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MarcO
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Irvington, NY
Vehicle(s): G 500 SWB, Volvo XC90 V8
Posts: 835
| Interesting Thought?
I am currently supporting an '02 G, '99 G, and an '05 G. Interestingly the '02 needed service after the summer of use, the '99 needed service for its yearly / 60K checkup. The '02 was done at the dealer while the '99 was done at Wolfgang's in NJ. I have known both groups for more than three years and always leave them with the same instructions - do not need to call me for pricing just go ahead and fix the issues. What is remarkable to me is the difference in treatment. The dealer and Wolfgang are given typewritten lists of issues in addition to the usual fluid/belt/a or b service crap. Wolfgang calls 8 days later to say your vehicle is ready. The dealer calls to say your vehicle is ready 6 days later. I pick up at Wolfgang's and everything and I mean every single issue is addressed by Wolfgang and it is fixed with a small explanation of any particular issues. Takes 5 minutes of his time and mine and he has a satisfied customer. Cost $1,200. Dealer same type of instructions (more issues, admittedly) but nothing nebulous. Pick up vehicle and first go to the cashier, then go to the gopher to get vehicle then read receipt with phrases like "parts on order", "unable to verify". Then I go back to my service "writer" and they look it up and call in the senior mechanic who explains that the front seat switch appears to work fine and he and I go back out to the truck and when we try to slide the front seat back it only goes forwards (same as on the sold '02) and he tells me it did not do it before. I then ask the multi million dollar question "You guys know me I pay cash why not just replace it?" Then it struck me - they really do not know me anymore. Their entire system is wrong. Nobody knows anyone. It is all a bunch of mumbo jumbo. And service time for billing purposes are given as much weight as customer complaint. As a physician this reminds me of the games Medicare plays with patient re-imbursement.
I will only be getting service for all vehicles at Wolfgang's henceforth. Even though I will pay for it I can not stomack having to do things twice or more. Is any one else as bothered by the relative indifference the dealer system places on the time of the owners?
Just curious. |
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MarcO
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Irvington, NY
Vehicle(s): G 500 SWB, Volvo XC90 V8
Posts: 835
| Re: Interesting Thought?
PS I forgot to mention that the dealer dollar cost was $980. But I think the cost to me for the return visit is incalculable. |
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DUTCH
Administrator Doppelgänger
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, GA, Atlanta
Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter
Posts: 9963
| RE: Interesting Thought?
MarcO - 9/7/2006 10:22 AM
I will only be getting service for all vehicles at Wolfgang's henceforth. Even though I will pay for it I can not stomack having to do things twice or more. Is any one else as bothered by the relative indifference the dealer system places on the time of the owners?
Just curious.
I am most bothered by the arrogant dealer attitude of "we know best" and we're gonna charge you through the nose for it. Example is the MBUSA MSRP $25 thermostat for the M113 engine in the G500. I went to the local dealer to get one; and they wanted $49.00. When I pointed out the MBUSA $25 List Price, the counter guy's response was: "Perhaps so, but this is what we charge. Take it or leave it." I opted for the latter and got it from Sean for List Price.
If I can't do the mechanicals on mine myself, I have an excellent local "Indie", who was trained at the Stuttgart Niederlassung and will work elbow to elbow with me.
A dealer? Not in this lifetime!  |
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MarcO
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Irvington, NY
Vehicle(s): G 500 SWB, Volvo XC90 V8
Posts: 835
| Re: Interesting Thought?
I hear you and have experienced the same. But when they are arrogant and make no perceptible effort to do it right the first time I really just think it is time to change the kind of service experience. JMHO |
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Brent
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: SW Colorado USA
Vehicle(s): '13 Wolfsburg GTI
Posts: 1754
| RE: Interesting Thought?
This is what happens when the actual decision maker becomes removed from the daily process. In most cases, it is a necessary evil of growing larger. Growing larger is something businesses are heavily pressured to do. If we could keep the doctor patient relationship as a model, this problem would all but vanish. Notice Wolfgang actually took a few minutes to speak directly with the customer. Was the owner of the dealership even on the premisis? Unlikely at best. Would he/she approve of how your transaction was handled? Probably not.
We have a problem brewing in our society, nobody cares anymore. Those that do, on an employee level are even more scarce. Those you can trust as an employer, to act as you the business ownwer would like, are nearly non-existant anymore. Pride in a job well done has been replaced by priorities like a flexible work schedule(I'll do it when I feel like it) and getting a pay increase before demonstrating proficency in a higher position(I'm not working any harder until you pay me more).
Personally as a small business person I chose to leave the large group of generally un-trustworthy employees behind(along with the commensurately higher pay that goes with the hassles) for a smaller business were I have personal contact with my customers again, every single one of them. It is much more rewarding for me, and in my case, as simple as it seems, I like making peoples vacation time as comfortable as possible. Next season I would very much like a couple of days off each week. It is going to be a serious challenge to find a decent person to work for me, someone that will do it how I want it done.
People will clearly pay for service, good service. Staying small, and staying connected, is more important to me now. The money part will come if we are able to take pride in our work, no matter how trivial the task. Running around trying to milk every last buck out while doing the absolute minimum is the path of the greedy. They may just end up with a pile of $$ but will also be unhappy and unfullfilled. |
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MarcO
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Irvington, NY
Vehicle(s): G 500 SWB, Volvo XC90 V8
Posts: 835
| Re: Interesting Thought?
Brent -
I am in total and vehement agreement. I will gladly pay Wolfgang (or you at your new venture) more (GLADLY) to have an interaction at a face to face level where my time is valued. I truly hope that the pendulum swings in society away from the devaluation of these relationships and the subsequent loss of time/productivity for the consumer.
Also I must add that I actually enjoy my interactions with Wolfgang. I appreciate his care. I do not even know who at the dealer level is "responsible".
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Container
Veteran
Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: Sweden
Vehicle(s): 1998 G500L, 1994 E36 AMG Coupé, 2007 E500T 4-matic
Posts: 114
| RE: Interesting Thought?
Same experience over here. My CE had an oilchange recently. Since I was waiting there, I asked if I could have a look? Nope. After I payed about ten times the amount of a DIY-job I took it to a lift and noticed they had not drained but sucked the old oil. And the filter was not changed, not even cleaned as some cheaters do. The oil even had the same colour as the old. This is a MB owned dealership.
Now I want a checkup and oil change on the G before a long trip, but I am thinking of taking it to Graz since I will pass not far from there. Anyone that has been there for a service job? Do they have such a facility at all? |
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AlanMcR
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, CA, Los Altos
Vehicle(s): G300DT E300DT 230SL
Posts: 3500
| RE: Interesting Thought?
Container - 9/7/2006 9:52 AM
... noticed they had not drained but sucked the old oil. And the filter was not changed, not even cleaned as some cheaters do. The oil even had the same colour as the old. This is a MB owned dealership....
Sucking out the oil is the correct way to remove it. This is the factory recommended process and removes more oil than the drain plug. This all assumes that the oil from the filter is allowed to drain down first (loosen the oil filter cover to allow drain back).
Just how black was the new oil? The oil left over in the oil cooler and oil galleys can swiftly turn the new oil darker. In a diesel the new oil is generally black after the oil pressure gets back to normal. |
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Container
Veteran
Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: Sweden
Vehicle(s): 1998 G500L, 1994 E36 AMG Coupé, 2007 E500T 4-matic
Posts: 114
| RE: Interesting Thought?
Thanks Alan, maybe they have started to suck now, but not before in this cars twelve years of life. The oil never gets black in my cars, just yellow to brown before changing. But in my boat (Perkins diesel) it turned black almost at once, so thanks for the explanation, didn´t know this was normal! |
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Thai
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Re: Interesting Thought?
Agree with you Brent. Luckily for me, i have a very good local (family-run) mechanic that i know personally, a body shop (non-MB, local family business) for my run-ins with rocks, and a relatively competent MB dealer that does what i ask. |
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Thai
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| RE: Interesting Thought?
Brent - 9/7/2006 10:03 AM If we could keep the doctor patient relationship as a model, this problem would all but vanish. Well, medicine is becoming more and more impersonal these days...it is rare to find a doctor that will spend more than 5 minutes talking with you. |
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Adoni
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Sacramento, CA
Vehicle(s): '00 G500, '15 C300 4Matic, '06 L322 G4
Posts: 1283
| Re: Interesting Thought?
I'm going to agree with everyone here on the nuances of dealership vs. indie repairs. I've owned four MB's with my parents owning another 10 or so. Almost all of them were purchased through the same sales guy at our local dealership. About three years ago, the family who owned the dealership sold it to one of those mega corporations. Sacramento, for whatever people might think of it loves it's MB's, but it appreciates its customer service even more. After the change over I continued taking the cars to the old dealership because it was closer. However, things began to change, for one, I no longer got a loaner car. When family ownership existed, even if my car was out of warranty the fact that I had another car in warranty or that our extended family and friends had probably purchased 40 or 50 cars got me a complimentary loaner, just good business sense. The corporation simply didnt care. Familiar faces and management were unceremoniously canned, my service advisors with whom I had built a great relationship had left to go elsewhere (i.e. the new family dealership). Then came along an issue with Cats on my ML. My car had a notorious problem with eating Cats. I had payed to have several of them replaced. Finally I got fed up and said one of these must be withinthe one year parts warranty period. Poof, my records of Cat replacement had disappeared. MBUSA had to get involved and I had to bang some heads there. Things turned really ugly. So I decided to make the trip to the new dealership where I knew the people. Suddenly things were back to normal. I started getting loaner cars again. All the sales guys and techs knew my name. Things like having the car completed the way it should when it should were the norm. This is probably why the new family dealership is doing twice the business of thye old, now corporation run old dealership. The same can be said for my local indie guy. For my G-Wagen and my out of warranty ML he can't be beat. I drop off the car, tell him what I think is wrong, we take a drive together, he tells me what he thinks it is, says he will check to make sure, I give him an obligatory few days and then call. At which point he generally tells me that the car is fixed and whether the issue is what he thought it was. He gives me honest assessments on the lifespan of aging parts and so on. Best of all, the prices are fair, I know that when I pay my bill, my car is fixed correctly, my indie guy has made a little bit of money and no one feels screwed. Best of all, if he cant give me a straight answer on something, he tells me. Apathy in day to day transactions is destroying the raltionship between the consumer and business in America. |
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KERR
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Re: Interesting Thought?
if you think that is bad try having that attitude then backing it up with the next closest dealer is 150 miles away.
I sware if i could open up a dealer 30 miles from "my local dealer" I could probably out sale them 15 car to 1.
our mb dealer is also a porsche, bmw, audi, and down the street the same guy owns, toyota, lexus, pontiac, and jeep.
The attitude is the same at all the dealers, except the Porsche bmw, audi place they at least say hello when you walk in. You have to go look for some one at the other dealer's. Long story short Lexus of knoxville will deliver your car to you, and when its time for service they will drive you another lexus 150 mile to you, then take yours back and service it, If you have a warranty clame, they flat bed you a loaner car and flat bed yours to the dealer. Last time i was in there i made the comit they have a lot of imventory, and the sale guy said " well we sale all the local place and we travel in va too to make up for a slower dealer in the edge of Tn. then he went on to say they sale 30 cars more a month than our dealer does in a year. Which is probably true, one my very rich firends decided she wanted a Navy blue SC430 with that god awful leather color. Went to place the order and dealer was like..... No, i dont think we will order that, you might not have the money when it comes in. ( her family was wroth 900 mill at this point in time) She said "oh, well i really want it, ill just pay you for it now and you can call me when it comes in". They still didnt want to order the car for her.
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mortinson
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Madrid, España
Vehicle(s): '98 G300TD LWB, '98 E300TD Saloon
Posts: 1355
| RE: Interesting Thought?
IMO in "Anglosaxon" countries such as the UK and the USA, Mercedes dealers are much more arrogant that they are in most European countries. This has to do, I think, with the fact that the brand public perception is associated with the extremely wealthy... very uncommon in countries where many, if not most, of the taxis are Mercedes.
Back in the UK, the staff at some Mercedes dealers would treat me with utter contempt for daring to buy the parts to fix my G-Wagen myself whereas here the personal approach hase been refreshingly kind so far. |
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