The GroundsMen

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  Regards,
[redacted]

Customer purchased 2012 458 from an independent dealer ([redacted]) not an authorized Ferrari dealer.  Vehicle was brought to us that was overdue for service and as stated below had a “soft brake pedal”. The car is out of warranty.   Our Advisor wrote up the job and dispatched...

the job to our only Ferrari certified Master Mechanic.  The Technician came up with action plan for diagnosis and repair of soft brake pedal starting with brake flush and replace or recharging of brake fluid leading up to install of new master cylinder and ABS Pump system if necessary.  Customer was advised of possible problems upfront.  This “soft pedal” issue is not uncommon to 458’s after a few years and our technician has effected similar repairs with no complaints on several occasions.  Technician states he bled and recharged the brake system 3 times and the problem still remained.  He also noted a sound and vibration coming from fire wall area of car during initial brake bleed processes which lead him to believe ABS Pump was cycling and was indicative of a problem with either Master Cylinder and or ABS Pump.  Technician advises service writer; quote was prepared.  Service advisor informs customer that soft pedal issue requires either both master cylinder and ABS Pump or we could try just master cylinder repair alone and see if that works since cost of ABS Pump exceeded 9000.00.  Customer elected to move forward with only master cylinder repair/replacement to see if that fixes problem since it was significantly less expensive.   458’s are out of production so part was Special Order Part and we require payment upfront.   Master Cylinder was not available in US and it took 2 weeks for part to arrive from Italy.  Customer took car back while waiting for part to arrive at our dealership.  When part came in customer was notified and car was returned to dealership whereby the new master cylinder was installed.  Tech states he heard the ABS Pump noise again at this point in time but prior his install of new master cylinder.  Once installed the technician found “soft pedal” condition still existed.  Frustrated – he then bled, recharged and tested the brake system 3 more times and the problem still existed.  Tech stated he repeated this process 3 more times utilizing the Ferrari scan tool to measure the pressures and attempt to zero in on the persisting problem.  Unfortunately, after installing the new master cylinder, conducting six brake system bleeds recharges and testing, and using recommended tools and processes, our Ferrari Master technician was unsuccessful in correcting the “soft pedal” problem and came to the conclusion that the ABS Pump also needed replacement.  The customer was advised of this possibility at the time of the initial repair attempt.  Customer became upset when he learned that we advised ABS Pump replacement.   Customer decided not to fix pump and take back his car.  He paid his bill for the work we performed, took the old part back and left. We called the independent dealer ([redacted]) where customer bought the car to see if it was brought back after customer left our dealership unhappy.  Owner of [redacted] named [redacted] told me the car did come back and customer was upset and he had to give him some money back.  [redacted] also sent the car over to a local independent repair shop called [redacted] Repair  – and this is where they did a “full brake bleed”.   It was actually more than that. I called [redacted] and spoke to the shop owner; [redacted].  He confirmed that they received this car and worked on it after we replaced master cylinder.  He told me that they did the brake bleed process twice and initially could not get the “soft pedal” issue resolved either. [redacted] said that they “went through about 10 gallons of ATE Gold Brake Fluid” in the process.  After second failed repair attempt he told me that they decided to reset their own scan tool device and “run an update” on the tool.  After their scan tool was updated they did third repair attempt (brake bleeding and recharge process) and it was at this point the “soft pedal” condition appeared to be corrected.  Finally, our Service Mgr. Klaus contacted the customer and informed him that we understood he filed a complaint.  Customer was courteous and professional as was Klaus.  Klaus apologized and asked what was done to correct the car.   He also asked customer if he could send us a copy of the [redacted] Repair invoice so we could make an assessment on what we missed and make it up to him.  Customer stated he would send if over right away but we have not yet received it.  Klaus will reach out to him to tomorrow if we do not hear back from him today.

To whom it may concern,On June 7th, [redacted] brought her 2006 Mercedes-Benz CL 500 in for service. She met with Bill [redacted] (service advisor) and made the below requests which were on the signed repair order. She also had a signed piece of paper with all of her service requests that she presented...

to Bill:A.    Request to secure the passenger side front seat control trimB.    Request to replace rear brake pads and rotors (save old parts)C.    Inspect front brakesD.    Check that charcoal cabin filter was replaced as CarMax said they replaced itE.    Both front seat multi-contour functions are inoperativeF.    Jack in trunk does not secure properly on the endG.    Loaner carThat same day one of our Certified Mercedes-Benz technicians inspected the vehicle and advised the following:A.    Seat switch panel tabs were broken and advised that we can attempt to repair the panel for $250.00B.    Estimate to replace rear brake pads and rotors $623.00C.    Front brakes were inspected and measured at 27.3mm which is okD.    Cabin filters were dirty but not due by for replacement by time. Technician cleaned the filter at no charge and reinstalled E.    Technician diagnosed and repaired pneumatic lines for seats $891.49F.    Placed a piece of felt tape in jack holder to secure (no charge)G.    Recommended transmission service $580.00H.    Recommend spark plugs $640.00I.    Recommended service A $365.00Bill contacted Ms. [redacted] on 6/7/16 at 7:02 PM and advised the above recommendations. Ms. [redacted] authorized repair of the seat switch, rear brake work, seat repairs, and the transmission service. The repairs were performed and the vehicle was test driven 8 miles with no brake noise or any other problems found. The vehicle was picked up on 6/10/16. Ms. [redacted] paid $2,330.00 with a Visa credit card and the invoice was signed by Ms. [redacted].At no point did Ms. [redacted] ever bring to our attention that she was experiencing any type of brake noise. That evening Ms. [redacted] contacted me on her way home and stated that the vehicle was vibrating when driving on the highway but the vibration went away when she was driving in the city. Not knowing what was wrong with the vehicle, I advised her not to drive the vehicle. Instead, I would arrange to have her vehicle towed in. She declined the offer and continued to drive the car home. She conveyed to me that she would drop the vehicle off Saturday morning which she did. On Monday we had a Shop Foreman inspect the vehicle for a vibration which Ms. [redacted] described is apparent at 35-40 mph. Among several other concerns, she also stated that she was getting a squeaking noise from the brakes when stopping. Our Shop foreman inspected the vehicle and could not duplicate any vibration at any speed nor could he duplicate any brake squeal. We communicated this to Ms. [redacted] and invited her to come in and drive with our Shop Foreman. She took us up on our offer and drove with one of our Shop Foreman. During the ride she confirmed that everything was ok with the vehicle so she took the vehicle home. I communicated with her via phone and email over the past several weeks where she advised me that she was hearing brake squeal. Among other things I told her that I would be more than happy to inspect the vehicle at any time. She kept accusing us of not performing the repairs to her rear brakes properly and that she was never coming back. I had asked her if she can tell me if the noise was coming from the front or the rear and she did not know. I told her that we would really like to inspect the vehicle again and that if the rear brakes are making noise that they are under warranty. I also told her that is the front brakes were noisy that I would apply an anti-squeal solution at no charge to the front brakes and that might quiet them down but there is no guarantee. She declined my repeated attempts and told me that the vehicle was at American Service Center in Arlington. At that point I told her that I would be happy to contact them with her permission, and work with them to address any issues with the work we did. At one point I had a conference call with Ms. [redacted] and the Service and Parts Director. He confirmed that they were not able to duplicate any brake squeal or any issues with any of the work that we had performed. On July 22nd, I received a call from Ms. [redacted] requesting a refund for her brakes and door control switch. I asked her if everything was ok. She said everything is fine. I then asked her why she was requesting the refund if everything was fine. She then clearly got upset and said that I should refund here money because of what we put her through and that her seat switch was not properly repaired by us. Instead, she had American Service Center repair her seat switch. I then told her that if that was the case I would be happy to refund her for the seat switch repair but I did not think that her request to refund the brake work was a reasonable request.  She then hung up on me. I immediately followed up with American Service Center to verify if they did in fact repair her seat switch or find anything wrong with her brakes. The Service Manager confirmed that he had no record of repairing a seat switch panel nor were they ever able to find a problem with her brakes. I have spent hours working with Ms. [redacted] truly trying to do all that I could for her through many telephone conversations and email correspondences. In fact, she thanked me multiple times for the efforts that I put forth to satisfy her. Aside from the signed repair orders, her statement of service requests, signed invoices, loaner car contract, and multipoint inspection. Please note that the chain had to be pieced together as she omitted some of my responses. I responded to every email message by email and telephone. Sincerely,James [redacted]Service and Parts Director

We are processing the customer's request to cancel their Extended Service contract.

The General Manager, Paul S[redacted], will be contacting the customer directly to resolve. Thank you

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  I have read through the dealers response.  I would like to point out a few items.  The vehicle was not "Overdue for Service" The last full Ferrari service was performed on 4/20/2016 at 7060 miles.  I purchased the car with 77xx miles.  Car was brought in for its annual Ferrari maint. on 4/7/2017 with 82xx miles.  Right at the one year mark.  Records display the car has been maintained at Ferrari annually since purchased new.  Another note- The car was fixed without a ABS pump!  I understand major bleeding had to be done but NO $9000.00 ABS pump or master cylinder was needed to be replaced to rectify the problem.  I will authorized to split the cost of both invoices.  They total up to 914.91+1111.07=2025.98  Split is $1012.99  Regards,  [redacted]

[redacted], I recently responded to a complaint in the system from a [redacted], I was checking with the wrong dealership in our group so I responded that we had no information on the customer. I later discovered the correct store that the complaint was against. Please find attached Mr....

[redacted] credit application to which he clearly authorizes us to submit this on his behalf. Furthermore, the General Manager of the dealership, spoke to this customer multiple times, the customer was a Tier 7 with a bankruptcy and a repossession and told our GM that he was only using this turn down to then go to another dealership in 30 days who told him that they could use this turn down to then, in turn, extend him credit.I'd like for him to take down any messages that A) we submitted his credit without his authorization, which is completely untrue and B) that we should be sending letters to credit bureaus on his behalf...Should ask him to post a letter of apology to us and my people for his false claims?Thanks,Jared

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I own multiple Mercedes benz vehicles all purchased New from mercedes benz dealerships, some new and some preowned. This vehicle was never intended on being shiped anywhere. If this was the issue from day 1 someone should have notified me and not run me in circles for over 2 weeks.  A Refund check was issued after the Revdex.com complaint was filed and its also a short payment. Regards,  Wesley W[redacted]

It is our process, as it is with most, if not all auto dealerships, to be able to arrange credit approval for every prospective customer. In doing so, many use new technology tools, such as "Dealertrack" or "Route One", which are electronic conduits between Dealers and multiple Lenders. Typically...

these tools, publish the prospective customers credit application to multiple lenders and the lenders then approve, decline or "counter" with stipulations...such as, different terms, like they'll approve if the customer puts more money down which lowers the payment but reduces the banks' risk or if there's a different co-signer...etc. In this situation, No one can say whether our Salesperson said we only use one bank, typically Mercedes-Benz Financial Services does all the Leases but not all the approvals for conventional financing, etc. Through our system, Dealer Track, this customer's application was declined by MBFS, Sun Trust, Bank of America and one other lender, However there was a counter by Capital One, or as mentioned before, an ability to restructure the deal/loan to which the lender would approve. It is our job to attempt to arrange financing for every customer. This customer left the dealership before or unwilling to speak to any of the managers who could explain the terms for which one of our lenders would approve them, they just took off.  It is impossible for us to notify the banks as requested by the customer, however we were able to get them approved under some terms for which they could not be reviewed because they left. I'm happy to have the General Manager of the dealership connect with them to try to arrange financing on another vehicle for them.  Thank you

The customer came to our Dealership on a Saturday and was interested in turning in his current 535xi lease vehicle to purchase a preowned 2013 535xi m-sport that we had. The customer requested and received a copy of the vehicle's carfax during the sales process showing that there were no previous...

accidents.  On Monday he brought the vehicle to his local dealership because the vehicle would not go into "eco drive" mode.  While the vehicle was in for service they made the customer aware that there was body shop tape on one area of the vehicle and notified the customer that the car was probably in a bad accident.  The customer contacted us that afternoon and stated that he wanted to return the vehicle because we did not disclose the accident.  We informed the customer that the vehicle was not involved in an accident and that there was a dent in the door that was fixed for cosmetic reasons. The customer feels that any previous dents, scratches, or damage that is fixed should have been disclosed prior to sale and therefore we should take the vehicle back, this is not the case, we made minor body repairs for cosmetic reasons, there was nothing out of the ordinary that warranted disclosure under New York State Law. Please find enclosed copies  of the vehicles carfax, a copy of the NYS Used Vehicle Lemon Law Consumer Bill of Rights and a copy of the Federal Buyer's Guide. This vehicle does not qualify for any of the aforementioned. In short, there was a minor door dent that was repaired, now the "local" mechanic has implied worse, which is not true.

We have made contact with Ms. [redacted], she is dealing directly with Ron Y, our Service Director at MB of Palm Beach, she is checking her schedule for availability. When she comes to the dealership, our team will drive with her and pull her radio to do whatever we can to identify the issue.

Our General Manager, Mike [redacted], is contacting the customer to provide him a loaner vehicle as requested.

As previously stated, we can only sell GAP when we process the bank contract. The customer's only option is to purchase this through their insurance company or to contact the bank to see if they can sell a GAP product directly.

The customer received a settlement offer from MINI Financial Services, that is good until tomorrow for $ 403.20. MINI financial services also already did a courtesy waiver on the disposition of $300.00 for him. We have no ability to dictate to MINI financial services what they charge once they...

receive and evaluate the vehicle. The pre-inspections are not final, and of course, other things can happen to the vehicle while the customer still has it.

This is not a retail customer, this vehicle was being purchased with the intention to export the vehicle. We stopped the deal and we have processed the refund. Again, it should be clearly understood that this is not a customer, that it is someone who intended to export the vehicle.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  Though I politely and professionally did acknowledge Mr. [redacted]s' communications with me, I made it abundantly clear to him I was not bringing my vehicle back to EuroMotorcars (EVER) and he stated he understood my feelings.  Once I had my vehicle properly diagnosed at another authorized Mercedes dealership, and the 2 repairs that Euro failed to complete properly were finally corrected at another MB  dealership, I contacted Mr [redacted] , told him of the correct diagnosis and then politley requested that he reimburse me for the payment I made to Euro for the wood paneling (which he conceded was not repaired and that he would repay me for that repair request) and I then told he that his technician misdiagnosed the squealing of the brakes. Resultanlty, we argued about the brakes and he stated that I would have to talk to his attorney to be reimbursed for the /his service writier and his technicans  wrong diagnosis of the squealing of the brakes and the subsequent correcting of the brakes at another MB dealership.This has been a horrible customer touch point in the MB customer serivce experience of service and repair as I as a customer moved  through this dealership.  If Mr. [redacted] or Charlie Harmel does not want to reimburse me for the money I paid for these 2 repairs of which I recieved "substandard" repairs made to my vehicle, I am prepared for the Revdex.com to share my compliant with the media here in the DC area.  Other unsuspecting MB owners need to know what they are in store for when chosing EuroMotorcars for service needs; and customers need to know EuroMotorcars is not independant business but is apart of car group which in my opinion is deceiving.  It is unacceptabel to a MB dealeship General Manager to to ignore and not address a customers concern and to allow such substandard repairs come from his service department.  Regards,  [redacted]

BMW corporate, has a process in which they complete "Buy-Backs" such as this that can take up to 90 days. Once they pay the dealership the dealership, in turn, reimburses the customer. As soon as we receive the funds from BMW we'll reimburse the customer.   Thank you.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
This information is incorrect, the corporate Mercedes office stated that it was New Country that had came to the conclusion that the warranty would not be honored.  We did supply the dealer with all of the information including all of our receipts and dates of oil changes etc.  It is unacceptable that they are not honoring the warranty because we serviced our own vehicle which is within our rights.  Regards,  [redacted]

Our General Manager, Chris M[redacted], spent an hour on the phone with this gentleman yesterday. He tried to explain to him that his vehicle was not involved in the recall/TSB because it's VIN specific. Audi repaired his vehicle under “good will” not under warranty because his vehicle is out of warranty for 2 years. Chris also gave him the phone number for Audi if he wanted to call to see if they will help him again, we cannot call for him. The customer doesn’t want to take the necessary steps to call Audi, he simply wants and expects us to pay for the repair which we can not. He kept saying that we wanted his warranty to run out so we don’t have to fix his car, which is completely untrue and ridiculous, we really tried to help him yesterday but he would not listen to anything Chris had to say, he simply wanted us to pay for his repairs. We do not believe there is anything further we can do to assist this customer.

Unfortunately, lending institutions do not respond to these types of requests. As previously mentioned, we will have the dealership's General Manager work personally with you and your partner/spouse to find a great vehicle that fits your payment criteria.