Six weeks ago I bought a new '01 S600V from Fletcher-Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach California. To date there is still one aspect of the sale not yet completed to my satisfaction.

The car has 20" Brabus wheels fitted with high performance tires. I live in Minnesota and need different shoes for winter. I worked a set of factory "take off" wheels into the deal. The salesman told me the S500 16" wheels would fit. I questioned him on this, he assured me they would work. It took five weeks and a dozen phone calls to actually get these wheels sent to me. I had been told on the day of the sale that the wheels would be at my home within a few days. Not quite as promised. I of course was ready. I had my new snow tires from the Tire Rack in hand when the 16" wheels finally arrived. I mounted and balanced the tires and tried to fit the wheels. The S500 wheels will NOT clear the front calipers. I notified the dealer immediately. They have not been in contact with me since. I called the salesman two days later, he told me they shipped the 17" S600 wheels to me. I had to dis-mount the 16s, repackage the wheels and pay to return the tires to the Tire Rack. Over a week later I finally get the 17s. Last night I opened the boxes, the wheels were FILTHY with brake dust and dirt on the face. They were poorly packaged which, in conjunction with the dirt, scratched the face of the wheels. They also neglected to include the center caps. I put a call into the General Sales Manager at 4pm CA time. As of noon today I have had no response (again).

Keep in mind that this is only ONE of the issues I have with these people. I have tried contacting them. Through all of this, dozens of calls over a month and a half, I have yet to hear from the GSM on these issues. I also contacted MBUSA by phone and a letter. I had sent a letter to FJM on March 14 also, never heard a thing on that either. MBUSA reminded me that the dealers are independantly owned. I am tired of excuses. Is that how MBUSA wants its dealers to handle customers? Do something dang it!

I am at a loss. All I really want now are the center caps. A couple of times the thought of showing up and going "postal" crossed my mind. How can any dealer treat customers this way? Wake up guys, I spent $125k on a car, how about some satisfaction! I have only been able to put 200 miles on the car in six weeks, the weather has been pretty funky here. If they would have done as promised I would be enjoying my new purchase. As it stands all I can do is RANT.

Is it just me or is this a shoddy way to treat a customer?

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1995 G320
1984 280GE
1971 Unimog 416