I will share this with readers so they don't fall into this trap and scam by Mercedes Benz and waste their time and money (I would go as far as say don't buy Mercedes until they realize they are going bankrupt by being so arrogant and dishonest).

After months of searching I narrowed my choices down to a 5 series BMW and a 2010 Mercedes E350 coupe. I was able to secure a deal through a dealer out of town (after having visited a few BMW and Mercedes dealers). A sales person at Mercedes-Benz Oakville Autohaus dealer in Canada (near Toronto) at which I had done a test drive kept calling me. When I gave them the offer I was getting, he went back to his manager and asked me to come in, saying they were not making much money, blah blah etc.

They agreed to match the price and at 2.9% finance rate minus 0.5% loyalty discount, the overall price became attractive and helped me choose Mercedes over BMW. Well they told me this is a popular car and I had to order it and wait at least 6 weeks, eventhough I was ready to drive it away right then. So they took a $5000 deposit off of my credit card and the waiting game began. Every few weeks I would call and send an email asking on the status of the car, until finally I got a reply back a few days ago (after over 2 months) that congratulations your car is ready. I asked the rep to send me confirmation on the payment amount based on the agreed 2.4% along with the VIN so I can arrange for insurance, which he did.

Well I was supposed to sign and pick up the car today, but I got an email last night from the Mercedes finance rep saying, oh by the way, I see a note here about the 2.9%-0.5%, we can't do that, the rate is now 3.9%. I immediately wrote back saying asking me to dish out almost $2000 more for the same car (which is now 2 1/2month older in terms of model year), and considering that the prime rate has not changed and Canadian dollar is now even stronger (which means they are making even more money on that same deal) is unacceptable. She said unless I go with the new rate (and pay $2000 more) they will cancel the deal and refund my deposit.

Well they did exactly that today and obviously I am so angry that I will never buy a Mercedes anymore and will encourage all family and friends and you the reader not to do either. This actually cost me money because now I have to pay a cancellation fee to the insurance company, not to mention the inconvenience and them keeping my money for 2 1/2 months. I am sure the dealer will find another person to buy the car sitting on their lot, who will pay more, but they just lost a "loyal" customer.

I will be filing a complaint to BBB and plan on setting up a website stating the facts. I want to inform my local TV stations of this and would like to even go as far as hiring a lawyer to do a class action suit for all those who were forced to pay more at pickup AFTER they agreed to a price and rate. Yes I am mad because I think they are taking advantage of us Canadians, paying 15% more for the same car north of the border and having to tolerate this arrogance.

Two questions:
1) Does anyone know of a lawyer who would like to start this class-action suit?
2) Can you think of anything else (legal) I can do to seek damages for the inconvenience and waste of my time. Unless they pay, they will keep running this scam.

 

You got a written agreement signed by someone representing the dealership with the terms spelled out right? If so, you may be able to sue for breach of contract. But what are your damages? Some inconvenience?

Forget class action. There is no class -- just you. If there were hundreds of buyers complaining about a 'bait and switch' on the finance rate, then maybe. But a judge must rule that multiple suits can be combined into a class action not a lawyer.

Chalk it up to a life experience and move on. It's doing more damage to your heart than any car is worth.

Dealerships are franchises. You may be treated far better at another dealer.

 

Yes I have a signed contract. They even emailed me an updated contract with the loyalty discount. So I went ahead and got insurance on the car and just as I was about to go to pick it up they turned around to say now you have to pay more!!! So now I have to pay a cancellation fee for insurance as well. I also lost on the deal/opportunity on a BMW which was sitting on the lot 2 months ago (this was the deal that persuaded me to go with Mercedes).

I do intend to sue for damages, inconvenience, financial loss and loss of opportunity. The fact that the car is sitting on their lot and they intend to sell it at a higher price means that they are profitting from my $5000 deposit, since they would have only ordered that car once I gave them the deposit.

Since when can you take a deposit on an order and then turn around and say, now that the item is here you have to pay more?

I'm looking for advice, hopefully from someone with legal background.

 

Well,

 

be glad you got your money back. Move on. Seriously. No matter what you think you can milk out of this dealership, it is not enough to cover your anger.

For chitz-n-giggles, write a <professional> letter stating just the facts, and send it to MB Canada, wherever they are. Probably won't help you at all, but it may help you feel better.

Lesson to learn - now you know why they are called stealerships.

 

They try those tricks all the time - happened to me as well but I got them to honor the original deal.