Complaint Review: MyHotMercedes

I placed an order on the phone for a set of headlights for my car to replace my headlights that were corroded and yellow. I placed the order on the phone and confirmed with the sales associate that the item would fit my car. I received the item and took it to the Mercedes dealership. The Mercedes dealership removed my front bumper at a cost to me of $250 just to find out that the headlights did not fit my car.

After finding out that the headlights did not fit my car I contacted myhotmercedes.com and asked what I should do. They told me to mail back the lights (shipping at my expense) and they would then send the correct headlights. Several weeks after I returned the headlights I had still not heard anything from myhotmercedes.com so I called again. They told me that they did not sell any headlights at all that fit my car, so they would give me a credit to my credit card minus a 25% restocking fee. I argued that I should not be subject to a restocking fee because their customer service agent assured me that the headlights fit my car and I was already out $250 to the dealership just to find out that the headlights did not fit. The person on the phone said that everyone who returns something must pay a restocking fee and hung up.

So I took it to the next level and disputed the charge with citi bank visa. After several months citi cards mailed me a letter saying that I lost my dispute and the restocking charge would be reapplied to my citi account. The original item was $499 and the restocking fee was supposed to be 25%, yet I was charged a $192 restocking fee. I already knew that trying to dispute the restocking fee was a lost cause, but I at least wanted to make sure I was only being charged 25%. I asked citi cards how $192 could be 25% of $499. Citi cards then put me on hold for 30 minutes and came back and told me that the $192 was the restocking fee on the total charge and the cost of return shipping. I explained to citi cards that I was charged sales tax on the order which is illegal for the company to do since I live in Oregon and that I had paid the return shipping. The citi card operator got very rude at that point and told me that their decision was final and I owed $192.

So in the end I paid myhotmercedes.com a 25% restocking fee on not only the item, but also on the illegally charged sales tax, and the original shipping, plus was charged for return shipping that I had already paid for. I spent over $450 total and I still have the same ugly yellow headlights, I got nothing for my money. myhotmercedes.com clearly lies to their customers to get them to place orders for parts that will not work so that they can make money off of the restocking fees. I would have never placed the order if their sales associate would have told me that they did not sell any parts for my car.

Maynard420
Clackamas, Oregon
U.S.A.