A man has claimed that a Dallas-area Mercedes-Benz dealership discriminated against him because he was black, and said that they barely gave him the time of day when he went in to try and buy a car. The man recounted his experience in a TikTok video.
Ken (@kiisedbyken) had some pretty strong words to say in his video, and did not hold back. “Y’all don’t want a customer that looks like me apparently, so I’ll respect it and take myself & clients elsewhere,” he said in the text overlay of the video.
At the time of writing, the video has had over 130,000 views in total, and he stated that he had walked into the Dallas dealership with a Navy Federal pre-approval check and $10,000 in cash. The car in question was a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, but Ken was adamant that he was mistreated by employees.
The video prompted quite a few responses in the comments section, and others recounted a similar experience at other Mercedes dealerships. What was striking was that Ken said that this was the second time he had endured a poor customer service experience at this dealership.
What Happened at the Mercedes Dealership?
@kiisedbykenThanks for letting me know I’m not shit in yall eyes. The way I was treated, it gave very much elitist. But baby I have the coin and the credit but no worries. However this time I’m speaking out about the constant bad experiences I’ve had at this place. Yall make it abundantly clear that yall don’t give a darn if someone shops with you or not, so COOL!♬ original sound – 👑 Sir Kenyon
“Park Place Mercedes On Lemmon… is the rudest & worst Mercedes dealership in the DFW Area,” Ken also said in the video caption. The TikTok user was adamant that he was mistreated by the dealership due to his race. “Y’all have made it so abundantly clear that y’all don’t give a [expletive] about people’s business that I guess look like me,” Ken said.
Ken said that the salesman he was assigned offered no greetings to him and didn’t say a single word while they headed to a nearby detail shop to view the car. “Not once did you say ‘Good morning,’ ‘How are you?’ ‘Would you like water?’ ‘What brings you in?’ The whole time he drove us back there to the car, it was a silent, awkward car ride,” he said. Ken also claimed he was brushed off several times when the salesman did speak to him.
“I asked, ‘I see the car is now showing as certified.’ He told me, ‘I don’t know anything about that.’ I asked if he could call somebody out to look at the trade-in. He told me no; I could wait until the other guy got out of his meeting,” Ken added. As a credit repair business owner, Ken often refers clients to dealerships, although it didn’t look like he would be doing so with this one.
What Did Ken Do When He Left the Dealership?
Ken decided that the dealership didn’t deserve his business. So he decided to leave, and he went to Carvana, where he was able to buy the car that he wanted. In fact, he confirmed that the car would arrive at his home within a week, and he was clearly much happier with the service he’d had at Carvana versus what the dealership had done.
Regarding the Mercedes dealership, Ken added, “They did not know I had a pre-approval check. He didn’t ask me how I was paying; he didn’t care. When he refused to have someone look at my trade, that was it.” Worryingly, there were plenty of people in the comments of the TikTok video who claimed to have had a similar experience.
Others Reported Bad Experiences at Mercedes Dealerships
Ken was not alone in his bad experience. “I went to Mercedes Benz Park Place and had a check in hand. They wanted a copy of my degree to sell me a car. I laughed and walked out,” said one commenter. One also questioned why Ken went back a second time, and stated he never would have done so.
“They were rude and unhelpful to my husband and me in their service department. They’re the reason I did not get a Mercedes and went with Porsche,” said another. The sheer number of fellow buyers who had poor experiences was quite shocking. The level of service can make a huge difference to an experience.