[Anupam]

[quote=
As you can see, the total cost came to just about 10% of the cost that Shaman wanted to charge me. As much as i am happy about the huge savings by doing the Work at Weather Master, i am equally cheesed off by Shaman's attitude to rip people off. Needless to say, i am not visiting them !![/QUOTE]


iceman, we need to catchup sometime either when you visit pune or when I visit Mumbai next.

now that Shaman is off your list, where will you get the regular service done. I am assuming that the current guy WM does only AC

[dipen]

Originally Posted by iceman1

Got a call from Mercedes Benz today.Apparently they went through this thread and wanted to speak to me about it.They said that they will look into the matter.Am not really expecting anything out of it. Nor do i want to make this into a Shaman bashing up thread.But it does feel a bit reassuring that MB does care about what their customers have to say.

Mercedes Benz probably will have Shaman refund the 18500/- to you for incorrect diagnosis (especially since you have an email from them on the repair costs). I still have my doubts that MB's standard charge for AC diagnosis is 18500/-. I believe that they did not open any part or internals to check.

Now since we know they are reading this and they know that we know too; they have even more reason to come clean on the same.
As a goodwill, they may even make you the spare key instead of refunding the entire amount, which probably costs them nothing.

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by wilful

Been going through your thread. Firstly - congrats on acquiring a 3 pointed star. I also salute you on your courage in taking the plunge to go in for a pre-owned one knowing that any niggles would cost you a bomb to sort out. But I guess the joy of driving it is compensation enough.
But seriously, I wish these high end Germans would come out with some cost effective solution (package?) for customers like you. Maybe some kind of franchise workshops or something that offer more cost effective solutions compared to their service centres for cars under warranty? That way, folks would have much more confidence in buying their used cars and the resale would be better too.

Thanks Wilful!! My courage originates from my previous experience of owning a Mercedes which was very pleasant. I had a 1997 C180 Auto in London which I used extensively for 3 years. I had bought the car when it had around 90K on the ODO and sold it with 125k on the clock.It had been looked after very well by the previous owner.For the time it was with me, all it needed was regular fluids,filters and brake pads replacement. And thats about it.It was a wonderful experience and I have very fond memories of it.If i could have it my way, I wouldn't mind buying a similar car here all over again.But good cars are very rare and hard to come by.Will try to dig up some old pictures of it.

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by Anupam

iceman, we need to catchup sometime either when you visit pune or when I visit Mumbai next.

now that Shaman is off your list, where will you get the regular service done. I am assuming that the current guy WM does only AC

Anupam , we should definitely catch up! WM is only a AC specialist.For my other needs, i know of a workshop in Navi Mumbai that specializes in high end cars.So hopefully I should be alrite.

Originally Posted by dipen

Mercedes Benz probably will have Shaman refund the 18500/- to you for incorrect diagnosis (especially since you have an email from them on the repair costs). I still have my doubts that MB's standard charge for AC diagnosis is 18500/-. I believe that they did not open any part or internals to check.

Now since we know they are reading this and they know that we know too; they have even more reason to come clean on the same.
As a goodwill, they may even make you the spare key instead of refunding the entire amount, which probably costs them nothing.

Lets see how MB deals with this.Even I was shocked to hear the charge of Rs 18500 just for ''diagnosing'' the problem and giving an estimate but i accepted it in good faith as i had all intentions of getting my work done from them.But it was not to be.While taking delivery, i even asked them if they could give me a discount on this Rs 18500 as they had pretty much done nothing to which i was made to look silly for even daring to ask something like this as it was probably considered loose change. But they readily offered a discount if i let them proceed with the work as per their estimate.As a last resort, i even tried to see if they can adjust part of this amount towards the cost of a new key.Negative Again!!

[iceman1]

A Mini Photo shoot done yesterday evening....

[iceman1]

Found some pics of my C180.....Sigh! I really wish I still had that with me.Good old times.

[Baddychat]

Congratulations on your really pristine pre-owned pointed star. The previous owner seems to have kept it really well.
Here's wishing you thousands of happy and safe miles on this car.
Also great to see the impressive work done in your car by Weather Master.

[iceman1]

Its been over a month since I got my A/C Job done at Weather Master. Although at first I was very happy, somewhere at the back of mind , i had this worry that '' What if Shaman were right in their Diagnosis" ??!! What if the gas leaked gradually like they said it would leak.What if there were indeed metal fillings in my compressor oil like they said there were, which would then circulate throughout my AC System causing damage to all AC Components! What if.... and so on. After driving around for more then a month now, i am absolutely thrilled that the AC is performing brilliantly with no drop in performance what so ever.And now i can say with absolute confidence that Shaman wanted to probably rip me off thinking me to be just another Mercedes owner who just dont care what they are being charged.Absolutely unethical and unacceptable.I am sure people ( including myself) wouldnt mind paying a premium for servicing and fixing their premium cars.But provided it needs fixing. I feel absolutely cheated right now. And it hurts me even more to think I paid them 18.5K for nothing.

[iceman1]

This is the Estimate....



Dear sir,
Greeting from Shaman !!!
Request you to please find attached estimate copy for Mercedes Benz vehicle bearing reg no :-MH45R4444.(PARTS ONLY),labour charges will be APPROX RS:-1,10000/-
Kindly go through the estimate and provide us the approval so that we can start the work.

NOTE:-supplementary estimate will be given during the course of repairs if required. If in-case estimate is not approved from your side then initial checking testing charges will be applicable Rs:-16500/-plus taxes.
please confirm mode of payment.

Please find bank Details for Account transfer.

As per our Procedure We will be delivering vehicle after payment has

been received in our account.

Please inform in which account amount has been transferred & from which

account name .

MODE OF PAYMENTS:

We Don't Accept Cheques.

WE accept CC(add.charges for AMERICAN EXPRESS)/DD/PO /cash.

(if TDS is deducted on amount require statement for deduction,without

which we wont be able to release the vehicle)._/*

[jeepbug]

Reading this thread took the winds out of me I just today had a look at a w124 in Chandigarh it sounded fine but the Ac was not working so I am now having second thoughts about it and we don't have any weather man service centres here in Chandigarh . I think I will put my mind somewhere else


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[androdev]

Originally Posted by iceman1

This is the Estimate....



Dear sir,
Greeting from Shaman !!!
Request you to please find attached estimate copy for Mercedes Benz vehicle bearing reg no :-MH45R4444.(PARTS ONLY),labour charges will be APPROX RS:-1,10000/-
Kindly go through the estimate and provide us the approval so that we can start the work.

NOTE:-supplementary estimate will be given during the course of repairs if required. If in-case estimate is not approved from your side then initial checking testing charges will be applicable Rs:-16500/-plus taxes.
please confirm mode of payment.

Please find bank Details for Account transfer.

As per our Procedure We will be delivering vehicle after payment has

been received in our account.

Please inform in which account amount has been transferred & from which

account name .

MODE OF PAYMENTS:

We Don't Accept Cheques.

WE accept CC(add.charges for AMERICAN EXPRESS)/DD/PO /cash.

(if TDS is deducted on amount require statement for deduction,without

which we wont be able to release the vehicle)._/*

Wow, can't help but notice the amount of effort that has gone into this mail regarding the payment instructions :-)

I know you had to pay 18K but you just dodged a meteor and came out in one piece. Helps to be in Mumbai for sure! More than the A/C, I am very impressed with how everything has been put back together - that is the hard part.

[iceman1]

[quote=jeepbug;3452352]Reading this thread took the winds out of me I just today had a look at a w124 in Chandigarh it sounded fine but the Ac was not working so I am now having second thoughts about it and we don't have any weather man service centres here in Chandigarh . I think I will put my mind somewhere else


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP[/QUOTE

Jeepbug: As we all know, the w124 is a beautiful machine and is reasonably trouble free if its well looked after. Fixing the A/c could be an expensive affair but that also gives you a good bargaining tool to drive the price down.All the best with your search.

Originally Posted by androdev

Wow, can't help but notice the amount of effort that has gone into this mail regarding the payment instructions :-)

I know you had to pay 18K but you just dodged a meteor and came out in one piece. Helps to be in Mumbai for sure! More than the A/C, I am very impressed with how everything has been put back together - that is the hard part.

"Dodged a meteor'' !! That does make me feel better .Thanks.You are right.Putting it back together was the most tricky part but i am glad it has been put back perfectly.Even after a month of driving, there are absolutely no problems to report.

[jeepbug]

Iceman thanks for the input it is a good trick I shall employ
Thanks


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[iceman1]

Two days ago, a service warning popped up on the dash according to which my service is due in 1000 kms.This will be the first service since i have bought the car.After the Shaman episode, i have firmly decided to stay away from the Authorised service centres as much as i can. Not to mention that none of the Mercedes service centres are in Navi Mumbai.I know a couple of independent workshops in Navi mumbai where i will be getting the car serviced.However, i could really use some help in finding a genuine parts supplier. Does anyone here know of any such place? Is there someone who deals specifically in merc spares? I could really use some help on this guys.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by jeepbug

Reading this thread took the winds out of me I just today had a look at a w124 in Chandigarh it sounded fine but the Ac was not working so I am now having second thoughts about it and we don't have any weather man service centres here in Chandigarh . I think I will put my mind somewhere else


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E220 or a E250D?
There is a immaculate 250D on sale in sector 11.
Not sure about the electricals and mechanical condition,as i havent driven it.
But exteriors and interiors do look as if it just rolled out of showroom.

@iceman91-How much will a usual service cost for your C outside the aftersales?