Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/28/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 3/8/23, I called Mercedes Benz of Hagerstown, Elizabeth answered. I have known and spoke with her previously.
  
  I explained to her my issue and the items I wanted an estimate on, to have fixed. She stated that she would have Lisa call me the next day, no call.
  
  So, I called again on 3/9/23, Elizabeth stated that she arrive at work late, due to an accident on the highway and would have Lisa call by the end of the day, no call.
  
  I called Mercedes of Hagerstown on 3/22/23 and Elizabeth answered, I asked for service, she asked if I needed to make a service appointment, I stated, I do not know yet. She put me on hold, a few minutes later Elizabeth returns to the phone and says, " service, this is Elizabeth." I said Elizabeth, you were supposed to call me back over 10 days ago, with an estimate.
  
  She said I put the note on Lisa's desk, she didn't call you? I said no. Elizabeth said Lisa was out sick that day and she would have her call me back the next day.
  
  I said, you just told me you worked in service, can't you give an estimate on the services I needed? She said, yes I work in service, but I'm training a new girl today. I will call you with an estimate by the end of the day. She called me at approximately 6pm and said the computers went down, so she couldn't not do the estimate and would call me tomorrow, 3/23/23, no call.
  
  I had a text message chat with a gentleman, on 3/23/23, who said he would have someone call, no call.
  
  I feel that I was mistreated, disrespected and given misleading information. I have had my vehicle maintenance and repaired at Mercedes of Hagerstown many times.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/28/2023

  I apologize for whatever occurred with the miscommunication with my support staff.  Unfortunately the two staff members involved were out on overlapping days.  The service manager has called and left a message to answer all of the customer's questions.

   

  Regards,

   

  Justin *******

  General Manager

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/28/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******* *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/05/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  August 2022, I purchased a GLE 63S AMG from the Mercedes Benz location in Hagerstown, MD. During the initial inspection, a gash in the paint / frame was discovered by myself and the sale representative Robert ******** Mr. ******* agreed to repair the vehicle in its entirety. An appointment was scheduled for the following Tuesday. A technician picked the vehicle up as agreed upon on Tuesday. The vehicle was returned the same day within 4 hours of picking it up. The vehicle was sent to a coating specialist for protective wrap. The specialist needed to clean the car in preparation for the application of the protective wrap. During the cleaning process the gash return. It was discovered the "repair" was a simple cover up / paint over, which was not what agreed upon with Mr. ******** All pictures were immediately sent to Mr. ******* for review and for a direction in which we were to proceed. Mr. ******* failed to reply within a timely manner (3+ days), so the decision was made to proceed with the protective wrap. Mercedes Benz of Hagerstown was notified of the issue. I was told I needed to speak with the general manager, Justin *******. An appointment was made to meet with Mr. ******* within three business days. During the meeting Mr. ******* placed the blame on the specialist stating " Mercedes Benz can not take responsibility for chemicals not authorized by MB prior to any work being done..". I currently have a vehicle that was damaged prior to ownership. I thought it was more than reasonable to find a compromise with the dealership; however, Mercedes Benz of Hagerstown is refusing all responsibilities pertaining to the damages. It should be noted the only area that showed damages were the initial area where the gash was originally discovered at the time of inspection, in which, Mr. Robert ******** a representative of Merecedes Benz of Hagerstown, MD, took the responsibility of repair. Zero applicable repairs were completed per industry standards.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/06) */
  Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown used a paint specialist to repair the damage that existed at the time of delivery. This is the industry standard and common to minor paint scratch repairs. There was never a concern about the quality of that repair until days later when the vehicle was taken to a third party to have a wrap applied. Whatever products that company used to prepare the vehicle supposedly removed the paint repair. Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown Was sent pictures but no further request was made nor were we given an opportunity to see in person. The customer opted to have this third party perform paint repairs to the vehicle and presented a bill to us for $5,300. The customer requested $3,000 which we refused because Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown is unable to reimburse for any third party work performed that didn't have prior approval. Any warrantable condition would have required prior approval and/or to have been performed by Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown. Unfortunately, that did not occur. In addition, the in-person meeting devolved to the customer making physical threats and being asked to leave the property.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/06) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  The damage was found before I took possession of the vehicle. It was agreed upon the damages would be repaired per industry standards, which it was not, and verified by two other Mercedes-Benz's dealerships, as well as, a Ferrari dealership in Northern Virginia. The third party responsible for the wrap only cleaned the vehicle for prep work prior to wrap installation. A "clay-bar" application was used to clean the vehicle. Nothing out of the ordinary was used on the vehicle. The only damages observed were of the exact same damages initially discovered prior to taking ownership of vehicle, which is inclined to assume the dealership did NOT perform the proper repairs to the vehicle as promised. Notifications during the cleaning process were provided in real time to Robert *******, the representative of Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown, MD, during the cleaning process. Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown, MD delayed communication. The car was taken apart for the wrapping process, which was money spent. Urgency was pressed upon to Mr. *******, as the vehicle was being worked on at that time. All communication was text based, and has been saved as records. These messages can be provided at any request. A mutual resolution was attempted by meeting with general manger Justin *******. Mr. ******* declined any reasonable compromise. When I did not agree with his decision, Mr. ******* became irritated and stopped the meeting and asked me to leave the premise. Another person was at that meeting, who can verify the poor professionalism Mr. ******* exhibited, as well as, his anger towards myself not agreeing with his refusal to accept any responsibility for the poor workmanship to my vehicle as promised by Mr. *******, a representative of ********-Benz of Hagerstown, MD. The meeting with Mr. ****** ******* was video recorded. In that video, Mr. ******* can be heard refusing the invoice, blaming a third party for using "unknown chemicals", and his hostility and attitude towards myself when confronted with questioning. That video can be provided by any request. The $5300.00 invoice was reflective of the removing the wrap, already installed, to repair the gash, not a scratch, and re-wrapping the vehicle. Attempts at compromises were tried and refused by Mr. ****** *******, which is reflected in the video.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/10/07) */
  The vehicle's scratch was repaired. The third party applied something to the car that removed the paint. We were never given an opportunity to revisit. We were only presented with a fraudulent invoice that stated the car had paint repair. A Facebook review posted by Mrs. ****** including pictures prove that no further paint repair was done and that the wrap was applied over the exposed scratch. Attached are the invoice presented and the before and after wrap photos that clearly show the scratch under the wrap after it had supposedly been repaired at a third party. In addition, it is unlawful to record someone without consent in the state of MD. When you consider the fraudulent invoice and the unlawful recording, it becomes evident that Mr. ****** is attempting to extort money from the dealership for a simple scratch on a new car. A scratch that we would have likely repaired again with clarification that it would have not been advised to apply a wrap immediately, but to wait for the paint to fully cure as current EPA standards require the use of water based paint.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/10/10) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  The vehicles damage was not properly repaired to industry standards as was admitted by Mr. ****** ******* during the personal meeting. Mr. Justin ******* contacted the third party business responsible for the wrapping on Friday, October 7, 2022, to question the owner of the invoice, wrapping process, and materials used during the wrapping process. It was clarified all materials used in that process were standard materials which are acceptable for any vehicle cleaning. Mr. Justin ******* stated to the owner of the company " touch-up paint" was only used to save costs of repairs. Mr. ****** ******* also stated "It could have cost $700.00-$900.00 to fix the vehicle properly...". Similar statements were made during the personal one-on-one meeting at the dealership location. The submitted invoice reflects the costs for the removal & replacement of the existing wrap within the areas needed for the proper paint repair, as well as, the labor needed for the all repairs to the vehicle. The vehicle was wrapped over the scratch due to ********-Benz of Hagerstown, MD delaying the response when notified of the discovery of damages. The vehicle has NOT been repaired. The invoice reflects the costs to repair the vehicle in its current condition. The State of Maryland is a two-party consent state. There were three (3) individuals present during the personal meeting with Mr. Justin *******. Two of those individuals have consented to be VIDEO recorded, as the meeting was VIDEO recorded in order to protect and document the response from ********-Benz of Hagerstown, MD due to previous attempts to not address the damages to my vehicle by the dealership. I communicated with Mr. ****** ******* throughout the entire process. Pictures were provided to Mr. *******, which reflected the exact same area of damages initially discovered prior to myself taking ownership of the vehicle. The only fraudulent person, or persons, in the situation is Mr. ****** ******** who received the pictures of the current damages to my vehicle throughout the process, and made zero attempts to be involved in a solution, but rather deflected the responsibility to Mr. Justin *******; Mr. ****** ******* in his continued actions to not take responsibility for the proper repairs to my brand new vehicle; consistent deflections to assign the responsibility to Presitage Auto when Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown, MD did not perform the proper repairs, which was validated by two other ********-Benz dealerships within the area, as well as, a Ferrari dealership. There is zero attempts at any extortion whatsoever. I simply would like have my vehicle's condition to be in the condition of brand-new vehicle at time purchased, as promised by Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown, MD. The vehicle has been owned for less than 90 days, and it's been nothing but lies and attempted manipulation by management at ********-Benz of Hagerstown, MD. At no time was myself, or my wife, provided information for a "wait-time" while the paint "cured". It was 7+ days before any work was completed to the vehicle by Prestige Auto. "A scratch that we would have likely repaired again with clarification that it would have not been advised to apply a wrap immediately, but to wait for the paint to fully cure as current EPA standards require the use of water based paint." - All notifications were provided to Mr. Robert ******* during the repair process. ********-Benz of Hagerstown, MD. No service records have been provided.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2022/10/11) */
  There will be no further offer to Mr. ******.