QUALITY OF SERVICE DECLINING RAPIDLY
I will try to keep this review as short & to the point in hopes that everyone will read it. This review is only about Mark Homa, Director of Service @ MB of Pleasanton. The reason for the review is the unjustlified & rude manner for which I was treated by this person. My car broke down on the 280 freeway at ~ 2:20 PM on a Tuesday afternoon. I got off the freeway at the 1st available exit & immediately called MB Roadside Assistance & explained my situation and its urgency, as I was in a bad part of town. They scheduled a tow with a service located nearby & no one within this company spoke or understood English. By the time the tow truck arrived, it was close to 4:00 PM and we were still an hour away from the dealership. However, we were traveling at a time when the commute was heavily congested. I could not communicate with the driver so I had to use Google translator to tell him we NEEDED TO GET TO MB BEFORE 5PM. Otherwise I would be stranded overnight because there were NO LOANERS available at the dealership and the Enterprise dealership which MB told me to go to, closed at 5PM. Needless to mention, it was very stressful. I kept in close communication with the Service Dept. by calling periodically with my ETA and to find out if any loaners came in or if any were available as I still had no idea how I was going to get home, let alone what I was going to drive over the next few days while my car was getting repaired. The same person (Eric) kept answering my calls so he was quite aware of the urgency and desperation I was feeling throughout this ordeal, (Eric was also the same employee who suggested I call Enterprise since they were close to the dealership.) He even suggested that I ask Enterprise to "stay after hours" until I got there so I could rent a car. In spite of the VERY HEAVY traffic we made it to the dealership and Enterprise was there, waiting to take me to get a car. The next day I was texted by a newly assigned Service Advisor who told me the car needed a part that they would have to order and it would take ~5 days to receive. NOT ONE TIME, did MB of Pleasanton ever try to get me a loaner on any one of these "waiting" days in order to reduce the # of days I would have to pay for a rental. The dealership called me on Monday @ 4:35 PM to tell me my car was ready to pick up but I told the person that I would have to get to Enterprise by 5 to return the rental car and because it was already 4:30 and I lived more than 30 minutes away from Enterprise, I told the Dealership I would have to pick up the car the next day. Again, MB failed to mention that the customer could leave the rental car at the dealership and Enterprise would pick up the car next day. This was a customary procedure yet no one at MB bothered to tell me. So I had to pay for another day to rent the car. Total Charges Incurred: $1000 for MB car repair consisting of one fuse + labor. Enterprise rental fees - $600. Upon the recommendation from Mercedes Benz Customer Care, I sent a very detailed explanation with dates, times and names to my new service advisor and 2 weeks later he tells me the Director of Service, Mark Homa, WOULD NOT approve my reimbursement request. Up until the call to MB customer care, I wasn't quite sure if I should call the dealership to get reimbursed. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized had this service appointment been planned, I would have been assigned a loaner free of charge. I was not going to accept his answer so I decided to contact him directly. First email I sent was ignored. I sent a duplicate email 2 weeks later, and this time he called. During this discussion, not only did he turn down my request but he insulted me by accusing me of lying about the information I received regarding Enterprise, as he insisted his employees would never recommend Enterprise as MB does not partner with them. Had he possess any Management skills, he would know not to argue with a customer and certainly not imply the customer is lying about what she/he is telling him. And the "partnership between MB and Enterprise had nothing to do with my request for reimbursement Mr. Homa simply did not listen or understand anything I said on the phone and in my email, or he simply DID NOT CARE. I never heard from him again. This incident has left me with a very dissatisfied opinion of the dealership & I am trying hard to not let it destroy my love for Mercedes Benz, as I always had an excellent experience from the time of purchase, until this! I was NOT asking for something that I would normally not have received. Had this been a scheduled service, I would’ve had a loaner, foc. Oh, did I mention that my car is not running at all like it was prior to the repairs. I have to bring it back! Perhaps it's time to start hiring people who are qualified & professional. It's no wonder that I'm not the FIRST customer to complain.
By DiamondDoll