Poor customer service and dishonest business practice

The service is disgraceful and has left a bitter taste in my mouth. Sales Executives and the Manager at Mercedes Benz Grand Central are both dishonest and lack basic customer courtesy - they were rude and treated me with utmost indignity and disregard. At Mercedes Benz Claremont, they are polite but dishonest.

I bought a car from Mercedes Benz Claremont, however, as I am based in Johannesburg, the car was delivered to Mercedes Benz Grand Central in Midrand. The service from Claremont was impeccable until I went to take delivery of my vehicle at Grand Central.

Delivery was on 25 January 2020, On arrival, I stood next to what I assumed was my car on the delivery bay, the Sales Executives on the floor paid no attention to me until I introduced myself. There car was not covered, nor was there the usual 'congratulations' board next to the vehicle. I did not receive a gift either, not even a balloon or even a branded pen.

The experience was tantamount to collecting a vehicle from a rental vehicle depot to say the least, in fact, I have received far better service from vehicle rental companies.

Upon inspection, the vehicle was riddled with defects, stone chips on the windscreen, a scratch/ chipped corner on the left headlight and another on the rim, stone chips and paint scratches that were amateurishly and tackily touched up around the body, the grooves on the door sills were still dusty. It was evident that the vehicle had not received even a single layer of polish or a thorough wash. upon driving, I discovered that the sunroof had a rattle too.

Frustrated and extremely disheartened, I phoned my Sales Executive, Michael from whom I had bought the vehicle, at Claremont. He blatantly ignored all my calls, responding only to Whatsapp texts. I eventually got through to the Manager on duty, who reassured me that I should take delivery of the vehicle and that all my concerns would be addressed on the subsequent Monday.

Indeed an arrangement was made, my car was dropped of at Grand Central again and I was provided with a courtesy vehicle with almost no fuel, and what was supposed to be a three day process took approximately 10 days, yet all the defects were still present upon collection; with the exception of the rim scratch and some stone chips on the front bumper/right fender.

This time though, the vehicle was even dirtier than the first time. Mariska, the Sales Executive who was handing the vehicle over said to me, in no uncertain terms that she was doing me a favour and if I am unhappy I should take it up with Claremont as she did not have time to engage with me on a Friday afternoon. Gary her Sales Manager soon came to Mariska's defence also sarcastically asking what he could do for me, given that it was so late on a Friday afternoon, citing that he knew nothing about the arrangement between Claremont dealership and his own staff - to repair the defects on my car. I found this treatment to be extremely humiliating and much to the dismay and embarrassment of two other Sales Executives on duty on the day, whom I sensed were equally as disappointed by the service of their colleagues.

It has been two to three weeks now, Michael in Claremont had promised to come back to me with a plan to deal with the issues on my vehicle, I am still waiting. I am emotionally drained and at my wits end. Is this the premium Mercedes Benz experience many brand loyalists buy into? My experience with these two dealerships had been consistently underwhelming, disheartening and disappointing.