Flat battery - £184!

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Sat 20 Mar 2004 14:46
Flat battery - £184! - MBwhy
Beware all ye thinking you don't need breakdown service with Merc.
This week on calling MB 24h when my car won't start, I get a request for a credit card but it's only a precaution in case the cause is a flat battery, that failure isn't covered and the cost is £184! Anyay the car starts, I cancel the call-out before they arrive, find the card has already been debited, they confirm it will be credited. Then a letter arrives later from MB advising it is being charged!
Has anyone else come across this insidious procedure which exceeds the full annual cost of any breakdown service I've ever seen.

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Sat 20 Mar 2004 15:39
Flat battery - £184! - Marcos{P}
Is the cae still under warranty?
If so you are even entitled to a can of petrol if you run out under the Mobilo Life scheme.
Sounds a bit strange
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Sat 20 Mar 2004 15:43
Flat battery - £184! - Aprilia
Yes, I have heard they do this. The reason is that the car hadn\'t broken down - it started before they arrived and therefore you made a \'false call\'.
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Mon 29 Mar 2004 14:27
Flat battery - £184! - MBwhy
Sorry re late reply - on hol. The false service isn\'t the issue. They advised the charge would only be made if it was a flat battery, then later confirmed that it had been ALREADY BEEN made BEFORE they arrived or KNEW the fault, then CONFIRMED that it would be removed when I cancelled the call before arrival. There is no response whatsoever to my letter to the Mercedes Benz manager. Quite simply MBservice told 2 direct lies. Such ethics stink. Neither my wife nor I (who both own MBs) will ever buy another. It seems they need some training from Toyota who understand about life-time customers.
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Mon 29 Mar 2004 21:43
Flat battery - £184! - Aprilia
Oh, I see. That does sound very unethical. I would take it up with your credit card issuer.
Heard a story from a friend who is director of a local building company. A colleague of his was driving up the M1 from London in nearly-new E-class when he started having problems with the brakes not reponding properly and generally feeling dangerous.
Pulled over and called MB. They came out. Tried the brakes (which now felt normal) and said there was 'no fault found' - so billed him best part of £200 for the call!
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Mon 29 Mar 2004 23:15
Flat battery - £184! - Marcos{P}
I don't understand this.
I have called them out before when I had a stone stuck in the brake shield. I managed to get the stone out 5 mins before the service24 van got to me and the bloke just laughed.
I have had to call them out twice with a non-starting car, which is now fixed at last and they have never asked me for a credit card or anything only apologised if they cant get to me within 45mins.
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