woedee

So I recently purchased a w204 from CalStar Mercedes in Glendale, CA and was a happy camper for the most part untill.....A few weeks after purchasing my w204, I get a call from the sales associate who handled my transaction. This guy was totally beyond upset because I didnt give him an "outstanding" rating across-the-board on the 'after sales' survey I received (in which I was 100% honest). This clown had the audacity to complain to me -a paying customer- about how I dared not to give him a beyond stellar survey! To make a long story short, I contacted his manager and MBUSA to provide them with feedback on this; needless to say, I WILL NEVER BE GOING BACK TO THAT STEALERSHIP!

/end rant.

RLE

I think you were right in being truthful in your survey response but you have now made an enemy of the salesman forevermore. And who knows who else at that dealer because less than stellar reports affect more than just the salesman. The sales manager probably had to explain why his guy got a bad review etc.

I decided long ago that anything less than "completely satisfied" on any MB survey I get is of no advantage to me. So, I told the two service managers (one for each of their two locations) that every survey about service was going to be top rated by me because I knew that if I had a problem, I could come to them and it would be taken care of. They each saw the advantage in my statement and it has paid off for me many times.

Whenever my car needs something, even if I just drop in, it's dealt with and if I need a loaner car they find me one. And I can't count the number of times they have eaten repair items (not on the 204, of course) that warranty wouldn't quite cover.

As one example, when I purchased a set of AMG 18's over the parts counter well before delivery (at a substantial discount) and dropped them off at the tire and wheel area in the service dept to match up with the Bridgestone RE050A tires I had drop shipped from Tire Rack to them, those tires were mounted and balanced on the 18s and were on the car in the showroom when it was delivered to me later. I picked up the OE 17s later. Never saw a bill.

Azn_C300

Same thing happened to me. They called me up cause I didn't give them full points. Something about it skewing their rating and they'd have to now sell 4 more cars and have the new owners give them max survey points to make up for my "mistake". Was bull****. Those surveys should remain anonymous.

BerBer63

Which survey is this??

I can't wait to sh*t on my saleslady.

QuadBenz

Lol, what SA did this at CalStar? I'm bringing my car in Wednesday for a warranty service..

cvkatigbak

I never completed a survey and no one nags here. Picked up from Buena Park HOI.

micropower99

They have no right to do that. Honestly, you did them a favor by filling out something you didn't have to do. Those f*uck faces

cdye12

I actually had a good experience with my SA, but I did find it a bit disconcerting that he kept insisting that if I had to put anything less than outstanding that I should talk to him 1st, lol. The problem lies with MBUSA and not the SA's; it's MBUSA's fault that they "have" to get outstanding or they are viewed and rated as sub-par.

It reminds me of the Military recruiting world. If those guys don't pull their numbers, even after they've put in 16+ hours a day, they are seen as dirt-bags by their leadership.

woedee

Hamid

ctgilles

Yeah you better tell him that you're giving him 5 stars or he might sabotage your wheels
What do you think they are?? But after the results have been processed they'll know it was you; it's not like they sell 20 cars a day, they'll know who's which customer. They should give it a 6 month period before adding the results imo, best way to stay anon.

woedee

Agreed! They should uphold anonymity to the fullest, considering that customers are volunteering their own time for MB's cause....its the least they can do(that or building-in incentives for completing surveys).

James@ACG

The issue with these surveys is that it is one through 5, most of us wold assume that a 4 which i think is listed as good service, and i think 5 is beyond expectation is good enough if the guy was decent.

However in the dealers eyes even a 4 which i think is more then fair most of the time is considered a failure.

What they need to do is correct the way they are scoring these surveys

Blk04cobra1

What you guys do not fully understand is that it can actually effect the SA's income as well. Most dealerships have a threshold that the SA must obtain and if one survey drops them below, then they will get upset (this does not mean they have a right to call you and ***** about it). I agree that the new survey's are a bit misleading and "truly outstanding" is very hard to come by, but why is it so hard for you guys to answer these at "truly outstanding" and give the guy 100%? I know there are certain situations that would warrant not giving the SA a 100%, but if you knew it effected their income would it change your mind? Just throwing this out there as it's an ongoing thing around dealerships these days.

kchristos

I am stunned to hear that they actually let the sales people read the reports from the customers (supposed to be confidential). If nothing else, his manager should have called you to clarify what happened so that he can give his employee the proper rating. This way they just defeat the purpose of the survey. If people know that the sales guy will read their report, it will make them feel uncomfortable and that is bad for business.

MBreezy

Sup guys, new to the forum. Just picked up my w204 last week, took this survey yesterday. I gave mostly 10s, few 9s and a couple 8s. My sales guy was a nice dude, I hope the scores I gave him dont **** him off! Woedee, wat kind of scores did you give??

JohnCL

I am expected to do a good job on a daily basis, and if I don't I will hear about it which in turn can affect my salary on future reviews. Why on earth would you expect anyone to give a "Truly Outstanding" rating for something that was less than that? I will never give a 100% unless it is warranted, and there are few times that it is. Giving a 100% just because is BS. They need to know that if they don't do a good job that a bad review could be the result. Otherwise, if they automatically get the 100% what holds them to do a good job??

Bottom line, they are a service and if they don't perform it will affect them. They know this upfront, and should always strive for excellence.

aowhaus

Reputable businesses value these surveys and comments and act on them constructively. This dealership did the exact opposite which kills their customer service -- they sound really juvenille, and really should be appreciative that you took the time to put an honest input and take that to improve their business.
Little do they know bad reputation spreads fast -- especially with forums like this.

Go elsewhere, they do not deserve your business.
It wouldn't hurt if you share your experience with MBusa, as it does put damper on the MB experience.

sleewell

that guy is nuts. what a wacko.

Azn_C300

What should happen is these scores go to corporate and at the end of the month or quarter, the compiled total score be given to the individual dealership, so there's no way they know who did what, but also see what total score they got.

What was said was true, I thought giving a 4 out of 5 was a pretty good score. I rarely give a perfect score as there's always something you think could be better. But yeah, 4/5 was no good in their eyes. Harassing calls served no purpose except to harass the customer. It's not like I could go back and change my score.

Ron Jr

Not on the sales but service end, I had my car detailed because some foam insulation had been sprayed on it (the company resopnsible paid). I decided to use the dealer as they use a detailer whose work I had seen before and it was good.
When I dropped it off I showed the white spots to my SA and he assured me they would all be gone and the car would look great. Anouther reason I wanted the dealer to take care of it is it had to be done on a work day and they of course supplied a loaner car. That evening I was in a rush as I had to pick my Wife up at the train staition and I don't like her waiting there in the dark so I just jumped in the car and drove away. The next morning I go out to the car and see it still has a considerable amount of spots on the paint, you can feel them with your nail.
I stop by the dealer on the way to work and show it to my SA who DOESN'T see the spots or feel them. I am taken aback these are very noticable to both the eyes and touch. He calls the detailer over who swears he clay bared my car and he DOESN'T see the spots. Am I crazy? I continue to work and ask a few different coworkers and all of them can clearly see and feel the spots. As we were going to go to upstate NY for a family get together I couldn't take the car like this so I took a day off and did a full exterior detail job myself, no more spots and I gave them less than stellar marks on the survey, which earned me a call from the SA. Fortunatly I took pics and showed them to him before the detail, after their detail and after my detail. You can clearly see the difference.

BTW the salesman who sold me my car was let go shortly afterwards, he sent me an E-mail telling me he had gotten a new position at a local Ford dealership and he was wondering if I was looking for a new car.

amdeutsch

I agree with John here. I see an issue with the way Blk worded his response and how that has wormed its way into society, especially the service industry, today.

woedee

I gave him for the most part @ above average ratings where I truly felt it was warranted.

The bottom line is that MB wants honest feedback. Keep in mind that he purpose of the surveys is to develop metrics that provies a snapshot for MB on the customer svc experience; it also paints a picture of opportunities for development in this area as well. Granted that the surveys provide monetary incentives for sales associates who perform well, still, Sales Associates should by no means EXPECT for their customers to give them above average ratings across the survey IF it is not earned.

Blk04cobra1

Maybe I worded my opinion wrong. My whole point was how difficult is it to be "truly outstanding?" I understand that some situations and probably most will not be "truly outstanding", but maybe give the SA the benefit of the doubt. If your willing to give a 9 out of 10, what's the big deal of giving him a 10?

Im am in no way shape or form stating to give 100% just because, but if you're teetering between a 9 or a 10, what's big deal? Believe it or not, it does make a big deal on the SA's survey.

Also, if these situations you guys have encountered do not result in a "truly outstanding" experience, then what in your minds constitutes a "truly outstanding" experience?

As for the surveys being confidential, this is not true, at least to my knowledge. Also, if you're willing to answer a survey honestly, why would you want to hide your identity?

I have read a lot of dealership encounters over this board and can honestly say some of them are appaling, but they are not always the norm.

SolanNo1

My question to you is - What is 'Truly Outstanding' in terms of making a sale? The SA is there to sell you a car/shoe/suit/whatever. If he is successful, he has done his job.

If you test drove 10 cars before buying the one that you liked, he still did his job. What makes this Outstanding? That he was patient with you while you, the buyer, made up your mind?

I think these surveys should have boolean 'True/False' and 'Satisfied/Not Satisfied' kind of answers. An answer on a 10-point scale is meaningless.

micropower99

^ Could be a number of things. Their attitude towards the whole process was just a bit off. The price they gave us wasn't that great...etc We should be able to rate them how we please based on the actual scores we feel they deserve. I didn't BS on my review and gave the guy a not so perfect score because I felt many things could have been done better to improve the buying process.

And to call the customer and actually complain is a big d*ick punch in the face. These should be anonymous!