Stead Motors screw job (Happy New Year NOT!)
gary sellani
Eve, just in the event anyone is thinking of buying a vehicle there. This is
the text of my compaint to the Better Business Bureau, like that will do any
good.
============
On October 28th, 1999, I gave salesman Bob Hooker at Stead Motors a $1000
check as a deposit on a Mercedes ML430. On December 28, 1999, Bob phoned me
with the VIN and I arranged insurance for this vehicle. The vehicle arrived
on Dec 31, 1999. I arrived at Stead Motors at around 2PM on Dec 31, 1999. I
spoke briefly with Bob Hooker, took a cursory look at the car, and then was
taken to the person who handles the finances, Andy Anderson. Andy was
instructing me on where to sign, etc. I noticed that there was no listing of
the installed equipment on the vehicle, and I insisted on seeing this
information. The salesman, Bob Hooker, had left the office, so Mr. Anderson
had someone locate him, he brought the paperwork into Mr. Anderson's office,
and I noticed that there was an additional item on the vehicle, namely a
Bose stereo system. At first I refused to pay any more than the original
price. That offer was rejected. I made an offer of splitting the difference,
which was also rejected. I was told, "the books are closed, and we can sell
that truck next year to someone else, we don't care about you".
Given that that was a holiday weekend, my first chance to talk to anyone
higher up within Stead Motors was January 3, 2000. I spoke to Peter Draney,
the sales manager, who simply refused to do anything. I then talked to the
general manager, John Hastings, also on January 3, 2000. He revealed that
there was a back up offer on the vehicle, and thus it is now already sold. I
gave Mr. Hastings the opportunity to tell me what Stead will do about my
"situation". He said they would order me a new car without the Bose system.
I inquired what would be done to compensate me for my time, i.e. would I pay
list price? He informed me "no discounts". I replied "Give me a reason to
place an order with a company who treats the customer so badly, when I can
pay list anywhere else." He said, "I can't give you a reason to buy with
us."
Clearly, this company is deceptive at best. Other than speaking directly
with Mr. H Wayne Stead, I can only assume the "bait and switch" scheme was
dreamed up by Mr. Hooker, with approval all the way up to the general
manager. Had he informed me when the vehicle arrived that the extra
equipment was on the vehicle, I could have seen it their way. However, to
make me arrange my funding and insurance, then travel to their store clearly
indicates intent of deception.
Bobcat
I just drove one and was amazed at how much better it is
compared to the ML430.
Don't take my word for it. Drive one and you'll see.
As for your MB dealer, talk to MBUSA about the lousy
service you got.
Bobcat
"Jhillestad" <hill...@ispchannel.com> wrote in message
news:38749fb5...@news.giganews.com...
| Go one better and tell them to take the whole sound system
out.
| Mercedes uses Becker radio's which are pure junk.
| If the bose used a different system (alpine,sony) as your
receiver
| then take the deal!!! Stay away from Becker. Mercedes uses
thier own
| little private wiring making it very hard to buy something
you want.
| My next car will not be a Mercedes for this very reason.
|
| Have you looked at the new Acura ?
|
| On 4 Jan 2000 17:44:18 -0600, "gary sellani"
Harvey Louzon
That's a real audiophile for you. When I buy a car I look for value,
safety, aesthetics etc. Just how Puff Daddy sounds on the CD is not real
high up on my list of criteria.
What is this some kind of pimpmobile?
Anyway, the head units in MBs are either Alpine or Beckers.
the Benzman
If your story is true spend $100 and put them in the local newspaper!!!!!!!
"gary sellani" <gspammen...@accesscom.com> wrote in message
news:j6rc4.13803$Ia2.4...@newscene.newscene.com...
Jhillestad
Mercedes uses Becker radio's which are pure junk.
If the bose used a different system (alpine,sony) as your receiver
then take the deal!!! Stay away from Becker. Mercedes uses thier own
little private wiring making it very hard to buy something you want.
My next car will not be a Mercedes for this very reason.
Have you looked at the new Acura ?
On 4 Jan 2000 17:44:18 -0600, "gary sellani"
<gspammen...@accesscom.com> wrote:
MCBRUE
in the state of California. How would $100 get this sad but true tale of the
standard MB dealer operating procedure in the paper? Please expand on your idea
a bit. The closest major papers are of course from San Jose (which is very
close to San JosB) and from Sam Frans' Disco.
A related interesting and true tale from under the bridge here is that 500 of
the civic leaders recently voted on the greatest 25 of the new civic leaders.
The article in the daily wipe talking about this great group asked them about
their cars. None drove a Mercedes (and let me assure you that most of them can,
even by my rather conservative standards - which is to say they are
money-dripping rich). Several did drive BMWs, two or three drove Buicks, and
one drove a Caddy. Note well that the BMW dealer has a better reputation than
ole Heavy Carl. Even the Caddy and Buick dealers are better ! They all supply
loaner cars if needed while your car is in the shop every other day to be
repaired.
mcbrue under the bridge in the trailer down by the river
96 S420
Eric Hiss
comes stock with a good stereo anyhow?
Eric Hiss
seem to care about selling cars. I shudder to think about their service
dept. European Motors in Oakland is not too bad, and Hacienda is okay too.
You might try one of those. However, at the European Motors dealership in San
Francisco, I have been actually asked why I was at a dealership, and told that I
had to leave if I wasn't escorted by a salesperson. I may look young , but I do
have three mercedes :-). I'm not too young and stupid, however, as to spend my
money where I can't both get good service and be treated with courtesy.
Whatever you do don't support a dealer that plays tricks or gives you bad
service, especially with so many others close by. MB has big problems with
attitude in all their dealerships as far as I can tell. It's going to hurt them
eventually.
Eric
Devo
Eric Hiss <er...@hooked.net> wrote:
> So is this like not seeing the forest because of all the trees? Tell
me what car
> comes stock with a good stereo anyhow?
>
Did y'all miss the point here? The way I read this, Gary negotiated for
a vehicle equipped a specified way, put down money on that vehicle and
waited for delivery. The dealer informed him that the vehicle he had
ordered had arrived and that he could pick it up whenever he wanted.
After considerable arrangements, he goes in to pick it up and they
intentionally try to mislead him into taking delivery on, and paying
for, something he never ordered in the first place. Oldest bait-and-
switch in the book, and fraudulent as hell. I would have had a lawyer
on the phone to those bastards five minutes after they tried that crap.
--
"Nobody Lends Money to a Man with a Sense of Humor"
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Lee Sharp
|Gary, I agree with you that Stead Motors is not people friendly, nor do
they
|seem to care about selling cars. I shudder to think about their service
|dept. European Motors in Oakland is not too bad, and Hacienda is okay
too.
|You might try one of those. However, at the European Motors dealership in
San
|Francisco, I have been actually asked why I was at a dealership, and told
that I
|had to leave if I wasn't escorted by a salesperson. I may look young , but
I do
|have three mercedes :-). I'm not too young and stupid, however, as to
spend my
|money where I can't both get good service and be treated with courtesy.
|Whatever you do don't support a dealer that plays tricks or gives you bad
|service, especially with so many others close by. MB has big problems with
|attitude in all their dealerships as far as I can tell. It's going to hurt
them
|eventually.
I have to say that when I went to Park Place in Houston, I got great
service. I had been curious for some time about the ML, and wanted to check
it out my self. Damn that car is small! No head room, and the visor is
right in my face! Truck, my ass! It felt like a Kia or something. I
talked with the salesman a while, and he had the same opinion. <surprise>
He was saying you have to go to the E to get close to the old Mercedes feel.
Oh, and a 2 year wait on the E class drop top... I guess they don't have to
treat anyone well to get business. I was surprised that Park Place did
anyway.
I am still keeping my 71, and not getting a new one any time soon. :-)
Lee
--
SCSI is *NOT* magic. There are *fundamental technical reasons* why it is
necessary to sacrifice a young goat to your SCSI chain now and then. * Black
holes are where God divided by zero. - I am speaking as an individual, not
as a representative of any company, organization or other entity. I am
solely responsible for my words.
lynda janzen
stations consumer protection reporters. In many states bait and switch
is illegal. If you had written instructions as to how the car you
ordered was to be equipt and they tried to deliver a different vehicle
contact Mercedes Benz. Lynda
the Benzman wrote:
>
> Gary, What state is old Walnut Creek in????
>
> If your story is true spend $100 and put them in the local newspaper!!!!!!!
>
> "gary sellani" <gspammen...@accesscom.com> wrote in message
> news:j6rc4.13803$Ia2.4...@newscene.newscene.com...
T. G. Lambach
specifically ordered new car to a customer, took his money and titled the car
to him before discovering the car had leather seats that the customer hadn't
ordered - or paid for. They demanded the car be returned or payment made for
the non-ordered leather seats and, standing outside the customer's home, called
him a "thief" when he refused. The dealer's staff apparently made several other
errors and looked like the fools that they evidently are. It's not just M-B
dealers. Apparently these guys have so much business that one more or less of
us doesn't matter. Sad comment on a luxury brand's customer relations.
I have had good experience with European Delivery; everything is spelled out
and confirmed by MBUSA and the car is built exactly as ordered, period.
Perhaps the answer is the on-line car buying services which make buying simpler
and not an contest of wills between buyer and a salesman trying to move some
iron standing on the floor.
On line, either they have what you want or click - on to the next site.
Bobcat
a Lexus ES300 and a LS400... The Lexus dealer
always sends a guy out(in a spanking new, clean ES300
loaner car) to their home. Drive their LS400 or ES300
back to the dealer and change the oil, wash the car, and
then drive back to their home. The Lexus dealer is
Lexus of Silver Springs(in Maryland, near Washington, DC).
This is just for regular oil changes!!! They don't even
charge
extra for this service. Keep in mind that the roundtrip
distance
is about 45 miles!!!(Maryland to Northern Virginia) They
offer this service to for roundtrip distances up to 60
miles...
My local MB dealers??? Well, the loaner car is always a
cheap American or Japanese car from Enterprise Car Rental.
They rarely wash my car after the service. Pick up the
car from my home? I asked the service manager about this
and he could stop laughing in disbelief... oh well....
Makes me wonder if my next car should be a Lexus LS400...
(new one coming out in September 2000 and it will look
almost like a new S-class)
Bob
"T. G. Lambach" <lamba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in
message news:3873C62C...@worldnet.att.net...
er.......
this we would taken our business elsewhere.
o...@removeworldnet.att.netme
wrote:
>I own MBs but I'm so envious of my neighbor who drives
>a Lexus ES300 and a LS400... The Lexus dealer
>always sends a guy out(in a spanking new, clean ES300
>loaner car) to their home. Drive their LS400 or ES300
>back to the dealer and change the oil, wash the car, and
>then drive back to their home. The Lexus dealer is
>Lexus of Silver Springs(in Maryland, near Washington, DC).
>This is just for regular oil changes!!! They don't even
>charge
>extra for this service. Keep in mind that the roundtrip
>distance
>is about 45 miles!!!(Maryland to Northern Virginia) They
>offer this service to for roundtrip distances up to 60
>miles...
>
>My local MB dealers??? Well, the loaner car is always a
>cheap American or Japanese car from Enterprise Car Rental.
>They rarely wash my car after the service. Pick up the
>car from my home? I asked the service manager about this
>and he could stop laughing in disbelief... oh well....
My dealer doesn't even give loaners. They will rent you a Saturn. I
don't want them to wash my car for fear they will scratch it. If I
want anything "unusual" like set the computer to autolock the doors, I
have to call MBUSI and get the regional guy to lean on them. The
minute that Lexus get German road feel, rather than the
Honda-Toyota-Nissan road feel, I'm gone.
the Benzman
politician..... or lawyer....
that ought to get the comments...
its a Benz as in Mercedes Benz
gary
"MCBRUE" <mcb...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000105000831...@ng-fh1.aol.com...
the Benzman
nice guys......
Car dealers.... politicians..... the truth
and a blow job is not sex.... and a stereo is not a radio...
leather is not valour..
its a Benz as in Mercedes Benz
gary humor
Brian Welch
your confused about the CLK, which looks a bit like the
E-class but is actually a C-class derivative.
Brian
'99 SLK230 M/T Sport
Lee Sharp <l...@insync.net> wrote in message
news:pFJc4.217$jE1.1867@insync...
MCBRUE
to pick up your car. You have to take it in to them. And then he sometimes
doesn't have a loaner car for you, so my wife is thinking about taking it into
one of the joints of one of our friends for oil and grease. But I got her to
keep on taking it into Hiro and Nashi for service. If they would start coming
out and picking it up for service I would buy her a new 400.
mcbrue enviously under the bridge in the trailer down by the river
96 S420
joe blo
dial 1-800-waaaaaaaa!!!!!!! take it as a learning experience and you
will be better educated on your next deal rookie
Jhillestad
I also need more than 6 FM presets! And the most annying so called
feature on the Becker is the fade in and out when you change stations.
I find it annoying that Mercedes would put so much effort in "locking"
you in to their own system that I would factor this into another
purchase. I also find thier service department to be quite arrogant.
I also own an Acura Legend and have never had the massive repair bills
I have recieved on the 350SD. and their service dep treats you like a
human being, not like an old lady who knows nothing....
If you think about it, when your driving especially 20 miles or more
everyday, the sound system becomes very important to your overall
driving experience (assuming the car is healthy...)
On Tue, 4 Jan 2000 20:29:04 -0600, "Harvey Louzon" <har...@mcs.net>
wrote:
>You wouldn't buy a Merceds because you don't like the radio?
>
>That's a real audiophile for you. When I buy a car I look for value,
>safety, aesthetics etc. Just how Puff Daddy sounds on the CD is not real
>high up on my list of criteria.
>
>What is this some kind of pimpmobile?
>
>Anyway, the head units in MBs are either Alpine or Beckers.
>
>
>Jhillestad <hill...@ispchannel.com> wrote in message
>news:38749fb5...@news.giganews.com...
>> Go one better and tell them to take the whole sound system out.
>> Mercedes uses Becker radio's which are pure junk.
>> If the bose used a different system (alpine,sony) as your receiver
>> then take the deal!!! Stay away from Becker. Mercedes uses thier own
>> little private wiring making it very hard to buy something you want.
>> My next car will not be a Mercedes for this very reason.
>>
>> Have you looked at the new Acura ?
>>
>> On 4 Jan 2000 17:44:18 -0600, "gary sellani"
IamLostRU
explain how they could possibly allow their dealers to act this way and how
advertising differently can be anything but fraud on their own part. Why not
include copies of this thread and the many others of the same genre? ...MBNA
LOOK - virtually EVERONE AGREES - YOUR DEALERS ARE LIEING WEASLES THAT STILL
ACT LIKE OLD TIME ASSHOLE CAR DEALERS DID. The product sells because it is the
product it is, inspite, not assisted by, these people. Cut them out and the
savings of the 1000s per car you pay them can go to you, us , both...who cares?
But do cut them out and at least don't have us pay for them to lie, steal and
make us uncomfortable!
Most important Lexus, Infinity, etc. don't have this problem. You have heard
of them haven't you? Thats right the guys MB and BMW thought would disappear
by now....product may not be as good...BUT THE PEOPLE ARE BETTER. Kind of
proves they have the best people running the show, don't you think? Up to the
challenge, finally?
I should hope you make sure this dealer and these agents don't achieve a
satisfactory rating on all those corporate quality assurance things to make you
believe how great you are...or do they?
Maybe MBNA can assure this dealer gets what this customer needs in the next
allocation, quickly!
then report it back to this very active...and influential in the MB buyers
market..list.
Or, due to asshole business people..perhaps you should just take the route of
my signifcant other..while I still have my 2 MBs, and she always liked them,
while buying her first real good car - she just wouldn't put up with the
problems, weasling to get a few more $ (like the dealewre insisting that on an
MBCC lease I had to pay 3 - thats THREE liscensing and paperwork fees) and
degradation like when I got my '98.... So - now there is a lovely Infinity in
our driveway for....and I must say, the dealer she found to spend all those 10s
upon 10s of thousands was actually pleasent to us...and we understand is
pleasent while taking the $$ from her friends that are following in kind!
MBNA: Where are you?
Harvey Louzon
consciousness writing?
IamLostRU <iaml...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000108000043...@ng-cb1.aol.com...
MCBRUE
at Stead Motors. But the MB dealers are so uniformly bad that it sort of
expanded. And the MB dealers are bad in comparison to the other car dealers.
Perhaps you are feeling a bit uncomfortable because you are a dealer or are
related to one? But no - wait - the MB dealers can not read for the most part
and certainly have no feelings to hurt so you must not be one. Ah well -
somewhere there are some good MB dealers. Why don't we try to list some?
mcbrue charliebrownishly under the bridge in the trailer down by the river
96 S420
Harvey Louzon
No I'm not a car dealer. If you recall that is something people had
suspected of YOU when you first started posting here.
I was simply responding to a comment that someone had made that he would not
buy another MB because he didn't like the stock stereo system. I just
thought that this is a very superficial reason to not purchace a particular
car. For myself the car stereo is about number 1253 on my list of important
features when I'm shopping for a car.
MCBRUE <mcb...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000108102923...@ng-cj1.aol.com...
MCBRUE
dealership and put ole Heavy Carl out of business by just the most simple
techniques of good business - like respecting the needs of the customers. But
no one has ever seriously mistaken my somewhat less than friendly attitude
toward MB as that of a dealer. Least not that I know of.
mcbrue down by the river in the trailer under the bridge
96 S420
Harvey Louzon
At one point during your diatribes concening your first MB someone wondered,
out loud, whether you were a Lexus dealer.
MCBRUE <mcb...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000109121811...@ng-fh1.aol.com...
Moooseboy
when it gets some milage on it?
Jeff
92 300 CE<-benz radio w/ cd
83 300CD<-alpine
Harvey Louzon
Moooseboy <mooo...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000110030605...@ng-fk1.aol.com...
lynda janzen
Worth. Customer complaints. They get enough complaints about one dealer
and MB starts asking question and looking at customer return. Lynda
MCBRUE
alligators in the NY Sewers and MBNA really caring about the quality of its
dealerships.
mcbrue agastly under the bridge in the trailer down by the river
96 S420