Consumer complaint received 2016-01-23
Company: Mercedes Benz Financial Services
State: CA
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Vehicle lease
Issue: Shopping for a loan or lease

Complaint:
I went to this dealership because it 's close to home but most importantly my mom has purchased her last XXXX cars from them. I was hopeful I would be treated right and receive a decent deal, I was n't looking for a miracle. 

This was my first time walking into a dealership without my parents there to assist me in this negotiation and the dealership was sure to take advantage of a young, XXXX female. I firmly believe I was given a raw deal due to my age, race and gender. Many car dealerships take advantage and jack up interest rates for minorities and I have no doubt this dealership practices these tactics. 

I had so many issues with this dealership from the lease to the service to the return of the lease. The only bright spot was the last person I spoke to who apologized for the XXXX service I received all around from XXXX Mercedes. 

Here are my gripes : 1. Leased a car at an extremely high rate because I did n't know the dealership put negative equity on the contract 2. The car sat on in the showroom for a long time so the key battery died, the car had some weird sticky residue on the passenger side door and the air pressure in the tires had to be corrected a week after I drove off the lot - I would think all of these should 've been checked or taken care prior to leaving ... at least that is the quality I would expect from Mercedes Benz 3. 27 month lease terms are a joke and a good way to get the consumer to pay for the car registration even though they only get to use it for 3 months of the year 4. This was my first lease and was not made aware of the disposition fee which is highway robbery at {$590.00}, oh but do n't for get to add the sales tax which brings it to just under {$650.00}. Nice 5. Multiple service department issues - making appointments but then being told the advisor I was assigned is on vacation, asking for a rental car but then getting told they did n't have any and I did n't reserve one 5. Difficult getting people to return a phone call when it 's time to turn in the lease. I was told to call back to schedule an appointment to return the car but could not get the Client Manager to return my phone call. I e-mailed and called 3 times and finally left a frustrated voicemail before I received a call back. 
6. To top everything off, I received e-mails saying I was eligible for 5 months of payments waived ... well that 's great considering I had already finished my monthly payments. What a joke! 

I expected much better service from Mercedes Benz of XXXX XXXX, Mercedes Benz especially because they are a luxury car brand with a good reputation. Sadly, my view of this dealership and MB has been soured by all of my experiences over the last two plus years. 

I have excellent credit and still received a terrible deal, I do n't know what the interest rate. I wonder how many other people they have conned, especially minorities. If I ever go back to Mercedes, I will be sure to go to another dealership. I learned a lot from my experience with MB of XXXX XXXX and will NEVER make those mistakes again, I know what to look out for now and can spot the shady practices. So I guess I can thank the dealership for that. 

Do n't even bother trying to get a return phone call from Customer Service at Mercedes Benz Financial Services. Train wreck after train wreck for this dealership and company. 

If you are a minority, I suggest taking a much closer look at your contract, ask what the interest rate is, be more diligent. I am not just some bitter person who wants to write a bad review or I 'm being paranoid. This is a real thing and I never thought it would happen to me but it did and I will never forget this experience for the rest of my life. 

XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief