Admins and mods, I have a suggestion to create a new forum to host complaints against MB authorized dealerships who failed to perform their job according to the standard and our expectations.
I would suggest that all complaints are to be supported by the name of the dealer, date of service and invoice number. To keep the forum clean and valid, any chit-chat posts or any posts without complete information would be deleted.
The next step is to make sure that MB USA is aware of this forum and issues, hoping they would take any necessary steps to improve their service quality. With more than 32,000 registered members and more than 2,000 active members, it’s apparent that MBWorld’s existence and voice shouldn’t be taken for granted. Sounds like a long shot, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Please also take a look at this thread:
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=157796
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Regards

 

Yes, I think its a great idea.With regard to the members, even if only 1 out of 4 actually own the cars they claim,it still gives 500 active true members.
It would also be of use to see if there is a reccurring problem with a dealer.
Good Work.

 

Great idea, but it will go nowhere. MBUSA doesn't give a rats a$$ about it's customers or the quality of the product they sell. I have been flat out lied to by Calabasas, brought my E55 to Silver Star multiple times for things they won't even right up, and was completely ignored by my salesman at Fletcher Jones when I started having problems with it (within 2 days of delivery). They know the newer cars suck, but sales are at an all time high and climbing, so why would they care? I think almost all members do actually own the cars they claim except for maybe a few of the kids, and they're pretty obvious even if they think they're fooling us all.

 

Then what we could do is to advertise this forum to the GM of the said dealer. Send them an email with a link. I’m sure they’ll pay attention.

 

They might pay attention, but there are always people that will exaggerate and would write false stuff against the dealer, and that would cause legal issues.

There's always dealerrater.com.

 

www.ratemydealer.com

Write actual experiences and read reviews of all dealerships across the country.

 

Probably not due to legal exposure here.

 

....................And just about every MB dealer listed rates bad to very bad. 'nuff said.

 

It's the same exposure as you can find at www.ratemydealer.com

That's why we need to include the date of service and invoice number on every post to validate the complaint. Hopefully people will think twice before exaggerating.

 

As said before, there could be some legal issues coupled with the fact that MB USA could care less. It would be wasting time and have little benefit. However, I offer a spin to this idea, and that would be a dealer recommendation forum. People can post writeups about dealerships and/or salespeople they have had postitive experiences with, which would function as giving a "heads up" to fellow members about where to go for best customer service and best sales experiences. IMHO, I feel that a dealer recommendation forum would be more effective since it would be members benefitting other members, which is the point of a forum, as opposed to an array of forum posters complaining to corporate MB.

 

I agree with this. But a complaint would also give members a benefit, in a form of warning. I was thinking this complaint forum is intended to give them a little slap on the wrist for their poor service quality. Forget about reporting the complaints to MBUSA, just a simple email to the GM of the dealer with a link to the forum would do.
In the long run hopefully they realize that people are talking therefore they should clean up their acts. I think this would be another benefit for MBWorld members and MB customers in general. Maybe a little idealistic, but if we don’t try we’ll never know if it works or not.
To be honest, I have never had any bad experience with my dealer. I'm just lucky to have found a good dealer and met with a good service advisor. But I've read so many rants on MBWorld about bad service, and often times the story was unbelievably unkind, it was hard to believe a Mercedes-Benz authorized dealer did it.
In addition to Complaint forum, Appreciation forum sounds like a great idea, although I would suggest that every post is to have complete info as well about the dealer, date of service or purchase, and the name of the person assisting you. This is just a way to validate the post and to avoid hidden propagandas.
I think both Complaint and Appreciation forums would be a good combo. People will be much better informed about where to go and where not to go, who to talk to and who not to talk to.

 

That seems reasonable. Good point about validation, last thing we want is marketing bull**** on these dealer forums. However, it should only be to warn potential buyers. I believe it should be up to the individual to bring hell to the dealers. MBWorld should not be responsible this, but should serve as a place to give recommendation and warnings through personal dealer experiences. If these forums can be used rationally, then it would truly serve as a convenience benefit. I believe this would be a very useful addition to the forum.

 

[QUOTE=AsianML]They might pay attention, but there are always people that will exaggerate and would write false stuff against the dealer, and that would cause legal issues.

Guess a forum is the wrong place for free speech then.

Woops, am I allowed to say that?
This is supposed to be an enthusiasts forum(all be it evidently one that is owned by a parts company,run by teen moderators (that often seem a little over zealous in their censorship and banning), and in my honest and humble opinion, with many members perhaps a little prone to exageration to put it mildly.How many teens really own S classes and are able to spend 12 hours a day posting silly things.

 

Great Post, we need more of this kind of stuff on here,
KUDOS to you.

 

Thats correct. I've never meant that MBWorld was to be the one to bring hell to the dealers. It's up to the individual to advertise the forum to the dealers and let them know about what we have to say, good or bad. Sorry if the way I wrote gave the impression.

 

Please, don't be, your writeup was accurate. I hope the Mods put this through, it would be a help to those looking for the best MB service.

 

As RBrenton has noted, MBWorld does not want to be involved in ranking dealer service, or outing bad service. There are other sites that do this, as 360_iti notes.

A few notable members have in the past posted complaints with dealers, inadvertantly including information that did not help their claim. I remember one clown writing in particular. He wrote that he removed his aftermarket power chip before returning it to the dealer for a major problem, admitting that he over-revved the engine. But of course, he wanted the dealer to service everything under warranty anyway. The dealer evidently read this thread, or was alerted to it by another dealer. Needless to say, the customer's request for warranty repair fell on deaf ears. Ironically, the member subsequently asked the mods to remove the incriminating posts in some futile attempt to better his cause. We didn't. You live by what you write.

Bottom line is that you never know who reads these forums, and it may in fact do members more harm than good in having a dealer complaint forum.

Finally, I have stood in the service department at my dealership and witnessed a wide variety of childish reactions by fellow customers to the service they receive. Most act reasonably, but other customers expect the moon. Some "purple azzhole" types step to the head of the line, feeling their issues deserve treatment exclusive to that offered other customers, me and you included. I've seen fully grown human beings throw pre-school temper tantrums over the provision of a loaner car, for example. It's a shame that upmarket autos seem to bring out the snobbishness in some people.

Thus, one member's interpretation of "good" customer service WILL NOT be the same expectation of another member. For this reason, I personally feel that a dealer complaint forum would be counterproductive. If you have a problem with your dealer, there are well-known and accepted procedures for addressing them. It's the dealers' responsibility to deal with the reasonable complaints and purple azzhole types... we're not equipped to do that here.

 

So if you are no go for the complaint forum, how about the dealer recommendation forum? No negative reviews, only positive.

 

Prolly get very few posts.

 

That bad of an outlook, eh.

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression. I don't make the decisions here. Your opinions carry just as much weight as mine. And I will direct the Admins to this thread for their consideration. I'm just making a pragmatic observation, based on lots of experience and time on these forums.

For every single compliment a dealer gets, there appear to be 8-10 negative comments. In this "me-me," instant gratification or else era, people seem to find it easier to biatch than praise... not just about cars or car service, but about everything in general.

 

While I agree there is value in sharing information, feedback and experiences with regards to a dealership (heck, this forum is all about sharing of info), the truth of the matter is most people that would post would be for negative reasons and with an agenda. Just look at the post that started this thread: dealer complaint forum. They didn't ask for a dealer feedback forum, but a complaint forum. My fear is that this specific forum would turn into a bash session for people to live out their vendettas. Folks, truth is we can sit here all day and write negative and positive comments about any dealer...if you're looking for a place to channel your hostility about a dealer and create some turbulence because someone p***ed you off, then I'm not sure that this would be the place. Here's what will happen: MBWorld will receive countless cease and desist letters from said dealer to immediatlely remove any and all libelous and defamatory posts.

That being said, I still think there's value in positive and negative info when the posts are CONSTRUCTIVE! I'd prefer not to have to moderate posts before they are allowed to become visible.

Let the brainstorming continue...

 

Thinking over these past few posts, I find it difficult to argue against the fact that individuals will complain out of anger before sharing positive experiences. If used correctly, the recommendation forum would be an excellent idea, but the question is not in the idea itself, but instead in the probability of individuals staying on task to the concept behind the idea.

 

They can whine, complain, and threaten all they want, but neither the dealers in question nor MB can prevent ANYONE from posting their experience dealing with said dealer or MB. I would love to see some positive experiences posted here, especially of a dealer that lived within 100 miles of me. If you stick to the facts, they can't do a damned thing, no matter how bad the experience. No one here is so niave to think we'll see more positive than negative reviews. We will all make the decision to keep doing business with MB or not. Personally, I'd rather walk than buy another one, and my reasons have been posted. My experiences will probably not influence a single member to either sell the MB they have, or keep them from buying another. There were plenty of horror stories available before I bought the '06, but I bought it anyway, because I had no issue with the last 3 MB's I had, although my dealer experiences were already pretty bad. It's when you personally have trouble that you make the choice to live with it or do something about it. This is the reason you won't see MB or any dealer tell us not to post negative reviews. They know we aren't hurting them at all. If I never buy another MB, that is maybe 10-12 more new cars they miss out on out of how many millions during the next 20-25 years? If the opposite was true, would you buy another MB after having a terrible ownership experience even if the reviews were all positive? Again, probably not. I would definitely like to see a "Dealership Review" thread to see what dealers are working to keep our business, whether they sell MB's, P cars, BMW's, or whatever. That is something to hope for, a forum to discuss the positives and negatives of each dealership we visit with a minimum of emotion thrown in.

 

Fast55, having a terrible ownership experience with your MB is a different story than having a bad experience with your dealer. This forum is intended to inform us about MB dealers, not MB. It's not intended to steer us away from MB, but to inform us which dealer we should call, and which one to avoid. Like you said, we're the one who make the decision to keep doing business with MB or not. But we could use some pointers on where to go once we decide to deal with MB.
I have a feeling that even after you had terrible experinces with your car, you might have a different view about MB if you went to another dealer who would step up and treat you right.