norvette

My sister-in-law had her 2006 ML500 towed to MB of Denver: her battery was dead and she scheduled her regular maintenance with them. My sister-in-law is an elderly Vietnam Veteran that is not well versed in auto mechanics. After speaking with Roland DeMotta, service writer, she agreed to have her regular maintenance performed, her battery replaced and the sunroof looked at for a repair estimate. The maintenance and sunroof estimate was completed and the sunroof repair diagnostics (1 hr) was charged and no repair work ordered. So far so good, kind of. The problem was with the battery replacement: They charged $850.33 to replace the battery. That is $489.88 for labor and $360.45 for the battery. When my sister-in-law questioned the cost, she was treated disrespectfully and told, "if she couldn't afford the Mercedes, she should drive a Honda or Chevy, that Mercedes are luxury vehicles and they are expensive to repair". If she wanted her vehicle, she had to pay the bill. I called Roland's manager, Michael Ruch, and got the same answer, including the comment about driving a Honda. They claim the labor and battery cost were normal and in-line with Mercedes pricing, that prices vary, even as close as across the street. Prices vary, but not like this. My service representative at MB of Tucson quoted me the following prices for the same battery replacement: $90 labor (1/2 hour) and $257 for the battery, for a total of $347. This is a price variance of 145% or 2.45 times the cost. This is not reasonable. As another example, I had the battery replaced in my CLK550 by MB Tucson roadside assistance. They came to my house, replaced the battery and charged $195.40 (1/2 hour labor). I told Mr. Ruch that I would contact MB USA management to complain. The response was to go ahead, it will be great to have a 3rd party investigate. A couple days later I was contacted by someone named "Steven", with a title of Executive Referral Manager, who rubber stamped the service department's position and said no further consideration is warranted. I know of no corporate executive that will not give his last name. In my opinion, Steven is referred these complaints by Executives in the Customer Care, hence the title.

They cheated my sister-in-law out of approximately $400. In addition, they did not reset the system which showed clearly the clock was not running for approximately 20 minutes, the time it took to replace the battery. A fair price for this would be 1-hour diagnostics/labor and approximately $260 for a battery or around $450, not $850. It is bad enough that you have a rogue dealership that takes advantage of elderly women, but to have MBUSA not have a customer advocate to help resolve clear customer issues is a MAJOR problem with the Brand.


I currently own 2 Mercedes: 2009 CLK550 and a 2016 GL450. I am very happy with the MB Tucson service department, but I cannot continue with Mercedes Benz knowing that the corporate executives don't care and won't stand behind their customers. The narrow view of near-term revenue over long term customer satisfaction is totally unacceptable. You don't cheat your way out of a bad business cycle. I will not buy another Mercedes since I know I have no recourse when treated unfairly. There are plenty of luxury vehicle suppliers that care about customer.

Initially, my sister-in-law scheduled a return to the dealership to reset the system parameters when the check engine light came on. Roland said to get the vehicle in as quickly as possible, and that it would be another diagnostics charge. With the response from MBUSA and the fact that the earlier work, as stated on the invoice was not completed (no system reset, no complimentary car wash), and the exorbitant battery replacement cost, my sister-in-law was advised not to return to that dealership, and now, not to return to any MB dealership for service. The big question: was any of the maintenance work completed? In the meantime, the check engine light went away. Maybe someone can tell me if the check engine light was related to not resetting the system, or some other scam they have going. It seems there are multiple entries in the reviews about the check engine light coming on right after service at MB Denver, with multiple problems and large dollars associated with the repairs. Please reply to this post if you have had similar experiences with MB Denver and MBUSA responses. I am sure this is not isolated.

If someone has a good shop in Denver to have future work done on the ML 500, please let me know.

chassis

Sorry to hear. The rule is that MB dealers attempt to suck the life out of MB owners. The exceptions are the few dealerships like MB-Tucson. I have used MB-Tucson and they are excellent and, unfortunately an exception among the bloodsucking MB dealership community. Best wishes to your relative.

g8orscott

Hoping to hear of one, especially near Lakewood. I ran over a curb covered in snow and ended up popping a tire. MB Denver told me the rim was bent (which was plausible) and also that another rim was bent (implausible). Long story short...I bought new rims elsewhere (as they were trying to sell me a $3,500 rim) and am now looking for a good Indy for non-warranty work.

norvette

I still work with Mercedes Benz of Tucson. My service advisor is great and I trust him. I do understand that MB USA will not stand behind a customer when there is a dispute with a dealership, no matter how egregious the conduct. That is the risk I am taking, but my outlook on the entire brand has changed. Next vehicle will most likely not be Mercedes.

chassis

@norvette Agree MB is an atrocious brand. Poor as-delivered quality, poor medium term reliability and poor dealer experience. Just poor.