Goodwill warranty repairs

[Phil D]

Can anyone advise how to go about getting some contribution from MB ? Details are in my "Pads binding" post in the brakes section, but basically I'm looking at a hefty bill on a car just out of warranty - also does the fact that I'm using an indie for this job - full dealer service history till now - affect things ?
Many thanks in anticipation, the car's booked in to have the work done on Thursday and I'd like to know if there's anything I should be doing before then
Phil

 

[Rory]

On a brake item they may have said it's wear and tear anyway, but you would be completely wasting your time pursuing Mercedes if the job is being done by an indie.

I suppose you could rationalise it that the the pads on their own at the MB dealer (who probably would want to change the disks too) would probably cost as much as the indie is charging for the whole job.

 

[Phil D]

Thanks Rory - I feared as much but it still irks that I've had loads of cars over the years from bangers to decent stuff, done some huge mileages and never once had this fault !

 

[euclidb2]

hi Phil,if it bothers you this much then sit down and either write a letter or e- mail the managing director of MB/UK. Milton Keynes,his name is Dermot Kelly,i did this a few years ago on advice from his PA,and did get results.His e-mail address is Dermot.KellyatDaimlerChrysler.co.uk explaining your problem and cheekily ask if they would be prepared to pay some sort of contribution.If yer don't ask yer don't get.GOODLUCK...........NB i put at instead of @ in e mail address as it kept putting my address book up

 

[jberks]

Phil,
Going alone I'd say you have little chance.

Our indie found the brake pipes corroded badly on our 4 year old E. Rather than replace them, we approached the dealer (Derwent). They couldn't corroborate it, so had us take it to their MOT guy who agreed that the pipes were a probable MOT fail or would be in a year or so. Armed with this and our point that a 4 or even 5 year old merc shouldn't be failing MOTs, the dealer took it up with MB on our behalf.
But
Firstly, they stood to get the work which must have served as an incentive for them to fight for us. We didn't get a yes immediately and then got an offer of a contribution before finally getting 100%. What the final deal between MB and the dealer was we don't know, they just took the car in and fixed it. Secondly they could corroborate the details of the problem as it was still on the car.

Had the dealer fitted the previous pads or the dealer stripped it and found the problem, you may have been in with a chance, but trying to get them to pay for a caliper which their dealer hasn't repaired or maintained, after the fact, is going to be a tough task. From their point of view for example, how do they know that proper MB pads were installed and that they were installed correctly? That the caliper wasn't damaged by a previous mechanic?

Its always a gamble. In this case, you'd probably have been better off with the dealer than the indie and may have got away with a freebie, but there is no way you could have known that going in. Chalk it down to one of those things and move on. I suspect all fighting MB will achieve is to frustrate you. Maybe worth a letter though.

 

[Phil D]

hi jberks - once again you are right - I expected a pretty straightforward job and got hit with a stinker - the last garage to do anything to my brakes was MB Harrogate who fitted discs & pads - but that was well over a year ago.
I will write - after all it's a bit of my time and the cost of a stamp - but it's so disappointing once again to have to shell out big money for something that should not have gone wrong in the first place.

 

[Rory]

I will write - after all it's a bit of my time and the cost of a stamp

I don't see any point, to be honest, although I usually feel better after writing out such letters even if I don't send them, as it gets it out of my system.

MB-UK isn't going to give you money back - they probably don't even have the capability of doing that, and you'll only feel worse if they say, "ah, well, if you'd taken it to a franchised dealer then blah blah blah".

 

[euclidb2]

I don't see any point, to be honest, although I usually feel better after writing out such letters even if I don't send them, as it gets it out of my system.

MB-UK isn't going to give you money back - they probably don't even have the capability of doing that, and you'll only feel worse if they say, "ah, well, if you'd taken it to a franchised dealer then blah blah blah".

Take a quick look at this Rory,you to Phil,

1. http://www.mercedesforum.com/m_74426/mpage_5/key_/tm.htm

 

[Rory]

Take a quick look at this Rory,you to Phil,

1. http://www.mercedesforum.com/m_74426/mpage_5/key_/tm.htm

That reads like it was repaired within the franchised dealer network though?

Don't get me wrong, I would be right at MB if this happened to me and the car was being repaired by an MB dealer - getting stuff repaired FOC out of warranty is a hobby of mine. Had Dell here a few wks ago to replace the screen on a 32mth old laptop that had 12mth warranty.

 

[hawk20]

Can anyone advise how to go about getting some contribution from MB ? Details are in my "Pads binding" post in the brakes section, but basically I'm looking at a hefty bill on a car just out of warranty - also does the fact that I'm using an indie for this job - full dealer service history till now - affect things ?
Many thanks in anticipation, the car's booked in to have the work done on Thursday and I'd like to know if there's anything I should be doing before then
Phil

Whatever people tell you, there are numerous postings on this and other forums showing that MB do make goodwill contributions even to those without full MBSH.

BUT they do of course look at the service history and those who have FMBSH have more of a chance of a goodwill contribution and it is likely to be larger.

There is a little known aspect of MobiloLife that offers special goodwill help on cars up to 4 years old.

This is what it says on the MB website under MobiloLife (‘our best kept secret’)

“Cover for repairs lasting more than two man-hours at a Mercedes-Benz Authorised Repairer.

Up to 4 years' cover.”

http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/con...t_kept_secret/mobilo_life_explained.0003.html

Always worth asking IMO.

 

[jberks]

Whatever people tell you, there are numerous postings on this and other forums showing that MB do make goodwill contributions even to those without full MBSH.

Always worth asking IMO.

Hawk,
I agree its worth asking, but, I have never heard of MB sending out cheques. I have seen dealer's bills being cancelled but whate the exact arrangement is between the dealership and MB I can't say. It may well be that the dealer also swallows some of the cost, or they have some form of cross charge mechanism and zero priced parts - but I very much doubt that MB actually pay any bills. Even a warrantied car would struggle here. FMBSH is almost irrelevant in these cases as the crucial point is that the car is not being repaired at a dealer. Had Phil taken it back to MB Harrogate then I suspect he'd have been in with a pretty good chance of a goodwill repair but then hindsight is a wonderful thing. With a sqeaky or binding brake I too would probably have thought I'm not paying £100 per hour for someone to free it off and done exactly the same thing.

If you take a warrantied car to an indie and he does work that would have been covered under warranty, I am not aware (and my indie wasn't aware) of any mechanism by which the money could be recovered. Parts are a prime example. There is no way that MBUK are going to refund the full retail cost when they could simply zero charge the parts out of the warehouse as a vasltly lower book price.
So, whilst I did have a non franchised garage do some of the servicing and repairs, anything that I suspected could be warranty work was strictly sent to the dealership. On our goodwill repairs, we were able to tell the garage to leave the brake pipes untouched and take it back to the dealership. Had we authorised the repair, I doubt we'd have seen a penny.

 

[Rory]

“Cover for repairs lasting more than two man-hours at a Mercedes-Benz Authorised Repairer.

The repair in question is likely to be under 2hrs, it's not at a Mercedes dealer and, as it's a braking component, it may well be deemed to be "wear and tear" anyway.

Apart from that, it's worth claiming. However, as always, the Mobilo coverage is delightfully unclear.
Does it only apply in the case of a breakdown? Does it cover parts, or just the excess labour beyond 2hrs? Will the dealership deny such a scheme exists, or covers your car, if you try to use it?

As I've said before, I wouldn't be at all amused to have to pay anything for unexpected repairs within the first 5 years regardless of the warranty period. I've had springs replaced on a Clio at 4yrs FOC (and that was in the days of 1 yr warranty) and there's a couple of threads on HonestJohn about Honda replacing an engine at 5yrs (whose last service had been at an independant) and an auto box at 7yrs.

 

[hawk20]

Hawk,
I agree its worth asking, but, I have never heard of MB sending out cheques. .

In my experience, they agree with the customer a percentage reduction in the bill and they agree with the dealer what proportion of this will come from MB.

Dealers have a fund of their own for goodwill with clients they especially value or who they feel have suffered bad luck and they can contribute even if a claim to MB has failed. But most cases I have seen have involved MB contributing. The precise accounting method they use for settlement, I don't know.

There are numerous cases of MB making goodwill contributions where FMBSH is not present -but of course it helps and they do bear it in mind.

 

[grpar]

hi jberks - once again you are right - I expected a pretty straightforward job and got hit with a stinker - the last garage to do anything to my brakes was MB Harrogate who fitted discs & pads - but that was well over a year ago.
I will write - after all it's a bit of my time and the cost of a stamp - but it's so disappointing once again to have to shell out big money for something that should not have gone wrong in the first place.

How much is the bill, PhilD ... ?

 

[Phil D]

just short of 400 quid mostly parts - as jberks suggests I was expecting about an hour's labour for freeing off a sticky caliper & maybe new pads