Rock72

just to recap...

when i bought my car last month, the salesman told me that i'll be getting a customer service survey in the mail. he told me that when i get this, i should not fill it out. he said instead that i should come into the dealership and we'll fill this out together. or i can just mail it over to him and he'll fill it out for me and send it for me. he also mentioned that he would give a small gift for doing this...like a key chain or t-shirt type of thing.

i just brushed it off with "okay whatever"...and went home.

i received this in the mail last week. interestingly enough i also received an email from my sales guy this week saying something like "remember the survey i told you about? you should have received it by now. like i said back then, bring it in and we'll fill it out together or just send it to me and i'll fill it out and send it in for you."

overall, i don't really have any major complaints about the dealer. the car did come with a big scratch on it and they fixed it but the service guy did give me a hard time when i brought it in (but my sales guy came in and took care of things with the service guy).

if i were to fill it out honestly, i would probably give them pretty decent marks (but not necessarly perfect marks for everything).

what would you do? i'm not a rat...so it's against my personal principles to contact MBUSA and rat them out. but i'm thinking that maybe i should see what i can get from them (a couple of t-shirts + key chains maybe). or i can just ignore them and fill it out and send it to mbusa.

i've also heard that some people make a photo copy of the form and fill it out honestly and send that in. they then give the original to the dealer to do whatever the dealer wants with it. but that's too sneaky and against my principles too.

Rock

britton

I recieved my survey last week and filled it out myself. I was told at the dealer that if I had a problem when I filled out the survey to let them know or if anything negative to let them know. They stated giving them a excellent report they got more cars I think it is called alocations. I got to chose a key chain when I picked the car up. I would fill it out yourself. If you are not happy with the purchase I would let the salesperson know that you had the form to fill out use it to your advantage.

Jim Banville

When we bought out MB, the dealer never mentioned this survey. We did get at least one of them in the mail. I don't remember what we did with it. But I want to mention that the dealer gave us 2 keychains when we picked up the car, and sent us a potted plant about a month later. We received a tin of cookies from the dealer another month or so down the line. For Christmas they sent us a box with a wool mit and a few cleaning supplies! When we wanted to drive the new E class, we went by and spoke to our salesman. We told him that we wouldn't be buying anytime soon, but wanted to drive the car to see what it was like compared to our C. He didn't hesistate to take the time to give both my wife and I a ride in the car and wasn't pushing us to go ahead and trade our C in for the E. Nice folks at Carriage House Imports in ATL

gobenz

We were reminded of the survey when we took delivery, but were never pressured by the saleman as to how to fill it out. I don't think I would appreciate being asked to bring it in and fill it out together. All in all, we were very pleased with the sales experience anyway.

BTW, we got a keychain and an MB carry-all (backpack) when we took delivery. No treats since then

mike_fern2001

I was also told "send it back to me- we will do it and give u a MB bag".....

Tying to figure out how to work this into the wood steering wheel....... Hmmmmmmmmm

or do i break down and spend the damned 800

jhb

Mike, look at it this way: a. get the wood wheel as soon as possible after making the best deal you can (make sure you do as I did and keep the old one for lease end-you may use it on another new E then); b. then put to better use the time you would have been thinking more and more about whether or not to get the wood wheel, namely in earning the money to pay for it!!! I say that because, I went through the same thinking over a period of time and almost didn't get the wheel. Then, after I saw a few in person, I just couldn't resist!!! Go for it.

c32aus

In both cases, the sales guys asked us to fill out the survey with all excellent. Both said, if we don't, they would loose 2% of their commission. Since they both the same, a few years apart, I am inclined to believe the story.

Dema

My dealer also asked me about that promising to fuel my car. I filled the survey with excellence to the dealer and dropped in mail. I did not care about full tank from him, but I thought that his compensation depended on such small thing.

Rock72

the salesman gave me 2 free keychains (one for each set of keys). the keychains are pretty nice but it does have the dealership and salesman etched into it.

i didn't get anything else...(well, i did get floor mats but those are included right?)

Rock

bmms8

if you service your car, they should mail you a key chain. it is fairly cheap, our dealer ve us 3 free key chains, and 2 hats. all we did was ask, and since we had a such a long wait, he was happy about it. we also got cleap plastic floor mats for free. but those are not cut as precise as the internet sites. i am prety sure if you ask a couple times, they wil be more than happy to give you a couple

etenn

The survey was mentioned several times by the Salesman, Sales Manager and Dealership owner. All just told me that the survey was important to them but never put any pressure to give them high marks...just that it was important. It was really easy for me as the buying and delivery was top notch.

The two keys I received were on nice keyrings and I also got 2 hats, 2 cups and the all weather mats (fit perfect). None of the freebees were tied in anyway to the survey.

I do have a large problem with the salesmen telling some of you to let them fill them out or trying to bribe you with trinkets.
We have heard of some pretty shabby treatment by some salesmen and dealers. I think some of these are the ones trying to bribe a good report. The survey is the best possible way to sort them out...I would just tell it like it is. The sales people have nothing to do with your service. Actually if you gave them a bad report they would be very concerned that you would do it again in a follow up. Your service should not suffer...maybe be better.

Ed

Ed

jim256

Why not make them sweat?: Tell him you mailed it in on your own, but give them all top marks without telling them how you marked it........when they see the survey you may be their buddy for life!

If there was a problem now fixed to your satisfaction (the scratch), then giving them good marks puts everyone on a friendly basis. Any business relationship has to have two parties that feel they are being treated fairly.

Gethen

I got winter mats in exchange for survey. Of course this is a questionable business practice, but if you don't have any particular grudge against the salesman, let him have the form in exchange for some bounty.

mike_fern2001

What are the clear platic mats i keep hearing about and why do we want them????

The salesguy just called me to see if i received my survey

etenn

Somehow I find this really classless. These guys are ripping off MB and as a result....us the buyers. All they have to do to get an excellent rating is take care of you. If they tried to bribe me, directly, I would send the survey in with an honest evalutation and make an issue over the dishonesty of the salesman.

The stupid mats are only worth less then $100. Tell MB about it.

Ed

Dema

I believe that MB are smart enough to know that most of survey results are fake. However, buyer get something in appreciation. I do not think that somebody will provide fake results for mats, if he/she was treated really bad. So, this survey isn't so useless as can be at first look.

mike_fern2001

"if the truth be known" and I was felt as though I was cheated, misled or decieved? I would be quite candid and bury them.

I still want to know about the plastic mats?

britton

I think that everyone is talking about the all weather mats they are black and rubber they are great to have for snow and rain. I got the mats and a cargo tray when I made the deal for my 2003 clk 320.

Gethen

You sound angry. I probably had wide eyes myself when the salesman had offered the "bribe". BTW, when I had posted on this forum about the "bribe" first, to amuse other members, people were more forgiving about it suggesting I should go with the flow

Here is my take on it. If I were an MB executive, I wouldn't want any hint of dishonesty and axed this practice. If I were a customer the dealership cheated, and likely the amount would be in $1000s, rather than $100s, no mats or blenders or whatever gifts would stop me from venting against the dealer.

But I am a satisfied customer. So the salesman wants to use his own pen to give himself high marks, rather than trust me to do it. Why should I get overly judgemental?

Please don't take me wrong - I am not condoning this kind of practice, and would rather not have any moral doubts. But consider how big this "trespass" is - it is hardly worth discussion...

Change of topic - people interested in clear plastic mats can find them in Walmart for $10. Sorry, they do not bear MB star logo.

jabo

I've heard a few things mentioned like, percent commission etc.

What leverage does this survey really give a buyer?

Gethen

About a set of winter mats' worth . Good luck if you plan to use it as leverage in negotiations!

jposhea3

at the signing when I took delivery, my salesman showed me a sample survey form (big SAMPLE diagonally across it for a fictional car) and mentioned it would be coming, and that the high marks really matter - I told him I'd read all about it being cash in hand and I'd be certain to let them have the opportunity to make things right if I had a problem.

as I noted in another thread I noticed a minor bit of wheel scrape after taking delivery, and i'm bringing the car in tomorrow to have that corrected - so far they've been fine about it, although I'm getting some shuffle about no loaner, which is a minor nuisance as I'm driving to greenwich to drop the car (40 miles from where I live, but since greenwich is a 'bedroom community' it's well served by commuter rail). It's an easy train ride, but I would tend to expect a loaner. We'll see how it goes when I get there tomorrow, since I'm also going to inquire about buying the ever-popular wood wheel :-) which wasn't orderable when mine was built (shortage).

I'm also *really* drooling over the dual-spoke AMG wheels that the 04 E55 AMG will have (same as the current S55 AMG/CL55 AMG).....

Oh, on delivery and since then - no goodies. No keychain, no hat no nuthin' But I did get a very good price.

mco

On a brand new car with a dealer induced problem, you should demand a loaner. It is ridiculous that they wouldn't give you a loaner! Tell them that you would hate to put that on the survey!

ubruhl

When I purchase my 2003 E320 I also had the same experience with the salesmen calling and e-mailing me to come in and fill out the survey requesting a perfect score. My car had to have the SRS computer & motor mounts replaced and it was in right after I bought it with a total of 8 days in the shop. The service department went out of there way to correct the problem, but I charted some new waters in regards to a software update that was done after the SRS computer was replaced, because the mechanics did not know how to upload the update. Anyway I was happy with the purchase of the car, but not with the follow-up issues so I did not give an excellent survery in regards to the question, in regards to was I happy with my purchase? I spoke with the sales manager at the dealership and asked why there was so much pressure in regards to the survey. The response was the salesmen's compensation in partially based on the survey. Come to find out it is the same thing with the service department representative. My service rep has bent over backwards to help me, but if the mechanic does not correct the problem and I note it, the service rep is penalized monetarily. You should see when you go in for service the laminated survey sitting on the service reps desk.

Mercedes-Montvale contacted me about my survey and wanted to know the issues I experienced. I gave them my input on the JD Power survey process and said the information they are looking for is not factual if they are intimidating consumers into giving a perfect score. How does Mercedes correct problems if surveys are not factual????? There is not such thing as perfect score in my book.