Incomplete agility & motor plan info

In 2014 I purchased a Mercedes Benz and financed it under the Agility plan offered by Mercedes Benz Financial Services. I pre-selected my 40 000 annual kilometers and signed the contract with a guaranteed future value based on the kilometers.

During 2016 before the expiry of my agility and service plans, I opted to extend my motor plan from the original 120 000km service plan to 140 000km to have the flexibility of an extended plan.

When my Agility plan was up from expiry in 2017, I received a phone call from MBFS advising me of my 3 options at the expiry of the plan: 1. Return the vehicle to MB and walk away 2. Trade in the vehicle and replace it with a new vehicle on the agility plan 3. Refinance the vehicle and retain ownership Due to the market uncer*****y I decided to refinance my vehicle and retain ownership of the vehicle at that stage with approximately 120 000km on the odometer.

Due to the location of my workplace and and the high mileage traveled monthly, I approached MB to extend my motor plan by an additional 40 000 km as the years on the service plan is available and I did the same with my previous Mercedes Benz.

At that point I was informed that I can only extend the service plan once and that I had already done so the prior year. With this new and surprising info at hand I approached Mercedes Benz to trade in my vehicle for a new car. This is when I was told that due to the refinance option selected at the Agility expiry date, I do not qualify for the increased book values as offered by Mercedes Benz but that I forfeit all pricing benefits and that I am subject to a ridiculously lower book value.

The time from between the refinance and the inquiry was approximately 2.5 months. The book value of my vehicle reduced by approximately R70 000 over this period as where I have only traveled 8 000 km with the car. Upon follow up and inquiry with the Dealership i bought my vehicle from, I was informed that a consultant had to inform me of the change in book value and that numerous consumers who purchased a vehicle on the Agility plan has been fooled into refinancing their vehicle based on a deliberate withholding of critical information to the consumer. This critical information has cost me R70 000 which I now need to cover as a shortfall on my upgraded vehicle I want to purchase from Mercedes Benz.

I even went as far as approaching dealerships in North West and have been informed that they too are aware that customers are being misled in the options and implications available upon expiry of the Agility plan.

I have taken my Mercedes Benz to an Isuzu garage who is prepared to offer me more than what Mercedes is willing to offer me.

Mercedes Benz fully understand the financial implication for themselves, should a customer opt to return the vehicle and therefore deliberately withhold extremely critical information from the customer during the decision making process.

I have tried explaining the above to the Service Centre of Mercedes Benz SA but to no avail. I am still waiting for the manager who has been on the other line since 23.10.2017 to urgently call me back.......