The night before last, I was unfortunate enough to have been awakened by a Sheriff's Deputy at my door at 3:53 a.m., telling me that I was the victim of a high-speed chase in which one of the vehicles being chased, had smashed into my cars which were sitting in my driveway, completely destroying one and colliding with two others which pushed through my garage door, leaving yet another, stuck inside. The only car I was left with, and which luckily received only minor damage was my 1998 Mercedes SL500. Sadly enough however, the key [blade], had fallen off of the plastic control weeks before, and I had not wanted to pay $266 to get it replaced, thinking I would find it somewhere.
In any case, yesterday morning I spent dealing with all that. My second objective for the day I thought would be much simpler: To contact Mercedes Benz and request a replacement key for my only remaining drivable car (my other cars are sitting in the exact same position as they were when they were hit in order to assist in any subsequent investigation). In any case, a simple enough matter, or so I thought.
Long story short, my request to Mercedes Benz was to have been that as I could not get to the dealership twice (once to prove ownership and pay for the key, and the other to pick up the key), to please allow me to order and prepay for the key and that when I picked it up, they could refuse to give it to me if I did not provide concrete documentation/proof of ownership.
Again, simple enough. SIMPLY DO NOT GIVE ME THE *** KEY IF I CANNOT SHOW IT IS MY FRICKIN’ CAR. - Sorry - whew! I guess I’m kind of upset, so let me rephrase: 'In my estimation, this should have been a matter of a simple conversation, and a note on the account not to release the key until proper documentation was presented.' A little harder to do, of course. It would have meant MB personnel would have to actually go a little out of their way to get something done. Legal consequences? While I completely understand the point of MB protecting us and themselves by not handing out people's keys to just anyone ... again, the request was to be do not release until proper documentation (Title, Registration, Drivers License) is presented. Simple. Elemental really. Rudimentary when you think about it.
Instead, I spent close to an hour and a half being transferred to different extensions at the Mercedes Benz of Houston North location, and in conversation with a Joe or John at the MBUSA Customer line in New Jersey.
I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that 1). No manager deemed themselves willing or capable of picking up their phones (Walter Weibel, General Manager of the Houston North location; Sales Manager; Wolfgang Sander, Parts Manager); other lines to the different departments went unanswered as well, and when I asked to speak to Mr. Weibel’s assistant I was transferred to the receptionist Kristal who said she was he assistant four times, but I could tell was not – all garnering a big fat zero in my book in terms of the service they provide. 2). When I did reach an Anthony of the Service and Parts department (he was nice) he told me someone would phone me back, which they never did. 3). Upon calling MBUSA, I encountered an automated system one would expect from a much lesser franchise. All in all, I did reach a Customer Service agent, Joe (or possibly John), and spent about half an hour on the line with him trying to explain what I needed and finally just trying to obtain the number to a district manager. Instead, he called the Houston North location and reached a JoAnn who said I could fax my documentation in. Um, I don’t have a scanner or fax machine at my home, sorry. Maybe I should for cases such as these, but I am really normally at work . . . except on this Friday I just happened to be TRAPPED AT HOME!!! Finally, I phoned the Houston North location back and a nice lady by the name I think of Liz came on. She stayed on with me until I got in touch with Ronnie, in Parts who said that Anthony had given him an incorrect number. I gave Ronnie (an extermely nice fellow who tried to ignore my sobbing, which although generally pretty stoic, I had been brought to at this point), my credit card number and name, and he told me he would phone me the next day when the key came in. He reiterated that I would need to bring in proper documentation. I reiterated I would, as I was actually holding them in my hand at the moment.
The next day (today) I did not hear back, so I called in. I got ‘dicked’ around (transferred to lines with no answers) only about three or four times today, which I thought not too bad for their track record. When I would reach a voice mail, I would press zero and the system would tell me there was no operator available, so I had to call back three times. The last time, the receptionist transferred me to a live girl, who I told I needed to see if my key was in and she was about to transfer me again when I told her I had already been transferred three times and that I really did not want to have to call back in. She stayed on the line until someone picked up. After some dialogue, I was told they showed no record for a key for me. After some more dialogue, it was established that a key had been ordered the day before, for my car, under my first name but in a last name which only vaguely resembled mine. No biggie. Really, I was just glad they found it.
That feeling of relief lasted all of a few seconds. It began dissipating the moment I was placed on hold and had completely evaporated long before the gent returned on the line to tell me that the key had not come in. I asked him why; he did not know. I asked him at what time the order had been placed, he said 1:01 p.m. (I had originally called at approximately 10:45). He was nice enough when he told me all of this and he was patient in answering my questions, but could not 'do anything' about it, or offer any explanation other than maybe I had been about half an hour late in ordering it . . .
WTF?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Had MB not played ping-pong with my call, had someone in authority (Weibel, Sander) taken the responsibility that comes with the job, of actually picking up their *** phone and not had me in limbo for a *** hour and a half, perhaps my order would have been on time. Had my number been taken down correctly (I left it with two people). Had Joe / John at MBUSA given me the District Manager’s number or the number to where they make the keys, or the number to the actual executive offices … Had Ronnie followed up the order with a quick phone call to the key department or maybe a note on the order that said 'guys', this order would have been entered earlier, could you please maybe try to get it out today? … maybe I could have gotten my key ordered on time.
Instead, I was transferred to Anthony again. He was nice and quite professional, and he also told me that there was 'nothing he could do'.
I beg to differ.
As a whole, and as individuals, this entire group of characters could actually do something. THEY COULD GIVE A *** ABOUT PROVIDING ADEQUATE SERVICE. THEY COULD APPROACH A SITUATION AS IF IT WERE THEM WHO REQUIRED THE END RESULT. THEY COULD ANSWER THEIR *** PHONES. THEY COULD USE THEIR BRAINS AND TAKE INITIATIVE EVERY SO OFTEN IN REGARD TO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET AN ACTION ACCOMPLISHED. THEY COULD STOP THINKING THAT THE END OF A TRANSACTION IS THE MOMENT THAT MB GETS OUR MONEY.
Why this complaint?
Sure, to vent a little". I am pretty frustrated at this baloney as you can probably tell/. I guess as 'payback' to denounce MBUSA (oh yes, because I have posted the experience other places as well), as corporate *** who don't give a crap; and selfishly and as self-appeasement, to insult any of them who can still feel insulted at peaople's disdain for their bad customer service!. All pretty self-serving reasons, I admit,. However, there is one tiny part, which is posting in the hopes that one or two of them come across this and that they still actually give a *** about the little things that go on, and have a desire to correct them;. It is so that maybe, when others complain about idiots who have been placed in roles where they cannot function, that the complaint will not just be swept under the rug and that action be taken to assure that these things will not happen again.. It is in the hopes that if they garner one thing alone from this communication, it be this: When a Manager gets too big to answer a phone and direct the call to a person under them that can resolve a matter, then that person has grown too big for their office and needs to be replaced with a can-do but more importantly “will-do” person|. No, I don’t expect this at places such as Sonic or McDonald’s, but Mercedes Benz? That’s a horse of a totally different color.. Or so I thought. 129f6d7
In any case, yesterday morning I spent dealing with all that. My second objective for the day I thought would be much simpler: To contact Mercedes Benz and request a replacement key for my only remaining drivable car (my other cars are sitting in the exact same position as they were when they were hit in order to assist in any subsequent investigation). In any case, a simple enough matter, or so I thought.
Long story short, my request to Mercedes Benz was to have been that as I could not get to the dealership twice (once to prove ownership and pay for the key, and the other to pick up the key), to please allow me to order and prepay for the key and that when I picked it up, they could refuse to give it to me if I did not provide concrete documentation/proof of ownership.
Again, simple enough. SIMPLY DO NOT GIVE ME THE *** KEY IF I CANNOT SHOW IT IS MY FRICKIN’ CAR. - Sorry - whew! I guess I’m kind of upset, so let me rephrase: 'In my estimation, this should have been a matter of a simple conversation, and a note on the account not to release the key until proper documentation was presented.' A little harder to do, of course. It would have meant MB personnel would have to actually go a little out of their way to get something done. Legal consequences? While I completely understand the point of MB protecting us and themselves by not handing out people's keys to just anyone ... again, the request was to be do not release until proper documentation (Title, Registration, Drivers License) is presented. Simple. Elemental really. Rudimentary when you think about it.
Instead, I spent close to an hour and a half being transferred to different extensions at the Mercedes Benz of Houston North location, and in conversation with a Joe or John at the MBUSA Customer line in New Jersey.
I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that 1). No manager deemed themselves willing or capable of picking up their phones (Walter Weibel, General Manager of the Houston North location; Sales Manager; Wolfgang Sander, Parts Manager); other lines to the different departments went unanswered as well, and when I asked to speak to Mr. Weibel’s assistant I was transferred to the receptionist Kristal who said she was he assistant four times, but I could tell was not – all garnering a big fat zero in my book in terms of the service they provide. 2). When I did reach an Anthony of the Service and Parts department (he was nice) he told me someone would phone me back, which they never did. 3). Upon calling MBUSA, I encountered an automated system one would expect from a much lesser franchise. All in all, I did reach a Customer Service agent, Joe (or possibly John), and spent about half an hour on the line with him trying to explain what I needed and finally just trying to obtain the number to a district manager. Instead, he called the Houston North location and reached a JoAnn who said I could fax my documentation in. Um, I don’t have a scanner or fax machine at my home, sorry. Maybe I should for cases such as these, but I am really normally at work . . . except on this Friday I just happened to be TRAPPED AT HOME!!! Finally, I phoned the Houston North location back and a nice lady by the name I think of Liz came on. She stayed on with me until I got in touch with Ronnie, in Parts who said that Anthony had given him an incorrect number. I gave Ronnie (an extermely nice fellow who tried to ignore my sobbing, which although generally pretty stoic, I had been brought to at this point), my credit card number and name, and he told me he would phone me the next day when the key came in. He reiterated that I would need to bring in proper documentation. I reiterated I would, as I was actually holding them in my hand at the moment.
The next day (today) I did not hear back, so I called in. I got ‘dicked’ around (transferred to lines with no answers) only about three or four times today, which I thought not too bad for their track record. When I would reach a voice mail, I would press zero and the system would tell me there was no operator available, so I had to call back three times. The last time, the receptionist transferred me to a live girl, who I told I needed to see if my key was in and she was about to transfer me again when I told her I had already been transferred three times and that I really did not want to have to call back in. She stayed on the line until someone picked up. After some dialogue, I was told they showed no record for a key for me. After some more dialogue, it was established that a key had been ordered the day before, for my car, under my first name but in a last name which only vaguely resembled mine. No biggie. Really, I was just glad they found it.
That feeling of relief lasted all of a few seconds. It began dissipating the moment I was placed on hold and had completely evaporated long before the gent returned on the line to tell me that the key had not come in. I asked him why; he did not know. I asked him at what time the order had been placed, he said 1:01 p.m. (I had originally called at approximately 10:45). He was nice enough when he told me all of this and he was patient in answering my questions, but could not 'do anything' about it, or offer any explanation other than maybe I had been about half an hour late in ordering it . . .
WTF?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Had MB not played ping-pong with my call, had someone in authority (Weibel, Sander) taken the responsibility that comes with the job, of actually picking up their *** phone and not had me in limbo for a *** hour and a half, perhaps my order would have been on time. Had my number been taken down correctly (I left it with two people). Had Joe / John at MBUSA given me the District Manager’s number or the number to where they make the keys, or the number to the actual executive offices … Had Ronnie followed up the order with a quick phone call to the key department or maybe a note on the order that said 'guys', this order would have been entered earlier, could you please maybe try to get it out today? … maybe I could have gotten my key ordered on time.
Instead, I was transferred to Anthony again. He was nice and quite professional, and he also told me that there was 'nothing he could do'.
I beg to differ.
As a whole, and as individuals, this entire group of characters could actually do something. THEY COULD GIVE A *** ABOUT PROVIDING ADEQUATE SERVICE. THEY COULD APPROACH A SITUATION AS IF IT WERE THEM WHO REQUIRED THE END RESULT. THEY COULD ANSWER THEIR *** PHONES. THEY COULD USE THEIR BRAINS AND TAKE INITIATIVE EVERY SO OFTEN IN REGARD TO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET AN ACTION ACCOMPLISHED. THEY COULD STOP THINKING THAT THE END OF A TRANSACTION IS THE MOMENT THAT MB GETS OUR MONEY.
Why this complaint?
Sure, to vent a little". I am pretty frustrated at this baloney as you can probably tell/. I guess as 'payback' to denounce MBUSA (oh yes, because I have posted the experience other places as well), as corporate *** who don't give a crap; and selfishly and as self-appeasement, to insult any of them who can still feel insulted at peaople's disdain for their bad customer service!. All pretty self-serving reasons, I admit,. However, there is one tiny part, which is posting in the hopes that one or two of them come across this and that they still actually give a *** about the little things that go on, and have a desire to correct them;. It is so that maybe, when others complain about idiots who have been placed in roles where they cannot function, that the complaint will not just be swept under the rug and that action be taken to assure that these things will not happen again.. It is in the hopes that if they garner one thing alone from this communication, it be this: When a Manager gets too big to answer a phone and direct the call to a person under them that can resolve a matter, then that person has grown too big for their office and needs to be replaced with a can-do but more importantly “will-do” person|. No, I don’t expect this at places such as Sonic or McDonald’s, but Mercedes Benz? That’s a horse of a totally different color.. Or so I thought. 129f6d7
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