4 hour wait for MB roadside recovery :(

[smillion]

Well, after 4 hours, lots of promises, no show, very disappointed. Looks like a flat battery and after 4 hours managed to turn over and spark up and drove home. Lost confidence in MB recovery though. RAC, or A A has to be better bet on this standard. Called 6 pm, at 10 pm told at least another 30 mins for a driver change...... Not pleased .....

 

[The _Don]

Don had a similar experience recently with his cls55, not good !

 

[jotter22]

Dont the AA get there finger out if your female?

Tony.

 

[The _Don]

Dont the AA get there finger out if your female?

Tony.

No they insert it in further.

 

[donshl]

That is terrible, sorry to hear about your troubles! I've had similar experience with Mobilo after promising within 40 mins, it was nearly 3 hors when they finally showed up!

Thank goodness I was not on my own, The_don was there too amongs many others.

Lucky you could start it up, my alternator was shot, therefore no chance of getting home!

Please do file a complaint.

Hope you get it sorted

 

[m1br]

I got a feedback questionnaire in the post a fortnight later.
At least they ask...
The 40min is standard spiel, mine was an hour an a half but I doubt the RAC could do what I needed.

 

[davidjpowell]

Not great. I have had long waits occasionally, but they have been good at keeping me informed.

It seems that they are more reluctant to call in Contractors to assist now. Understandable for some faults, but for a jump start it's not big and it's not clever.

 

[smillion]

On the final call they disclosed the name of the recovery/garage coming out and my heart sank. They are not Merc mechanics, and by 10.30 pm would simply be looking to recover rather than diagnose and hopefully repair.....

Complaint lodged and now sitting here this morning at home with a brew waiting to see who they now send, as the car refused to turnover this morning.

Thanks for sympathetic ears !! Made me feel less like a grumpy old git and that 4 hours is OTT.

Marc

 

[survey]

Really atrocious service; I would have been furious. I have discontinued my RAC membership whilst my car is under warranty and Mobilo covers UK and Europe. The real advantage in having ones car serviced at an MB franchise is that Mobilo is maintained. If it happens that the Mobilo service is poor or that they use contractors rather than a dedicated MB technician, then for me there will be no incentive to have my car serviced with MB and after my warranty expires I shall go to an indie.

 

[markjay]

My car was serviced by MB for the first 4 years and it has been serviced by Olly PCS since then.

Mobilo is a nice-to-have feature if you have the car serviced by MB anyway, but for me it is not a factor I would take into consideration as such.

The appalling service I had from MB compared to the fantastic service I had from Olly is what did it for me.

 

[Rory]

Mobilo is a nice-to-have feature if you have the car serviced by MB anyway,

It's not nice-to-have if it doesn't work when you need it.

 

[smillion]

Well, I called at 8am this morning, they said inside 2 hours a local agent would arrive. I expressed disappointment as it was the same company that was promised last night, and so was offered a Merc technician from 9.30. I agreed on the basis that at least he might have a battery.......he arrived at 10.45, diagnosed by 11.15 (new battery required) he collected from local Merc dealer but not fitted and completed until 1 pm. That's 5 hours start to finish. Battery took 10 mins to fit. Paperwork was 15 mins !

Sigh, in the old days a new battery from Halfords would have done

Anyway, call from MB this afternoon expressing concern about last nights experience: apologies all round and three bottles if wine on the way.

I have to say, that given the choice based on yesterday and indeed today, the AA or RAC would perhaps have faired better......

 

[ricardo62]

Well, I called at 8am this morning, they said inside 2 hours a local agent would arrive. I expressed disappointment as it was the same company that was promised last night, and so was offered a Merc technician from 9.30. I agreed on the basis that at least he might have a battery.......he arrived at 10.45, diagnosed by 11.15 (new battery required) he collected from local Merc dealer but not fitted and completed until 1 pm. That's 5 hours start to finish. Battery took 10 mins to fit. Paperwork was 15 mins !

Sigh, in the old days a new battery from Halfords would have done

Anyway, call from MB this afternoon expressing concern about last nights experience: apologies all round and three bottles if wine on the way.

I have to say, that given the choice based on yesterday and indeed today, the AA or RAC would perhaps have faired better......

3 tls of wine lets hope its not lambrini!!

 

[Ant-toe-knee]

I've not needed to use them yet but if I do I will see what happens.

 

[grober]

I reckon its similar the NHS out of hours emergency service. It's calculated by some spreadsheet wizard on the resources required to handle average demand. If unfortunately you break down [ have a heart attack] during a peak period of demand you are screwed! Designing a system sufficiently flexible to cope with periods of high demand by temporary allocation of extra resources seems to be a concept beyond the number crunchers. It appears to be a bit of a crapshoot as the Americans so graphically put it.

 

[Dieselman]

I have to say, that given the choice based on yesterday and indeed today, the AA or RAC would perhaps have faired better......

I had breakdown cover with Admiral and had them out to two different cars. Response was about 40 minutes each time, both times with a recovery lorry, but only needed first time due to corroded brake pipes on the Merc...of course...
Second time was a knackered battery on a car new to me.

 

[ucr]

4 hours to get a beer and call out the wife with the jump leads

 

[IanA2]

A few years I waited several hours for Mobilo, in the end I called the AA who came quickly and resolved the problem. Since then I've cover with RAC via NFU. Needed them twice and twice they have responded in under 30 mins.

 

[smillion]

4 hours to get a beer and call out the wife with the jump leads

Fair point but
2 things;

1. For the final 3 hours they kept saying they were 20 minutes away, so you just tend to hang in there, added to which :-

2. having had Mercs for 20 years I know when It needs a battery, and a jump start just don't cure a fecked battery. Proved today when they changed a 2 year old battery with 22000 miles on it ....

I wanted diagnosis and cure, not a jump start ......

Cheers

 

[219]

Surprised your car needed a battery at only two years old !

I replaced the battery in my W126 after 4-1/2 years use ( and the battery looked as though it had been in the car a while when I bought it ) ; the new Bosch battery came with a five year guarantee and , from past experience , they tend to last a lot longer than that .

I suppose you could be unlucky to have had a duff battery , but I'd be wondering if there is something amiss with your charging system ?

In almost 40 years of Mercedes motoring I've only needed recovery once ( paid a local garage to come out ) due to a seized diff , and once got my sister to tow me home due to a fried ignition module . The handful of other minor things that have happened ( cracked distributor cap , broken fan belt , loose breather hose , gear lever came out in my hand ! ) I have always been able to fix myself at the roadside . Oh , and yes I once had a flat battery after stupidly leaving the lights on , but always carry jump leads and got a jump off a passer by .

I have also has numerous minor problems which never resulted in being stranded anywhere , and normally fixed at home .

I have had RAC and Green Flag cover via my car insurance and bank , but have never used it .