Driver says garage are taking the Merc!
OWNER LEFT CAR AT BOLTON DEALERSHIP FOR A RESPRAY BUT THEN TRACKED IT BEING DRIVEN TO SOUTH MANCHESTER TO EMPLOYEE’S HOUSE
A DRIVER who turned super sleuth tracked his £45,000 Mercedes to Fallowfield – just hours after leaving it at a Bolton dealership.
The owner of the powerful hatchback, who asked not to be named, is seeking answers after taking his motor to Marshall Mercedes-Benz for a respray.
He says he was warned his Mercedes A45 AMG would be taken to Blackpool for the work – but was staggered when he checked his GPS tracker app and it showed that the car was in south Manchester.
There, he found his car at a Marshall employee’s house.
He said: “To say I’m appalled is an understatement. The car was due to be taken to Blackpool for the work – so I would have understood if it had gone north. But it was actually driven further south by a considerable distance.
“I don’t want any compensation – but I feel my trust has been abused. I just want people to know that they took my car miles away from the dealership.
“It’s adding mileage and using fuel for a start. Who would want that?”
Bosses at the dealership declined to comment. But Mercedes UK say it is now looking into the complaint.
The irate customer says the mystery unfolded on Tuesday, when he dropped off his six-month-old Mercedes at Marshall Mercedes-Benz of Bolton.
Told the car would be taken to Blackpool for the respray, he was surprised when his Mercedes tracker app showed it had in fact travelled 16 miles south.
Willing to accept the locator was at fault, he called Mercedes’ head office – who confirmed his suspicions. So he jumped in his partner’s car to give chase.
“The tracker showed it was being driven around south Manchester and then back to the Fallowfield address. I ended up driving around for an hour after my car,” he added.
He managed to flag down a passing police van on the way and an officer accompanied him to the address – where they found his Mercedes sitting on the road outside a house.
Also there was a Marshall employee – who said he’d planned to take the car up to Blackpool the following day.
As the outraged owner took possession of his car and drove home, he claims to have noticed it was in ‘sports-plus’ mode, a more powerful setting.
After complaining to the dealership, he says they offered him a free tank of petrol to make amends. But he’s now seeking an alternative dealership to carry out the work.
Martin Bridges, technical services manager for the British Insurance Brokers Association, told the M.E.N. that most dealerships are likely to have a motor trade road risk policy.
This would typically cover all cars owned by them and in their custody – and would usually cover cars left overnight on roads, he said.
A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman confirmed an officer was flagged down at 8.40pm in Moss Side by a driver who said he was tracking his vehicle.
She said the car had been returned to the owner by a garage employee but that no crime had been committed.
A spokesman for Marshall Mercedes-Benz dealerships declined to comment directly on the matter.
However, Mercedes-Benz Cars UK Limited, which represents the luxury car brand in the UK, said it would be looking into the case.
A spokesman said: “We are sorry to hear about the customer’s experience with Mercedes-Benz of Bolton.
“We are investigating the circumstances around this case as we expect our retailers and their staff to treat customer cars with the utmost respect.”