[chriswufgator]

Just wanted to share my story and vent here...I don't think I've been treated this poorly in ages...

First let me say that I have personally done business with them forever, and in fact I bought my very first car from them when I was 16...a brand-spanking new 1998 C230 in black/tan. I loved that car. Anyway, I have continued to do business with them ever since, as has my father, but I personally don't plan on going back after this.

So I dropped my car off to have the spark plugs changed, and to have the two headlight lenses swapped out (one was cloudy, and the other one was broken by a rock from a truck). Simple stuff, right? Think again...

The service advisor was Mike Iafonte, who has been friends with my dad for years, but as for myself I won't be giving him any more business in the future, and wouldn't recommend him to anyone else either. He was a complete dick to me.

About 2 hours after I dropped the car off, I get a call back from him, telling me that one of the Xenon headlight assemblies has a tab cracked off of it, so the lens will no longer secure to it. He quotes me a price of $2,100 for a replacement (when the EPC shows list price is only $1700...so he's doing me a big 'favor' there, huh?), and asked what I wanted to do about it.

First, I asked how it got broken. He replied that, oh due to age, these things just randomly break. I called BS on that, and told him I thought his tech broke it when he was removing the assembly to replace the lens. He replied that their techs are just excellent and never break things.

I then told him that, quite the reverse, they have broken something on every one of our cars virtually every time we have taken one in to them. He asked for some examples, so I pointed out that while changing out the convertible-top latch cylinders in my dad's car, they managed to break:

-One sunvisor mounting arm
-Both visor mounting bracket trim pieces
-The map/reading light housing
-The rearview mirror
-Both visor mirror doors
-And (don't even ask me how they managed this one) the little plastic handle that is in the front interior of the soft-top.

And all of that was just in ONE visit!!!

So then he tries to call BS on me, and I told him "hey, Dad's at the office, why don't give him a ring and ask him?". So he says, "ya I'll DO that" with attitude just dripping off his voice. So he did, and my dad told him that ya, the techs have been breaking stuff on his car constantly, but he's just never bothered to complain about it. I guess I am less patient than my father, or more anal about my cars. Either way, this stuff shouldn't be happening.

So, after that, he calls back with this solution: They have jerry-rigged some bracket that one of their techs made from spare parts, to hold the lens on. He acted on the phone like I am supposed to be happy with this arrangement. I told him I wanted to see the jerry-rigged bracket and he told me I can't, because it was already installed back into the car. He then proceeded to start yet another argument with me over that his tech didn't break it, and I said "Look, the car has 25k miles on it, it has always been stored in a climate-controlled garage, and there is no front-end damage that would have caused anything like this...so what do you think is more likely? That it just randomly self-destructed, or that your tech broke it when he was removing the assembly?"

To that, he replied: "Well, it's fixed now, and if you have any problems with the bracket we put on, you can bring it back (Like I'd want to come back to them!) and I have to go now...your car will be ready around 4".

So I get my dad to run me out there to pick it up (oh ya...another gripe...no loaner), and he still won't admit his tech caused it...keeps trying to say how good they are. So I pointed to my dad's car, and said "Well, what about all of the stuff you broke on that one, then?" to which he replied "That's between me and your father, I'm not guna discuss that with you", when my father is standing 10ft away. Even my dad, normally critical of me (you know, typical parent thing), rolled his eyes at that comment.

Ugh. What an attitude.

So at this point I am furious. They broke my headlight, jerry-rigged it up and expect me to be happy with it, and then charged full price for the privilege of having them break my car! The bill was over $800 just for these minor items, and at NO point did they offer to comp a portion of it, or to replace the assembly that it's 99% likely that they broke. And the guy's attitude plain sucks on top of it.

I am furious, and am debating what to do about it, and any input would be appreciated!

 

[macmonkey]

Buy a billboard near their location and put 'MERCEDES OF DAYTONA BROKE MY CAR AND MAY BREAK YOURS' on it.

 

[RedLiner]

I think I would buy a new headlight unit and get it fitted then threaten to sue the dealer in the small claims court (amounts under $5,000), then go ahead if they didn't compensate you.

You will have the evidence which will be the headlight they broke and the "repair" they did on it.

If this works out send me the old headlight please

 

[chriswufgator]

Buy a billboard near their location and put 'MERCEDES OF DAYTONA BROKE MY CAR AND MAY BREAK YOURS' on it.

That would be friggin' hilarious...bahahahaha

 

[Isaac Collins]

next time

Bring it to my shop, i can do the work my self free of charge of course ,or send your headlight, its very easy to remove it and not break anything, i am a complete ameteur and i did it o.o they must be some pretty horrendus mechanincs

 

[chriswufgator]

they must be some pretty horrendus mechanincs

You got that right!

Every time one of our cars goes in there, they break something. Usually it's little stuff, but this time it was a biggie...and I'm pissed!

 

[Lee Wireless]

I don't get it. You only talked with the service advisor? Why? They are just glorified note takers. That's why they have a shop foreman and a servive manager. Allowing them to "break" things and not bring it to their attention is your big mistake. If you get no satisfaction, call and then write MBUSA a letter and I can assure you that the area manager will contact you. Quit dealing with the knucklehead service advisor.

 

[drags1998]

Chris, Take the car back to the STEALER, Go to the service dept, Talk to the Service manager,If he is no help,INSIST on talking to the General Manager,{at this time, start getting a little LOUDER} If the Gen. Manager is BUSY, Make an appointment to sit down with him!!! If this dosent work, ask to speak with the OWNER!!!!!!! Dealers HATE having a PISSED off customer in the SHOWROOM spouting off about being unhappy!! The only other words of advice I have is KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL {SP} {Raised voice, but NOT swearing} Good Luck!

 

[chriswufgator]

Wow...here's some interesting reading about how the whole complaining to MBUSA thing works....meaning that, basically, it doesn't.

http://http://www.mbca.org/pages/Star/articles/Ulkann_Interview.pdf

 

[agopsill]

The Daytona Mercedes dealer is a joke, I have been dealing with them for about 8 years, and they are the most useless, laziest and biggest rip off dealership I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
Last time I was in there I waited three minutes at the parts counter while two of their parts guys sat infront of their computers ignoring me, at first I thought they were just joking around. Then when I asked for the part they quoted me $205 plus tax, yet the MSRP on the part is $150, when I questioned the guy he looked back at the computer rolled his eyes and said thats what they charge. Went to my INDY and got it for $140.
I wont even bother telling you about the joys of dealing with their sales people.
I will never step foot in that dealership again.

 

[RedLiner]

Reading that interview I thought that this complaint was just dreadful...

I got a call last week
from a lady who took her car in to have a
scratch repaired. The dealer had it for 10
days; when the car came back, her cellphone
was missing, the odometer had 200 extra miles on it,
and the navigation
system had an out-of-town
address in it. The dealer said
they didn’t do it. She called her
own cellphone and asked a
woman who answered how she
got the phone; the woman said
her boyfriend gave it to her. The
dealership’s general manager
said it was not their problem
and told her to file a claim with
her insurance agent and file a
police report.

 

[hopper]

Chriswufgator - you are a law student. Drags1998 advise should have been your natural reaction to this incident. Probably better off with MB Orange Park. See you around JAX.

 

[chriswufgator]

Chriswufgator - you are a law student. Drags1998 advise should have been your natural reaction to this incident. Probably better off with MB Orange Park. See you around JAX.

Yeah, so far I have filed a BBB complaint, and have written a letter to the chamber of commerce.

I also plan on writing the general manager about this issue, since from some other posts in this thread, it is obvious that this dealership isn't making many friends amongst the Mercedes owners' community...even without including me.

 

[chriswufgator]

Just ran across this post by someone in another thread, about Mercedes of Daytona Beach...

Sorry to hear about your visit to Mercedes of Daytona. My last visit was the $700.00 oil change and I haven't been back since. While changing the oil filter, the Tech managed to crack the gasket that holds the filter assembly to the block. I figured no problem, MB of Daytona will stand behind it. WRONG ! They insisted that old age was the culprit and that I was responsible for the full bill. They fired the tech within 30 days due to other issues. Can anyone recommend a good independent MB repair shop in Daytona Beach area ?

 

[hopper]

Now you're talking like a lawyer. Yours and pwarnell1's episodes with MB Daytona are very disturbing. Give them hell, chriswufgator (esquire).

 

[chriswufgator]

Now you're talking like a lawyer. Yours and pwarnell1's episodes with MB Daytona are very disturbing. Give them hell, chriswufgator (esquire).

In addition to everything else, I have decided to give the service advisor one more shot at making this right, and wrote him a letter detailing my problems and the resolution I expect. In my letter, I pointed out the several other complaints by members of this board, and sent him a copy of this thread along with the letter.

Hopefully he gets the point: You shouldn't treat your customers this way.

When I get home to my other computer, I will post the letter that I sent him here in the thread for you guys to see, as well as whatever response I get back. I will also post their response, when I receive it.

 

[chriswufgator]

This is the letter I wrote:

Christopher W. XXXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXXXXX Street
XXXXXXXXX, Florida XXXXX
(904) XXX-XXXX Tel
(904) XXX-XXXX Cell
(904) XXX-XXXX Fax

Via US Mail to:

Mike Iafonte
Sonic Automotive
DBA Mercedes of Daytona Beach
1720 Mason Ave.
Daytona Beach, Florida 32117

RE: Broken headlight assembly


Dear Mike,

Whatever friendship you may have with my father aside, I am unsatisfied with the current situation as regards the broken xenon headlight assembly on my SL600. Fact is, the car has 25k miles, was always stored in a climate controlled garage, and the lens was never loose nor were there ever any problems with the assembly prior to your dealership working on it. Also, as you can see from the VMI, no other dealership has ever worked on that part of the car either.

So, what’s more likely here? That a $2,000.00 piece of a $50k car ($150k original sticker) just randomly self-destructed, or that your tech broke it when he was removing the assembly? The answer to that rhetorical question is crystal-clear.

I would also point out that I am a member of the BenzWorld online Mercedes forum, and shared my experience with the rest of the forum members after leaving your dealership Friday. Within 24 hours, two other people replied in my threads, sharing similar experiences with your Dealership. In fact, one had an identical experience, where one of your techs broke off his oil filter assembly and your dealership then blamed it on “age” and forced the customer to pay for the repair. I bet 99% of all cars older than 20+ years still have their original oil filter assemblies, they don’t just break randomly.

So, contrary to your statements to me when we spoke, this kind of thing has clearly happened before at your service department, and I suspect happens regularly. As I have already pointed out, your techs broke 7 different parts on my father’s car just in one visit. I ordered them all online and replaced them myself, but unfortunately the cost of the broken part in this instance precludes that option this time.

I have included printouts of the Benzworld.org threads and have highlighted the relevant portions for you. As time goes on, those threads will continue to accumulate responses and, I suspect, more people with similar experiences will come forward. As a side note, it appears you guys aren’t winning many friends in the local community.

Bottom line: I am not happy with some jury-rigged bracket holding my lens on, and I want my headlight assembly replaced. Frankly, that’s what should have occurred in the first place. At this point, I am writing you directly in an effort to resolve the situation without further drama.

I have done business with this dealership for 11 years, and I am only 27, so that’s a big chunk of time for me. In fact, I bought my very first car from you guys, a 1998 C230, when I was 16. Frankly, I expect better treatment than I have received from you.

My contact information is listed at the head of this letter, and you are welcome to contact me if you have any questions.



Yours Truly,



Christopher W. XXXXXXXXXXX

 

[mb230s]

Is this a Fletcher-Jones owned dealer by chance?

The stories I could tell about those guys.....

 

[chriswufgator]

Oh what a shocker...more people coming forward with stories about this dealer:

The Mason Ave Stealership is very well known for their horrible Customer
no-service.
That's a long, long standing tradition in the area.
Your right, they are the only "Official, Authorized" game in town.

HOWEVER, I used to take my Porsche to an Indy, right around the area on Ridgewood, near the area of the Pennysaver building.
I simply cannot remember their name.
But anywho they are in the local Yellow Pages.
Small time indy. Does Porsches and other things.

Another guy is the guy at the corner of Granada and Nova Ridgewood in Ormond Beach. He's been there forever.

Hey; I am moving back to Daytona sometime soon this year.
When I am in the area I will familiarize myself with who all is still
there etc.

This is from the thread I started about this situation in the "General Discussion" forum, here: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/general-mercedes-benz/1373279-mercedes-daytona-major-problems-fyi.html

 

[aam]

Are you guys for real?
I personally don't like stealers.
But to some of you who do their own repairs, know that plastic parts do brake....
I have seen six month old plastic cracking.
Look what happens to the new nice all plastic headlights after a while.
They turn yellow, and brake.
They hope that we will have an accident by then, and have them replaced.

I see plastic intake manifolds and I am very skeptical about how long they will last.
But you can't stop progress, with time and experiments, things do get better.

Any lawyer worth his salt, knows that in order to win a case in court you need evidence, proof, that you shaw the tech. brake the part.
Or at list a before, and after picture.

Stealing, has no class, rich and poor do steal.

A tech. is the last wheel on making a living.
The big profits are taken by white collar workers who have no appreciation of the guy who doe's the actual work.
And he gets blamed from both sides.
I have seen workers timing with a stop watch, how fast a part can be made.
So the corporation can make more profits, by pushing.
I have seen old workers hiding their technique from the new so they are needed.
What happens when you turn 45 and up, in all fields of work.
White or blue?

Put your thinking caps on for a change.

Who is taking the most of the profits? the poor worker, or the white collar who drinks coffee all day, wiping the poor worker when he has no health insurance and minimum wage, pushed around like a rug doll.
I know that all this talk is not going to do a darn thing about it.
The big fish will always eat the small fish , but lets at list be honest, once in a while.
This country needs more engineers and less layers.
I prefer to see this forum as help, for people who want to do there own repairs.
And not give arms to the educated.
I don't mean to turn this in to a political discussion.
But just to be honest.
Regards.
aam.