Mercedes-Benz of Austin

Mercedes-Benz of Austin responded

This crafty review comes from our "Official" Internet stalker. We are currently researching our legal options to protect our Family Owned Local Business from malicious and false accusations from kids on the Internet. We maintain a A+ rating with the BBB and pride ourselves with honest business practices. We have refunded this customer $2970 for his extended warranty and associated fees were waived to him. Unfortunately, the second transmission failure was a direct result of the repair shop derner12 HAD do the work failing to do the job right the first time. Not every shop on the side of the road can work on 100k+ mileage Mercedes-Benz. Perhaps he should have gone to a repair shop that specialized in Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Here is where we were at October of last year: Prior to that and in months since then we have been repeatedly harassed by derner12. This vehicle suffered a transmission failure shortly after the customers purchased the vehicle from MBOA in January 2010. The vehicle had roughly 105,000 miles on it at the time of sale. The extended warranty that was sold with the vehicle refused to cover the transmission failure; stating pre-existing conditions. The vehicle was taken to an independent shop for the transmission failure initially, not to MBOA. In an effort to assist the customers, several phone calls were made between service and the independent shop and service emailed the independent shop a service information that outlines the possibility that a certain vendor’s radiator could fail and allow engine coolant to enter the transmission, thus causing failure. After some discussions between F&I, the young owner’s father and service the vehicle was towed to MBOA with the transmission apart and in the trunk. Service offered an aftermarket rebuilt transmission in an effort to reduce costs; this alternative was not satisfactory to the customers as they felt that MBOA should fix the transmission at no cost to themselves. I referred his request to MBOA sales/finance. The car was towed back out of MBOA with no repairs done. By the customer’s phone call to service on October 7 2010 and the notes below it seems obvious that the customers had it “fixed” to some degree somewhere else and now it has failed again. The customer’s recourse should be with the repairing shop’s workmanship, and not with MBOA. The decision to have an obviously unqualified repair shop do the work has compounded the customer’s frustration. The integrity of the independent repair facility is in question here; not the practices of MBOA. Proper analysis of the transmission fluid for glycol contamination would be the first step in determining if there is a radiator problem causing these failures. Without this analysis any attempts to continue transmission repairs is pointless as repeat failures will be inevitable. Service is well versed in repairing these types of failures. However, at this point, since this transmission has been apart by a facility of limited knowledge and/or ability, service would decline to attempt repair again as there is no telling what’s been done in the past to “fix” this transmission. Only a reman MBUSA transmission would be offered; as well as a good radiator if testing deems this as a failed unit.

Mercedes-Benz of Austin responded

Dear Mercedes Owner, I read your review and want to respond on behalf of Mercedes-Benz of Austin. I don’t know who you spoke with in our Service Department, but want to apologize for your unsatisfactory telephone experience. I did review your comments with our staff members. I would like to assure you that this experience isn’t typical of what to expect from our Service Department. I agree that fluid checks should be part of a maintenance service and don’t know why you were told they weren’t. It is true however that we ask our clients to replace the gasoline they use in our loaner car. We strive to provide warm, professional, competitively priced service to our customers. I hope that you will try us again in the future and give us another opportunity to take care of your service needs on your Mercedes. I would be happy to discuss this experience in more detail with you, or any other questions or concerns you may have. Warm Regards, Jim McGuane Service Director Mercedes Benz of Austin 6757 Airport Blvd. Austin, Texas 78752 (512) 406-3323 X-2248

Mercedes-Benz of Austin responded

My name is Jim McGuane and I am the Service Director at Mercedes-Benz of Austin. I am sorry that your service experience with us didn’t go well. Providing excellent customer service is truly our focus at this time. Since September 2006 our staff has completed extensive related training which includes providing proactive status update calls on your vehicle while your car is in for service. We now monitor all areas of our customer satisfaction surveys to make sure we provide good service to our customers. I don’t know why we wouldn’t cover engine repairs under your extended warranty, but please contact me directly so I can review your service file and offer you an explanation.

Mercedes-Benz of Austin responded

I apologize on behalf of us here at Mercedes-Benz of Austin for your unsatisfactory service visits. Since you wrote this review back on December 29, 2005 we have improved our Service Department. We now have an excellent staff that are nice, caring folks that have undergone extensive training. Part of their training was on providing proactive status update calls. Our loaner car fleet has also increased in size since your visit back then and mostly consists on Mercedes-Benz automobiles. We don’t have a problem now with providing loaner cars as long as you have an appointment for one. We also try to accommodate our customers with a car in emergency situations. We monitor our performance on each the questions asked on the service experience surveys and embrace continuous process improvement. Last but not least, Parts ordering, availability and subsequent arrival notification processes have been greatly enhanced. I am the Service Director at Mercedes-Benz of Austin and I hope we can get you back as our customer. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your concerns further.