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Mercedes-Benz of Southend
1 Arterial Park, Chelmsford Road, Rayleigh, SS6 7FY
rayleigh
Mercedes-Benz of Southend
1 Arterial Park, Chelmsford Road, Rayleigh, SS6 7FY
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Paid a £1,000 deposit to Abigail Hughes at Porsche Centre Wilmslow for a vehicle I decided not to purchase. I requested a refund multiple times and was told there was an “issue with the payment.” I was then asked to provide my bank details for a manual transfer — which never happened. Despite repeated follow-ups, the money has still not been returned. The finance team was supposedly “investigating” but no resolution has come. For a dealership representing a premium brand like Porsche, this level of customer service is frankly embarrassing. I have now raised a formal complaint with Stratstone senior management, Porsche GB, and The Motor Ombudsman. I’m also pursuing a chargeback through my bank.
From the moment I purchased my vehicle to collecting it and dealing with the endless issues since, my experience with this dealership has been extremely disappointing and frustrating. Just four days after collecting the car, I noticed a fault with one of the buttons on the steering wheel which was temperamental and clearly not working properly. I contacted the dealership and was told to bring the car in, and that the only requirement for a courtesy car was being over the age of 21. No other conditions were mentioned at all. When I arrived, they then told me they couldn’t provide a courtesy car because my driving licence would not go through due to a previous disqualification. This was the first time anything like this had been mentioned. I was then told they “don’t have access to people’s driving data”, which felt like a complete excuse after the fact. If that’s the case, there should be a very clear statement made to customers beforehand explaining that if you have anything on your licence you may not be eligible for a courtesy car. Instead, I was led to believe I would have one available and planned my day around that. Because of this, it directly affected my job as I had clients booked in and ended up having to get a taxi to work with no access to a vehicle. The lack of organisation and communication caused me unnecessary stress and inconvenience that could have easily been avoided if the correct information had been given from the start. I was also told I would receive updates about my vehicle throughout the day. That never happened. I heard absolutely nothing until I chased them myself 15 minutes before finishing work, still having no idea how I was getting home or whether my car was even ready. I tried calling the service line multiple times and nobody answered. After waiting around 10 minutes on hold the call simply cut off. If you ever try calling their service line, don’t expect anyone to answer because in my experience it is almost impossible to get through to anyone. Since then, the vehicle has been back to the dealership a total of seven times for the exact same issue and it still has not been resolved. Seven visits and the problem remains exactly the same. I have been passed from pillar to post and dealt with at least six different members of staff, which clearly shows a complete lack of communication, organisation, and accountability within the business. At one stage I was even told that they believed the issue could be related to how I was driving the vehicle. This was honestly insulting. I fail to understand how the way someone drives could possibly cause a button on a steering wheel to malfunction. Rather than taking responsibility for a clear fault, it felt like they were simply trying to blame the customer instead of fixing the problem. After receiving no response for two weeks, I was eventually passed to a senior member of the service team who told me she would personally take care of the issue. Once again, I was let down. Promised calls never happened and I was left chasing yet again. More recently I was passed to a manager who told me I would receive an update within 48 hours. Two weeks later, I am still waiting to hear anything from him. Overall, this has been one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever dealt with. The lack of communication, constant excuses, being passed around multiple staff members, and the failure to fix a simple issue after seven visits is completely unacceptable. I would strongly advise anyone considering buying a car from here to think twice.
Reviews provided by dealership customers who were invited to provide feedback on their sales experience using TrustPilot.
