Stephen T

Worst experience I’ve ever had

I purchase a smart car for my wife which was advertised on smart approved from Mercedes Ayr after leaving a deposit I was contacted the next day asking if I would pay in full although I wasn’t collect The car until the week after as I was travelling from Bristol I did voice my concerns as I haven’t seen the car and being in the motor trade for 37 years went against my better judgment but being reassured it was in perfect condition and seeing I was buying a smart approved and from a main agent I agreed to pay after flying to Glasgow then catching a train I was picked up from there local train stain by the dealership ,the car was in the showroom covered by a sheet as soon as the car was revealed I started looking around the car and immediately noticed the rear drivers side wheel had curb damage but far worse was the side wall of the tyre was split but had been glued back together and tyre painted over as to cover it up I immediately pulled at the split that was so deep it exposed the cord this ment the tyre was in a very dangerous condition I had a 400 mile and a 7 hour drive back home and it could have catastrophic if this tyre would have blown out on the motorway I expressed my concerns as if my wife would have collected it she would not have noticed they took the car off and changed the tyre when the car come back it was left outside I started looking around the car and noticed a scratched door the bonnet had been touched in with a touch in stick ( wrong shade of white ) a nasty scratch around the glove box area and another wheel had been curbed 2 in total the salesperson went and got the sales manager who immediately come out with an aggressive attitude who could not care less I had no option on taking the car as I was so far away from home I would have certainly left it there if I wasn’t and had my money back they refunded me £150 but having noticed more damage I asked for another £200 to get the car into a standard my wife would be happy with they refused to refund anymore after getting home the next day I contacted stratstone customer services I also contacted my local smart Mercedes dealership who advertised me to contact Mercedes customer services as well customer services at Stratstone didn’t want to no didn’t even offer an apology and said they wouldn’t respond to me again and Mercedes customer services said they would get back to me but didn’t so when I contacted them they said the response from the dealership was that the tyre wasn’t that badly damaged and was replaced immediately no concern or apology given whatsoever I have been in the motor trade for 37 years and never experienced such appalling behaviour this car was supposed to have gone through a 130 point check this tyre was illegal and wouldn’t have been able to leave a mot station until I noticed it they were happy on me taking the car and driving 400 miles shame on them would I buy from stratstone again never would I buy another Mercedes product again probably not thankfully I took pictures of this tyre and I have contacted vosa and sent them the pictures as stratstone and Mercedes don’t care less