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Generally to get compensation, huge or otherwise, you need damages. Getting the crap scared out of you isn't compensable. Other than that the OP only suffered what boils down to a mechanical breakdown.
It could have been worse, but the law doesn't contemplate hypothetical damages based on something that might have happened because of someone's negligence. Only what actually happened.
In terms of shop screw ups this is a solid 8 on a one-to-ten, but ultimately it's no harm, no foul. I'm sure that particular tech will be extraordinarily careful with brake work going forward.
I sure hope the OP doesn't listen to many in this thread. You ask for ridiculous compensation and you will get nothing at all. If you bring up a lawsuit they will laugh you off the property that they just had you trespassed from.
a dealer should go out of business strictly on the error of ONE technician? One technician should lose his career and livelihood over this? What if it were his first error?
glad calmer more practical minds run businesses and deal with customers like this ...
sucks for the OP but an apology and a free service B is about all I would expect ... industry would never move forward if we started giving HUGE compensation for theoretic damages ...
Show me where the OP asks for a big compensation in the previous posts AND show me where he asks for a lawsuit! Come on, do it!
Im shocked to read some of your replies. Its not uncommon for people after an accident to deal with stress and night mares. Even though the OP was lucky to not be in an accident it is easy to think of what could have happened. Time to be a little more symphatic here? No?
And calling the OP melodramatic and what not, come on, can you please leave those things out of the conversation and try to focus on reading what the OP is actually saying. Is it possible to take the conversation up one level?
To the OP, you should definetely talk to the owner/manager of the dealer and ask what they are doing about this. A good reply would be something in line with what measures they have taken to prevent this from happening again. They should also offer you some kind of compensation, whatever seems reasonable, maybe next service for free. If they wont do that, this is of such a serious nature i would try to make more people aware of it. A phone call to MB corporate, talk to your local news papers etc. Whatever seems reasonable. Theres no need to go over board, keep to the truth, not adding anything to the story. Its not acceptable to be talked to in a rude way, that just shows how low standard some people have. Its not uncommon to be treated in a similar bad way as you did and people want to blame things on someone else. Still, the more informed people are, they can make their own choices about where to buy their cars or do their service. You should NOT worry about having a bad relationship with your dealer, they are the ones losing in the long run, if they treat customers badly.
Rationally?
Logic?
What are you thinking?
Red-faced, fist pounding OUTRAGE is the only thing that will make him feel better. After all, how could anybody tolerate human error that caused absolutely no damage or injury?
Show me where the OP asks for a big compensation in the previous posts AND show me where he asks for a lawsuit! Come on, do it!
Im shocked to read some of your replie. Its not uncommon for people after an accident to deal with stress and night mares. Even though the OP was lucky to not be in an accident it is easy to think of what could have happened. Time to be a little more symphatic here? No?
And calling the OP melodramatic and what not, come on, can you please leave those things out of the conversation and try to focus on reading what the OP is actually saying. Is it possible to take the conversation up one level?
To the OP, you should definetely talk to the owner/manager of the dealer and ask what they are doing about this. A good reply would be something in line with what measures they have taken to prevent this from happening again. They should also offer you some kind of compensation, whatever seems reasonable, maybe next service for free. If they wont do that, this is of such a serious nature i would try to make more people aware of it. A phone call to MB corporate, talk to your local news papers etc. Whatever seems reasonable. Theres no need to go over board, keep to the truth, not adding anything to the story. Its not acceptable to be talked to in a rude way, that just shows how low standard some people have. Its not uncommon to be treated in a similar bad way as you did and people want to blame things on someone else. Still, the more informed people are, they can make their own choices about where to buy their cars or do their service. You should NOT worry about having a bad relationship with your dealer, they are the ones losing in the long run, if they treat customers badly.
Rationally?
Logic?
What are you thinking?
Red-faced, fist pounding OUTRAGE is the only thing that will make him feel better. After all, how could anybody tolerate human error that caused absolutely no damage or injury?
I own a service business (not auto). We look at screw ups like this as an opportunity to make a stronger connection with our customer by going above and beyond to make it right. I call screw ups "moments of truth", because how we respond in that moment will either show the customer we value their business and we're sorry, or we won't, and the opportunity will be gone forever.
Inevitably the actions I take cost the business money in the short term, but if it leads to an improved relationship and a happy long term customer I consider it an investment no different than advertising. I'm fairly certain the story of my largess will be shared with the customer's family and friends, which is not a bad thing, just as it would be if I had been petty and dismissive.
Let's see how this dealer actually responds. He may surprise us. If it were me, I'd be eating a couple years pre-paid maintenance. Time will tell.
I own a service business (not auto). We look at screw ups like this as an opportunity to make a stronger connection with our customer by going above and beyond to make it right. I call screw ups "moments of truth", because how we respond in that moment will either show the customer we value their business and we're sorry, or we won't, and the opportunity will be gone forever.
Inevitably the actions I take cost the business money in the short term, but if it leads to an improved relationship and a happy long term customer I consider it an investment no different than advertising. I'm fairly certain the story of my largess will be shared with the customer's family and friends, which is not a bad thing, just as it would be if I had been petty and dismissive.
Let's see how this dealer actually responds. He may surprise us. If it were me, I'd be eating a couple years pre-paid maintenance. Time will tell.
this is an excellent perspective
I was able to negotiate not one but two buybacks, dollar for dollar, of 2014 e550's that had harsh shifting features, I say sarcastically, of the transmission on downshift. I did this with calm and poise and patience, using some passive aggressive leverage in the safety concern area and i never became inflamed irate or contentious. I believe this is more than most have been able to do with their similar transmission issues that were identical or similar to mine. I had the help of very smart guys on this board that urged me to take it calmly to mbusa and focus on the safety component and clearly state what my expectations were of Benz up front.
Like Mike said, I have now built a very strong relationship with that dealership and they always go the extra mile to help me out.
Last edited by PeterUbers; Nov 14, 2016 at 06:38 PM.
What a ridiculous thing to have happened.
F! the dealership owner and the GM! I would go right to head office and to the press.
YOU ALMOST DIED! Don't let them get away with this by throwing in a free car wash!
And BTW, you do NOT need to do a brake flush at 20k miles!!
Dude, he basically left his brake line open/cut. That is a criminal act!
Again, he could have DIED. Not sure what you're not getting. Maybe because it didn't happen to you.
This is no different than getting an operation and the MD cutting a main artery by accident.
I'm not saying the tech should be fired - leave that up to MB and the dealer. But I would make a HUGE deal about it, to MBUSA, to the dealership owner, and to MB Germany.
This is not acceptable. And by letting it go with a simple apology, it perpetuates it. The problem is that the tech continues thinking it's not a big deal. And will do it again. And then someone could really die.
Exactly, they need to come up with a solution for preventing these things from happening again. I would feel afraid of going to the same dealer if I knew in the back of my mind what they have done before and knew that they previously had just apologized for it.
Dude, he basically left his brake line open/cut. That is a criminal act!
Again, he could have DIED. Not sure what you're not getting. Maybe because it didn't happen to you.
This is no different than getting an operation and the MD cutting a main artery by accident.
I'm not saying the tech should be fired - leave that up to MB and the dealer. But I would make a HUGE deal about it, to MBUSA, to the dealership owner, and to MB Germany.
This is not acceptable. And by letting it go with a simple apology, it perpetuates it. The problem is that the tech continues thinking it's not a big deal. And will do it again. And then someone could really die.
I crossed the street this morning, I could have DIED! Who can I sue?? Geez
When near misses happen in other industries isn't absolutely imperative that whistleblowers identify the problem and at times it's appropriate for a root cause analysis to determine if there was a fundamental flaw in the way, for example, technicians everywhere in the system are doing something in a flawed or unsafe manner. Then they have to go to this particular technician and hear his side of the scenario and determine what part of the process he overlooked to cause such a problem. Also if they determine this guy is systematically doing things wrong they'll have to look at cars in his repair proximity that may also be affected on the road - so goes it for the whole system if a systematic problem in repair algorithms are identified.
the OP has the opportunity to get a fair compensation for his troubles but he won't be able to win any lawsuit. Additionally this is his opportunity to improve the system for other current and future customers depending on how aggressive the dealership is in preventing something like this from happening again
to clarify for those who may have missed it, most of us would be equally pissed and concerned if this was us and feel for this OP. Hopefully he can update us on his progress with the dealer or MBUSA
Last edited by PeterUbers; Nov 15, 2016 at 11:24 AM.
This is what you wrote @peterubers. I guess, if the world is so black or white, then it must be hard to come up with more than just 2 scenarios. You are the only person here writing this, certainly not the OP.
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