TangoRed

I guess you missed the point where they're doing with this with the CLA as well. When it comes to ANY product, there will ALWAYS be unhappy customers.

spwolf

well, CLA is also new... thats not good if they had to give out money to unhappy customers.

Now if we are talking about concierge services and things like that, i would agree... but one of the two examples was about check engine light.

So it is not about perks.

Stormwind

Ok I'll take that S550 AND 2500 bucks worth of iphones and ipads, make it happen boy.

Infra

iTrader: (1)

The issue is a lot of you are actually comparing the dollar value of what's received as if it's equal to the psychological value of what's received.

This is some of the cheapest advertising MB can do. In fact, the value of it is worth much more to the customers receiving it, because their time is worth several hundred dollars an hour, if not more - MUCH more than the salesperson who is working with them.

I'd much rather receive $2500 worth of extra service and time savings than $2500 off the cost of the car. The time spent dealing with a car that doesn't work takes away from both my time at work, and my time away from work (which I value even more), and generally increases my stress levels and interrupts my life.

In contrast, paying $2500 more for the car doesn't matter, because people buying a new S class aren't keeping it long term, and get around 1/2 to 2/3 of that money back when they sell the car (or they only paid 1/3 to 1/2 if they leased). On framed another way, you only get 1/3 to 1/2 of that $2500 for the period of ownership of the car.

SteVTEC

Our custom ordered BMW X5 came with a minor casting flaw in one of the internal trim pieces, and unfortunately due to the way the car is built they would have had to tear apart the whole interior to replace it. Now way in hell I was going to have dealership service monkeys ripping apart my wife's brand new car just for this. I had them throw in $500 worth of free accessories to "make it right" in my mind and my wife's, and that was that. Everybody wins. We got "free stuff" in compensation, and it was also a far more reasonable solution for BMW not having to pay for 2-3 days worth of shop time and labor just to replace this stupid thing. And then again when inevitably they wouldn't put it back together right and something would be rattling or come loose. Things like this, I think are what Mercedes is talking about here. And yeah if you have the brand new S-class and you're taking clients or whomever out that you're trying to impress and you get a check engine light, that's pretty embarrassing. They should and are making it "right".

pbm317

Lexus used to go the extra mile, everyone can remember the story of the first LS400 and it's first "recall" where Lexus even sent engineers/technicians to people's homes to take care of the issue.

This is about customer service, not necessarily "problems" with the vehicle. Customer service that goes above and beyond is quickly being lost in this digital/online transaction world. I acknowledge and appreciate when people/companies go out of their way to make sure that I'm happy with my purchase.

Sulu

Dealerships make more money from service than a sale so anything that they can do to guarantee that the customer returns -- and keeps returning -- for service visits is a good investment; and if they get a bit of extra money from the manufacturer to help them retain customers is a good thing. if this $2500 investment by the manufacturer ensures that the customer not only returns to that dealership for service, but also buys their next vehicle from the same manufacturer, then it is money well spent.

There are so many things that a dealership can and will do to try to retain customers: free car washes, a nice lounge area with free coffee and snacks, free Wi-Fi, common courtesy on the part of service representatives are all things that can be expected even from mass-market dealerships now. You would, of course, expect more from luxury-make dealerships.

I have stuck with Toyota for all my new car purchases and stuck with the same dealer (even though it is somewhat out of the way) because I feel that I am well treated whenever I return there for service. They treat me with courtesy, honesty and respect; there is a nice waiting/lounge area with free coffee and Wi-Fi; and a children's play area for my son.

Treat the customer well and there is a much greater chance that they will return again and again.

Lil4X

Some dealerships abuse factory compensation for services. I bought a new boat some years ago with a plastic credit card-looking thing I was to turn over to my local Mercruiser shop for the 25-hour teardown and inspection of the lower unit, and an oil change - all paid for by the factory. A big local shop took the card, spilled oil in the bilges, and never touched a single bolt on the outdrive (I'd marked the position of every bolt and photographed them, knowing ignoring this half-day service was a common practice.) When I picked up the boat three days later, the shop foreman just shrugged - he'd already turned my card in and didn't help.

Long story short, after a couple phone calls to Mercruiser and Sea Ray I got a free year's service and the dealer lost his Mercruiser franchise. I found an outstanding shop across town that serviced my boat and 14 other similar boats in our local club. Sea Ray provided me parts for mods in exchange for drawings and photos of my cabinets and cockpit trim. These two fine manufacturers went well above and beyond my expectations, despite the initial failure of a local dealership.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the idea is great, i am interested to see if dealers have any innovative ways to pass this luxury service down to customers

TangoRed

As usual you immediately go right into the negative. Yes, one example is about a check engine light and that automatically means they're having issues with the first batch of cars.

You're ignoring the service model used by so many other business as well as the other posts in this thread. Go study the Ritz-Carlton method of service- this isn't new to the luxury genre and isn't due to product defects with a batch of vehicles. Mercedes has traditionally suffered in the dealership interaction arena and they're trying to improve the luxury experience.

nabbun

I'm not sure what you mean exactly when you said the airlines will google you. My cousins worked as airline attendants and they would look at the flights itinerary and see if you paid for your own tickets in first class or business class or if it was bought on points or by your company. Then they know who has the monies and sometimes google who those people are to see if they're anyone famous lol


Regarding OP, this sounds interesting. Too bad I most likely won't get a MB, BMW or Audi ever again due to poor reliability. Excellent vehicles. Just too many problems.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I was hoping this applied to old school S-Class owners. I would love to pull up in a 92 500SEL and be treated like royalty.

It's pretty cool that they do this for new owners.

dmvp29

Some airlines (I don't remember which airlines - I saw this during a CNBC special one time) will google 1st class passengers to learn more about them. Flight attendants are then trained to address passengers in a more personal way.

For example, let's say you google "Melvin Xavier" and find out that he's - I don't know - an oncologist by training and dean of Harvard medical school. For starters, flight attendants would be trained to address him as "Dr. Xavier" instead of "Mr. Xavier"

Now, let's say the google search of his name comes up with with a 2 month old article in the Boston globe about some a team of researchers led by Dr. Xavier doing groundbreaking research in X.

Flight attendants would then try and integrate that knowledge into a conversation with Dr. Xavier, with the end goal being to make Dr. Xavier feel good about himself thereby increasing the probability that he'll fly 1st class with that specific airline in the future.

Obviously I'd imagine that it's tricky to distinguish the line between successfully buttering someone up and turning them off by coming off as disingenuous, but apparently this is being done on at least one airline for international 1st class passengers.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing the bottom line goal of this program is to prevent negative feedback to JD Powers & simular surveys. As for subtracting the reward amount from the MSRP, GM,Ford & Chrysler have been doing this for years thru "Factory to dealer rebate incentives.