
Not filling out a survey truthfully because you want to get 'good' service? Pfffft.... pathetic.

EDIT: After reading more comments, seems MB employees are 'fixing' these surveys. Telling people to not fill it out unless it's perfect is just crazy! Completely flawed.

Wolfman

While flawed I am glad they have it and use the surveys as a tangible financial incentive tool.

To be sure everyone wants perfect, friendly and timely service and support when purchasing or servicing their car. But the reality is that you are dealing with people and all that comes with it.

Most companies provide surveys just for corporate correctness you can fill it out any way you want and never hear back either way. The results likely never even be looked at or just statistically analyzed.

BMW is such a place. Don't even waste your time filling out a survey...

I look at the MB survey as a tool that gives the customer additional leverage. If used in a friendly way, it is very effective in getting the extra attention if something isn't done right.

Bolaber

That's incorrect. BMW is exactly the same as Mercedes Benz in how its survey affects the dealer's margins.

Some dealers may care more while others care less but it definitely affects BMW. I know because I have a few friends who run BMW dealerships.

Wolfman

I have provided great surveys and some average ones. In every case I received a call direct from MBUSA re. Issues, not the dealer.

I have never heard a beep from BMW. If it would affect the financials like MB I assume there would have been follow up.

Bolaber

The reason you get the call is because at the end of the survey there is an option if you would like to be contacted by the dealer or mbusa. If you selected either one, you will be contacted.