MobiloLife - Unpleasant supprise

[Acloud]

Having broken down on the M6 over the May bank holiday in the early
hours of Monday morning , I assured my wife an young childern, "not to worry, Mercedes Mobilolife" would take our car for repair and give us another to comlete our journey.

BUT NO, not so simple. Because I only had the Security Card part of my driving licence, Mercedes refused to give me a hire car. Saying that they
could not check my details for 2 days until DVLC returned fro May Holidays.
(Apparently if it was normal working hours and not a holiday they can verify details.)

They did ofer to put me up in a hotel, but I explained that I had a car full of family and posessions, and the baggage was too much and heavy to carry.
And would not be able to use a train. Not that they offered taxi or train as
an alternative.

They asked me to pay £480 to get taken home.

So they took the car but left us stranded!!! I had to call my brother in law, and he traveled from Preston to pick us up at Stoke, to take us to Bedfordshire. He left a very sick wife to help us. The whole thing took us over 5 hours to get home from time of breakdown.

But Mobilolife would not and said that it was "THE Rules" when I asked where
these requirements where stated they agreed it wasnt clear but I only had to ASK!.

So ther is a WARNING to all of us "Always carry your full licence" or Mercedes will not commit to getting you and your loved ones home. This of course adds to risk of getting car and licence stolen if you leave it in the car.

I for one am going to join the AA or RAC, at least they will get you to your destination, and not leave you stranded if you've forgotten all your licence.

Comments please

 

[EuroCLK320]

Hmm, aint got the small print with me but does it say you have to have your license with you?

I take it they just want some positive proof of identity? My old style license would not provide that anyway.

 

[GlynC]

Mobilo???

Thanks for the tip off
That sounds like a raw deal to me... these two bits of a so called "new style" licence are a farce anyway, what is the point of having a card if it isn't acceptable for anything! Hire firms won't take it either.
Another total waste of time
My sympathy for your ruined bank holiday trip!

 

[Acloud]

I have read through all of the Mobilo Life documentation in the Service book and a Full Licence (both parts) is not a requirement, it doesnt even mention that you need your licence with you.

I know that many people simply dont carry licences.

but its my feeling of being grossly let down, by an organisation that would leave a family and children stranded. Because of "unwritten" rules.

 

[mlc]

As I dont benefit from this cover I cant look at my document, however a simple fact of life in the UK is that you have to produce both parts of your driving licence to prove that you actually have the licence. I know its stupid, and I only carry the plastic bit but all that proves is that you once had a license, the paper part shows the endorsments / bans etc. you should not be able to get a hirer or loan car without both parts UNLESS the DVLA is open and they can confirm your licence details AND the hirer company is prepared to go to the trouble.

Did you get a bum deal - Yes, would the AA or RAC have given a better deal - Yes, provided you had sufficent cover with them, would I ever rely on "free" cover provided with the car - never! You sadly got what you paid for - nothing.

I dont mean to sound hard but this forum is full of people compaining about this cover, so perhaps it is time to realise that it is of limited value.

Mark.

 

[GlynC]

car cover

I have to say I disagree
I have had a number of motors over the past few years where cover was supplied Jaguars Lexus and Audi. Never have I heard of this!! Most use the AA or the RAC and you get a full belts and braces job with many. My wife has a new Hyundai and that gets RAC cover which even covered us driving in Europe FOC earlier this year. I am appalled at what our fellow Merc driver and his family had to endure here. Part of the price we pay for the car is to have this type of thing included and it should be of a reasonable quality. This type of cover should be comprehensive and not leave you stranded... I would pen a letter to MB customer services and explain to them what happened. I'm sure Auto Epxress wouyld be interested too!
This "new" licence is a total joke anyway. Why have two parts when all of it is needed in many situations??
But they should never have just left you stranded!

 

[OlafMaxwell]

There is a problem here and in fairness to Mobilo it is not of their making. However they should advise their users, no question about that.

Mobilo works on the basis that it guarantees a replacement car. That's ok, but it comes from a hire company [Avis/Hertz or anyone else convenient] and all hire companies seem to look for the two parts of the UK driving licence before they will give you a car. I don't know why there is a need for a two part licence in the UK but that's how it is, the Irish one is a single document. I know from hiring cars etc either in UK or Ireland there is always a sign up that UK licence holders must produce both parts of the licence to get the car. Its a condition imposed by the hiring companies and not by Mobilo. I do think however that Mobilo should make this clear but nowhere in the documentation is there any reference to it. They may have a problem enforcing it retrospectively which thay have done in your case. As far as I can see you met the stated conditions but they failed to honour them.

You should also be aware of this licence issue if you are travelling abroad as you will not be able to get a replacement car abroad either if you have to call in Mobilo. The only way around that is if you are lucky enough to do it during office hours you may be able to transfer your own insurance and avoid the issue.

Also, you need to be able to offer a credit card guarantee to cover insurance excess on the car Mobilo give you. Effectively you need to be able to at all times meet the normal Hertz/Avis/Alamo conditions for hiring a car to benefit from Mobilo who then pick up the bill for the 5 days or whatever time is agreed.

I know this is not much help, in fact Mercedes seem to be bottom of the pile when it comes to customer help and consideration. It would be nice if they thought ahead instead of letting things like that happen. It would not have taken much for them to tell UK licence holders that to benefit from Mobilo they must have both parts of their licence.

I wonder how they would react if you have some major accidents history or 11 penalty points since they don't actually reserve the right to refuse a car to high risk drivers or charge an age loading. You can't generally hire a car at 18 so what happens an 18 year old with Mobilo......does not say anything about that either!!

 

[mlc]

Glen,

I assume that its me that you dont agree with. I agree completley that new cars come with comprehensive breakdown cover and that this is often provided by the AA or RAC. My understanding is that the MB offering is via the dealer network. The big difference is that the AA / RAC are working to a service level agreement and have to provide that regardless of cost, so for instance if its 02:00 on a bank holiday , you are in Stoke and the nearest hire car office that is open is at Manchester airport, they will take you for the car. I suspect the MB mechanic is thinking that if he packs you off quickly he can get back to bed! My original point is that this cover is "free" - so how can you expect it to be as good as a service that would cost you £100 - £150 per year to buy on the open market? Do we really think that the cost of servicing an MB is so inflated that they can throw in that much cover for free?

Finally, whilst I dont know the full details of your wifes cover with the RAC I confidenty predict that if you have the misfortune to need a replacement car at 2 oclock in the morning and you dont have both parts of your driving licence with you you wouldnt get a replacement car.

Mark.

 

[GlynC]

I have had the occassion to use manuafacturers cover bother here and in France and never once had any issue with them at various times of day and night, in fact once stuck up a French Mountain with no clutch and they came out within minutes.
You may note the point you make on the driving licence .. I totally agree with and I was discussing the totally pointless arrangements we have of having two speparate pieces of information.
My cover with Lexus was faultless and believe me I needed it. They operate a call centre with the RAC and their cover matches the best you can buy. I don't think you can rubbish this cover without having experienced it and to suggest we need to maintain additional cover is wrong in many cases. I actually rang the RAC to check if the cover was the same before I cancelled mine and they confirmed this was the case. This applied to both Lexus and Hyundai who use the RAC

 

[Acloud]

Update by Acloud

Well I have taken this to Mercedes Customer Service and basically they say tough, they do not wish to comment on fact that real terms and conditions are not stated in MoboloLife service booklet.

But to add more insult to my injury, I did not imediately take a replacement hire car when I got home as I was working from home for a few days, when I was told by Stoke that the care was ready, I phoned MobiloLife for a replacement hire car to use to pick up mine.

AND GUESS WHAT they told me that I wasnt entitled because my car was no longer in repair, Loan cars apparently only available while the car is being repaired. It was again my problem that the car was 150 miles away!

Thankfully, Stoke Mercedes agreed to return the car today at thier cost and good will, Well done Stoke-on-Trent Mercedes, but SHAME on ercedes Mobilo Life. :-( Maybe its time for me move to a different "Quality" manufacturer.

 

[GlynC]

Glad your sorted mate
How old is your car... is it still under warranty?

 

[mlc]

Glyn.

Its good to here that your experience with the RAC was positive, and is only to be expected, but comparing that with the 30 year "free" cover from MB is not comparing like with like, a search on here will show that our friends bank holiday expereice is not unusual.

I am suprised at your comment that the RAC confirmed that the Lexus cover was just the same as the cover you were paying for. The vast majority of personal members of the AA and RAC are covering themselves and their families not their cars. This means that regardless of the vehicle you are driving or a passenger in you can obtain assistance. As generous as the Lexus cover may have been they are not going to help when you are broken down as a passenger in a friends car. If you and your family are fortunate enough to only ever own, drive and travel in new cars under warranty then your safe, the rst of us need cover.

The MB website gives a little info on this cover, but refers you to the delaership to collect a copy of the T+C's of the cover. I will be amazed if that does not tell you that a replacement car is only available under the standard conditions of the major hire companies, we may think that MB do things badly sometimes but they are not that stupid.

Finally you are correct that I have not used this service, however I would claim a little market knowledge. I spent nearly 20 years in fleet management, including transport consultancy and international logistics. I also had 5 years at the AA. I have had the good fortune to have had lots of free cover on cars over the years and never had the misfortune to need it. Throughout however I have always kept my paid for cover which I have used and would strongly recommend to anyone.

Mark.

 

[GlynC]

Mark
I think you have taken what I was saying wrong
I am amazed the cover seems so shallow from MB
The Lexus cover was superb and both my wife and I were given cards for the Lexus assistance which extended to any car I was in ... I queried this with them and had it confirmed.
I bow to your knowledge of fleet cover etc. I have no knowledge of this my cars are my own, been a long time since I had company cars.
I was more interested to know if this type of treatment was a reflection of the cover MB provide.
I also have a couple of older motors which I have to have separate cover for too, so hopefully I should get stuck.. and hopefully I won't ever need to find out

 

[OlafMaxwell]

MLC, my Mobilo does not say anything at all about the standard car hire conditions regarding age restrictions, having your licence with you, credit card guarantee etc. We are given the UK printed edition complete with UK phone numbers and nowhere does it mention the requirement to even carry a driving licence never mind the need to have the two parts of the UK licence when you are travelling in the UK or abroad. I had a big battle over that here despite the fact that I always carry my driving licence [it's now a legal requirement here]. The Mobilo is probably fine if you carry the licence but to be honest my second experience with it was also a nightmare. In basic terms Mercedes first look at how they can avoid a claim before they deal with it. Imagine how much money they save by not printing those conditions. Probably about 5% of the business they lose over pennypinching.

 

[Acloud]

Update

Have taken out private recovery cover both myself and wife for £67.18p.
- doesnt matter what car
- take passengers and car to destination
- provides hire car during repair (will check small print)

- Gives me peace of mind.

Oh, MC have written to me to ask for Customer Feedback,,,, this is going to be a long letter.

Thanks for all interest, I as you can see I have gone for both belt and bracers. As my warranty is up this summer may look for independent servicing as well.