madC55

This story has absolutely no meaning, but here goes.....

Before I went on vacation on 8/7 I dropped off my C55 to have the B service done. I got home the following Friday and got a call from the dealership. Now don't quote me and I'm trying to forget the pain of this bill so I really didn't look at it too hard, but they told me in addition to my B service it was recommended that my filters be changed, tranny fluid something or other and a list of other crap.

Anyway I told them to do it w/o asking about price. I went in the following day to pick up the car and the girl at the desk told me "that'll be $12.50", at least that is what my brain heard as I thought it was miraculously covered under warranty (I know some of the guys up there and occasionally this happens). In reality, the price was $1,250.00 for the work performed.

What burns me the most is that all of the work was done at once, but for some reason it is chunked out as 3 services on the bill. Naturally each of these 3 have a labor rate somewhere between $300 - $450 dollars......that is ridiculous, even if they were all $300, the majority of the bill was labor.

I don't know about you, but I used to work at a car dealership when I was in college and there is a huge difference between how long it actually took them and the bill rate. Most of the time when they charge you for a 3 hour job it really only took them 1.5 hours. That is the part that burns me the most.

Think if I call they'd do anything to adjust or give me some kind of credit?

SoCalC55

Would you mind posting up a list(per the bill) of what exactly they did? Thats beyond insane!

rockjock

Sadly-no-they prob wont. While I agree that turn time and bill time are pretty far off on some jobs-that where they make money (a tech that can turn a 1.5hr job into a 45min job is a happy camper )-
I know you know this-but dot ever agree to a bill (from anyone) w/o having an invoice-
gripping to the GM may help (or hurt future appts)-sorry to hear!

JonMBZ

You should have asked the service advisor when you approved the added work to be done. You could have said no or told them you will pay X amount if not you don't want it etc.

jturkel

i told my dealer what i wanted on my last service B. i think it cost me a grand total of 150 bucks lol

lomita

Thanks for reminding us why we cut the umbilical cord from the dealerships after only one visit. We had the mandatory LSD oil change at the Long Beach MB dealership, $225 for two drain plugs and 3 quarts of oil and labor.

That would have bought us two new BMC air filters at full retail.

Let's see, no drain and fill plugs are really needed, that was $50, and Redline oil easily fit the bill at $10/quart, not $22/qt., and Harbor Freight oil gun was $10 to fill the differential on my son's C32 AMG. That would have left us $185 in pocket change. Never again to a MB dealership for any kind of service.

TemjinX2

if your in california, you don't have to pay for any work you didn't authorize. Thats why if you go to a independent shop they make you sign the service receipt before they perform it. I would complain to the service manager and see if you can get a pro rate or some kind of credit.

Keep in Mind, SA's get commission off the services they charge, thats probably another reason why they like to inflate there prices and add on extras.

The dealership was going to charge me $500 just to basically zip tie my throttle harness to the actuator. I gave a polite no thank you and fixed for 5cents.

AMGC43C55

the 1,250 sounds about right for all that, don't for get you own a mercedes c55 not a honda. mercedes cost a lot of money to own it has been this away for years. i am a tech and let's say i do a rear main seal for 8hr it will only take me 4hr to do but i still get 8hr that is how it works, that is why i am a tech. the other day i called my lawyer for some info, i was on the phone with him for 15min but he charged me for 30min that is how thay do it. i went to the DR to reajust my back, in and out with in 20 min but i was charged for 1hr. i dont know the milage on your car but over time things have to be replace do to time or milage. you can take your car to a indy but do thay use mercedes parts? do thay use napa air filters and oil filters may be. don't for get you get what you pay for.

TemjinX2

the difference is that you wanted to talk to your lawyer or go to the doctors office.

The OP went in for just service B and they added additional services without his consent while he was on vacation to up his bill.

Regardless if his car needed it or not, its not ethical and in some states illegal for a dealership to add services and charges without the customers consent and expect him to pay for a higher price then he was originally quoted.

moosejaw

Dude fours hours is a lot more than rounding off to the next 30 or 60 minutes.
I'm all for making an honest days pay with a decent profit. But charging double the labor is insane let alone highway robbery on top of 30% commision on parts.

he average dealer charges $100 an hour which includes the tech, employee burden, the SA, the overhead of the shop and dealer with profit included. On top of that you want to flat out lie about the labor?

If you can get away with it unnoticed, more power to ya. But if i throw a fuss bc i know the difference between four hours work and eight hours work, Your SA better offer a concession on the tab.

Quicktwinturbo

That sounds alot for Service B.. I waas quoted around 500-600 for Service B when I was in the states...

It's jst like Service A.. They spend more time to "INSPECT" your car when you are doing Service B... IMO

TemjinX2

lol..30%..i think your being a little too generous to them. Its more like a 60-80% mark up on parts.

Thats why i buy all my parts at parts.com. I can't justify buying parts from the dealership when i can just wait 5days and save at least 50%

I just go to the dealership now to get part numbers now..lol.

AMGC43C55

thay called him, and he sead to do the work but he did not ask for a price that is on him. lession learned i hope

yes i charge 8hr that is book time that is mercedes set time to do a rear main seal and yes it only takes me 4hr or less to do but how long did it take me to get that fast. if it takes me 10hr to do the rear main seal i will only get payed the 8hr. some people can take a day, for me i do the job fast and i do it right. i want the car out of my stall so i can get to the next car this is how i make a liveing. dont for get laber is not cheep we charge 165.00 hr.

TemjinX2

i must've mis read his post. if they called him before the service was performed then i retract my previous statement.

Viper98912

You mean let your car sit parked outside longer while you sit and wait in the lobby?


As for the whole "book rate" deal, that is just how the industry works. Whether it takes 4 hrs or 8 hrs, if the book says it pays 8, then it pays 8. Each industry has it's standards, and this is the standard for this one.

Now, if it takes 10, some shops will still do the honorable thing and charge you 8, while others will tack on additional hours or fees because "the owner did something" that caused them more grief and time. Even if your car is 100% stock. On lease. And always serviced by the exact dealership you bought from.

Some shops are highway robbery. Some are honorable. Regardless, I will DIY as much as I can before I need to take it to a shop. I don't even let the tire shops mount my wheels to my cars. I leave the car jacked up in the garage and take them the wheels and tires independently. Already had two cross threads and one reversed tire (on the wheel, not just rotation, with big letters on the sidewall I N S I D E ).

DIY for maintenance and generic troubleshooting saves you money, but may cost you time and grief. The final result most always gives you more satisfaction IMO (but not always). Then again, some people just aren't inclined I guess.

moosejaw

If the book says eight and you can do it in four, they you my freind are wasting your time in a MB Stealership........
You should be liberating Afghanistan. (I hope that is how you spell it)

For $165 an hour that better include a happy ending

AMGC43C55

i have been doing this for 11 years now. yes we do give you some petroleum jelly

moosejaw

Obama needs to fix this industry too....

$165 an hour for labor is outrageous. Does your dealership service Veyrons too? Free car washes? Internet Service?

Probably that cost is justified bc of some ridiculous overhead such as multi-tiered managers making six figure salaries, the donuts with sprinkles or some outrageous lawsuit settlement they had to pay out.

mkonei

dont forget this about working flat rate: if it pays four, and you have 5.5 on the job, youre SOL if youre the tech. it does work both ways. and alot of that shop rate pays for tools and training, its not pure profit after the tech gets a paycheck. 165 does seem a bit high though. my place is 115, and ppl complain about that everyday.

Dingleberry

WTF kind of crappy propaganda is this? There's plenty of "indy" shops out there that do BETTER work than the STEALERSHIP and also use OEM parts.

AMGC43C55

yes i think 165.00 is a lot to but it is a new shop in a new location only 14 blocks from the beach thay have a big over head. but all the other mercedes shops charge about the same, some will start at 120.00 for 1hr but it will go to 150.00+ for 2hr or more. yes some indey shops use mercedes parts but i see this all the time when a customer comes in saying he went to a indy and thay replaced all the spark plugs, all the wires, engine mounts but the car still idels like poop. thay replace all this and the only thing it needed was a EGR valve. a lot of indy shops are shot gun tech, Just keep shooting parts at it till it is fixed. but i will say some indy shops are very good and fair. at the end of the day i know that my car runns good (for know) knock on wood. just be happy you dont have a SLR service bill the last one i serviced the customer was not abel to poop for a week.

moosejaw

Most of the south florida indi shops are pretty good bc all the good techs and SA were forced out or quit bc of the huge conglomerate known as Autonation which owns all of them. Usually these guys get fed up with the red tape, being forced to comply with company protocol and treating customers like tools. It been well know here that you will get better treatment and experience from an Indi than you would by going to the big dealership where the general manager came from a Chevy dealer, the SA came from Nissan, and the tech from Hyundai with little or none mercedes experience.
I wont go to the dealer unless it is for parts or numbers.

AMGC43C55

i know all about Autonation my friend worked for then and all he had to say is that he will never work for then again. all thay see is numbers and that is it. thay buy a dealer and run it into the ground and sell it and move on.

Dingleberry

BINGO! All of these uninformed people think they are getting top notch work at stealerships when in fact a lot of the techs there are nothing but pompous guys who think that they are know-it-alls *cough* *cough*

AMGC43C55

All i have to say is that i don't know nothing