Mercedes Benz - poor customer service ROI
Mary Schmidt makes a great point in the comments of a previous post where I outline Mercedes’ mangled response to a catastrophic engine failure that happened with our E320 while my wife was driving my son to his birthday party.
In it she asks the basic question that any marketer should ask themselves when faced with irate customers who warn their friends about the bad customer experience they had with a company: “Hmmm. Would be interesting to tally up: 1. How many people read your blog; 2. How many comment here; 3. How many link to this post (and then comment). And so on. Seems to me Mercedes is losing some business out of this, ya think? Perhaps you should do a conservative example cost benefit analysis and send it along to the CEO. Say, “Lost 5 customer at $60K each” versus repair of existing customers’ engine, and so on….You can count me among the “lost” I’ll certainly never think of buying a Mercedes (new, used or classic) after reading this horror story.”
This is so true. Close to 4,000 people read the story so far - and that is just on my site, it does not include all the readers of stories that were picked up by many other sites (one of which made it into Yahoo news for over a day). Everyday multiple people find my stories from googling some Mercedes related search terms. And it even came with some unintended consequences, like having some people who are mentioned in the stories (and who never had the courtesy to get back to me) have my story show up first when you Google them.
For a blogger it is an ethical dilemma as to whether or not to write up a bad experiences like this. For this story I gave Mercedes ample time to respond to me first, and whenever I had a new rant or gripe, I sent it to them first. But the whole situation was ludicrous enough to justify my going public with the story. A 5 year old $60K products that fails after 100K of mostly highway miles should result in an answer that is different than “it’s your fault and we can give you $6,000 for the car in a trade-in.”
For a company which started losing money hand over fist, and which tumbled to 21st place in customer satisfaction, and which lost its title of world’s best selling premium brand to BMW for the first time in since 1993, you would expect a different response. It would have been easy, and relativelly low cost, for them to continue to keep me as a believer in their brand promise. And at my age, I might have bought 2 or 3 more of their cars in my lifetime. That will clearly not happen now, and there is at least one other confirmed person who will never buy their products again because of this story. The ROI on their way of handling the situation is clearly not in their favor when you look at it this way.
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May 8th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
I have just got a bill for nearly £5000 for the completely new gearbox on a 4 year old only 60K mileage E220 CDI. Bloody furious about it - as its full Merc service history and I believe that its not a ’service’ element a gearbox but a sealed unit.
Is their any complaint procedure we can instigate here. I do not expect on a car of this quality/with relatively low mileage to have to spend such a huge amount on repair.
Last time I buy a mercedes!
Thanks,
Julian Matthews
May 26th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
Funny that I stumbled on your site googling MZB’s home office customer service. First of all,
I sympathize with everyone who has gotten, or is about to get the shaft from Mercedes. Some personal experiences: My company has leased MZB’s for executives for many years. In the early ’90’s I swore we would never lease another benz after cam’s started going 3 months after the leases expired on two cars at a cost of $4,500 each. Granted, they were 190E’s, but still too much of a coincidence for me. Our company switched to Acura until the late ’90’s without a problem. When it came time to lease new cars, against my better judgement, I was persuaded to return to Mercedes E and C class. The first sign that I had made a mistake should have been when the tail light lenses started to melt. Apparently this happens all the time with all levels of Mercedes. The mechanics know this. Management does not. They, probably like me, fail to believe anything so preposterous as a car’s tail light’s melting. But that’s not the worst of it. In July ‘05, while my wife was unloading groceries, the spring and hinge of the rear trunk/boot broke sending it crashing down on her right arm and side. I took the car to the nearest dealer and they consulted with MZB headquarters who quickly volunteered to pay for everything. My wife was with me. As the service rep said, “we could have owned our own dealership if we wanted.” I’m not that way, much to mercedes’ elation. My wife was fine, the problem was “fixed”, a veritable “freak”, a “rarity”. How many times do you hear of a trunk crashing down on somebody. Well, this past week it happened again. Two times in less than a year! But this time my wife recognized the sound and quickly backed away as the trunk came crashing down like a gulliotine. Thanks to her fast reflexes, no injuries. I took the car to the dealer that “fixed” the problem before. They consulted once again with MZB headquarters. The dealer claims it is another “freak occurance”. MZB Headquarters says it’s “my problem”, and the cost to fix it is $458. A friend of mine with an E class had a water hose break on her new car causing scalding coolant to splash all over her feet and legs. I should have learned my lesson the first time. I will never lease/own a Mercedes again. They do not stand behind their quality, or service. I hope people read this and take notes.
June 8th, 2006 at 2:12 am
My bad experience was with Atlanta Classic Cars Mercedes in Duluth. What a jerk Mgr. Alan Ross is. I live about 40 miles south of dealership. I totally love my C280 MB. And had a Great experience with them when my car had a problem when I hit a pot hole back in Dec 05.They took my car,put me in a loaner,and called back later with an estimate.They did back over flips to insure my happiness. My insurance company and I paid them $4000.00.So,yesterday I called to make an appointment to see them and they send me to a new building the minute I pulled in. I asked the agent if they will do the work and he said yes but, you will have to get someone to take you home.When asking why no loaner as before they just sit there like your crazy and have never been there before.When explaining that I was expecting to be handled the same as before they just have nothing to say. I asked him to put me in a loaner and take my money to fix my car and he said, are you or your insurance company paying. I said maybe me. Maybe them. Im not sure yet. Mgr.Alan Ross did’nt give a flip about wether or not I was satisfied. This was the second time I had spoken to Mgr Alan Ross.I don’t understand why he does’nt care about his clients anymore. I sure did receive POOR customer service and had to drive all the way back to Atlanta today accomplishing nothing. I give them and ALAN ROSS and F—Minus—–!!!!!!!!!!!……..No more visits to Atlanta Classic Cars. Al
June 13th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
I OWN A 2006 CLS 500 WITH LESS THAN 11,000 MILES.
YES 11 THOUSAND. MY CAR IS IN THE SHOP WITH 2 BENT RODS. ACCORDING TO THE DEALER THIS WAS CAUSED BY WATER GETTING INTO THE ENGINE TROUGH THE AIR FILTER. OH BY-THE-WAY THERE WAS NO WATER IN THE OIL OR GASOLINE…MERCEDES HAS YET TO RETURN MY CALLS. THE BILL FOR PULLING THE ENGINE ETC… MORE THAN 7,000 USDOLLARS. THIS IS A $80,OOO CAR. WAS ANYWAY.
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:16 pm
I have been driving a C-200 Mercedes for 10 years, mostly smoothly. I used to service it regularly at the companey, Emirates Motor Companey,The Mercedes agent in Abu Dhabi , U.A.E. Three weeks back I took the car in for a regular service and got it out a week later. Two days later I noticed a non smooth gear change, something I never experienced before. I took it to a mechanic who told me that the gear oil was nil and that there was a trace of burnt oil! A car that is only three days post service, in its own companey!!
When I took it back to the companey I was warned that they might need to open up the gear box, a very costly job. But whose fault was it? When I protested the service man promised to adjust the gearing at the best possible for a “normal drive”. That adjustment took another week. When I received the car it was supposedly adjusted for a best normal drive. Within five minutes of driving outside the Garage, the car speed would not acclerate beyond 40Km/hour while the revolutions exceeded 50! I was terrified, driving in a busy high road. Mirculously I reached home and had the car towed back into the companey garage on advice of one of the service engineers. All this time I have been renting a car, because the companey does not offer a car for use. Now we reached a dead lock as the companey refuses to accept any responsibility or reach a compromise! I have to pay around 30,000 Dirhams/ almost 6000 Euros, which is more than what the car is worth to day.
Like some other people, I decided I shall never buy or even hire a Mercedes car again.
July 27th, 2006 at 8:27 pm
I have a 2001 C Class 200k coupe which was 6 months out of warranty when it needed a repair for an oil leak in the camshaft.
The oil leak caused damage to the wiring harness, the engine control unit and lambda sensors before the engine management light came on.
The MB garage the car was taken to ( not my local one) informed me they had come across two faults of this nature before and it would have been happening for a long time, however they couldn’t be specific as to how long. They also said MB were aware of this potential fault.
When I ask my MB dealer/repairer for a goodwill payment towards the cost of the repair I was told the car was out of warranty so no payment could be considered.
The cost of repair was £1,800 the part that failed was a magnet, cost to replace £20.
The engineer who carried out the repair told me 1, the engine management light should have come on sooner. 2, they are now testing for this fault at every service on the C Class.
I like most people who feel badly let down by MB will never buy another car from them, I thought I was buying quality and reliabilty.
How wrong can you be.
Oh and another thing I have a shake on the steering wheel when I brake, the car has been back numerous times to the dealer and they can’t find anything wrong with it.
October 14th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
has any one had major problems with the E320 gearbox with coolant leaking into it.
October 24th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
I will suffice it to that although I just so much love the drive quality and the comfort of my C280 1997 with less than 75K miles on it, I am probably not going to buy another Mercedez. This car has given me more problems in the 1 year that I have had it, that my 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse has not given me in past 6 years!.
Hardly a month goes by when one or the other sensor does not go bad. Every month, on average I am spending $300 on this car’s maintenance. Frankly, I simply can’t contunue to afford this car anymore. And the only answer mechanics have is that sensors’ going bad is a common thing. Well - in that case I ask - Mercedez should be ashamed of their workamnship, since in all these past 6 years, not once has a single sensor failed up on my Mitsubishi. I am surprised how conveniently do they hide behind the fact that sensor failing is a common thing!
November 7th, 2006 at 8:01 am
I have exactly the same Problem as Dr. Afaf M. El-Hag. I have a 2001 C-Class C180 classic and having given it in for a B Service I received quite a shock when the Service Teamlead informed me that their was an Oil Leak and the engine magnet was leaking and as a result it contaminated the engine control unit, Engine wiring Harness and Air mass meter.
My Car was also 1 Year out of Warranty but only had 30,000 miles on the clock and full Mercedes Service History.
I was told that the work to fix the Oil Leak would cost me £1,800 pounds.
I continued to question the Fault because I believed that My Car with 30K mileage and Full Merc Service history has not done any where near the Mileage that you would expect to warrant such a Major fault.
The Service Team lead responsible for my car said that he has been with the company for 6 months and he has seen a dozen of these faults. I have also sought advice from Independent Mercedes Benz Specialist who also confirmed that this was a very common fault on these cars.
So given the above, the Team Lead applied for a Good Will Payment on my behalf. I was Optimistic and expected Mercedes to contribute something towards the cost given my Individual Circumstances that I made clear to them:
(30K Mileage, Merc Full Serv History, Purchased from Mercedes used car (2nd owner), and fault is widely accepted as a known/common issue)
However to my surprise my good will payment was promptly rejected on the grounds that I did not have any warranty. In Light of the reputation that Mercedes have with Unreliable and badly manufactured cars I strongly believe that this is more of a Manufacturing Fault and I or any other Mercedes customer should not be held responsible for full cost’s because we do not have any warranty.
I then pursued this judgement with the Mercedes Customer Service team who opened a case and requested for another Goodwill claim be submitted by the Service Centre.
Once again my Good will application was rejected on the grounds that I do not have any Warranty. Having spent Hours on the Phone to them arguing my case I had realised that there was no Depth to the Customer Service Team, I was told Their was no escalation points and they were the only front team that deal with Customer’s. I was even told that I could write to the Head office if I wanted but it was very unlikely that I would get a response. My experience with the Customer Service team was a very disappointed one, I began to realise that they were all working from a script which was pretty simple and black and white - the decisive factor is whether you have Warranty or Not.
I for one will never buy a Mercedes Car again and will continue to discourage others from doing so. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I/We can pursue this further?
I don’t believe we should allow Mercedes to get away with Bad manufacturing and if they are unwilling to help then we should make sure there are consequences for the bad practice/bad manufacturing and bad customer service.
Is their any where that we can publicise our dissatisfaction more effectively? Any suggestions? For example; Financially, I believe I can bring at least 100K loss a year by bad publicity alone and if their was a concerted effort then imagine the potential consequences. I think it is time they realised that the consumer’s customer satisfaction on the ground is more important financially in the long run then applying a fairer policy and covering the 2k repair on the average fault. If they are unwilling to be honest and make their policy fairer then they do not deserve to have any decent reputation or a good market in any part of the world.
p.s I am not new to Mercedes Benz faults, when I initially brought the Car it completely broke down in the first week! It was repaired under the default 1year warranty that you receive and I strongly believe this new problem is due to overall bad manufacturing.
Oli Khan
Email: olikhan@gmail.com
November 7th, 2006 at 8:04 am
a slight correction regarding my last post, I meant ’same Problem as Sylvia Dudley’
November 21st, 2006 at 10:42 am
I drive a C180 classic kompressor 52 plate with 35K on the clock. Since day of purchase in Feb 06 the colland warning light comes on every few days. The feeder hose has been replaced, the cap and the head gaskett and still the coolant light comes on every few days. My local MB dealership are at a loss what else to do. The garage where the vehicle was purchased from have now offered to but the car back but at a huge loss to myself financially. Has anyone else ever had a coolant problems on this type of Merc that can’t be fixed. ?
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:52 am
Mercedes Kompressor
Toothpaste For Dinner webcomic and blog you find a 2004 Mercedes -Benz C-Class: pics &
February 27th, 2007 at 5:39 am
I have a Mercedes A190 2001 model only 32,000 miles on the clock and the auto gearbox has failed. Estimated cost apx £2,500!
Who do I contact at Mercedes to try and get some compensation?
John
February 27th, 2007 at 5:40 am
I have a Mercedes A190 2001 model only 32,000 miles on the clock and the auto gearbox has failed. Estimated cost apx £2,500!
Who do I contact at Mercedes to try and get some compensation?
John
March 9th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I bought a new Gl and had a small fender bender. The car has been in the shop for 3 weeks because they do not have spare parts in the US. Apparently, they need a new fender and it has to arrive from Germany. I was shocked that in this day and age, Mercedes does not stock adequate parts for its cars in the US. Oh, and I still don’t have an ETA on when I will get my car back
March 20th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I just pick up my car from the dealer, the reason I took it there was because the “SRS light” was turning on. They did the routine checkup and the results was: my purse, yes my handbag, was making this “light” turn on. Funny the results and kind of awkward, I have been driving this car for two years and did not had any kind of problems until now. The findings wasn’t the most reliable, but my husband was OK with that so I did not make any remarks. Driving home (from the dealer) the light once again “turn on”, I couldn’t believe it, I call immediatly and left a message. But this is not all, I had to pay for the service(the car is still in warranty) because the car isn’t the problem, its my purse, my purse that had been my co-pilot for two years and never had given me any problems before. I’m not happy with the service, and I still have to take my car once againg to the dealer to fix the problem. I have a very hetic life and I can’t spend it going over and over to the dealer and having this technicians given me this kind of results. I need help, what can I do?
Thanks, K. Rodriguez
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:47 pm
These cars are HORRIBLE!!! Has anyone read of the problems MBZ owners are having with the wiring harnesses in mid 90’s to early 00 models? Every MBZ tech knows this is an issue - several have told me that MBZ was using “experimental” materials for wiring insulation and it is obviously failing - MBZ response - the cars are out of warranty - So, 30,000 mile cars are shutting down on the highways and peoples lives are being placed in danger because MBZ will NOT stand behind their products and obviously do not care about their customer’s safety - just their check book - I am 30 years old and I will never buy another Mercedes Benz - I doubt my friends will - and I can assure Mercedes that my family will not - That’s at least 1 car per year lost from a family that has been loyal customers for DECADES!! Guess nobody at MBZ learned from Ford’s mistake with the “Pinto”, or more recently Firestone - All it is going to take is a couple of fatalities(God forbid) and an enterprising attorney to construct a class action lawsuit that could bring MBZ to it’s knees - I wonder if they will be able to justify their corner cutting then-
April 25th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Hi Guys
I thought problems with Mercs were few and far between, how wrong. I have a 2 year old S320, when I slow down around 30-40 mph the steering wheel starts to shudder, anyway took it into the Benz showroom in Lakeside and was told that they could repair it at a cost of 2,600 pounds (mad. Problem is they dont know how it happened, but clearly feel it is not a manufacturing fault, anyone else have this proble?
rgds
April 25th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Hi Guys
I thought problems with Mercs were few and far between, how wrong. I have a 2 year old S320, when I slow down around 30-40 mph the steering wheel starts to shudder, anyway took it into the Benz showroom in Lakeside and was told that they could repair it at a cost of 2,600 pounds (mad. Problem is they dont know how it happened, but clearly feel it is not a manufacturing fault, anyone else have this proble?
rgds
August 31st, 2007 at 8:06 am
Marshall Motors Mercedes Parramatta, in Australia, really ripped off my wife recently - they charged her A$1,285 for service labour only - she dropped the car in at 9.30am and picked it up at 5pm.
Apparently 6 Brain Surgeons were engaged by Marshall Motors Mercedes Parramatta Australia to work on my wifes car.
What a ripp-off! Absolutely gold Marshall Motors Mercedes Parramatta!!! I will never go back there again!!!
October 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
I am thinking of getting one I found this article at http://www.mercedestuningmag.com/ that gives a lot of details about this model .
August 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
We live in FL and have a 2005 C240 with 40000 miles on it. The car gave up on my husband and he had to be towed in by the dealership and they replaced teh catalytic converter. The night we got it back ,it started making a knocking noise. We took it back the very next morning and after a day and a half of diagnostics the dealer - Mercedes Benz of South Orlando said there is water in the oil of your car, your engine will have to be replaced. You might want to contact your Insurance as this is a “hydro-locked” engine and will be covered by Insurance. The Insurance adjustor inspected the car to find that there was no evidence of our car ingesting water through the intak or anything and that the fault is from within the engine. Which you’d think would be covered by warranty. But our dealer keeps insisting its an external influence and not a warranty issue. The dealer gave us a loaner vehicle after 10 days of our car sitting in their shop. They refuse to even consider that its a manufacturing fault with the engine, tell me how could a piston in the engine become bent in the due course of driving this car to and from work? I dont know what to do. I am apalled to see there are others who have been mistreated by Mercedes Benz dealers and the company itself
November 20th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I bought a car at buckhead mercedes in Atlanta, certified car, one of their loaner cars, had never been titled. Drove it around the block to test drive. Bought the car. Drove it the two hours home and realized that the tires needed to be balanced. Returned in a month to have that done and the check engine light was coming on. They gave me a loaner and I came back at the end of the Saturday. They charged me for the balancing. Like a sap I paid it. Took it up with the salesman. (Brian Light) He said they would reimburse. When I paid I also found out that the front left wheel was bent. I should have put my foot down right then and there, but did not. 2nd mistake. I never received a check. a couple months later was in Atlanta and stopped by again, wasted thirty minutes. The guy who sold me the car was no longer employed there. Sales manager Mark Hubbard researched it while I waited and he said he could take care of it. Again it was a Saturday and there was no one who could write a check. I never received a check and I never received so much as a phone call. I am mainly driving the car short commutes to work. When I take it for a long trip notice the vibration in the steering more. I went a long time but eventually had to replace the front bent left wheel. A five hundred dollar expense. This is a certified MB. I think they rushed this loaner car out onto the lot and never went thru it. The salesman told me they moved it to the lot so they would have some c class cars available. Jeremy Smith the sales manager who sold me the car is no longer with them. I called and asked for him and another guy answered and he said he would call me back and never did. They don’t even call you back to say no sorry we cannot do that for you. Its my mistake for not putting my foot down right away. I don’t like being forced to be an ass about something in order to get the proper thing done. Evidently that what it takes in society today. I am on my way to the local volvo dealer. No more MB’s for me.