[hamkers]

Hi,

I have a long running dispute regarding damage to my car prior to taking delivery. The dealership did a smart repair which rubbed off when polished leaving an unsightly mess. After MB stepped in to fight my corner (it didn't meet the return standard) they finally wrote to me saying they "would return it to it's original condition". Anyway, I went to pick the car up today and found a stone chip in the area that was repaired (from other marks I can see they didn't do the whole bumper) and there is a rough patch where the laquer was not sprayed correctly. I didn't accept it and retained the loan car but got a long speech regarding stonechips not being their problem. In my view "return to original condition" means a blemish free bumper or am I unreasonable? They are getting the bodyshop guy to visit tomorrow and they will give me "their expert decision" on the laquer but how should I play it if I am not happy with their decision? I don't see how this can be put right without re-laquering the whole bumper as a minimum. When I got a quote myself (different MB approved bodyshop) they said they would flat it down and do a complete re-spray for £590. They have done a good job for me before so I know they do a quality job. I'm so cross my head is spining (I have missed a lot out to keep this readable) so any advice would be gratefully received. I guess my main concern is if they take the loan car off me - do I drive my car and risk them saying I did the damage or leave it there and hire a car and try to recover my costs? I think in court I would have a clear case with the letter as evidence but I haven't spoken to a solicitor yet (RAC legal weren't much help previously). I will phone customer service in the morning but any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[Loevess]

Hi hamkers, i'm sorry to hear about your dispute, seems like it's not going to be an easy fix.

My best advice to you is that you DON'T take your car back if you're not 100% satisfied, honestly so many different things could happen to your car when you're on the road. They could very easily use this fact against you and say, look you drove it away, there was no chip when we left it. Period.


Other then that, goodluck just trying to haggle with them... obviously if you're thinking about talking to a solicitor already then it's already quite serious and long winded.. how about try to threaten them that you will take this to court if it's not up to "original state" like they've promised. Also let them know that this case will make a bad image for that dealer and the corporate as a whole if they can't even stand by their own words to a promised customer. Take it up to the highest rank in the dealership, she/he might be able to overlook the situation as compared to the lower level employees. Goodluck, all the best.

 

[A250]

Agreed with Loevess.
Dont back down and perhaps show your frustrations a bit more, maybe even with raised voice.



You should not be bullied into accepting what you not happy with, premium brand makes premium quality, ask them if it was them you spent a small fortune on it, if they would be happy...if they say yes then suggest they then buy the car off you for the same price you paid

 

[reza]

sorry to hear about your troubles ... im sure its feels quite long a convoluted now. If Ive understood things correctly ....
'Damage prior to delivery'

They have no case not to repair this.



'Stone chip after delivery'

They have no responsibility to repair this



'Unsatisfactory repair of original damage'

I.e poor blending must be rectified. If they can not do a good enough job not to be noticeable to the eye then they should do the whole panel/bumper etc.



Where I am confused though is 'stone chip in area that was repaired'?? Are you saying they repaired it, then drove it and got a stone chip on the repaired area?

I guess what is important here is finding out who got the stone chip and when?

 

[hamkers]

Thank you for the comments.

To cut a long story short when i made the complaint the bumper was mark free as it had just been detailed. It took a month for them to own up and I had a letter saying they would return it to it's original condition. It took a further month to get them to actually do the work. Obviously in this timeframe a few marks were present but they would polish out (and are no longer visible) apart from one which has just been laquered over and cannot be repaired now as it is encased and now a permanent defect. The other paint chip in question happened after it was resprayed, coincidently in the same place as the smart repair. I have already established the paintwork was faulty under the sale of goods act - hence the letter. 3 bodyshops (including the one doing the work) all agree that the only sensible repair is to do the whole bumper so it is not a question of me trying to get something for free. Any stone chips covered up in the process is a bonus but it's not my fault it took them so long for them to effect the repair. The problem I have now is the bumper was not laquered correctly, they have made one stonechip permanent and there is stone chip damage after the respray.

They also failed to contact me today as promised but MB asked me to give them until tomorrow. If they don't respond satisfactorily, MB said they would take up my case. They were quite supportive as they have the whole history (there is other damage to the vehicle that was repaired unsuccessfully which I have paid to have done myself) and they have witnessed for themselves the lies and delay tactics.

They and 24hour assist are the only reason I will probably buy another MB car (from somewhere else though!)

 

[Loevess]

Anytime hamkers, do keep us updated. Godspeed bud.

 

[hamkers]

Update:

I have been stressed out the last couple of days and with no response from the dealer by lunchtime today, I put my position in writing (in a constructive manner) and a copy went to Mercedes Customer Service. I have no idea what went on in the background but I received a call at 5.15pm to say that they have taken the car to the bodyshop to have a full re-spray of the bumper. The aftersales director is no longer handling my complaint and the new guy I spoke to is like a breath of fresh air. He asked that I collect the car from the bodyshop so nothing happens in transit but that's fair enough and I happily agreed. I had a bit of a chat and explained I wasn't trying it on but only asking for what I had been promised and that the communication/attitude towards me had been terrible. Suprisingly he said he could understand my point of view and it wasn't a problem. He promised to keep me up to date with progress and inform me of any delays. There may have been an element of saying what I wanted to hear but he seemed genuine enough and it's only fair to give him a chance. The car should be ready Monday and I'm a bit more positive now and hopefully I can get back to enjoying what is a superb car.

 

[joyjas77]

Glad to hear that it seems to be turning out well for you.

 

[Loevess]

Good job mate! The favors are returning to your side, i hope there's no more hiccups along the way..

 

[Lynne]

Glad to know that you are having decent service at last! It's what should be expected from Mercedes! I really hope everything is perfect for you on Monday! Best of luck.

 

[iopean]

I think it is a **** shame that so many people seem to be having issues with Mercedes dealerships. The manufacturer themselves seem excellent but they are being let down and having potential purchasers put off because of a few sub standard dealers. Very sad.

 

[hamkers]

I had that conversation with MB the other day and got the impression they are very concious of the problem.

 

[Googlebug]

Great news, hope its spotless and all sorted this time. Customer service is a difficult business. Not the easiest thing to please everyone and it only takes a clash of personalities to create a divide and cause stress to the customer.

I can't fault MB though, whatever they said to the dealership....its worked!

 

[hamkers]

Well, I picked the car up tonight direct from the bodyshop. The new guy at the dealership called me a couple of times today as promised to keep me updated wih progress (I think it was a close run thing whether it would be ready today - not that it bothered me) which is a marked improvement from the last guy!

The person handing the vehicle over was very apologetic and wanted to make sure I was happy with the work. We compared notes and as I suspected they didn't have the full story from the off so I think he was a bit happier too. Looks like they have done a good job to me - there wasn't anything obvious when I was there and I had a really good look once I got home.

The ECO start/stop still doesn't work but I will give that a few days before going back to the dealership as they assured me they had it working

They also told me I need to have the clutch slave cylinder replaced - the clutch pedal was squeaking and I asked them to lube the pivot but it turned out to be more serious. It's a 2 week wait for the part and a 2 day job to fit it

Thanks to everyone for their comments - they helped keep me sane through a difficult situation!

 

[Loevess]

well at least you're out of the fire now, and it seems to be into the pan. Hope your Eco works and no more hassle with them! Glad could've helped.