Merz after sales service sucks!

[Weasel]

Mine's black on black. Basic model, haven't 'zhng' yet!You should check out Jonnybravo's ride then....even more chio!

[Kb27]

Funny...I had the same experience.. oh about 20yrs ago. Went to Leng Kee BM, looking to buy a Starlet. The sales people were all too busy pretending to look busy.

 

Finally, managed to get one unfortunate guy to look me in the eyes and then he pointed to a Starlet stashed somewhere behind. It was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get attitude.

 

I walked out and swear never to go there again. It's been 20yrs and counting.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Kb27

[Subarufan]

I had the similar experience with BM also some 3.5 yrs back.

 

I desperately needed to change my going-to-scrap-in-4-months Toyota Corolla, which I bought 2nd-hand. I parked my my old corolla in front of their show room, I walked around to look for a new corolla for replacement. Nobody hue me, even i suspected some salespersons saw me coming with a going-to-scrap corolla. I was a concrete corolla potential customer!

 

After 15 minutes entertained myself, I walk out and got my Impreza then. Never regret until now. I am comtemplating of changing car within 1 year from now, Altis is not in my list anymore.

[Darknight73]

seriously dun need a management guru or the gahment to tell us service standards in SPR are almost non-existent... yes we have the exceptional good ppl in the service industry... but still.. there is no standard. Im sure everyone has experienced it before in some way or another.. rich to poor, poor to rich... all kena before - a matter of how often only.

 

for weasel to make a complaint isnt wrong as wat he did is reasonable IMO. He went by the "proper" channels and still got zero value response..

 

in this day & age where "value-adding" is tougher than ever and GOOD jobs are hard to come by, we still have ppl who are willing to sit idly by and believe business will simply walk-in. IMO, this is most evident in the car-sales industry (especially for popular marques where the brand sells itself) - where is the value added by the salesperson? - doing our paperwork, financing, delivery inspection? - can i opt to do it myself and save paying hundreds to thousands of dollars in sales commission??

 

That difficult ar? Nowadays More & more ppl before they walk into the car showroom already know what car is it they want and they know all the specs... no nid to ask salesperson - in fact when i went to the merc showroom, i knew the specs more accurately of some of their cars than the salesperson. Well, blame it on me loving cars.

 

SO what is the value of the salesguy/girl? is he WORTH EVERY DOLLAR of commission tat he/she gets paid? Walk into showroom with long sleeve shirt & Tie - some can still show u face as if u owe them money.... dun say if walk in with shorts & slippers man..

 

and here we often hear sales ppl complaining business is bad...

 

u r right n i totally agree with you that if they dun value add, we dun need them. this is like any of us in our companies too. n i firmly believe that i should be able to value add before i get the job too.

BUT, maybe if we take a step backwards and see the whole situation. why is it that the sales ppl just cant be bothered with the after sales? where is the root of the prob? more often than not, we blame the front end ppl. be it car sales or any other industries for that matter. it is really more of the company's culture they have created. if every department are compartmentalised and they take responsibility only for their division, failure of integration will result in such 'poor service'.

so, IF the car companies can understand that 'ownership' is 'key' to better service, then, the 'drive' will take a different 'turn', all puns intended.

[Daddy]

Fortunately I'm not working in C&C, otherwise with so much -ve publicity, I'm sure i'll have a hard time earning a living.

 

Anyway, there's no way I can reveal how much C&C earns but to suggest that C&C makes $40k is plain stupidity. Unless you're C&C's auditor or C&C mgmt, pls do not make a fool of urself by quoting newspaper's report or referring to some smart alec reporter calculations who has no clue the cost structure of a car distributor. 2.5 Multipier is just a stupid guestimate If they really earn $40k, I would not be sitting here typing this reply....I would be out sourcing for Merc to be imported into Sg!

 

No brain

 

For your information, all sole distributors of motor vehicles in Singapore get preferential pricing straight from the manufacturer. A Mercedes SLK 200 for example costs approximately E$32,000. That equates to an OMV of $64,000+++ (+++ because of insurance and freight). Based on $64,000 OMV, the total cost of bringing in the car is $166,180.

 

C&C is selling the car for $190,000+++. That equates to almost $30,000 profit. And please don't forget the average OMV declared for C&C's SLK 200 is $54,000. That brings the total cost to $142,040. Preferential pricing is at work here. Of course some used to bring in the car without seats as its cheaper to fit out locally.

 

Can you see how much they make on just one car without taking into consideration the sales dude's/dudette's commission and operating cost (the utilities bill, the cleaners' salary, the company staff's salary and etc). Why do you think C&C is opening a spanking brand new centre right beside Performance Centre? Based on a few thousand earnings per car?

 

So please do a little research before you run your mouth in future. This is of course assuming that you're not a sales dude/dudette from C&C as claimed by yourself.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Daddy

[Hilander4650]

juz a car wash only need such a discussion omg....

got money to drive a merc no money to go car wash meh??

dun be so petty la..u think drive merc very high class meh...

only singaporean think so..

[RadX]

 

C&C makes at least $40K profit from a basic E200 model.

 

Big profit, but once they sell you the car, you are forgotten. Soem sort like Borneo Motors too.

 

You should write in to C&C & F.U.C.K. then BIG time.

 

That is the biggest bullsh+& I have heard abt C&C making $40k for a basic E200. It only goes to show wat a fool u r by plucking numbers from the air or hearsay $40K per E200K? R u the external auditor of C&C or the Accountant of C&C? Wat rubbish!

 

I think u shld be F BIG TIME!

 

 

I wonder why you are being so defensive for C&C? You work there? Perhaps a salesman?

I don't think Vit4WD is far wrong from the $40K profit figure he quoted.

Maybe not so high as $40K, but perhaps in the ballpark of $25K-30K, or thereabouts.

All you need is to go to the LTA OneMotoring website to verify that.

 

For a Merc E200K (or E200 ML in Mercedes-speak):

 

Average OMV = 57,441 (for July, 2005)

Custom Duty = 11,488 (20% of OMV)

GST (5%) = 3,446

ARF = 63,185 (110% of OMV)

Regn Fee = 140

COE = 15,501 (July 1st tender)

-------

Total Basic Cost = 151,202

-------

 

Selling Price = 199,888 (Quoted List)

 

Profit = 48,686

 

OK, but say a buyer gets an upfront discount and gets to buy the car for about $180,000.

C&C still makes about $29,000.

..and that is EXCLUDING the finance commission

[RadX]

we got ourselve a defensive sale person haha... even if C & C really making 40k... they better give 40K service attitude which mean must be very good... like that why buy from C & C... straight buy from PI laio lor... to powershot

 

think u better have a good explaination why u so agitated...

Agree.....

[Jonnybravo]

I have nothing against the car. It's the owner's attitude which I'm not agreeable with. Please read carefully.

 

mr slowpoke156, your own attitude like oso not v good leh. dun tok until like u are so correct can... reflect on urself sometimes before whining at other people's attitude or passing your own judgement so easily. u oso please read ur own posts carefully hor.

[Jonnybravo]

no leh i dun think drive merz very high class leh... but dunno why hor... when talk about these kind of topic... alot of people become very touchy and skeptical. always type/tok/see people wif a different eye. super sensitive and always keep up their own guard. "drive merz bm very high class meh? got money drive conti no money wash car meh?"

"got money buy so expensive car why care bout FC?"

 

hmmmmm.... let mi share my experience... whenever i drive past caucasions, they will give mi thumbs up or praises or whistels. Whenever i drive past singaporeans... wah, i think they need 1 litre eye drops to wet their red eye sia... "SI BEH HAO LIAN AR..." etc etc... sigh.... typical singaporeans...

[Jonnybravo]

quoting from Jardine Cycle n Carriage website :

 

"At Cycle & Carriage, the pursuit of excellence in customer service is a top priority and we are committed to providing quick, convenient and professional services to our customers. "

 

See so simple.... if they can put these kind of thing out on the web as their corporate culture... i do not understand why customers are not supposed to expect it from them? by e way weasel... u got paste all these in ur complain letter anot... hahahah whack them wif their own words ma! hahahah... its like u go KTV... which claims their char bors all sibeh zheng one... then u go liao... come out all like "bui te" wif "kong ba" all ard... of course u will kao peh kao bu right...

 

anyway the forum is for people to vent their frustrations wad... if u all read liao dun like... can vent ur frustrations too ar... hahahahah that's e whole idea of having a forum right! everyone thinks they're correct... hahahh...

 

anyway, singapore's service standard is F-ed up la... its always a compromise to customers when we utilise any customer services here.

[Voxy28]

So far, I heard good reviews about Premium Auto's service though I have not experience it.

 

Most dealers's after sales are crap, so it would be best to buy a car where there are alternatives you can rely on. Once warranty expired..... see you around.

[Darknight73]

yeah, totally agree. my fren bought BM525 from PML. guess what, sent for servicing, scratched the car! man! if i want to have the car scratched, might as well pay the bengs to do it at a cheaper cost? WTH!!!

sent my car for servicing, wash car leave stains, service engine, left car cover behind, found out never call me and waited for me to discover myself, service car scratch my bumper. OMG! what is going on? the mechanism behind the servicing mechanics need some fine tuning...

[Powershot]

For your information, all sole distributors of motor vehicles in Singapore get preferential pricing straight from the manufacturer. A Mercedes SLK 200 for example costs approximately E$32,000. That equates to an OMV of $64,000+++ (+++ because of insurance and freight). Based on $64,000 OMV, the total cost of bringing in the car is $166,180.

 

C&C is selling the car for $190,000+++. That equates to almost $30,000 profit. And please don't forget the average OMV declared for C&C's SLK 200 is $54,000. That brings the total cost to $142,040. Preferential pricing is at work here. Of course some used to bring in the car without seats as its cheaper to fit out locally.

 

Can you see how much they make on just one car without taking into consideration the sales dude's/dudette's commission and operating cost (the utilities bill, the cleaners' salary, the company staff's salary and etc). Why do you think C&C is opening a spanking brand new centre right beside Performance Centre? Based on a few thousand earnings per car?

 

So please do a little research before you run your mouth in future. This is of course assuming that you're not a sales dude/dudette from C&C as claimed by yourself.

 

Just a little hint, I know the industry pretty well and yes, I'm fortunate enough to work for one of the principal / manufacturer who supplies to a local distributor. In fact even the principal doesnt earn that kinda of money which is why I'm utterly disgusted with ignorant ple who post ridiculous figues of how much a car company earns.

 

And EVEN if the number is correct, you have all failed to consider fixed costs (salaries, building, warranty, marketing, storage....) and also the principal's profit component. I'm sure all who blast me would agree Daimlerchrysler, VWAP, BMW Asia, would not sell cars to the distributor at costs. All these principal's offices have costs as well to cover. That's all I would or could say.

 

W210, I like your calculation. Structure wise is very close to reality but like I mentioned above, there are other costs to consider. Sometimes, we can't take what's reported in newspapers as facts. In fact when the national newspapers reported the profit margin of car distributors, my office had a good laugh and wondered why are we not paid fat bonuses.

 

And trust me, even the sales dude/dudette doesnt know exactly how much the distributor earns per vehicle, which means to say I'm not one of them....and I'm not from C&C but I'm pretty happy to see -ve publity for C&C and Merc

[Weasel]

Alamak! didn't see that quote from Jardine C & C lah, if not i sure hantam them one! Aiyah...enuf said about customer service for now. Going to orchard KTV liao..anybody want to join me??hahaaa

[Powershot]

juz a car wash only need such a discussion omg....

got money to drive a merc no money to go car wash meh??

dun be so petty la..u think drive merc very high class meh...

only singaporean think so..

 

He is your typical merc driver, ai pi ai qi kind who wants to show off by buying the smallest engined E Class....but in his case, he went one up by buying a 2nd hand SLK 200. Basically an insecured person (maybe an SAF Pilot who couldn't make it to fighter squadron but ended up coaching young chaps who 1 day may become his boss, ok, joking) who needs a lot of attention, just look at the car . And if he does not get it, he whine like a baby. Just too bad that Merc has such owners, although technically, he is really a wannabe coz he can't afford a brand new SLK.

 

I know I'm hush but that's the impression I have of this guy....just do a search of his posts...more egs of his cheaponess, like asking where to do servicing at outside workshops....I do hope my brand doesnt have such customers

Edited September 6, 2005 by Powershot

[Darknight73]

actually, i would rather think of it as an expectation, which should be managed dont you think? it is after all a very localised behaviour to wring the best of everything. look at employers, they pay you $5000 a month buy squeeze $10000 from you until you cant take it any more. a relook at attitude perhaps at the same time proper management so that there is a social integration for a win-win situation? idealistic, perhaps but far from impossible.

[Darknight73]

i am pretty confident that a company as big as c&c would have calculated their ROIs and risks exposures when they built the new building, employment etc. no business man will build a company to make losses. bet they have the best CFOs to manage their investments. even if they do not earn that much say $40k, i wouldnt expect them to earn less than 10k per car? say if they sell 3000 cars in a year (dont flame me for the numbers, they are just plucked from thin air), say minus all their fixed costs, advertising, expenses, they earn 5k per car. tts a profit of 15M a year (which is really ridiculously low)? now, tt is pretty substantial. returning to the stakeholders would be justifiable then? how much would it take to help please an owner. this is a service industry, stakeholders will be the consumers and the ppl in direct contact with them are the service ppl? shldnt things improve in order for the branding to be improved on?

anyway, i dun drive merc. but quite pissed that car companies in general are not doing much to improve the service industry. m speaking from my own experience only.