MB_Owner

My SA left a note on my home phone recorder last week and asked that I drop by at my convenience. My first thought was maybe my GLK was involved in a recall.

Instead, I had a pleasant surprise awaiting me...a couple courtesy tickets to the Frankfurt Auto Show. I should note that this is a real customer service oriented dealership...the type that makes you feel good about brand and dealership loyalty.

You think my Porsche dealer would do that even though I've bought two new cars in the past three years? Nope!

NYCGLK

nice, will see if I get tickets for NY Autoshow in April.

Baby G

Excellent, let's see if my dealer does it as well.. It's always fun when you have a dealer who is customer based.

ftttubrgcm

Tickets similar to that would really make me think. On a side note, I don't think there is a MINI dealer out there wanting your return after a purchase of one of their vehicles.

F18BEN

I received a gift card to Saks 5th Ave. I dont remember how much. Also this is also available.....
$1,000 Saks Gift Card for all SAKSFIRST members when you purchase or lease a select, new Mercedes-Benz

Purchase or lease select, new 2009 or 2010 Mercedes-Benz vehicle after you have spent at least $1,000 in eligible spending in calendar year 2008 or calendar year 2009 at Saks on your Saks Fifth Avenue MasterCard®, and receive a $1,000 Saks Gift Card*. Applies to purchases and leases between January 1, 2009, and January 2, 2010. Offer excludes pre-owned, demonstrator, European Delivery sales and special order units.

Call 888.312.1201 888.312.1201 to redeem.

Leslielp

I think most dealerships and service adviser will be doing this sort of thing for the next few years.

Well going to an auto show in Germany would be great if they included a test drive of the GLK AMG on the Autobahn as well

I got a Genuine Mercedes pillow/blanket and a MB baseball cap from my SA here in Markham He gave me $100 at the MB store in the showroom.

MB_Owner

Sounds like you missed THIS thread...when I took a C63 to the Nürburgring.

And test drives of most M-B products are available at the Frankfurt show. My dealership was cleaning up their German spec S-Class and C-Class AMG demonstrators last Saturday to be taken to Frankfurt for the "you-drive-it" pool. The SA told me he had to put new tires on the C63, they were worn to the legal limit in 5,000 km (3,000 miles).

kunz

Just got $25 GC to Saks 5th Ave today.

NYCGLK

yea same here, but what does 25 get you there, that's the question...haha

GLK4MATIC

When I bought my GLK I received a $1000 GC for a family portrait, (5) $60 GC's to La Fondue, 2 tanks of gas, an iPod/iPhone holder plus $8k off the price.

filterman

Portland oregon dealership would treat thier customers with on tenth this much consideration they would have more of my business and referrals. I see 1200 people in thier homes a year and have referred at least 800,000 in sales for these clowns and when I go to get my ML recall done they tell me they wont replace my p.s. pump becasue it was consequencial damages ( the line blew)and it was the dealers call and they declined to replace it even when the factory gave them discretion. So goes life here in the US. The dealership didnt want to take the time to do it even though Mercedes would have paid for the part. Amazing and these clowns don't think I know how service works. So no more referrals from me to the Portland stealership I will refer people to Seattle isntead. ahhhh that feels better

camper88

I'm having the experience of dealership disloyalty.

I'm in the process of completing the purchase of my GLK. It's a used car, with 14k kms on it that was returned by a leasee for another vehicle. When test-driving it, I noticed a big chip in the window, right in front of the driver's face, as well as a hefty scratch with a small indentation and paint chip in a couple of doors.

The salesperson informed me that the vehicle would go through the Certified Previously-owned inspection and that any part that needed to be replaced or repaired would be according to the standards of the inspection and warranty.

Now that they've got my money for the vehicle, the dealership (not the salesperson) is attempting to tell me that the car is not a used vehicle but rather it's a demo, and as such it's not eligible for the Certified Inspection or warranty, so they're not going to do the repairs that they had promised. The problem is, that they told me the name of the person who had leased it--they know him very well at the dealership--and a simple vehicle registration check makes it clear that the car had been privately registered and is not a demo but a used car. As well, the dealership's own webpage on the car makes it clear that it's covered by the CPO inspection and warranty.

So beyond asking them politely to rectify this obvious error and just fix the car as they promised, what steps would you recommend that I take to get this matter resolved?

Thanks in advance for any advice

MB_Owner

Sounds like a pretty sleazy dealership. First, DO NOT take delivery of that vehicle until the issue is resolved!

Second, I'd ask for a meeting with the dealership general manager and the dealership's finance manager.

If they refuse and/or are non-responsive, I'd contact corporate M-B USA:

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Customer Assistance Center
3 Mercedes Drive
Montvale, N.J. 07645

1-800-FOR-MERCEDES (1-800-367-6372)
http://www.mbusa.com/contact-us/email-us.do

And if corporate M-B is unwilling to rein in this crowd, my next step would be a call to your State Attorney General who'll either work it themselves or ask the State Regulatory Services Board to investigate the matter on their behalf.

Good luck and let us know on the forum how you're progressing.

MB_Owner

Oh, and one more thing, if you financed through a bank, credit union, etc. (someone other than M-B's finance arm), let them know as well. If you've moved fast enough and their sight draft (check) hasn't cleared, they may stop it until the matter is resolved. Either way, get the dispute on record since it appears the dealership is acting illegally.

camper88

Sadly, I paid them with a bank draft. And the vehicle is in Ontario, Canada.

Thanks for your advice. It's much appreciated.

By the way, it's the finance manager who first told me that the car was leased when I asked about its history--that's where I heard the story that the leasee was well known to the finance manager and the dealership. And it was the finance manager who then later claimed that the vehicle was a demo--less than thirty six hours after having told me the ownership history.

This doesn't inspire me to get the car serviced at this dealership, I have to say.

MB_Owner

And take computer screen shots of that web page you're talking about in case it mysteriously disappears.

Baby G

Sorry to hear about this. I would ask for an immediate meeting with the GM, and finanace manager. Which stealership, sorry meant dealership is this???

I would not accept that car as is at any cost, if you have made a payment via credit call the card company and dispute. When you made the deal, did they write everything in black and white, or did the salesman make verbal promises?

I would also call MB Canada, and inform them immediately. In my situition, I was geting the go around on where the car is, on calling MB Canada, some how the dealer got the car, and was ready for pickup the very next day.

MB_Owner

Now that I know this is a Canadian vehicle (please update your profile camper88), I'll defer to Canadians whom, presumably, know a lot more than I do about what actions should be taken north of the 49th parallel although it sounds like Baby G would do the same sorts of things I outlined earlier.

But I do want to make one more point here. When I said you shouldn't take delivery of the vehicle, I'm not inferring that I think it's unsafe; rather, the reason is that you lose a lot of leverage with the dealer and legally (if it comes to that) the instant you drive the vehicle off the dealer's lot.

camper88

@ Baby G, I'd prefer not to name the dealership, if that's alright. I'm hoping to resolve this amicably and quickly and would not wish a post on a forum to adversely affect the way by which the dealership deals with me in the future. In that context, please don't use my name on this forum. Sorry to appear paranoid, but I'm more than a little concerned that the utter lack of professional courtesy and service that they've shown to-date could devolve into something even worse, and I would prefer not to have my name in the forum if there are possible future consequences that come to affect me.

MB Owner, I've got web archive and page source copies of the dealership's description of the vehicle. Moreover, I have the registration history that makes it clear that the vehicle was privately registered, and not a demo. I really don't understand why the dealership would continue to insist upon this kind of "misstatement."

I think that Mercedes Benz Canada will have to be my next call.

Baby G

My apologies, I have edited, and taken the requested portion out.

filterman

theres some *** in the service department who is making the shots and they want to take advantage of you so complain to the states attorney general then go to the local news networks and burn them but before you do this call mercedes directly and tell them if they dont resolve this issue you go to the News channels and expose the stealership. PS Always get everything in writing. AS to the salesman what the heck does he have to say? they should be docking his commissions if he lied to you and repairing the vehicle. I think you have something here especially when it come to certified pre-owned vehicle sales. Why did they let you test drive a vehicle that hadn't been through the certification process? Give them hell and dont worry about reprocussions as long as you are truthfull you are ok.

camper88

The dealership continues to deny that the car was ever preowned and continue to call it a demo even though the car was registered to a leasee who returned the car after five months and over 13k kms. Mercedes Benz Canada claims that the car cannot be eligible for a CPO inspection or warranty because its a 2010--and according to MB Canada neither 09's or 10's qualify for this inspection or warranty. The dealer has said that the fact that they've posted the warranty on their own website on the vehicle's "feature sheet" is a moot point. They're claiming that because the CPO warranty was not on the bill of sale that they don't have to provide it (the 4 year/ 80K warranty doesn't go on the bill of sale either, but some how this logic escapes them).
In brief, they're denying any culpability or fault in what is at least a very, very poor communication of the car and is at worst something that gets settled in court.

This was part of a very bad experience, all around, that included reneging on the price, attempting to reneg twice on the price, the sales and service people not knowing about UMI's features or limitations, the business manager failing (for a week) to let me know when the car would be ready for delivery, installing parts for which they had not given me an estimate and for which they had no pre-authorization, for failing to deliver the car to me as they had agreed after failing to contact me for a week with the delivery date and time, and finally failing to have all of the paper work completed and ready when they told me that I could come and pick up the car (because they could not determine a time when they could drop it off, even after knowing for three days this week that they had agreed to do so), and the most important of the documents that they didn't have prepared: the vehicle's registration. Yup, they couldn't even supply me with the vehicle's registration when I asked for it.

So all in all, not something that I would wish upon anyone. Sorry for depressing anyone reading this.

Baby G

Damn, thats one of the worst reads ever... Makes me wonder on such a beautiful car, why are MB dealers the worst to sell them... We have bought two other german cars (both BMWs), and japanese but my buying experience was the worst with MB. After ordering the car 6 months ago, they still couldn't get it delivered on time, and 3 wks late.

dlinjuly2009

Time to give them some free publicity. I remember seeing this reporter on TV who will go after such businesses on behalf of consumers.

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=MontrealHome

Here's another:

CBC - Marketplace - Erica Johnson

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/v...orts/main.html

MBRedux

Having worked in Germany and Italy over the years, I must say that the dealer network over there is first rate. Unfortunately here in the States, it's a hit and miss.