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Posted

I have always been a firm believer of taking care of my customers as if they were family members. If my customer comes to me with a problem on their car and the car is still under factory warranty or needs reprogramming, we will take the car to the local dealer and handle the transaction. I don’t want my customer to make a separate appointment with the dealer; I want to remove that burden, if at all possible. What happened this week opened my eyes to a tactic I was not completely aware of. Please read on, I must share this with you.

 

A longtime customer brought his Mercedes to us for a noise in the dash when operating the heater. We found a faulty blend door motor, a very extensive job. The customer authorized the job and everything was fine, except that the car needed to be reprogramed after the repair. We set up an appointment and shuttled the car to the local Mercedes dealer for the reprograming. Two days later after numerous calls and no return phone call, we finally reached someone in service and the advisor told us they had to remove part of the dash to repair a broken wire. No call to let us know, no authorization, no consult…..nothing!

 

My shop foremen and lead tech worked on this car and took digital photos thru every step. They are both master techs. Both of them are outraged and said the dealership is lying.

 

But wait, it gets better. After we picked up the car, an email and phone call went out to my customer! The email was a satisfaction survey and the phone call was to inform the car owner the reason why the car was at the dealer: The Reason: TO REPAIR A BROKEN WIRE IN THE DASH! The customer immediately called us to let us know.

 

At this point I was furious and called the dealer. You have to leave a message whenever you call this dealer and I left four messages. It took another day for someone to get back to me. The service advisor told me that they are obligated under the terms of their Mercedes franchise agreement to call all of their Mercedes customers. THEIR CUSTOMER! I had to remind him of two very important facts: First, this is MY customer, not yours, and any obligation you may think you have does not include fabricating the truth.

 

I don’t want to condemn or prejudge all new car dealers. We have great relationships with the local Chevrolet dealer, Nissan Dealer, Ford Dealer, Hyundai dealer, etc. I just thought it was important to share this story with other shop owners. I am not one to draw a line in the sand; I feel we should all get along. I will never know the truth about the broken wire, but this Mercedes dealership tactic has left me with suspicion.



Posted

I guess it would be no surprise that I ... like you Joe ... have seen these tatics before. The photos was a good idea. I occasionaly will do the same thing when it comes to one of those tough jobs. But, they way the dealer handle the problem is without a doubt... pure crooks with wrenchs. There's a stigma to being a Mercedes Benz "authorized" technician and that also means an EGO so large that they need a crane to hold their head up.

 

If a car rolls into "most" dealerships and they KNOW it came from another repair shop... you can bet they'll find or create or flat out lie about the repairs. Not all of them are like that, I've got a great relationship with the local Dodge, Ford, Chevy, and several import dealers. It took years to get that way, and it was only accomplish by shear hard work.

 

When it comes to the MBenz dealer... I don't have a lot of nice things to say to them or about them. Sorry... but attitude, ego, and professionalism should always be taken in consideration when buying or dealing with any dealer, repair shop...or independent shop.

 

I probably would have been spitin' nuts and bolts after dealing with these clods.

 

Well... ya riled me up Joe... guess it was your turn. LOL time for the meds.

Posted

We have good working relationships with several dealers especially with Ford. However, our experience with VOLVO has not been good.

Posted

Quite right... same here

 

Come to think of it....it's the EURO dealerships that give us the most trouble....

Posted

Come to think of it....it's the EURO dealerships that give us the most trouble....

 

Yes, that is the case. The other dealers are pretty fair to deal with. Our local BMW-Mercedes-VW-Audi (euro dealer) gives us a whopping 5% discount on parts and does not deliver. I can get 20% discount out of Nashville with delivery.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         0 comments
      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.
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