I swear, everytime I take my car to the dealer I have a rotten experience. Almost to the point that I might buy a Lexus next time just for the customer service. I brought my car in this morning for the following five things, picked it up this evening, and only two of the five were done :

1. Brakes - the main purpose of my visit is to see if they would replace my rear brake pads ( due to excessive wheel dust ) according to the TSB. I stopped by the dealer on Saturday, told him about the TSB and my rear brake pads and asked him what my options were. He said to go ahead and schedule an appointment during the week and they would take a look at it. So, when he calls this afternoon, he says he cannot replace my brake pads since the TSB is only good for 12 months or 12k miles ( my in service date is June 2008 and my car has 12,200 miles ). Fine - but couldn't he have looked this up on Saturday rather than wasting my time ( and his ) by bringing my car in for service today ? This was the only thing I inquired about on Saturday.

2. Undercarriage - on my way to work Monday, I hit something in the road ( it was either a propane tank or one of those sprayers that a pest control person would use ). It made a terrible noise but I couldn't see any damage looking under the car. I asked him to take a look while it was on the rack and he told me that a couple of the plastic covers under the car were cracked, he could replace them for $400, but it really wasn't necessary. This one they did what I asked...

3. Tires - when I pulled into the service bay this morning the TPMS warning went off. I asked him to check the tires pressure since I was there. When I picked up the car he told me that air was added to the tires and the TPMS was reset. Of course, on my way home - the TPMS goes off again. I check the tires when I get home, they are low on air, I fill them up to the correct pressure and reset the system. Thanks for doing nothing and then lying about it.

4. Plates - since I had plate frames from the dealer I bought it from, I told them if they wanted to change them to reflect their dealer they could. This, of course, they did.

5. Wash - I asked them to wash my car since it was filthy because I wanted them to see how bad the rear wheels looked compared to the front. I dropped my car off at 8:30 am and they gave me a ride to work ( it's only 10 minutes away ). According to the invoice they were done with my car at 2:15 pm - my coworker dropped my off at the dealer at 4:15 pm and the porter asked me if I wanted them to wash the car - so I had to sit around and wait for a half an hour which put me in the heart of rush hour traffic on the way home ( took 1 1/2 hours to go 20 miles ).

Back when I had a Honda and a Jeep, I never had anything less then stellar service experiences at the dealer. I have had nothing but terrible luck in the service department with my c280 ( sold ), my Porsche Boxster ( sold ), and now my c350 ( first, my UMI install, and now this ). What is the deal with German car service departments ? I have also heard the BMW is just as bad. To be fair, my wife has a A4 ( bought last year ) and every time the car has been in for service it has been an absolutely wonderful experience. Obviously I am going to give this dealer a poor rating when I receive the survey ( and tell them why as I have above ) but I just don't understand the poor customer service when dealing with such expensive cars ?

Sorry for the rant...

Nick

 

because the vast majority don't give a damn

 

It makes no difference to the dealer whether they are claiming your car under warranty or any other car. Stupid enough that they turned you down on the brakes because they can easily find another car and claim the pads against the other car (e.g. service loaners). Service dept gets paid from the service bulletin, you are happy! Stupid!!

You should tell them that you don't want their frames on your car anymore!

 

Yea that sucks, good think my SA is really kew. He understands that by taking care of me, takes care of his furniture needs but also as well as referall customers. I dont get with SA sometimes, I have ask my SA about getting paid, and he said MB pays them for everything including warranty work, so he never really minds doing it for me if any would occur. Berberian Motors in Stockton, CA and Fred Rosete, if anyone around the city would like a good place to go get your car serviced right, just mention Charlie sent you.

 

Give that dealer a bad survey and they will call you or the service manager will tell you to come in to resolve your problems correctly.

 

Definitly give bad marks, they will remember you and you will get better treatment in the future. Sqeeky wheels gets the oil.

 

Yes this is true, but there is a much better way to handle it. It shows muturity to go in and have a talk with the service manager in a clam manner and let him know of your dealings. I would say, you know I value your dealer however im disappointed with my last visit. I would like to bring it to your attention and give you a fair chance to fix it. I really dont want to give your dealer and service department a bad review. I understand people have bad days and my last visit may have been during one of those days.

If you stroke someones ego, they tend to want to go out of there way to make you happy and keep you happy. We live in a world where everyone has issues and get crapped on. So it would be very refreshing to have someone give you a chance and be very reasonable. I suspect this will get you very good treatment in the future. I would also ask the service manager to bring in the service guys to introduce you aswell. Dont complain to them or about them. That will **** them off. You simply want to acknowledge everyone has a bad day and you happen to suffer one of those days. Key word is to say SUFFER.

 

I've been trying to get the command update done for months. Everytime I bring the car in I request it and everytime it has not been done. I've talked calmly with the SA each time and I have been told there is no update available, I know there is as I do not have audio fade. I'm due my next scheduled service in around 900 miles so I'll try again and I will mention the TSB about the blue tooth echo, see if it gets done then.

 

Make sure you bring in the TSB about bluetooth echo. That's how I got my Comand updated done.

 

Do you have the TSB number or a link to a copy?