Mobilo Life Experiences?

[blassberg]

I) Good

Window switch broke at start of a 200 mile round trip with deadline. Drove 30 miles with driver window open then met mercedes international rescue (whatever?) who intercepted my route and overrode something to close it and sent msg to dealers to get me booked in for repair.

 

[blassberg]

II) Bad

ML270, camping holiday, 4 kids, hot weather took camping fridge. Left it plugged in overnight. No cleverness (on mine nor the car's part) to stop the battery draining to flat. Couldn't start.

MB, "my fault" therefore £150.

Luckily a company car so called AA who came in 15 minutes in a rover 25 and jump started it free of charge.

Why would you design a 12V socket and no battery protection to get you started? You gonna run ur iron lung off it?

 

[Morzine]

Good:

Broken steering pump at 1400= km, car picked up on trailer repaired on sunday and dellivered back on monday. Garage floor cleaned of excess fluids.

Non starter after six years on same battery, arranged pick up and transfer to local dealer. Replaced battery and returned. Yes more expensive than getting one myself but it's not the point, service is there to be used.

Rust issues have been dealt with and currently on-going.

As I live in Germany I should speak German, hmm, nice idea however the mobilo people all seem to speak and handle my queries in pleasant English.


Bad:

Range Rover, oops wrong company, never again.

See ya,

 

[lwlwoo]

Not a happy experience with Mobilo life

I always thought Mobilo life is some sort of an alternative roadside assistance to the likes of AA or RAC for Mercedes drivers whose vehicles are qualified for claiming it. The main aim is to keep the driver mobile or look after him or her in times of breakdown - in a special M-B way! My recent experience with calling Mobilo life for help has changed my attitude towards it completely. My conclusion is 'What's the point!'.

My year 2000 E320 CDI Estate broke down out of the blue when I was in London last Sunday because of an ABS pump failure. It leaked terminally despite the car has done only ca. 37,800 miles. I've posted the details and outcome of this breakdown under the brakes section.

Because of my car is 5 years old and out of warranty, Mobilo Life will not assist free of charge unless I have my service log book with me to show the assisting technician that the car is qualifed for Mobilo Life. Since I've read somewhere in several motoring magazines that it will not be a good practice to leave the service book in an M-B car because the car will worth more when stolen. For this reason, I opted to leave the book at home. My next advice was to provide credit card details for Mobilo Life to secure payment which can be reimbursed retrospectively upon presenting the service book to the local dealer within 7 working days.

Although I was sure my car would qualify for Mobilo life assistance because it has been serviced twice by authorised M-B dealer with the last one done just over a year ago, I did not want to give them my credit card details because I wasn't sure what they will charge and what not. Since I'm also a member of RAC comprehensive rescue, I had to decide if risking being charged is worth it or seeking rescue from RAC, which is free of charge, is the way to go. When pursued this point further, I was told that if the car could not be fixed on the roadside it will be recovered to the nearest M-B dealer (London). What next? I asked the call centre technician and he said the assistance in effect would stop there.

Since it was 9.30 pm at that time and the fact that I have two young girls with me, my only intention was to bring us four home as quickly as possible. When I pursued the gentleman at the call centre about our situation because of young children, he asked if I've got a driving licence with me after seeking further advice from his manager himself. No, was my unfortunate answer since it has not been my habit to do so and it is also not yet mandatory by law. The reply that I received was that in which case M-B could not get a loan car for me without me showing my licence. When I asked finally if this is it with regard to what Mobile Life could do for me, the answer was yes.

To cut the long story short, our car and the family were recovered by RAC at the end back to Somerset, some 100 miles away but we did not arrive home until 3.30 am!

My questions to M-B are these:

1) Where does it say in any documentation related to Mobile Life that driver whose M-B vehicle is out of warranty but entitled for Mobilo Life assistance must carry a valid service book with them? From what I've read, we just need to call and give the vehicle details when the car breaks down.
2) Is it that difficult for M-B to run a centralised database with information stored about all their cars which have a service history with their authorised dealers?
3) Where can I find the advice that a loan car can only be issued unless a driving licence can be presented? While this is a reasonable demand because DVLA was not available for checking at the time of my breakdown, M-B has the duty to advise about carrying driving licence since breakdowns can happen anytime of the day and any day of the week.
4) Why did the technician at the call centre that night not advise me on other Mobile Life entitlements available that could have taken us home that evening, such as taxi and train fares allowance? Incidentally, the current rates for these have come down significantly in comparison with those listed in my service book which was printed at least 5 years ago. I thought these rates should have been adjusted according to inflation. The fact they have been deflated clearly indicates that M-B is losing money on Mobilo Life as their cars are qetting so unreliable these days.

I'm glad that we are a member of RAC because of our second car, a VW. It would be more disastrous for us that night if we had nothing but Mobilo Life to go by. The scheme looks fine on paper but I doubted if M-B can deliver the way they used to anymore. I reckon they will refuse help whenever there is an excuse for not doing so.

FPM