First Experience of Service Plus...

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Some of you may have seen my thread the other day where I said that my "brake pad wear" warning had come on. Well I phoned on Tuesday and had the car booked in for today. Arrived a little early but they took the car in anyway. Turned out I needed front and rear pads changing as well as the front disks as they had corroded.

The garage very kindly offered me an office to use so I could do some work whilst I was waiting and then popped in from time to time to see if I wanted tea or coffee. I picked up the garage's wireless network so I could check my e-mails (had my laptop with me) and do some work.

After about 2 hours the service guy popped his head arround the corner and gave me the keys back and said it was all done. I jumped in the car and drove off. Not a penny exchanged hands and the whole experience was very civilised.

So far then, 10/10 for Service Plus. Not sure how much 4 break pads, 2 disks and 2 hours labour would cost but I expect it must be around the £400 mark (nearly £200 just for labour).

I have it booked in for a service on the 14th and this time they are coming to collect the car. I'll let you know if that experience was as satisfactory.

 

[Blobcat]

I've found the problem with Service Plus at last, they don't fit the correct parts. Break pads must be a lot cheaper than Brake pads.......


Seriously, I hope you are keeping a tab on how much the Service Plus is costing per month and how much repair/servicing work is being done. Looking at my costs (self insure) I have spent ~£1,500 less than a Service Plus contract, however that could have been wiped out in one visit.

 

[bitonw]

Excellent! Next year (June) when my warranty expires I will buy an Service Plus too!

Nice to hack in the wireless network :lol: Does remember me years ago when driving around with my laptop in the car to hack in companies wireless networks.

 

[benzo]

Still need to determine whether it is worth getting service plus while in warranty (You still have to pay for service) or whether to get service plus INSTEAD of extending the warranty when it expires.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

I've found the problem with Service Plus at last, they don't fit the correct parts. Break pads must be a lot cheaper than Brake pads.......


Seriously, I hope you are keeping a tab on how much the Service Plus is costing per month and how much repair/servicing work is being done. Looking at my costs (self insure) I have spent ~£1,500 less than a Service Plus contract, however that could have been wiped out in one visit.

for a year the service plus is a smidge over £900 (for me). If the work I have just had done (and I aplogyze hole hartedly for the speling ) was £350-£400 and the service is £500 then I've pretty much made my money back already and that doesn't include the MOT (which is also covered) and an A Service in the spring. some you win some you lose, I think in this case it was a good bet.

 

[Rory]

The garage very kindly offered me an office to use so I could do some work whilst I was waiting and then popped in from time to time to see if I wanted tea or coffee. I picked up the garage's wireless network so I could check my e-mails (had my laptop with me) and do some work.

That's very different to my dealer - I asked if there was somewhere I could work and was directed to the sofa in the waiting area. I was a bit miffed to find that another person waiting had been shown to an office.
I asked about wireless internet access - they said 'what's that'!

Thanks for the write up though. As for the timing about getting ServicePlus, it would obviously be very beneficial if you could sign up shortly before you needed pads and disks (I think there's a minumum wait of 3000 miles before MB will pay). If it looks like I'm going to keep my car (it's just 2 yrs old now, but I'm very undecided) then I'm pretty sure I would sign up for ServicePlus in the middle of the cars 3rd year.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

yep, they make you wait 3 months before you can make a claim so you need to do it at least 3 months before a service is due. Apparently when my car was last serviced (by the dealer as it was due when I was buying it) the pads were 85% warn and the disks were shown as corroded and would need replacing. I'm surprised they didn't pick up on this when they inspected the car for service plus but that's their loss.

If anyone is interested the garage is Tony Purlsow in Guildford.

btw, they have an amazing AMG SL55 for sale if anyone's feeling flushed.

 

[benzo]

the pads were 85% warn and the disks were shown as corroded and would need replacing....

Did they discover this during the service or is there some menu in the car that picks this up? I know it sounds a silly question but you never know these days...

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

apparently they picked it up on the service. When I called to book it in for the brakes I asked if it was likely to need disks too and she looked-up the service record and it was recorded on that.

I must say the brake service warning is ****** anoying. It comes up over the top of everything else and you can make it go away by selecting a different menu but it comes back again after about 5 seconds. Some times it came back instantly and just wouldn't go away. Just when you start the car would be sufficient!

 

[bitonw]

Sure but brakes are brakes and you are happy when they work... :lol:

 

[kth286]

Tony Purslow in Basingstoke are also very civilised.

They have a scheme where cars over a certain age (6 yrs I think) have a free MOT.

Mine is booked in next week, and I had a reminder from them today - and was everything still OK for the appointment to be kept,sir.

They offer discount on parts and labour for the older car too if work has to be done.

I've only used them for MOT, and once when I had a new ECU coded that I fitted myself, but they see me as "a valuable customer".

As I do all my own work, they are unlikely to make a profit on me, but I will recomend them to everyone.

 

[Blobcat]

Tony Purslow in Basingstoke are also very civilised.

They have a scheme where cars over a certain age (6 yrs I think) have a free MOT.

Mine is booked in next week, and I had a reminder from them today - and was everything still OK for the appointment to be kept,sir.

They offer discount on parts and labour for the older car too if work has to be done.

I've only used them for MOT, and once when I had a new ECU coded that I fitted myself, but they see me as "a valuable customer".

As I do all my own work, they are unlikely to make a profit on me, but I will recomend them to everyone.

They obviously understand customer service which so few do. It's not that hard really, the secret is in the title 'C u s t o m e r S e r v i c e' :!:

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

so in the unlikely event that anyone from Tony Purslow reads this, you seem to be single handedly upholding what used to be the good name of Mercedes Benz. Well done.

 

[bitonw]

You can add Mercedes Benz of Coventry to this list!