Disgusting Service from Mercedes Benz Nothciff and South Africa

Item: Mercedes-Benz South Africa
Rating: 1
Author: Sarah S

I have a list of complaints to make about Mercedes Benz South Africa particularly their Northcliff branch, The behaviour and manner in which I have been treated by Mercedes Benz South Africa has been ********* and brings the reputation of their brand into disrepute. Last year in January 2015 I purchased a Mercedes Benz A200 Blue efficiency from Mercedes Benz Northcliff. The salesman (Kavesh Naidoo) told me that the car comes standard with rain sensors. However, after driving the car in the rain the rain sensors did not come on. I read the instruction manual which only gave instructions on how to use the rain sensors if you have them. I then gave Kavesh a call and asked again if he was sure the car came standard with rain sensors, he confirmed again, and asked me to bring the car in. I then took the vehicle in and one of the service department guys came out to look at the vehicle and also confirmed that the vehicle has rain sensors. He then said I must have the car on the wrong settings. He then came out to look at my vehicle and also could not get the rain sensors to work. I was then told to book the car in and they will have to seen to. I then took the car in at 7:30am on Friday morning and I got a phone call at 13:30pm by a very rude lady that told me “ she thinks that my vehicle does not come standard with rain sensors”. I asked her to please confirm. It took her 2 hours to confirm that the vehicle does not have rain sensors. I then walked into Mercedes Benz that day to pick up my vehicle extremely furious as Mercedes had made a false representation about my car. Kavesh then took me to his manager (Sesenko). They then googled if they could put the sensors in after sale (which you cannot). They then decided that they wanted to try anyway. So they ordered rain sensors from Germany. So I took my vehicle in and they gave me a loan vehicle for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks they came to the conclusion that this could not be done. The next option they tried was to find me a Mercedes A cl*** that does have rain sensors and do a swap on my vehicle. I took my vehicle in and had it valued, the valuer also told me that he was under the impression that the car comes standard with rain sensors (in the end five people at Mercedes Benz Northcliff told me the car comes standard with rain sensors). This seriously brings into question the knowledge of the sales people at the Mercedes Benz Northcliff branch. I went around in circles on this issue with Mercedes Benz Northcliff until September. They then came back to me and told me that they can not find a vehicle that matches the specs that my car has, and when they did find a vehicle it was lower spec’d than mine and they wanted me to pay in. I refuse to pay for a mistake that Mercedes Benz Northcliff made. It is not my fault that they do not know the specifications on their vehicles. They then said they cannot find an A cl*** to meet my specifications would I consider a CLA, which I agreed to. After 1 month they then came back to me and said they cannot find a CLA that matches my spec’s and the price I am paying for the car. The option they gave me was to give the car back and walk away without penalties as I was on a Mercedes Benz agility deal. That however put me in a worse financial position. I was going through a divorce and having to pay legal fees for a divorce lawyer, giving the car back meant that I would need a deposit for a new car. I unfortunately was not in the financial position to afford a new car. So I landed up having to keep the car with no rain sensors. Mercedes Benz made many attempts and promises but never made good on any of them. I then needed to sell the car in November 2015 last year as I had decided to take up a contract to work in the UK. Kavesh told me that he would try and sell the car for me. So I took the car to Mercedes Benz Northcliff in November 2015 last year. I kept following up with Kavesh on the progress of any sale on my vehicle. He told me that there was someone interested but the bank wouldn’t give them finance because I owed R386,000 on the vehicle and the book value was R342,000( this was utter nonsense again!). My dad then said he’s buy the car from me through them. So he went to Mercedes Benz Northcliff and Kavesh told my dad a different story, he said the person didn’t get finance because they had judgements against their name. My dad then app**** for finance for the car, by this time I owed R380,000 on the car, and they came back with a price of R400,000 for him (R20,000 more). Bearing in mind that Kavesh told me that he could not sell the car because the bank would not finance a car with a book value of R342,000 which I owed R380,000 on, but it was okay to offer my dad the car at R400,000. At this point I told him to take my car out of the store and I will continue to pay it and my mother can drive it. When my dad tried to fetch the car the car would not start, so Mercedes Benz Northcliff then had to fix this, this was now February this year. They however did not tell my dad what the problem was. On Tuesday this week my dad called me saying that my mother tried to use the spare car on the car and it would not work. When he took the key to Mercedes they said it would not work as they had re-programmed the key and sent it to Germany when the car would not start in February. He then asked them to please fix it. They then turned around and said that because the car is in my name that they need my permission. This is the first time I and my dad heard that my original key had been re-programmed. What I find more alarming is that they did not ask my permission to have the original key sent to Germany to be re-programmed but they need my permission for the spare key. Firstly, I have to question why I was not informed about the original key being re-programmed and then why they didn't ask for the spare key to be re-programmed at the same time as my original key, and why now all of a sudden they need my permission for the spare key but never sought my permission with the original key. I also asked Mercedes Benz to please send all statements to my dad, he has not received one statement yet, and neither have I as my email address has changed since I came to the UK. All of the above information are continuous inadvertent breaches of contract by Mercedes Benz. I have really had the run around from Mercedes Benz Northcliff, I have made a complaint to Mercedes Benz South Africa and told them that as a result of the number of breaches of contract I wish to give the car back. They then said that is fine but then I must pay in any shortfall on the vehicle. I think that is a very cheeky thing to say after the amount of h***les I have had from Mercedes Benz. I do not see why I should suffer any financial loss for the amount of breaches that Mercedes Benz have done, each time getting away with their nonsense. Personally I will never buy a Mercedes Benz ever again after the terrible experience I have had with them, I'd rather go to BMW which has exceptional service in South Africa. Mercedes Benz need to realise that poor customer satisfaction can break your brand. In summary: <dir> Mercedes Benz Northcliff **** about my car having rain sensors. Tried to fix it themselves and after 2 weeks and could not. Then promised me a new A cl*** and could not deliver. Then promised me a new CLA and could not deliver. Then offered me to get out of the deal at a time that I could not afford it. Then when asked to sell the vehicle they **** about not being able to sell the car because of it's value but then tried to sell the car to my dad for R20,000 more. Re-programmed my original key without my permission and now want permission for a spare key. Failed to send my dad statements after I requested statements be sent to him. </dir> After a complaint to Mercedes Benz South Africa (Nomsa Mahlangu) they tried to wash their hands clean of the matter and told me I must suffer a financial loss.

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