Horrible communication, took over 3 days to change a battery, potentially lied about why it took so long, my car ultimately was not fixed. Video of what my car was doing today after $800 in “repairs”.

Long story:
I was visiting SF from Seattle for the summer, my cars battery died unexpectedly and couldn’t recharge. Towed it to MB Oakland on the 3rd and they told me they would do diagnostics, call me and talk over the problems, and give me a quote. I got a call the next day (4th) stating it was probably just the battery but they would change the battery, do another diagnostic test on it to verify and it should be ready by the following evening. After that I don’t hear back at all, I called on the 5th 3 separate times leaving messages asking for a call back and never received a call back. My husband finally called twice (I hate that it took a man to get this done) and he was able to talk to the service advisor who explained some part needed to be replaced and they had to order it but it would be in the next day and they would replace it and my car would be done the next day at 8am we could come pick it up. Having worked with Mercedes for 17 years across multiple cars, I know it never takes 1 day or order and receive a part so I was pretty sure this was a lie. When no other part showed up on my receipt I had more evidence this was a lie.

I called again on the 6th in the morning after not hearing from them and was told my car is still not ready. I got a text from the service advisor finally at 11 on the 6th that my car was ready. Since we were stranded in an unfamiliar town with no car for 3 days I decided to have my friend in Oakland pick up the car since him and his girlfriend were driving to SF anyway. I was told that the service advisor claimed to give a discount because of the extended time to change a battery, however this was just the discount listed on the website at the time for a battery service.

After all of this mess, my car today started having electrical problems again. I had been told it would be perfect and double checked since I was making a very long drive through a very hot desert with a dog in the car and needed the car to be 100% problem free and absolutely did not receive that.

To me this was my worst experience with Mercedes that I have had in 17 years, and it once took 2+ weeks to change a windshield. This experience was actually so bad that I am sworn off of Mercedes and going tomorrow to finalize my purchase of a Volvo because I will never deal with Mercedes again. So thanks MB Oakland for giving me the final push to get away from Mercedes.

Just for reference for newer Mercedes owners it wasn’t this way before. You used to get a loaner for every service, whether or not it was express or longer work. There were no miles limits or distance limits on the loaners either. I would walk out with gold foil Mercedes logos chocolates, flowers, snacks and drinks. My service guy knew me by name, I got regular updates, all of those service specials were always applied I never had to ask for those discounts. I was never upcharged or told I needed 4k in random work if I didn’t actually need it. My car was returned to me sparkling clean inside and out often with a chocolate and a rose inside of it. Mercedes is a shell of what it used to be, but it’s vastly more expensive. You get ignored, ripped off, and the perks and luxury experience are nonexistent anymore.

I had a great experience purchasing my vehicle yesterday at Mercedes-Benz. Xavier was incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and made the whole process smooth and stress-free.

The team in the Oakland/San Francisco location was professional and welcoming, and everything exceeded my expectations. I’m very happy with my purchase and highly recommend working with Xavier if you’re in the market for a new car.