Strictly Mercedes Benz Inc

The vehicle in question was brought in on March 31st, with customer complaints of check engine warning present and intermittent warm start problemA diagnostic scan was performed with Mercedes Benz diagnostic equipment and it was determined that the crankshaft position sensor was faulty
Following the diagnosis the customer was contacted and informed of the cost of diagnosis and repair for the immediate problemThe replacement part cost $and labor for diagnosis and installation was $totaling $plus taxIt was also noted that the water pump bearing was very loose and noisy and a drive belt idler pulley was also recommendedThe customer was informed, approved the reference sensor and asked for an estimate for the additional workI called the customer back with an estimate to replace the water pump and pulley for $and included parts, labor, coolant and hazardous waste chargesThe customer authorized the repairs over the phone as she was concerned about breaking downAt no time did I or would I quote $to install a new water pump and idler pulleyThe part price for the water pump was $and the pulley was $47.50, labor was $235.20, coolant $and a hazardous waste charge of $These charges were broken down over the phone and the only charge that wasn't included in the estimate was for an o-ring costing $
We performed the authorized repairs on the afternoon of the 31st and when the customer came in on the morning of April 1st to pick up the car I had no reason to expect that it would not be business as usualInstead, the customer starts screaming at me that I'm a liar and claiming that I quoted her $for all the repairsI showed her my notes for preparing the estimate and there was not a $or $figure anywhereI was as polite as I could be considering that she was being belligerent and screaming at me in the front officeI suggested that she must have misunderstoodShe insisted that I was just lying to her and said that she would only pay the $that she felt she owedShe wanted to take the car and settle things laterI cannot release a vehicle until repairs are paid for and told her soShe did come up with the money (that she had claimed not to have had) and I released the vehicle
We do honest work here at reasonable pricesI do not work on a commission and have absolutely no reason to misrepresent anythingIt doesn't make sense that I would underestimate like that and have an unhappy customer let alone provoke a belligerent name calling bullyI have worked here for ten years and never been accused of being a liarShe also went on to call me a liar in yelp and google reviews and claimed that we are "horrible dishonest crooks". This is slanderous and she will need to edit or remove these posts

We only performed repairs that were estimated for and approved by the customer. The issues that the customer is complaining about being unresolved are nothing that we charged him for. His demands that we refund him our labor charges and or do future repairs for free are unreasonable and unrealistic. It is difficult to understand why he feels entitled to compensation when we only performed repairs that he requested and or agreed to. He has called the owner dishonest and implied that the owner is not competent to repair his car when the owner has been working on these cars every day for the last 36 years. The customer suggested that he doubted the repairs were necessary then backtracked in his e-mail of June 21st, 2016 and said he “didn’t really doubt that” and was aware of all the issues because he had a pre-purchase inspection. The customer took his car to another mechanic who confirmed that he needed a steering gear box and that the air conditioning did indeed work. Despite this, the customer has continued to claim publicly that we are “incompetent”, “taking a wild guess at what parts/services are needed”, “any adequate mechanic (unlike Strictly Mercedes) would have been able to diagnose and perform if they were legitimate” and “ I highly doubt his supposed expertise.” In addition to his libelous portrayal online he has also threatened to share his “experience” (slander) with the Mercedes Benz Club of Seattle as well as “any other Mercedes owners I encounter whenever I have the chance to do so.”
 Mr. [redacted] was given estimates for all the repairs that were performed and had opportunity to decline or postpone if he felt that the oil leak or steering was a priority for his budget. He instead approved and authorized repairs then wanted us to compensate him or perform services for free. We work with customers who are on a budget all the time and help them to prioritize or “pick away” at needed repairs. Mr. [redacted] never expressed such a need. If he spent more than he meant to on repairs it was by his choice and for him to portray himself as an injured party is ridiculous. We do not feel that it is reasonable for him to demand return of our labor costs as not being a “hard cost” to the business. No one works for free and our specialized equipment and training and overhead are all hard costs for the business. If Mr. [redacted] had been more forthcoming about his expectations from the beginning and not taken to name calling, false accusations and unreasonable demands we may have been willing to work with him, unfortunately he has acted as though he is entitled to dictate how we do business.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:I was quoted 609.00. Nowhere in our conversation did she say 1035.00. It was over the phone and I approved, never signed a written estimate. I never said I would settle later, but she would not accept the 600.00 I offer weed so I pulled out a credit card I've never used and called Revdex.com. They have plenti of complaints on Yelp, as I brought that up she said it was the owners fault. They are dishonest, and she did lie about the estimate. I would never had agreed if she had said 1000.00 on the phone.Sincerely,[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because while it is clear that Strictly Mercedes will do nothing to solve this issue and it probably bears putting to rest, their response is ridiculous and I stand by my original comments. I consider the matter closed but am disappointed in Strictly Mercedes' way of doing business. I am requesting nothing further at this point.
Sincerely,[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
Strictly Mercedes does not seem to understand that they are in the business of actually repairing automobiles in a way that actually resolves the customer's issues, not just taking a wild guess at what parts/services are needed and then failing/refusing to fix the issues that the car was brought in for when their recommendations are not effective. As I stated in my initial complaint, I spent more than $3,000 with Strictly Mercedes only have to have most of the issues I brought the car in for unresolved, not to mention the fact that when I questioned this, the owner of the company did not return my call and was dismissive, inflexible and disrespectful when we finally did speak, and basically refused to do any further work on the car. I never spoke to anyone at Strictly Mercedes with any disrespect, threatening tone, or profanity (my communication style is clear in the email chain I attached to my initial complaint). I feel that since Strictly Mercedes is not willing to work on my car any further (and frankly, I don't trust them to do so anyway), I shouldn't have to pay for the labor they charged me to work on my vehicle when their expertise was lacking and they did not solve the issues in question. I am still willing to pay for the parts they installed, as I know that is a hard cost to them. I was able to take the vehicle to another mechanic who was successfully able to solve all of my issues in a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable price, which is what I expect from a professional mechanic. It was actually all very straight-forward work that any adequate mechanic (unlike Strictly Mercedes) would have been able to diagnose and perform if they were legitimate.
Furthermore, I would like to point out that it is not "threatening" to share my experience with a business online on sites like Revdex.com, Yelp.com, Google, etc. - that is my right and responsibility as a consumer to spread the word about my interaction with businesses, and if they don't like that, maybe they should change their approach to their customers who spend thousands of dollars with them, rather than insulting me.
Sincerely,[redacted]

The vehicle in question was first brought in on May 23rd, 2016. It is a thirty four year old car with over 247,000 miles on it that the customer had recently purchased and had a list of concerns about. His initial complaints were that there was a lack of acceleration, the car pulled to the left...

when braking, the dash lights were not working, air conditioning was not working, steering was loose and he wanted us to check for oil and transmission leaks and look the car over. We road tested and inspected the car, verified his complaints and made some conservative recommendations for needed repairs. The vehicle’s fuel filters were completely plugged, the air cleaner bracket and mounts were broken and the air filter was filthy. There was play in the right tie rod and drag link and the steering shock was bad. The engine and transmission mounts were deteriorated and the instrument cluster needed bulbs replaced. There was no apparent transmission leak and such saturation of oil that the source of the leak(s) could not be determined. The steering gear appeared fairly new but had maybe been overtightened and did not have much/any adjustment. The customer was contacted, given estimates and authorized the repairs to be done. We performed the repairs as outlined to the customer and attempted to also charge the air conditioning but encountered problems with the system. We recommended that the customer have his engine steam cleaned to help isolate the oil leaks and that he have the car aligned after the steering repairs – just standard, basic stuff and all approved by the customer.
The customer returned on June 8th, 2016 to re-inspect for oil leaks, install a window switch, replace several components for the air conditioning system and check his washer nozzles. There was still too much oil accumulated to pinpoint the oil leak sources. We repaired and charged the air conditioning system and got it functioning but ran into electrical problems with the climate control system and the customer did not want to leave the car for further diagnosis and repairs. We cleaned and adjusted the front windshield washer nozzles – for no charge.
We only performed repairs that were estimated for and approved by the customer. The issues that the customer is complaining about being unresolved are nothing that we charged him for. His demands that we refund him our labor charges and or do future repairs for free are unreasonable and unrealistic. It is difficult to understand why he feels entitled to compensation when we only performed repairs that he requested and or agreed to. He has called the owner dishonest and implied that the owner is not competent to repair his car when the owner has been working on these cars every day for the last 36 years. The customer suggested that he doubted the repairs were necessary then backtracked and said he was aware of the issues because he had a pre-purchase inspection. The customer took his car to another mechanic who confirmed that he needed a steering gear box and that the air conditioning did indeed work. The customer has been insulting and threatening in an attempt to extort goods and services and that is not a business relationship that we care to continue.