Newbie here! Picked up my CPO '08 c350 last night, registered with MBWorld this morning!

Love the car. Knew it was 'the one' for awhile now, just had to talk my husband into it. This is my first MB, previous car was a 325i, but we've been dedicated to the 'Germans' for a long time now.

So, my first question for you guys is this: Should my car, being a CPO, buying from a Mercedes dealership, have come with a Leather Bound Case and Manual?

All the salesman gave us was the paper 'Operator's Manual'. My husband asked, "Is that all?" and the salesman told us, "yes, that's all the car comes with". Not ever buying a MB before, we couldn't really argue, though I knew he was lying. (He's been your stereotypical sketchy 'car salesman' throughout the process.) He also just handed us the keys and that was that. No walk through, no instructions.. nothing.

Needless to say, I'm really disappointed by the whole thing. I was hoping for that exciting new car introduction, but instead we got a 'here ya go' and 'bye'. (He was going home for the day, and was gone before we even left the lot)

You always hear that 'buying a cpo is second only to a new car'... Though this is feeling like I bought a plain used car at a random used car lot. Where's that 'special feeling' that you're supposed to get when your spending this much $$?

I feel like his less-than-helpful attitude must have something to do with the fact that my husband and I are young, and I don't think he ended up making a ton on the deal.

I guess the fact that I'll have to figure out all of the working details on my own is not a huge deal, I love the car, and love the price I paid, but I WANT MY LEATHER EMBOSSED CARRYING CASE!! Am I asking too much?

Thanks for the imput!

that sucks... well the part about the salesperson...

when you spend this much money... AND you are putting commission $ in their pockets... the salesperson should at least show some respect if for no other reason other than him earning money.

my salesmanwas a cool guy... helpful... threw in floormats and 100$ loyalty card... took me on a tour of the car inside and out... after the papers were signed we sat and he puled out some... biscotti... i believe...

seems like you should have gone somewhere else to purchase it... a lot of people were rude initially or plain un interested and i passed on those dealerships and sales people.


either way... you have the forums for all you informational needs now... enjoy the car! forget about the dealership issues!... well until you have to go for that service a... lol

i feel TERRIBLE for what you've gone thru.

Try 2 things:
1) in your nicest/firmest voice, call up the general manager of the MB dealer and report what happened, and request what you want - the users manual, case, and a proper demonstration of the car. tell them that you're also doing this to HELP the dealer and show the GM where there are issues and deficiencies - in this case, the apathetic/rude attitude of the salesman.
2) put in a call to the MB corporate office in NJ. search the forum if you need to find the VP marketing's name and again, nicely report what happened.
In both case, be clear about both your desired outcomes - and that you're trying to HELP them better with their image and customer experience.
Good luck, and congrats on C350...it's a great car.
Patrick

^ a good idea.
I am sorry to hear about that. The salesman here at the local mercedes dealership are terrible also. They are rude and just annoying to a degree. I usually go to another dealership out of town and its much better. Also another thing about service I would be very careful. The dealership here treats the cars like crap and has created more problems with the vehicles to be able to fix more things..

Congrats on the car and GL.

Grats on joining the club.

Even though the salesman was on the negative side from what I hear, truth is, they are under no obligation to provide you with the leather bound manual. This doesn't mean you should give up and not try to get one, especially playing the "good will" and "future service" cards with the dealership. Unfortunately, MBUSA seems to allow independant dealers a lot of wiggle room when it comes to their actions and policies. That's why finding a good one with a good SA is like finding gold. Good luck and enjoy the new ride.

amen - i bring a bottle of wine to my SA a couple of times a year...totally worth it, plus he's a good guy.
Patrick

Well, that just goes to prove that "special feeling second new" refers more to the actual user experience of the CPO product and its tested quality, not necessarily the purchasing process. lol Plus what Azn_C300 about their obligations.

The problem here is his attitude. You can demand those things as compensation for the unpleasant experience, but I guess you can't really fault him for failing to deliver those items or services in the first place.

^ All good advice. When speaking to the GM, I would also heavily hint that with the "service" (or "non-service") you received, you don't plan on bringing your vehicle back to their dealership for service or repairs, and will go to another MB dealership that treats you better. The GM may "play it off" and pretend he doesn't care, or give you attitude, but I'm pretty sure the GM does care since vehicle service, maintainence, and repairs is where a lot of dealership profit comes from!

if u really don't like the salesman, u can give him a bad rating, which will look really bad on him! that's not right....

^ TRUE... I BELIEVE THEY EMAIL YOU A SURVEY AFTER YOU PURCHASE A CAR... AT LEAST THATS WHAT THEY DID AT MB OAKVILLE, CANADA.

yeah, they do email you surveys every time you put ur car into service, i mean if he deserves it, then give him bad rating haha. i don't think he treated you right, so i say do it.

Then you'll have them calling you at 7AM yelling at you for giving them low marks. The surveys are not anonymous (a flaw I've made a point to the manager in charge of the surveys at MBUSA). Anything less than perfect marks will hurt their average and hurt their bottom line. I had marked a 8/10 or 9/10 on all categories (I never usually give 10/10 as there's always something that can be improved on), which I felt was still pretty good, but my sales guy called me, insulted me, told me I had no idea what I was doing filling out the survey, and how he now had to sell 5 more MBs and get perfect marks to make up for my "mistakes". Needless to say, I was pissed and reported it to MB Corporate.

^

This is very true. My Sales Rep was also very rude to me when I initially walked in to purchase the car. The guy walked up to me and told me he'd be right back to help me and left me there for 15minutes. I walked out for a quick smoke and see him sitting outside eating lunch with other co-workers. Little did he know I already had a cashiers check made out towards a purchase. After seeing him there eating and joking amongst co-workers I approached the Information Desk and asked to speak to a manager where I was greeted by what seemed to be a service rep. The damn service guy had to find me a sales person and guess who came back? The original sales rep with bread crumbs on the side of his lip...

Long story short...I filled out that survey with horrible ratings. I received a call with a very upset person pretty much saying that I was the idiot and didn't know what I was talking about. All I could say in the calmest tone was "yeaaaaaa......good luck with that" and I just hung up.

2 Week later they sent me a package with an apology letter and some free goodies (Hats/shirts/carbon fiber keychain & pen set) and that was pretty much it.

Conclusion - give horrible ratings and you have a chance of receiving free gifts haha

haha i shall do this. lol jk.

\Welcome, They should have given you the manual in the leather case it orginally comes in, ask the general manager to produce it, or contact Mercedes in the US. As far as explaining the vehicle controls etc, that's just plain ol' common courtesy, in my opinion, and if you were treated like this, I would refuse any further contact with this salesman and would also make that perfectly clear when speaking with the general manager. Nuke

I was treated better than that, and I bought my cars used from non-MB dealers on Ebay. My cars came with the Nav DVD, Leather case, and all manuals and keys.

The CLS was delivered to my door even.

The R500, the clear bra was thrown in no charge. To the OP that sales guy treated you like crap. I would make a complaint and demand my leather case, as other have noted as well. No excuse for for poor customer service like that.




Anyway, welcome to MBWorld and enjoy your ride.

I don't agree that we should be afraid to give ratings that they deserve. What are surveys for if you can't rate them??? shoot.... if a salesman or service manager give me a bad attitude i'll call up the region's manager and complain how bad his employee is! i'm not an *******, but that's just bad customer service if they got an attitude or bad services.

I gave a bad review before to this service manager, and he GAVE me the longest face everr but after that he knows i'm not easily pushed over and now i can call him up personally if anything is wrong =) my point is, DONT be afraid to give them a bad *** review hhahaha.. just need to do it one time =D

Pnsptrs, congrats on your new ride. I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience. I can't really add to the great advice already given, though I'll say I agree with what they said. Welcome to the forums and enjoy your new ride!

Thanks for the advice, everybody!!

After considering your suggestions, I decided to start out small, and sent an email (I had emailed with the salesman prior to purchase) to the salesman to present my demand for a set of manuals in it's entirety, to see what his response would be, then I would take his response and my general dissatisfaction with the buying experience to the GM. Surprisingly, the salesman stated that he understood my concern and would have one ready for me when we pick up our plates. Also, he tells me that the lack of a 'tour' was to benefit my husband and I since it was late (an hour before closing), and had my son with us.. he was only trying to accommodate us... right. He's offered to show us around the car, when we pick up our plates... so, I guess after I've had the car for a few weeks.

I have to say that I am not a huge 'complainer', though with a situation like this, I'm not inclined to keep my mouth shut either. I feel like to not say anything is just letting the salesman pull the same stuff with the next guy/girl. So, I'm not sure whether I will inform the GM or not. I'm still deciding on that one... I'll update if I do.

What dealer was it? quite a few people read these forums (including smart MB dealers).

Excellent point.

Mercedes Benz North (Houston, Tx)