hoezee

So last week my C320 wouldn't start. Had to call MB roadside to give it a jump. I was thinking this happened years and a half ago and the root of the problem was the passagenger power seat module that i had Fletcher Jones in Fremont replace. So after the jump I take it to Pleasanton Mercedes and tell them I think its the motor for the seat, they tell me they will diagnose for $180, I agree, doesn't give me a loaner, the SA calls back few hours later and says its my battery, now my battery is not oem but it is a Interstate I purchased about a yr and 1/2 ago due to me thinking I had a bad battery before I had MB replace my pwr seat module. I ask them are they sure nothing is drawing power while the car is off and to check the module and they assured me nothing was drawing power and it was your battery and it was not oem. I agree to change $400 battery & labor, I also agree to the reccommendation of a tranny svc $500 job. A week goes by and I start my car in the a.m. and same thing...dead battery. I get jumped again take it back to Pleasanton, Lance is the SA says we will daignose $180. Calls back few hours later and what do you know the problem is "BOTH POWER SEAT MODULE" wants $1100 plus daignose, at this point I'm heated, I tell them thats what I told them to check in the first place, excuse is you didn't have a factory battery so at the time nothing was drawing power, but now both module are drawing power. I complain and refuse to pay the daignose fee and take it to Fletcher which is about a 30 min drive away from me, Ron Reyes, does a free daignose, gives me a rental, calls back today tell me its my driver side power seat, which I will gladly pay, because I know I can trust the work and the diagnose they have made. I feel totally had, because I bought a battery that I know was perfectly fine!!! JUST HAD to vent!!!! STAY AWAY FROM Pleasanton MB SVC!!!!

zoomie

Gotcha. going to Fletcher Jones if i ever take it to a dealer. Thanks for the heads up about Pleasanton.

SeaCoupe

Man you just got royally screwed!

Here is how:

I bought a new battery from roadside service. I think it was $180, and they do the install free. The install also does a reset of the electronics.

Next, the power seat module is, (from what I hear), easy to fix. You just order the new module and put it in place.

You should write up the origional service from MB pleasanton. PRIOR to you gettting your car back with the new MB approved Battery, they should have done a draw test after the battery install. This would have easily confirmed the seat module is drawing power. This seat module is clear known issue. ANY competent MB mechanic could have figured this all out. Likely your interstate battery was fine, but they do insist on it being an MB battery. No way out on that one. I would write a letter, send it to the dealer. If they don't give you some type of freebie, send it to MBUSA. Good luck.

Ohh, comes to mind the MB Pleasanton gets quite a few complaints.

E

TruTaing

I had this done also when my power seat went out, but I think it was mor elike 160 for the battery. 400 for a battery and the "labor" involved is ridiculous - It takes a knowledgeable MB tech a few minutes to replace a batter.

KIRA

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BadAssC230k

that is surely a place to stay away from.

my PCV hose went out out and they replaced it. on top of chipping my custom painted grille.

a week later my car was down for nearly 45days. Somehow my timing got advanced a tooth.

I never really trusted them. Went to MB in Walnut Creek. talked to Mike who's an asst sa mnger. Dude is on point.

sorry to hear.

bcaruso

Thanks for the heads up. It appears as though you were willing to pay so it sux that they wasted your time and money like that.

NO_WUR_E

Sorry to hear about your incident. I live only a few minutes away from the dealership and have taken my car there a few times without any problems. I guess I've been lucky, but will not consider taking my car there again.

hoezee

it sad how you pay so much for your car and you want the job done right the first time and, they think just becuase we drive a benz, we are made of money and the "stealer" wants a piece of it. My family owns 4 MB and even though Plaeasanton is only 5 mins away, we will drive the extra 20 mins and take it either to walnut creek or fletcher.

dnlow

Geez, it seems like this happens all the time at the dealers. All I can say is that I feel for you. It has happened to all of us and it sure is a pain. Hopefully you will have better luck in the future.

As far as the battery goes, I have never heard of something so stupid. The dealer stating that you need to change it. It is just a battery. As long as the specs are the same it should not matter what brand of battery you have. Unfortunately, I too have been taken in this way also.

MJ50

i would've just went to fletcher jones at the first place if i knew they don't charge for diagnosis and it's only 30min away...

hoezee

So i write all the managers in every dept of Pleasanton MB(got from website), that I was displeased with the way they treat customers. I told them I wanted the owners email, and if I didnt hear from them I would escalate to mbusa. 30 mins later, I get a call from first SA, saying they would repair for free, just buy the parts. My car was already at Fletcher, so I said no, Fletcher is already doing the repairs. She said she would call back. I pick up my car from Fletcher and when its time to pay, there is n/c, my SA at fletcher hooked it up, I double checjk the work order, insalled left control module-no charge for customer for client satisfaction, and part unit price is zero. NOW THATS CUSTOMER SERVICE right there!!!!! Whoo hoo FLETCHER!!! I feel good for standing up to the dealer, in return I got what really was needed for the car. As far as Pleasanton MB, I will still try and get some sort of compensation for the battery they made me buy. SA from Pleasanton called again this am saying they would repair free of charge, parts and labor, it felt good to say that Fletcher already took care of it for me. She said she talk to her manager and call me back.

dnlow

That is awesome. Good job.

e1000

That's great that you're getting honest service somewhere. I'd still write to MBUSA if I were you. You obviously pointed out what you wanted checked and they didn't hear your request. On top of that, they should have at least diagnosed the problem for free the second time you came in with the exact same problem. Just my opinion.

patrick_y

MJ, it's a different Fletcher Jones, the one in the San Francisco Bay Area (Fremont, CA), not the one in Newport Beach.

I've had the Fremont Mercedes dealership servicing my very first automobile. So far, they've provided competent service for me and I've established a good rapport with my service advisor who has been highly responsive, very reasonable, trustworthy, and flexible. He's also very familiar with the mods available from other European countries. Please feel free to ask me any questions about this dealership's service department.

Perhaps the only thing holding me back from a BMW is because I trust my service advisor and I'm afraid of having a less competent service advisor should I switch to BMW.

hoezee

So Pleasanton calls me this morning and will be mailing me a check for my battery reimbursement. I will still take the extra drive to Fremont when I need maint/service, Fletcher seems to value your business, I guess thats why we always buy cars from them. Patrick who do you use? mo, dave, ron? I use to go with Dave but I go through Ron now.

Buellwinkle

It's just a typicaly dealer, did you honestly expect more from a dealer. Sure you get lucky if you happen to go there after they made quota but if you go there when they need to make quota it's going to cost you dearly. The SA's are on commission and mechanics get paid for billable hours, the more they rape you, the better they live. MB of Laguna Niguel wanted $3,455 to fix an oil leak, a week later they were closer to quota because a different SA wanted $800, independant did it for $60. Dealers are great places to go for free car washes, free service, free warranty repairs and for badgering them into selling you a car at near cost thinking they will make it up in service. DON'T LET THEM MAKE IT UP IN SERVICE, go somewhere else where they don't have to pay the huge overhead of loaners, comissioned SA's, many layers of management, car wash facilities, and high rent. How the heck are they going to make money if they are honest? No way! Let the other suckers pay that overhead so you can get a good deal on buying the car.

Also, don't think this is an MB problem. Our Ford dealer, while not quite as dishonest as MB of Laguna Niguel will have no shame in charging my blonde daughter $900 to change brake pads in her v6 Mustang and not even use Ford pads. Also, never buy parts from a local dealer if you can avoid it, most charge 25-50% over MB list price for parts, especially Fletcher Jones.

tdaily

I used to live in Hayward...never dealt with the Pleasanton dealership though. I live in Alabama now. There is a dealer here in Tuscaloosa, but I won't be going back there.

I took my car in the other day and was lucky enough that I was able to get them to check it as part of Service A, so no extra 'hook-up' charge. I had a battery drain problem and they told me the alternator was bad. They wanted $1,100 for an alternator (installed). They also gave me the blah, blah story about how the Diehard Gold Lifetime battery I purchased from Sears was not sufficient to crank the car (of course I've been using it for almost two years now without a problem). They said I needed their Mercedes battery for $400 They also tried to stick me with a $275 transmission flush by telling me that it had never had one; even though I know it did a couple of years ago. Total bill for the supposed repairs was $1,775 + the $260 for Service A; over two grand!

So, I said whatever, no way. I went and bought a lifetime guaranteed alternator for $200 and had it installed for $120...much cheaper than $1,100. Of course I kept my battery, which is still working fine.

Here's the best part...it turns out that after all of that, I got up the next morning to a dead battery . So I did some research here and unplugged my seat modules and viola! no more dead battery. Who knows if I even needed the alternator; they never even mentioned the seat modules. I'm sure they would have done the same thing to me as the Pleasanton dealership tried to do...fix the alternator and replace the battery for $1,500 and then said 'oh, it looks like you need seat modules too, imagine that'.

Even better than that: The guy actually gave me his business card when I went to pick up the car. He said when I decided to fix it to call him because they worked on commission! Ha! Yeah right buddy, you just wait on me to fix it. I'll be sure and call you first!

Stay away from the Tuscaloosa stealership. From now on, I'll take the 30 minute drive to Crowne in Birmingham. They aren't the best I've ever dealt with, but at least they've never tried to rip me a new one.

ronizzle

how is the car now hoezee?

Buellwinkle

I never understand why people hold the dealer's service dept in such high regard, most of their mechanics are below average and are incentivized to cheat you and make money for the dealership. Maybe it's the clean uniforms.

Guaranteed, even if you overpaid them to change your alternator and came back a 1 day later saying it's still going on, they would tell you it's the seat module and alternator combined because who's going to challenge them.

The reality, is you could have taken your alternator to a place that rebuilds them, they would have benched checked and told you there's nothing wrong or they would have completely rebuilt it for $65.

hoezee

car is great....Thanks again Ron, I will drop the car off after the 3rd.