You don't know what bad customer service is until you have a Mercedes Benz that has a failure less than 1 week out of warranty. The Regional Customer Manager told me to buy a new Mercedes if I wanted one with a warranty. That was the last Mercedes that I purchased from that dealership. A week later I got a call from the owner of the dealership whom I had known for many years before he had the dealership. He wanted to know what I told one of his customers, and I told him that I explained what had just happened to me at his dealership and how it happened. The service manager knew while the car was still in warranty that the air conditioning compressor had failed, but didn't tell me about it until after the car was out of warranty. I had complained about the engine stalling when it was started for the first time in the morning. He told me to turn off the climate control until the engine was up to temperature, which removed the A/C compressor from the system. When it got warm in April and I needed the air conditioning, it wouldn't work. I took it to the dealership and when I told him what the problem was, he told me that it needed a new A/C compressor. I asked how he knew since he didn't even go out to look at the car. Then he said that I needed the new compressor when I first complained about the stalling. The reason the owner of the dealership called me was that his customer came in and canceled his order for 3 new Mercedes. My conversation was with another member of the Rotary Club that I was a member of, and this man was a guest from another town visiting our club. That man was extremely wealthy and bought a new Mercedes for his family every year. He took his business to another Mercedes dealership after that. If you screw over a Rotarian then you will lose a lot of business. Rotarians are very ethical people in their business and personal life.
"Rotarians are very ethical people in their business and personal life"
I ain't quite convinced of that!
My Rotarian ex brother-in-law, was fondling young girls.... for years!
A somewhat similar MB dealer story:
Wealthy friend had always bought Lincolns.
I helped to convince him to buy a Mercedes.
He went to his local Mercedes dealer (VA, Beach area) and negotiated a deal for a new MB.
Time to sign the buy order, and salesman added $2K "dealer prep" fee, to the already agreed price.
My friend said, "I will not pay that".
"We agreed on a price, and that is what I expect to pay"
Salesman said: "everybody pays that".
Friend said: "not me", and left.
He drove a few blocks to the Lincoln dealer, and bought a new Lincoln!
MB dealership owner called him that night, and apologized for any "confusion" about the pricing, and stated that there would be no $2K "dealer prep" fee.
My friend said : " too late, I bought a new Lincoln, a few minutes after I left your place"
