After 3 days with no contact from anyone (? - why wouldn't they give me updates?), I got a call from the Montvale NJ Customer Service folks (Patricia Rosatto - 201 573 - 0600 x78737) to tell me my car was ready. When I asked why no one had contacted me, as I was in distress that they were doing nothing unless I paid them more money (last I heard, and with no call back from dealership owner Harvey Dyer after he took initial data from me the week prior), she replied that she had been in contact during the repairs (really??? Cool! News to me!? Why didn't they tell me they were working on it and alleviate the stress?), and they had wanted to wait until it was done to contact me. Great customer service. In any event, she said they fixed the car and they were absorbing the cost (as well they should) but they couldn't guarantee that the problem (or others) wouldn't happen again. Great.
I originally attempted to speak with the customer service department at the Mercedes Benz Headquarters in Montvale NJ. All I ended up getting was a company mouth (Mariano) who would only refer back to the dealership and would do nothing on my behalf (his words) because they were an autonomous franchise and didn't answer to anyone in Headquarters (?!). Not to mention that he refused to hand me over to a supervisor as "Supervisors aren't allowed to take calls from customers (amazing)."
I then called my dealership and spoke with the owner, Harvey Dyer, who said nothing while I railed on about my problem. He ended the call by saying "I'll look into it" and hung up. That was the last time I heard from Harvey. I guess if he hires the sort of people here in Austin that would say/do what is being done, he must have the same outlook: money first, customer last ,and no need to speak with an unhappy customer.
Folks: do NOT buy a car from this dealership.
Sadly, I'm finding out the hard way that Mercedes Benz does not stand behind their product. And, indeed, are quite abusive and dismissive of customers. Indeed, I would never purchase a Mercedes again.
Years ago, I lived on a ranch with no paved roads. An SUV was imperative. Since moving to Austin, I no longer need the car, but it was getting older and had very very low mileage, and I figured it could last for years because it was a Mercedes.
I purchased the SUV (ML320) the year it first came out and the first year Mercedes set up shop in the States. Given the two firsts, it proved to be a bad bad decision: The car turned out to be a lemon.
But something different is happening now, and it seems it took a community organizer to do it. The difference is palpable, and the victory-to-come seems obvious, now that I’m an ‘insider’.
I want to introduce you to a fabulous tool that I found. It’s called The Brain
It’s a 3D content management tool that makes it possible to store all kinds of data – data you can enter yourself, links to sites or documents, etc. – and have everything instantly available at your fingertips. I cleaned up my whole office once I installed it – all of those scraps of paper lying around, all those notes that I take for myself to do, or remember – all there, in front of me, organized in ways I can either see or immediately search for.
As we enter the new year, one of the problems that I know so many of you face is ensuring that your change situations get implemented. I have some thoughts on how to employ Buying Facilitation to help.
When something new enters a system, it challenges the status quo (especially a person's internal status quo), and folks resist. When we bring in a new technology, or reorganize jobs and job descriptions, etc. we must ensure
that the change we request gets adopted and accepted head-to-heart - from the person's belief level.
actually offering a degree'd program in sales.
The Russ Berrie Institute actually offers an MS in sales! Imagine! You can read about them and see their curriculum on William Patterson University
Run and developed by Jeff Blackwell - a real estate developer with a passion for sales - this site is the Go To site for all things sales. He promotes trainers, books, gurus, ideas - all chosen through Jeff's discerning eye and
heart. Jeff is singlehandedly on a crusade to upgrade the field of sales to be an honorable profession. Folks get onto blogs and are kind and thoughtful; experts get on and work to truly serve the site visitors.
I invite you all to get onto the site and play - and I'll meet you there. I have a pretty good presence on there (Jeff likes Buying Facilitation) and I am invited to blog frequently - www.salespractice.com/forums/t
Enjoy.
SD
Neil Rackham is a friend of mine. He’s a really good guy – even though he’s off writing children’s books now and basically retired (and I’m jealous as hell).
Since I’m getting heavily and happily into the Collaboration of all of the aspects of support around the Sales Profession, I thought I’d spend an entire blog just on Consultative Sales.
