Rock72

wow, this place has got to be the worst benz dealership in the nation.

I live in southern california.

MB of South Bay is the closest dealer to my house (I'm in Redondo Beach and they are in Torrance). When I bought this car, the sales guy wasn't all that friendly so I bought the car at house of imports.

the recently opened a service and parts in Manhattan Beach...it's about a mile away so i figured great...now i have a dealer really close by.

i went to them twice now and had major problems both times.

1) went to their parts dept to get a new keyless go key for my car (lost a key). i made it crystal clear that my car has keyless go (mainly b/c i thought the key would be more expensive). the guy said they are the same price and placed the order. i got the key, it was not keyless go. i complained. they said they would order me a new key. simple error but they found a way to complicate this and this ordeal took 3 weeks and about 10 phone calls to straighten out. in the end, i figured they would just give me the old non-keyless go key for my trouble but they insisted that i give it back so that they can take a hammer in front of me and smash it up. i told them that that's ridiculous and they finally agreed to give me the key after arguing for an hour with them. oh yeah, never mind that the key cost me $210. i realize it's a high tech key but $210 still seems a bit high.

2) went last week because brakes are squeaking. no service lights or anything like that...just squeaky brakes. i bring the car in. service guy (Ed) says that there are some recalls so he'll take care of those too. cool. i make it clear that i need him to call me with an estimate before he does any work that is going to cost me money. he says "of course", etc...

he calls my wife and tells her that they got the recall stuff taken care of but his technician is busy so it's going to be another day before he can give us a quote on the brakes.

we don't hear from him. i call today and he says the car is done and ready to be picked up and the cost is $275 for the rear brakes.

i'm like wtf? you never called with an estimate and we never authorized any work. he says he talked to my wife and she authorized it. she gets on the phone and yells at him saying that she never authorized anything...he just said he'd call back with a quote and the next time we're talking to him is today.

what a load of crap. i probably would have ok'd the brake job anyway so i'll pay the guy but this dealership is crap.

RVD.

mick1

Give that dealer a bad review, you know the kind that Mercedes sends you right after you have had your car serviced.

DWP

You could complain to the Bureau of Automotive Repair (in California) about #2:

http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/stdhome.asp

See California Business & Professions Code § 9884.9:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/di...e=9884-9884.19

monstaloc

Yo,

House of Imports is just as bad. I'm going back there tomorrow due to a headlight outage and the sbc recall notice. This time I made sure I got a new service rep cuz of similiar bumbles. I'll report back to see how they act. I should've reported all my woes to the service tech manager but lately, I just haven't had time. Maybe I'll have to make time if they screw up this time.

Flash Gordon

I am not that happy with my dealer either, but after reading this thread, I guess I am lucky in some way. Hell, I would suggest that you write to the local Better Business Bureau and MB.

Rock72

yeah i'm definitely writing about it in the review form if i get one from mbusa.

the part the irks me is that at this point it's really just he said she said. they also have my car hostage so i had to pay to get the car back. on the document to sign to get the car it even said "authorization received on Friday 12/16 4pm". the guy is basically just making stuff up at this point. this is ridiculous.

house on imports isn't that great either. the only time i've actually had a decent experience there was when i called my original sales guy beforehand to book the appointment and specify that i need a loaner car, etc. it was a problem that they had to fix (it was on the due bill). when i actually went in to drop the off, the service guy refused to give the loaner car so i fould my original sales guy and he took care of the loaner car for me.

when we went back to pick up the car it wasn't ready (even though they called and told us it was). we waited for 2 hours in their waiting room (which was pretty bad at the time). they gave me a free pen.

but heck...this most recent thing where they just fix your car without getting prior authorization from you beforehand is the worst thing i've ever experienced. and the guy covering up his tracks just downright making stuff up makes this the worst dealership as far as i'm concerned.

RVD.

sc_trojan

Rock72, I also get my car serviced from Manhattan beach. The key there is to get a good service guy. I have tried all of them- I would ONLY let Hector write up my car. He used to be a mercedes mechanic, so he knows cars. The rest of the service guys there are worthless/clueless. Tell him Gary recommended you- he will treat you fair/right.

Rock72

ok cool. i spoke to hector before and he did seem pretty cool. if i do give them another chance, i'll go see him. thanks.

RVD.

steph280

I wonder if there are ANY good dealers in SoCal area? I've been to Fletcher Jones, HOI, Penske, and Rusnak. I get better treatement at my local Power Toyota than any of these dealers.

Everybody seems to have praise for Laguna Niguel MB. I am going to give them a try next time.

SoCA |\/| B3nz

Yes, I agree that MB of South Bay has the worst service. The service advisors there are rude and condescending. One time, I made a 2:00pm appt. and my service advisor was not there. I let the other service advisor know that I had an appointment, and she said, "He took a late lunch, he should be back anytime". I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited 30 min, and told the same service advisor if she could get my car in. She said, "Please be patient, he'll be back anytime" in an antagonistic tone. I then asked for the service manager, but by then my service advisor came back, 45 minutes later. He didn't even apologize for being late and basically told me that all working people are entitled to a lunch break. After that incident I never went back there for service again.

Crash

It's really scary when you have to go from dealer to dealer looking for a "good" service department. I took my old 2000 C230 to Keyes in Van Nuys because they discovered a small flaw in the paint on one of the doors. While there they lost my key and kept my car for 15 days!!!! The service advisor didn't return my phone calls and when he did he didn't have an answer as to why it was taking so long. He finally told me they 'lost' my key and were waiting for a new one. So next we tried Auto Stiegler in Encino. Since old man Stiegler died it seems like the place has gone to hell. My wife took her ML350 in because of an idle problem. The tech said he was going to drive it home to see if he could replicate the problem. He didn't mention he lived 35 miles away! It's not a big deal but this was when gas was about 3.25 a gallon and since the ML's get about 15 miles to the gallon (on a good day....with the wind behind you.....down hill.....) I thought they would have at least put a few gallons in the tank...but no. I know that kind of sounds petty but it is all part of good service. Oh yea, I forgot to mention they had her car for a week , used over a quarter of a tank of gas, never returned calls and broke part of the plastic underneath the drivers seat etc. I have a list of complaints. Again, I know the gas thing sounds petty but isn't it nice when the dealer does something that is above and beyond? Needless to say, they did not get a good review.

I have had good luck with Terry McKie at MBZ of Beverly Hills. He has gone out of his way for me and he is a really nice guy.

monstaloc

well..took my car into the house yesterday morning and it's still there. no update from my new service guy and when I called for an update...i get punk *** **** over the phone saying..your cars almost done...btw your service advisor will call you when it is. I was thinking..how do you know it's almost done? Is there a real time meter bar like when you download something off the internet that says when service is complete? You can't possibly have told me it's almost done 3 seconds after i give you my name. Bullsh..bullsh..bullsh...

i hate service people..cuz lately, they are nothing more than back end sales folks who try to sign you up for MB recommended everything.

SoCalBenzLover

MB South Bay and House of Imports are both owned by Power/AutoNation, which explains why they don't really care. They make $$$ through volume, not quality of service.

Don't take the MBUSA survey lightly. Both service & sales guys get bonused based on customer surveys...and MB was smart...they only get paid if they get 100% EXCELLENT responses.

So if you turn in a bad survey or mark anything less than "excellent", the guy doesn't get any bonus cash. That might make him think twice about how he treats customers the next time.

Only prob is that the guy who helped you with your brakes is the one you can ding. The guy at the parts counter for your key doesn't get survey bonus $$$...at least I don't think he does.

SoCalBenzLover

Stiegler is the worst, so don't go there ever. Beverly Hills seems pretty far from where you're at in the Valley. How about the Calabasas dealership?

SoCalBenzLover

Did you know that the Better Business Bureau is a complete racket? Someone complained about my business through the BBB and they called and asked me for a response.

Then they told me that if I signed up and became a member of the BBB for $800, they would always respond to complaints favorably because I was a member.

So in a nutshell, if you buy them off by paying your membership fee, the Bureau will always say that you settled your dispute w/ the person who complains about you.

It's a bunch of crap....and you're much better calling the MBUSA customer service line who actually contacts the dealer directly and MAKES THEM fix your problem and report the results back to Benz or they get $$$ taken away.

rickyfanmdr

Thanks for letting us know. I was thinking of going there next time just because they're more conveniently located for me. I've been going to MB of Long Beach because that's where I bought my car. But it's a half hour drive one way for me. I only have 12,000 miles on my car, and nothing serious has gone wrong, but they've been good about the little things they have done for me. They're fairly close for you.