Dealer Review - Smart Center of Portland
Avoid salesman Mark Tower—everyone else is fantastic.
The best measure of a business is how they handle mistakes and problems.
Recap: I ordered and placed a $1,000 down payment on a 2014 Smart Cabriolet on the 4th day of February 2014. My salesman, Mark Tower, told me it would be delivered between late-April and mid-May, which was fine by me...who needs a convertible in Portland until May?
New bit: In April, Mark told me "Wampy" (nickname explained here) would be arriving in the port of LA on 16 May. I thanked him for his update and explained that I did not want, during dealer prep, to have a license plate holder screwed into the front plastic of my car because I intended to install a special mounting bracket. He assured me his service department would, "never install a front plate bracket without a customer request".
Memorial day came and went. No car. I'm impatient; so I asked for an update and Mark responded with (and I should note, he—like almost everyone under the age of 50—only communicates by phone text) "it's a 2015 and they aren't releasing them yet. I'll let you know when they ship it north. If you're not satisfied you'll get a full refund".
Angry at being treated this way (and confused...how did my 2014 become a 2015?) I complained to the General Manager who immediately rectified the situation by giving me a free Smart Cabriolet loaner until my car arrived.
Please note: I used the past tense form of 'arrive' in that last sentence because I only needed to drive their free loaner for six weeks; I picked up Wampeter on 10 July. I paid dealer invoice—$20,500—not the MSRP of $21,950. And, as you have already sussed, a front plate bracket had been installed, which they are going to fix (in a week or so) by swapping the front body panel from another new car in inventory.
Mercedes Benz of Portland/Smart Center of Portland, has many professional, wonderful, fantastic people. I worked with, and recommend working with, Andrew Plummer (GM), Dale Acelar, Crystal Barber, Ben Tait, and Mylee Burns. I recommend you avoid Mark Tower.
The best measure of a business is how they handle mistakes and problems.
Recap: I ordered and placed a $1,000 down payment on a 2014 Smart Cabriolet on the 4th day of February 2014. My salesman, Mark Tower, told me it would be delivered between late-April and mid-May, which was fine by me...who needs a convertible in Portland until May?
New bit: In April, Mark told me "Wampy" (nickname explained here) would be arriving in the port of LA on 16 May. I thanked him for his update and explained that I did not want, during dealer prep, to have a license plate holder screwed into the front plastic of my car because I intended to install a special mounting bracket. He assured me his service department would, "never install a front plate bracket without a customer request".
Memorial day came and went. No car. I'm impatient; so I asked for an update and Mark responded with (and I should note, he—like almost everyone under the age of 50—only communicates by phone text) "it's a 2015 and they aren't releasing them yet. I'll let you know when they ship it north. If you're not satisfied you'll get a full refund".
Angry at being treated this way (and confused...how did my 2014 become a 2015?) I complained to the General Manager who immediately rectified the situation by giving me a free Smart Cabriolet loaner until my car arrived.
Please note: I used the past tense form of 'arrive' in that last sentence because I only needed to drive their free loaner for six weeks; I picked up Wampeter on 10 July. I paid dealer invoice—$20,500—not the MSRP of $21,950. And, as you have already sussed, a front plate bracket had been installed, which they are going to fix (in a week or so) by swapping the front body panel from another new car in inventory.
Mercedes Benz of Portland/Smart Center of Portland, has many professional, wonderful, fantastic people. I worked with, and recommend working with, Andrew Plummer (GM), Dale Acelar, Crystal Barber, Ben Tait, and Mylee Burns. I recommend you avoid Mark Tower.
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