Posted by Fauz Aziz
On November 25, 2016, we were at Mercedes-Benz of Arlington, VA dealership to buy 2017 GLC. This was our second visit in three days as in our first visit we test drove GLA and GLC and checked some other cars. This visit was to finalize the deal on GLC. However, we ended up leaving the dealership feeling disrespected and humiliated.
The assigned Sales Associate was very respectful, courteous and efficient. He went with us on test drives and discussed all aspects of the cars very professionally. It was the time when we were discussing the final price of the vehicle. The Sales Associate went to the Sales Manager, Mr Marcus Mignogna with our offers but the Manager walked in with him. During the 5 min talk with the Manager, we felt an EXTREMELY rude and aggressive attitude of the manager. He was literally yelling! We were appalled by his behavior as it was not representative of a company of good repute. On the other hand, from the very beginning we were polite, rational and calm which could be verified by other employees present there. At first, we assumed that it was his personality to talk in insulting and non-professional behavior but soon realized that it was something purposeful, biased and racist in nature. Since he continued his insulting, disparaging and demeaning tone and attitude, I stood up and told my husband that we should leave as it was becoming unbearable. As soon as he heard this, Mr Micnogna abruptly stood up and left saying, "I don't care!" Instead of telling us professionally how our offer was not acceptable to the dealership, he insulted us in front of his Sales Associates and our two kids.
One also wonders if his attitude was covering any form of discrimination! Whatever the reason is, I have decided not to do any kind of business, not just with this dealership but with Mercedes-Benz. We have given our business to BMW instead!
I hope you understand that such behaviors would affect your revenue because the customer is unlikely to come back. The company needs to think about educating their employees on behaviors with customers which will prevent the loss of business in future. We expected that a dealership of a luxury brand (or any brand for that matter) would value their potential customers. The first principle of any sales deal is courtesy and respect especially when the customer is being very polite and courteous.
I look forward to hearing back from you if you have any explanation for this incident.