Anon

I’ll let you decide what to think

OMG ! Where to begin at the start I suppose.On 28th November 2024 my Mercedes S350 (2017) broke down at home ,the wipers came on by themselves and the electrics went into overdrive showing several warnings silmultanously the car would not switch off. I contacted Mobilo who arranged for the RAC to attend. The RAC couldn’t help and suggested it maybe water in the electrics and he arranged for 911 recovery to attend the following day to take the car to MB Stratsone Giffnock (I requested Giffnock as I have been a loyal customer there for several years this was a serious error on my part as I later came to bitterly regret this decision) I phoned Giffnock to advise that my car was on route and Kelsey the service agent told me that somebody would look at the car for me but dint know when this would be.Not a great start I thought. For the next two weeks I checked for updates but didn’t get anyway.I was then contacted by MB in Holland who said they would help me with my S class breakdown. Within a couple of hours on Friday 13 th December Kelsey phoned to say the mechanics had detected a problem with the reed value causing water damage to my main battery,the SAM unit and my auxiliary battery which was not in the engine compartment but the boot,I did think that was odd ,and very unlucky as Giffnock had only fitted a new auxiliary battery a few weeks before this incident but was not covered under warrant again I thought this odd , and another unit in the engine compartment needed replaced although Kelsey could not be specific as to what unit that was.Kelsey then told me the job could not be done until Friday 20th December as a part had to be ordered from Germany. So on Friday 20th December Kelsey phoned me to say I owed £2820 as the mechanics had fitted a new mains battery an auxiliary battery a new SAM unit and another init again which was not specified. However in Kelsey’s words she said I could come in and pick the car up and pay £2820 but all this work had not fixed the electrics which were still showing several faults. Again odd I thought why pay £2820 if the car isn’t fixed.Kelsey told me the mechanic now thought the problem maybe the wiring at the front drivers door and I would need to pay another £360 for two hours labour. They had me over a barrel here and I under protest agreed for them to proceed. I thought this has gone on for so long now I need to speak to the manager a Robert Wardrop . I phoned a few times and he was in meetings and although I requested a call back he never did. I started to email him to let him know what was happening to my car and I even sent a letter to the branch for him by recorded delivery. Occasionally I would get a lovely call from MB in Holland to say they were in contact with Robert Wardrop and they would do all they could to help. To be honest they didn’t. We were now into Christmas and new year when nothing happened except I did get to speak to Robert Wardrop on Monday 30th December who told me his mechanic had Covid and he had no intention of using a different mechanic to complete my job so I had to wait another week at least taking us now into the year 2025. On Monday 6th January 2025 I got a call from. Wardrop to say the car was fixed and indeed his mechanic had found a broken wire under the carpet at the front drivers door and had sorted it. I thought odd again . Wardrop assured me that the original work done would a separate issue and would still have needed done anyway. But again oddly he stated that the original main battery auxiliary battery and another non specified unit had in his words burst back into life. Again ODD I thought as Kelsey told me 3 weeks ago the the mechanic had already replaced the mains battery the auxiliary battery and the SAM unit with new ones how could my old batteries burst back to life which would have been disposed of ? I could have driven my car away on Friday 20th December 2024 having paid £2820 thinking all these parts had been fitted as new. Ah Wardrop said that Kelsey must have been mistaken and in fact no such work had been carried out 3 weeks even although I had to wait a week for part coming from Germany ? This was all very ODD. Wardrop said I now owed £2611 because these items were not fitted. I was on holiday and said I couldn’t pick the car up until the Friday 10th January 2025. I later got a further call fro Wardrop to say that MB top end team had donated £750 as a goodwill gesture great I thought . So after 6 weeks of absolute torture and ruining my Christmas and new year I was to pick my car up . Wardrop then said that the total bill had dropped down to £1340.98 from what had been £3200 at one point. Being psychologically drained at this point you just feel relief that it’s all over you forget that £1340.98 to fix a broken wire at the drivers door is not a great deal. Wardrop obviously maintains his position that whatever work that was done was required. What’s the point in arguing ,I’m in my mid sixties and got this car as a retirement present but the joy is now gone . I spent so many hours dealing with this over 6 weeks I’m afraid I do not have any trust in anything that Wardrop or Kelsey would tell me in future as a result I would never use MB Stratsone Giffnock again and I am actively seeking out a garage that specialises in Mercedes for the future..