I took my company car in to a dealer for fuel problems. I was informed I needed new injectors. Got it back and three weeks later same problem. I had just spent $1200. I called the fleet office (one of the nations largest leasing companies) and was advised to go to an independent. He told me the injectors had never been replaced and some cleaner was probably just run through. Fleet authorized the another repair (only $700). I was instructed to send the old injectors, paperwork and mechanics statement to them. They filed suit with Chevy and the dealer. The dealer lost his "authorized service" status due to this and other similar complaints.

A different dealer charged me for wiper refills ($25) while I was in for warranty work. They said they were old and cracked. A week earlier I had just put on some triple-edge blades. I told them to take them off, credit me and replace the triple edges. "That's not our policy" was all it took for me get really pissed. My car could not be released unless the cashier authorized it. They had already thrown the old (my new) blades away. They told me if I didn't calm down I would have to leave. I told the thieving bastards I wasn't going anywhere until I had my original blades back on my car. I shared this with all the customers in the waiting area. They threatened to call the police, so I just called them from my cell phone. At the police officers suggestion they eliminated the $25, let me keep the new blades and gave me $10 for my blades.

Greetings All,

If you enjoy owning and driving a Benz then the best advice I can offer is to educate yourself on repairs of your new found love. Dealership maintenance sucks, let's face it. Either take your car to an independant that know's what they're doing or do it yourself. You'll find yourself going broke, unless you like that feeling, if you don't. Find a reputable independant that most likely has twice the knowledge and hands on experience that will tell and or repair what is actually wrong with your ride instead of hiped up billing that you have recieved. The BBB would be my first recourse of action if I got screwed as I have read here on this post.

Charles

P.S. Another DIY that is tired of folks being taken advantage of.

__________________
"Tell me and I will listen, Teach me and I will learn, Show me and I will accomplish, Involve me and I will succeed."
'84 300SD 256,000 Gold on Brown (Mileage Award)
'86 300E 246,000 Blue on Tan

Perhaps we need a section for dealers not to go to for service!!!! Or at least a rating system in a separate section. (1 star-sucks, 5 stars- excellent) Our own star-mark system. What do you think Bill??????

Gary

Since we're venting, I had a brand new Japanese car a few years ago that was stolen and stripped of the interior. The car was towed to the dealer and the tech told me immediately, without blinking an eye, this is going to cost you 11grand. As I stood there filling out paperwork, they brought in six other cars of the same model, all gutted of their interiors. This was in half an hour. The car was fixed for $10,800. It turned out the dealer was doing it. He was having cars stolen, stripped and then having the parts "rotated" from car to car. This went on for months. The cops never actually proved it, but the guy sold the dealership, which he had owned for 25 years, within months and got out of the business. Maybe he was building his nestegg for retirement. To top it off, the service manager stole everything out of the car that the "thief" didn't steal and had it stashed in his office (cd's, cassettes, etc). All dealers suck, some just suck less than others.

Gary:

Doesn't look like we'd have much difficulty getting input from dissatisfied customers... In a way, the "Good MB Shops" forum already does it--I haven't seen many dealers mentioned there.

Cheers

Bill

__________________
Bill
92 300E (Black/Grey interior: wife's car)
94 E320 Wagon (White/Saddle interior, Eibach springs, '96 E420 16 x 7.5 wheels)

I truly think the reason this goes on is the gradual dumbing down of America (quoting a national talk show host" I think the general public does not want to look stupid so they just go along with things, especially if they don't understand them. Most people won't question the extra charges because they don't want to come off as being stupid. The dealerships and businesses in general has keyed on this, and it is now SOP. Those of us here on MercedesShop tend to be more independent and think "outside of our box".
I recently attended a job fair with a major telecommunications company and one of the questions on the entry form was "are you bilingual?" I circled "yes". I was introduced to the national manager and another person. We went into a room and the third person started to speak to me in Spanish. I politely explained that I did not speak Spanish but was fluent in German and Japanese. The national manager asked why I had indicated that I was bilingual. I found myself explaining to her what bilingual meant (trilingual was beyond her comprehension) . This is a person with an MBA, a six figure salary and VP status. No wonder dealerships try to take us for suckers.

LOL that is funny. I know Europeans always poke fun at Americans for not being bilingual. I had no idea they could poke fun at us for not knowing the definition of bilingual!

Just in case I was misunderstood, I am not European. I was born here, be it from imigrant parents. I served ten years in the US NAVY. I am sometimes too drunk to fish (i.e. Jeff Foxworthy). I don't live on a dirt road but I am working on it. I might be a redneck, but I know the defenition of bilingual.

Bill,
Your right about that. One thing, Independant Shops
cannot afford to have bad publicity or the customers
letting others know will eventually drumb them out of
business. Most Dealers have a big bankroll and can be more
arragent about it. I do most of the work on my car myself,
so if I screw it up I have no one to blame but myself.

I hate to work on cars but the necessity of it all makes
it a priority. Dealer rates are about $100 hr here and
independant shops are $70 hr. Great advice has saved
me hundreds of dollars on this site.

Gary

Steve019

I didn't mean to imply that you were European. I just thought it was ironic that Americans are always criticized for not being bilingual, yet an MBA wielding American VP didn't even understand the definition of the word. I was born in the US but I've spent a great deal of time overseas. Some years ago I knew a young women from Sweden who made it a point to correct my grammar whenever my sentence structure fell outside the rules. That can be humbling (and annoying). But the unfortunate fact was, her grasp of English (as a second language) was fundamentally better than my own. I've heard jokes for years, from Europeans, about the unwillingness of Americans to learn other languages. Even though I didn't assume you were from Europe, the fact that somebody speaks three languages makes the odds that they are from somewhere other than the U.S. much higher than I'd like to admit. On the other hand, how many Europeans can name every cast member of the last two seasons of Survivor? Something that most Americans can do off the top of their head. I'm eternally proud to be a product of American public education.

The famous joke:
What do you call a person who speaks 3 languages? Trilingual
What do you call a person who speaks 2 languages? Bilingual
What do you call a person who speaks 1 language? an American


[Edited by TradeGeek on 07-23-2001 at 04:18 AM]