autoevolution
 

Flying to Germany to Complain About Your Unsafe Mercedes-Benz Doesn’t Work

Few other things are as powerful incentives as the feeling you’ve been wronged. One man from Canada has been duking it out in court with his local Mercedes-Benz dealership and, fed up with it, decided to fly all the way to Germany to complain to bosses in person.
S550 owner flies from Canada to Germany to personally complain to company bosses about "unsafe" car 26 photos
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring2021 Mercedes and Maybach S-Class Spied Testing German Luxury at Nurburgring
Spoiler alert, it didn’t work out as he must have imagined.

Richmond News reports that Da Tong Yang and wife Guifang Huo bought an S-Class in 2017 for $155,000, thinking they would get the safest luxury sedan on the road. One year and some 6,400 km (4,000 miles) later, they were involved in an incident in which the steering wheel locked and they came close to crashing into a concrete wall.

They took the S 550 to the local dealership, the Mercedes-Benz Richmond Service Center, which identified the problem as an “internal electrical issue in the power steering rack and pinion gear” and replaced the rack to solve it. The dealer handed the car back to the owners, declaring it safe and prompting a detailed, written explanation of the problem and how it was fixed from the center.

It still wasn’t enough for the couple. They insisted they should get a refund or a new car as replacement, and stressed that they felt the vehicle was unsafe, even with the repairs done on it. Last year, they took the dealer to court, seeking damages for mental distress, anxiety, out of pocket expenses, loss of enjoyment of the vehicle, and loss of value on the vehicle.

With the case stalling, Yang ripped a page out of the Karen playbook and thought speaking to the manager would help, so he boarded a flight from Canada to Stuttgart, Germany, where the carmaker’s headquarters are. He got to meet with a company representative and also enjoyed a tour of the place, but as regards his problem with the car, he got nowhere. All he got was an email saying they would look into the matter.

During this time, the S 550 is sitting in the couple’s garage, unwanted and unloved. Their extended legal battle and the trip to Germany are not some stunt, they tell the same media outlet: they represent a quest for justice – for themselves and other drivers.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories