Regulator Investigates Mercedes-Benz Dealership in China After Video of Crying Customer Goes Viral

The market regulator in central China’s Xi’an city has launched an investigation into a local Mercedes-Benz 4S dealership after a video of a buyer complaining about her newly bought car’s oil leak problems went viral on social media.

The video shows the woman sitting on top of a Mercedes-Benz and crying that the new car started leaking oil even before she had driven out of the dealership. She had bought it for 660,000 yuan (roughly $98,400) with a down payment of 200,000 yuan, and after discovering the oil leak, her complaint was ignored for 15 days.

The woman’s complaints about consumer rights received sympathy online. And the video clip spread like wildfire on Chinese micro-blogging platform Weibo.

“It’s sad to see an educated middle-class woman has to sit on a car crying to guard her consumer rights,” a user commented on Weibo.

A local market regulator has launched an investigation into the dispute, to see if the vehicle had any quality problems before it was sold. The regulator also asked the dealership to refund the customer immediately.

The 4S dealership apologized to the customer in person, agreeing to refund her in full, but she wasn’t content with the proposed deal and raised several demands including obtaining the full maintenance history of the car, an independent test by a third-party, as well as an official apology from Mercedes-Benz.

The German car manufacturer apologized on Apr. 13 saying it deeply regrets the buyer’s unpleasant experience. The company is now sending a special work group to Xi’an to work out a solution with the customer as soon as possible.

Li Weimin, associate director of the rights and interests of consumers committee at the Beijing Lawyers Association, explained that since the buyer had barely started using the car, it must be the car that failed to reach sales standards.

“Under this circumstance, the shop should not only refund the buyer but also compensate her at three times the car price,” Li said, citing China’s Consumers Rights Law.

Featured Image: Xi’an Mercedes-Benz 4S dealership. Source: Internet