I have just got the car back, and it is terrible!!

The interior is filthy, it has been covered with oily hands, they have put some minor scratches on the wood surrounding the gear lever. The paintwork has also been smudged with oil, and the indicator lense has not been put back right.

I'm going to see them first thing tomorrow, i'm not too sure exactly what to say, but i definately did not expect this after paying £1200, half of that being labour.

Please help!!!

was this from an authorized mercedes dealer? Some a letters should be a writin to someone high up immediately.

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'68 Olds 88 Convertible
'84 300 SD (sold it)

I've been through this before. Sounds like they've made a mess of things. The last thing you want is for them to 'fix' the damage... um, repairs.

Talk to the owner(s) and seek restitution. If that gets you nowhere, contact the Better Business Bureau in your area. Also, take LOTS of pictures, the more the better. Document EVERYTHING. Seek another repair facility and get a quote to put your car back to the way it was. Send a copy of this bill to the original shop. If they won't pay for the other shop to make the repairs or compensate you for the cost... find a good lawyer.

This past year, I had $1500 worth of body work and paint done on my 240D, to clean up 25 years of weather and parking lots . The 'certified' body shop did the work, but caused $4700 in other damages including a tear in the back seat, broken arm-rest, missing/damaged chrome, and painting the wrong colour.... it is supposed to be dark blue, not sea-foam green! Needless to say, we are awaiting a court date!

Good Luck with the damage control,

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William
76 240D (W115) - 550K miles
78 300D (W123) - 200K+ miles

I like to say that as you can see, all the responses are from the USA/ Here we are dealing under different set of rules / You guys there are more sofisticated speaking and mentaly by nature or by geografic circunstances who knows / By saying that, with all respect, it is very possible that they really F***up your machine and by the tone of voice they seem to sound very casual or "Englishly" ...if that's a word /
If some one in USA would end up having a problem like yours, oh boy here would not be enough lawyers to eat them alive!!! / But again, there in the UK, is normal to have a tremendous car accident on wich you may loose 40% percent of you automovil and end up shaking hands by the other motorist negligence... saying F***Off have a nice day. So in my opinion here it is.../ Just take it for what its worth. sorry for my spellings.
I only speak other four lenguages but some times here is not enough. good luck.

Ditto what Ney above says. You've been screwed mate. Tell me you didn't pay by cash because if its on credit your card company may be able to help you but don't hold your breath. Go through your local consumer advocate channels also, they may not be as visible as they are in the US but the're around. I know this is after the fact but if your going to pay that much take it to the dealer next time

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yal
88 230E (W124)
euroheadlights,
clearcorners,
smoke/red tailights
98 e420 sport replicas

IMHO, assuming the car has been cared for and still has a good factory (OEM) paint, I would not want my whole car repainted, because only one shop in a 100, if even that, could ever improve on the factory paintings (all those coats of paint, etc.). I'd rather have them try to match the area damaged to the rest of the car -- I'd rather have a small blemish at one place than a whole car with a unsatisfactory finish.

The place I took it to is a Mercedes main dealer. It is one of the biggest dealers in the country. I have just faxed them explaining the problem, and asking them what they are going to do about it.
I love my car, and i'm going to make sure they take the car off me and I get it back in a better condition than I have ever seen it in.

The same thing happend to my dad. He has a W140 500. He took his car in when the a/c went. He recieved a £2500 bill, and also minor scratches on the exterior and a filthy interior. When we complained they took the car back and cleaned it amazingly getting the all the scratches out, and they threw in some new carpets.

I didn't think the same thing could happen again, but hey!

I agree with the comments made concerning the english way of dealing with problems, and it really irritates me.
I'm sure they did a poor job with my car because it's not a brand new S500.

I WILL GET JUSTICE!!!!

Oliver

Hope they straighten it all out for you, BUT I agree with Ken, have them fix the minimum amount of factory paint and do it over till they get it right. The factory finish can't be improved on. It can be made to look as good but none of them last like the original. I know, being in Florida paint takes a beating and I own a body shop that does most of the local MB dealers work.

The dealer has just contacted me, they are taking the car in on monday for a full clean, they will keep it until wednesday because they say it needs a full day to dry out.
I presume that means they will do a superb clean inside!!

It seems to be working out OK now.

Oliver

It seems like less than A1 quality service at some of these "authorized" MB dealership is not keyed in to any one part of the world. Hopefully, they will make it right.

In regard to a previous post concerning how the english handle problems, the man that called me from the service centre made a few mildly funny remarks to begin the conversation to try and soften me up a bit. He didn't once attempt to say sorry, but he did say he would sort out the problem straight away.

It is dissapointing to see the extremely low level of customer support being dished out in this country.

Oliver

[This message has been edited by Oliverp (edited 09-15-2000).]

Oliver,
If they don't make it right, write to Mercedes and tell them you were screwed by one of their dealers, and ask them what they are going to do about it. Send copies of whatever documentation you have along with your letter. I would hope the company would speak to the dealer about their busines practices.
Colin