MBFS US Reviews 130

After having dealt with these vultures I will never buy, lease or own another Mercedes. My lease was for a fully maintained vehicle. They argued about tyre replacements until they were illegal and dangerous with the wire exposed. They refused to maintain it to thr standard they themselves demand for return. And required me to pay for the mot a day before the vehicle was returned despite it being a fully maintained vehicle. I've had threatening emails, aggressive phone calls and have had to make it clear to the dealer that I never want contact from merc finance again with a clear intent of legal action should they so much as email me again. When coupled with the bca service who again were aggressive, unhelpful and threatening this has been the most unpleasant experience I could have imagined. I have never been treated this way previously. As a premium brand the customer service and experience is more akin to a back alley dodgy used car dealer selling crappy rust buckets

I am a customer for MB USA for almost 8 years,mon son car lease ended in July so o called to purchase it ,they sent contract then report me late in August 2022 although we are still in August,tried to call Financial Services for 2 days almost 17 times waiting is around 40 minutes each time,try to speak to specialist no hope then on August 8 Monday the whole system to call is down all day is this a company

Worst customer service ever I have 3 cars from MB for 2 days trying to speak to a supervisor after 16 calls and wait time each call for at list 10 to 15 minutes

I have never in 20 years of leasing cars come across such a bunch of smug, ignorant, incompetent ars*****s as MBFS, who fabricate faults and inflate charges for repairs they never carry out, who, I think are working in league with BCA as a means of extracting money from end of lease customers. I wanted to have my day in court with them but my wife was not up to it.
Avoid these crooks at all costs and spread the word.

This company are terrible please don't lease a car off them I leased a, car for 3 years and it was immaculate 8000 miles less than it should have been no marks on it at all but they make up marks and couldn't get it serviced due to covid it was 8 weeks late and they put down a charge for 250 pounds when it wasn't my fault the company manheim they send out are terrible please don't get a, car through them check with leasing company first there bad so is yes car lease

I am another victim of their post-lease damage claims.

There was no visible damage to the van, it was in immaculate condition. Yet I received a bill of over £2,300 for damages.
You would expect some leniency due to ordinary wear and tear over 36 months BUT they want the vehicle to be in brand new condition when returning.

Con artists ! I leased the van in 2019 and only now I see so many bad reviews dating after that. This must be a new money-making scam of theirs.

Every time I see that logo of MB I will think of poop ! They are no longer the class that they used to be.

Mercedes Benz Finance Services are happy to offer you a low interest loan to purchase your car over 3 years if you are over 80 years of age with significant health issues. Especially so if you are a married couple with joint or separate bank accounts. When the over 80 year old dies within the 3 years, they harrass the widow for the loan to be paid in full- within a week or 2 at a push or they will just take the car back as they quite aggressively will INFORM you that it belongs to them and not you. They are absolutely ruthless in not agreeing to change the name on the loan contract or continue payments to be made from the same joint account despite the credit rating being the same if not better for the widow who may also be younger and with less health complications. Their methods are clearly to harrass widows to give the car back and be paid a much lower than market value for the repayment of the loan and then sell the car on at a premium. These are the only options. This leaves the widow in a difficult position with a loss that is not their fault and then without the independence the car affords them. This is the experience of my 79y9m old mum.

First of all, they don’t even have a functioning website that takes forms online like most companies do. I had to call to learn that I have to send my application by mail. I sent my first credit application and a month passes by without hearing anything so I called up to see what’s up. They didnt know what’s going on and said system is undergoing problems. Called the week after, different rep, same answer. Told me to just wait. Then finally 2 months later another rep called me and told me the application had problem and I had to fill it out again. The rep said I can email the filled out forms this time (the address was listed nowhere on their website or form itself) and told me it will take at most 2-3 business days to process. I sent the email to the address and didn’t even get an automated receipt email. I waited a full week before making the call again since no one reached out, which was totally expected at this point. The rep that gave me his extension number to call didn’t pick up and had his voicemail box full so I couldn’t even leave a voicemail. I called another agent and was told I just have to wait. Another week passes by and I get called by an agent saying I have to swap applicant and co-applicant. I had to fill up my application for THIRD time and send it in again.

All of this could’ve been avoided if they had a website where you can file your credit application. I just don’t understand why all the reps are so incompetent and unprofessional. I also absolutely do not understand why this kind of company still exists this day and age. Why do they have to call me every time for any kind of communication? What happens if I couldn’t pick up because it’s during working hours? I highly doubt they will even let me know what happened to the application if I missed any of the phone calls. Do they know there’s something called email?? I just don’t get this company.

Truly the worst customer service ever! On hold forever and still my issues were not addressed. The CEO needs to take lessons from Zappos, as I've never ever experienced bad customer service from this company. That song oh , why don't you buy me a Mercedes Benz....change the lyrics to hell no don't buy me one...

Hello everyone.
If mbfs want to have BCA pick up your car after either pcp term or lease. Please refuse, as I had a perfect car to return and on a first inspection at my house by a BCA agent the only thing wrong with my car were a couple of kerb damage to my alloys. So once the car was collected and I received an invoice after a second inspection for over 1100 pounds . There were a few fraudulent charges fabricated by BCA and my only recourse was to approach the financial ombudsman. But the way BCA did the pictures and report the financial ombudsman upheld the charges by mbfs. Please be very careful, even with pictures of your car you won't win. Do if possible please avoid BCA to pick up your car. They are crooks sorry CROOKS. NASTY PEOPLE TO DEAL WITH. hope this helps someone.

Wow. I really wish I’d read the review before committing to lease an X Class pick up truck for 3 years.

To be honest, my experience with MBF was fairly positive from the start of the lease and the duration. Then, I handed what I consider a vehicle in good condition back with below the agreed mileage used.

They will examine every panel under a microscope and if there’s the slightest scuff or scratch it’s £280 a panel please.

And we are taking any minute scratch or scuff in the clear coat. Not as the picture in the returns policy booklet shows a scratch through the paint to metal.

I had a bill of around £2500 with the only route to mounting a complaint within the company itself (guess the outcome). I tried the ombudsman but was told that they do not cover this kind of agreement.

It was totally evident that this is a cynical practice and they know they can extort money from literally every vehicle owner at the end.

Without exception all scratches were in the clear coat and could have been polished out. Fair warning T cut and polish your vehicle before returning.

I was shown 2 possible scratches of concern by the guy who came to check and pick up the vehicle from my drive, all the other small scuffs were overlooked by him (I presume he was an independent guy). When it was looked over by MBF list had about 30-40.

They know what they are doing. I returned 3 previous lease vehicles with similar surface scuffs and had no problem.

Never use Mercedes Benz Finance unless you plan to never use your vehicle!!

I have recently returned an immaculate S500 with just over 30,000 miles on the clock. Collected from my house with a report from their inspection person, who commented the car was immaculate. Some slight tyre wear on the outside tread but perfectly legal. Once the car was collected and returned ten days later a "new" report with mysteriously £770.00 worth of damage. They have produced NO evidence and absolutely no interest in anything other than recovering the money that I clearly do not owe. Not only that but a constant stream of letters and phone calls hounding me to pay. Finally had to go to the financial ombudsman. I will never buy another MB vehicle and I have had many over the years, this experience is frankly astonishing, I wonder who is responsible in such a huge organisation.

This was my response letter to Mercedes benz finance after wining my case against them with the ombudsman. They are truly an awful company and they should be avoided at all costs.

Good afternoon,

Thank you for email. I was hoping that I would not have to resort to bringing Mercedes Benz finance in front of the ombudsman to resolve this issue but unfortunately you left me with no choice.

For the record no dents were recorded on the first inspection before the car was driven 85 miles for a second inspection. Originally you attempted to charge me for two dents, one on the bonnet and one on the quarter panel. Surprisingly after I had informed you that I had photographic evidence showing that no dents were present you respectfully removed the charge for the mythical dent on the quarter panel.

The de-fleet team to their credit did attempt to credit the alleged bonnet dent but head office refused siting a low-quality image of what they called a dent on the bonnet. This dent was also referred to by one of your representatives as “very evident” but not evident enough to have been recorded in the first inspection it seems. I then submitted many high-resolution images supporting my claim that no dent was present, these were all ignored in your pursuit of claiming money back from a customer. I did find it amusing that I was charged an extra monthly amount because I had taken advantage of the payment holiday and the reason given for this charge was that having the car for longer would reduce its value, amazingly when I highlighted that I had returned the car with 26,000 of unused miles suddenly this would not influence the value of the car. (Estimated to be worth £3,500 on the resale price)

Overall, the customer service apart from the de-fleet team has been very poor and unreasonable. It seems you’re only goal is to extort as much money out of customers as possible and not once did you ever consider waiving this charge as a gesture of good will to the customer on what was a very contentious claim on your behalf in the first place.

Originally, I choose Mercedes Benz finance as I thought it would be a reputable and fair company but alas this was not to be the case which was very disappointing. I only hope that you can review this case and learn that customer service should come first and not the pursuit of extorting money out of your customers.

Regards

John

I've never had such a negative experience in leasing a car in my life. The worst part of it was that the company they used to collect the car had actually somehow bumped it on the way back from collection and then had the audacity to charge me for it! Luckily you could tell from the photos of before and after that this was not damage that was already there beforehand. But then when other things started to look wrong with the invoice in terms of the damage and also the second key not being handed in by the collection company, they would not take my word for the m and continued to blame me despite the collection company already lying about the damage they had done to the car themselves! Awful service, which will not be recommended or repeated despite us leasing a Mercedes Benz car every 3 years. We have now moved to another brand of car where the customer service so far has been so much better!

Avoid this company - I leased a Mercedes through them and looked after the car as I was proud of it. After four years I would say the car was in great condition after 4 years and well under the annual mileage. Some very small stone chips and unless you went up to the panel you couldn't really see them. The total cost of repair was £1,000 plus. They well overcharge ! Complained through their complaints procedure at the costs and after a few weeks they replied (suprise suprise) that they 'upheld the complaint' and bill is due. Wont be getting another Mercedes again - avoid is my view

mbfs has the most unfriendly website, you need to fill in your social , account no and other details each time you have to make a payment. If you don't have any one of these, your account is permanently blocked for you. You cannot make any payment and there is no one to assist. Shameful for such a big company!

Avoid Mercedes-Benz Finance, they are low knowledgeable following only company interes, they don't after their costumer 5%, with poor quality at used cars faulty cars and body quality. I can say after owning 4 cars that this brand in UK is the lowest quality managed by people without experience, and low costumer satisfaction. Take care guys

After handing back a near perfect car below the agreed mileage I was invoiced for charges over £700.

I argued with MBFS as its within their return standards listed on their site but these standards come with additional terms for example small dents under 5mm are allowed except dents on high profile panels ie boots, bonnets, wheel arches,etc are not acceptable.

So you can have a small dent 5mm except it cannot be on any panel of the car.

MBFS are not a member of any leasing authority like BVRLA so there is no third party to lodge a complaint through.

It baffles me as they could charge an extra £20 a month to cover these costs and no one would argue but these charges at the end of lease leave a bad taste and stops repeat buyers.

If you have to buy a Mercedes please do not lease.

I wish to warn other customers not to use Mercedes for personal leasing. Of the big brands, Mercedes offer lower lease deals, in my opinion, to make their money via the returns process.

I started a 2-year personal car lease with Mercedes finance September 2019 (Entry model A class, paying over £8000 across the duration with the deal including 3 free services). The car was collected September 2021 in good working condition with general wear and tear as would be expected (few minor scratches). Mercedes arranged the BCA to collect originally (and inspect the car) prior to a secondary inspection by Mercedes once they received the car. 2 weeks after collection I received an invoice of £2000 for repairs and damages for a few minor scratches/scuffs, 1 tiny screen crack (less than 40mm), and a small dent. I disputed this financially crippling invoice with no luck and am now engaging with the financial ombudsman.

Upon initial inspection by the BCA I was not provided a cost (to dispute) the minor findings but informed they should not exceed £1000. The secondary inspection, following 80 miles travel by the BCA, included new issues that were not recorded on first inspection (now larger cracked screen, additional dents) and totalled £2000. The images to support the findings were inconclusive and £800 were new issues that could have happened in the drive from my house to Mercedes (who took the BCA word for this and billed me despite no evidence these damages existed at point of asset transfer on my drive).

In addition, I had equity in the vehicle having paid for 20,000 miles but not used them all due to working from home during the pandemic. I tried on numerous occasions, during the height of the pandemic, to reduce my mileage payments and Mercedes refused. The car was also returned with a free service (worth £400 still included) as despite me paying for 3 free leases, Mercedes only let you service the car once a year. I have since seen they are looking to sell my car for almost £23,000.

Mercedes finance have been extremely unhelpful, inflexible and hard to contact throughout the lease. They offer affordable lease deals (vs their competitors) clearly with the intention to overcharge customers on return of their vehicles.

Dreadful experience with this company. I leased a Mercedes Gla through them and on completion of the lease they had the car fully inspected by a Rep from BCA at my house on their behalf. Only issue reported was scuffing on alloys….on a 4 year old car. Subsequently An invoice for over £1000 arrived including refurbishing/replacing alloys bug also dents - when we’re not present when the car was inspected in front of me. I raised a complaint but they are not interested and threatened a debt collection agency if not paid in 3 days. Appalling.
I was a repeat customer of Mercedes but will never use them again. Would advise anyone reading this to avoid leasing through them or and company that use BCA for inspections.