If you live in Colorado you may find this interesting.
McDonalds bag, wrapper and receipt in my car after service... Yep, while in their care someone decided they needed a McMuffin badly and my car would be a good conveyance. Since there was a wrapper in the bag and a used napkin I have to assume the McMuffin was consumed in the car as well!
Had they removed the trash how would you know? Not good.

I have been going to this dealer since moving to Colorado in 2001 and have gone through 6 cars. This was my last visit to that dealership.

 

I'd mention this incident to your service manager just so they are aware of it...who knows, they might even throw in a "freebie" of some sort for compensation.

 

I did let the service manager know and he was very apologetic and disappointed that it happened. I appreciated his sincere response. I am not looking for anything monetary, it is a trust issue and my confidence is broken. There are 2 other dealers in the metro area.

 

I dunno man. Sucks it happened but you cant blame the entire dealer for one stupid employees mistake.. You said you've had years and years or dealings with this dealership and this one mistake changes tour entire perception of the dealer? Seems like you are trading a situation that you now know about and can deal with to one where you are ignorant to the inner works of another dealer... The grass isn't always greener. I think you should lodge a formal complaint service manager and dealer GM. And then consider the issue resolved.

 

I have had nothing but issues so far with MB of Littleton.

 

Consider yourself lucky. I found a golf ball in the back seat of my BMW. I've never played golf in my life.

 

Clearly not acceptable but it could have been something as stupid as a valet taking the car, I wouldn't say that should keep you from going back to the dealership if otherwise they've been good to you.

 

I think its one of those things that the weakest link represents the company. Whether or not the entire service department comes together and decides to do something stupid or a 1 week new hire does something stupid, something was done in the name of the company.

 

i rather leave my car at any mb dealership than to leave my car to a valet.

when i used to work as a valet back in my college days................lets just say anything german used to get abused about 8-10 times depending on how many valets on that particular night.
This was a restaurant which was on the 12th floor, so we had plenty of time to mess around.
i got to drive a testarossa too, i almost crashed it. didn't know upper left shift position was REVERSE, LOL.

 

Maybe the tech was so slammed that day he had to work through lunch and wolfed down a sandwich on the test drive. Happened to be your car. Detail should have caught the "evidence" when they cleaned the car prior to handing it back to you. I doubt the tech meant any disrespect to you or the car.

I'd mention it to the SA on your next visit and maybe get a full detail out of the deal. Seems fair. Unless you're totally done with that store, and there's another dealer reasonably close. Then burn them on the survey and never look back. (Or go back)

 

If the tech can finally grab some breakfast while test driving my car, good on him/her, as long as the car doesn't smell afterwards. Heck, if the best way to test the car is to do the 10-mile trip to pick up their suddenly-sick daughter from school and drive her home, that's convenient for everyone.

Techs are just people. We all have personal needs. We've all done innocent stuff behind our bosses'/customers' backs. A McMuffin Is Not A Big Deal.

 

Uhhh we may all have personal stuff come up. Maybe tech was starving.... Doesnt give him the right to use a customers car to go get it... They are putting themselves at great risk by doing so outside the scope of the job... What if he was rear ended while in drive thru? What if he was parked and someone backed into them? He's exposing himself to unneeded risk... If he's that hungry I am sure when he got back from the test drive he could have told his boss hey I'm starving I need a few to grab some food.. Or I dunno man up and wait for lunch?

Might sound petty but common sense and decency go both ways.... What the tech did was wrong, period. And should get in trouble for it. The rules are there to protect the dealer and the tech and/or whoever is authorized to drive/move the vehicle.

 

If he grabbed the keys to the car to do nothing but run to McDonalds, then yes, not smart. Although by signing the repair auth in most states you've granted them permission to drive the car without any explicit restrictions. Not sure any rules were broken other than common sense.

A buddy of mine runs a body shop (an MB certified shop actually). A few years back, they had finished up a big job on a red convertible something or other. But it was a Friday and rather than call the customer for a pick up their manager decided to take the car home for the weekend. He let his daughter take it to the beach and on the way she totaled it. So that guy had some explaining to do.

 

While I mostly agree with the OP, I am not sure I would cast away the entire dealership. That said guys, some people are just more meticulous about their cars (even I don't eat in my own car) and the thought of someone eating or drinking in their car, especially without their permission or behind their back, is a real problem.

Again, I would be pissed off as well, I just don't think I would write off the entire dealer. I would definitely try to get something out of them.

 

HAHA the tech probably removed the condoms from the back seat.....

 

How do you even know the car went to McDonalds. I can think of a dozen ways the bag and receipt were left in your car other than what you assume.

 

Yea.... And I got ocean front property I can sell you in Ohio.

 

LOL

 

Once in my S550 I discovered the tech left behind a jar of Gray Poupon and a half tin of caviar. I'm still getting used to owning a C Class I guess.

 

Lets say the McDonalds driver had crashed it. Did he/she have the permission of the car owner to have personal use of that car while at the dealer? Did he/she have permission from the dealer to use a customers car for personal use? Does the terms and conditions of the service allow staff to remove cars without permission for personal use?

If all the answers are no then the car was stolen and the driver would have no defense.

 

The answers are "yes". You granted them permission to drive the car and unless you modified the repair agreement to stipulate specific conditions to your permission, it's a blanket authority.

All actions by agents of the dealership, including techs, while the car is in their care, custody or control, are covered by the dealership's Garagekeeper's Liability insurance. The policy does not distinguish between "permissible use" versus non permissible use, unless the use is in the commission of a crime. So if the tech robs a bank, uses your car in the getaway and totals it, the dealership itself is on the hook. Otherwise, a tech driving the car, even stopping at McDonalds, is considered within the scope of his work and covered by the Garagekeeper's Liability insurance.

It's not theft. Say you agree to loan your car to a coworker for the day to drive his mom to the doctor. But he also makes a side trip to a bowling alley. Leaving the bowling alley he pulls in front of another driver and is t boned.

Can you report the car as stolen to the police to absolve yourself and your insurer under the premise that if he'd gone where he told you he was going the accident would never had happened? You cannot, because you gave him implied consent.

 

At MB tech rates, I'm surprised it wasn't caviar and eggs Benedict.

 

Hmmm Mike are you sure about this? You have this documented somewhere? Of course a tech may need to drive the car if in the course of troubleshooting, it becomes necessary.

I find it unlikely that you merely leaving your car at the dealership allows them to use it for whatever purpose they want, provided they don't commit a crime. I am not calling you out at all by the way, I am just not sure I see it this way unless there is some verbiage that says otherwise.

If I bring my car in for say "condensation in the blinker on the side view mirror", is there any reason at all why they would drive that car off the lot, let alone to McDonalds? Or a faulty seat motor, broken latch on my glove box?

Again, not trying to give you a hard time at all, I just think there are degrees of justification for leaving the lot in a customer car. It should be a legitimate reason.

 

Read the small print on your repair authorization. It doesn't limit the shop's employees driving the car to a necessity or "legitimacy" standard (which is subjective and would be impossible to enforce). Can the service valet drive the car around to the back lot? Can a tech drive the car from the lot to the rack and back? Can a tech drive the car to test how it performs on the road to either diagnose your problem or confirm the problem was fixed? Are any of those actions implicitly more hazardous than driving thru a McDonalds? Not really.

The truth is, techs get paid flat rate labor for diagnosis. If it takes them ten minutes or ten hours it's the same pay. Often, to kill two birds with one stone to diagnose a driveability or intermittent problem, they'll take the car out on an errand. Or they'll take the car home that night trying to get the car to duplicate your complaint.

You can of course refuse them permission to drive the car. Just be prepared for a lot of "CS DOES NOT WANT CAR DRIVEN. UNABLE TO DUPLICATE CUSTOMERS COMPLAINT. TICKET CLOSED."

**** them off enough and they can flat out refuse to work on the car, period. MB dealers are independent franchisees. They have no obligation to perform warranty work on your car.

Bottom line, if you don't trust your shop, don't leave the car there unattended in the first place. If you trust them...trust them.

 

I think a lot of people would agree that they hear this a lot anyway! My drivers seat in my BMW was squeaking incessantly for the last 6 months I had it. Took it in several times and got that exact response.

You could drive over an ant and hear it and they claimed they could not duplicate. Pretty much think this is the canned first response to anyone with squeak or rattle issues.