Bamafan

My new GLE 300d was delivered to my office yesterday (company car). I drove the Q5, the MDX, the Volvo XC90, and several others before deciding on the GLE. The interior of the GLE was best in class.

I immediately called the dealer closest to my house--World Wide Motors of Indianapolis--to arrange an orientation and to have my MBrace activated. The sales manager refused. My company orders cars through Enterprise. Enterprise procured this GLE from a Cincinnati dealer. The Sales Manager of World Wide Motors told me that since I didn't bother to buy my car from him, he wasn't going to waste his peoples time giving me an orientation. I was shocked. I told him that I was going to have the car serviced there, but it not sway him. He said that any difficulty I had was my fault since I didn't procure the car from him. Absolutely unbelievable to get such poor treatment as a new Mercedes owner. The BMW and Acura dealers have never treated me like this.

I called Mercedes Benz of West Chester in Cincinnati to explain my dilema, and the sales rep (Chris O'Donnel) appologized on behalf of Mercedes and immediately offered to drive two hours to give me an orientation. I ended up spending about ½ hour with him on the phone while he walked me through the basics.

I think I'll have to make the drive to the dealer in downtown Indianapolis to get my GLE serviced; there is no way I can do business with this dealer.

PeterUbers

Report this to Mbusa ... And post on social media

William Kayen

That is terrible and so stupid of that sales manager. You are going to tell 10 people who will each tell 10 people. Car sales today are so competitive and dealers can't afford to cause any negativity. You will never do business with this dealer in the future. Definitely report this to MBUSA. People have to get consequences for their decisions.

William Kayen

Enjoy your new ride. I presently have a GLE 300d loaner and love it. It has so much pep and gets 35 mpg on the highway. I am patiently awaiting for my cardinal red GLE 300d to arrive in January. They said it will have Apple CarPlay since it's production date is after January 8th. Will post pics when it arrives.

Bamafan

It seems to be a great vehicle so far. I expected it to be a bit sluggish, but, 100 miles in, it isn't at all. I came from a BMW 5 series. As my first SUV, the biggest thing I have to get used to is the height and mass.

There is a lot to learn still. I'll be taking the owners manual to bed with me to read it.

I wrote a note to Mercedes on their web site. Not sure if it will draw a response. Just a highly disappointing first experience with the sales manager. I would expect that attitude from a buy-here-pay-here lot, but not from a Mercedes dealer. I suggested that they might train someone in the service department to do an orientation, but he didn't buy it.

William Kayen

What color did you get and what options do you have?

fabbrisd1

Yes - ALL DEALERS have salesmen and Product Concierge staff that drive 2-3 hrs one way for on-site customer deliveries - for REMOTE DELIVERY.

Frankly - Cincinnati has FULL responsibility for your on-site orientation at the time they accepted that order from Enterprise for delivery to you - it's Cincinnati who short changed you personally, and Cincinnati dropped the ball.

Sounds to me - Cincinnati cut corners - did direct delivery to you - and Cincinnati salesman didn't apologize - he shifted the blame for his dealership short-changing you.

Your local dealer in peak season lost their balance when they got your call - your Mercedes represented a lost sale that they didn't even have the opportunity to get - and YES was your local dealer told you was wrong - they should have explained Cinci short changed you - and that that was not your fault - or their fault.

Frankly Cinci was the "cheater" here - not your local dealer - and dam* straight Cinci salesman should have arranged to be at your door for delivery with orientation and it was shameful he was not - he stayed home to try to get another sale at your expense.

To be helpful - please be aware - mbusa.com - under owner's section - some good short video's and downloadable pdf's of instruction manuals for you.

Keep the beat !

Bamafan

I have to disagree with you. The Cincinnati dealership delivered the car to Enterprise, and they delivered it to me when they picked up my BMW. So they did not have the opportunity to interact with me. The Cincinnati dealer did not blame the Indy dealer in any way...I did. And when I called them, they did offer to come to me.

The World Wide Motors sales manager DID blame the Cincinnati dealership when he told me he had no interest in helping me. But that was incredibly, incredibly short sighted. They had the opportunity to have my service business for the next 100,000 miles. But because it was "not their responsibility", they lost it. I run a sales force, and if a sales rep in one territory would not aid a customer of a salesman in another territory because all he could see was a comission check, he would not be working for me very long. We all have a responsibility to service customers.

In the end, the biggest loser is Mercedes. I will steer my fellow executives away from them because the dealer that would be servicing all of our cars showed that they cannot handle corporate customers.

By the way, I still really like the car! I have many friends who work at the plant in Tuscaloosa and I'll be visiting them over Christmas. They can help me figure out anything I can't figure out from the MBUSA web site.

Bamafan

Since it is a company car, I was trying to be a bit frugal. So I just checked the Premium 1 package and rear seat heaters. I was tempted by the dark red offering, but three of my other cars are red and my wife wanted a lighter color. In the end, we chose white.

Now that I have the car, I might have opted for wheels that were a bit bigger. The standard ones look a bit small (but they ride very well).

Count Laszlo

I still am baffled why some dealerships behave this way. What's the point in behaving this way? What do they gain? Absolutely zero! Other than a bad reputation and some hand-slapping from corporate.

William Kayen

I originally ordered white, but my family made me change it to red. Our other two cars are white, and they needed a change. My first choice is white always. Enjoy your new MB.

NakYup

Sorry to hear you had that type of experience. Even Sales Manager and Service Manager have different goals but how he treated you wasn't right.. I do agree with you on how your perspective of one won't cover another and how they won't work for you for long. If I were you, I would contact General Manager at that dealership and explain what happen. GM will try to do whatever he can to fix the relationship.