Sbc no contribution

[turbopete]

Thanks Malcolm yes I will I am going to compile a dossier on the whole episode, as soon as I come back from my holidays, I am off to France on thursday for a full week yahooo.

Kind Regards
Alfie B

go for it Alfie! i dont think theres anyone here thats read of your problems that isnt backing you!

 

[ALFIEBEARD]

Hi Pete and all the guys who have read my post and replied and gave me good advice,
I really appreciate all your help and hopefully I will be able to make the public aware of how my dealings with Mercedes have gone, its such a shame for the sake of a small contribution to the cost of the parts required to make my car safe again they are going to get such adverse publicity,
This is a bad time for Mercedes to get such poor customer relations as they are really pushing the new E Class, I considered buying this new model prior to my dealings with Mercedes Customer services, but I would not touch one with a bargepole now.
I wonder what the situation would have been if the M6 had been wet when my rear wheel started locking up??. I reckon I would have lost control and it could have resulted in a fatality as there were cars all around me.
Well thanks again and I will start my campaign when I get back from France:.
In the meantime any advice will be as always gratefully received,and I will reply on my return.

Kind Regards and thanks again.
Alfie B
PS WE ARE GOING TO FRANCE IT MY WIFES TOYOTA AVENSIS, SO WE SHOULD COME BACK IN ONE PIECE, CAROL WONT DRIVE THE MERCEDES SINCE THE BRAKES FAILED.

 

[lingsim]

My September 2003 E320CDI had the SBC fix under warranty a few weeks back at MB Stratford (London)

I hope this helps!!

 

[television]

My September 2003 E320CDI had the SBC fix under warranty a few weeks back at MB Stratford (London)

I hope this helps!!

Did it just stop or was it a major problem

 

[BravoEchoUniform]

amazingly poor service you are getting. You are not even asking for them to fix at no cost, just to make a contrib.

Tough times for the industry, they are paying for their overheads anyway and the markup on parts is huge. They could probly cut the bill in half and still make a profit on the job. bad business and meanwhile they are losing their reputation big time. My recent dealer customer service experiences with what is my 5th Merc in a row are now making me think about which non Merc car I should buy next.

 

[Dosco]

amazingly poor service you are getting. You are not even asking for them to fix at no cost, just to make a contrib.

Tough times for the industry, they are paying for their overheads anyway and the markup on parts is huge. They could probly cut the bill in half and still make a profit on the job. bad business and meanwhile they are losing their reputation big time. My recent dealer customer service experiences with what is my 5th Merc in a row are now making me think about which non Merc car I should buy next.

Welcome to the forum and your point is well made.

Given that returns on car sales are very poor they, that is most manufactures, are using their service division to recoup overheads and (some of) the losses. Mark up on spare parts and accessories as you say is huge and no doubt the 'bean counters' have decided that is how it is and the customer does not feature in the equation at all.

In other words if you can afford to buy a Merc then you 'must' be able to afford to run it, might be true for company funded vehicles and those with large bank accounts but for the rest 'hard cheese'

 

[television]

amazingly poor service you are getting. You are not even asking for them to fix at no cost, just to make a contrib.

Tough times for the industry, they are paying for their overheads anyway and the markup on parts is huge. They could probly cut the bill in half and still make a profit on the job. bad business and meanwhile they are losing their reputation big time. My recent dealer customer service experiences with what is my 5th Merc in a row are now making me think about which non Merc car I should buy next.

Welcome to the forum,,, and yes the mark up on the parts is massive, in these hard times an indie is the way to go

 

[ALFIEBEARD]

Latest reply from mercedes sbc

Hi Lads,
Mercedes replied to my letter to them here it is and my reply to them is also posted below, they think as I am covered by my breakdown warranty they dont need to give any contribution!!!, no wonder warranty premiums are so high eh.
Alfie B

Dear Mr Beard
>
> Mercedes-Benz Model: E-Class E 270 CDI
> Chassis No: WDB2110162A598290
> Registration: J8DCL
>
> Thank you for contacting the Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Center
> Maastricht N.V.
>
> I am sorry that you feel you have been treated unfairly and that we were
> not able to provide you with a more favourable outcome.
>
> However from the information we have been given we understand that the
> costs are to be reimbursed by your warranty company. The dealership have
> advised that they visited their workshop and gave authorisation to proceed
> with the repairs which was then agreed by all parties.
>
> In closing, please rest assured this has been investigated at the highest
> level within Mercedes-Benz and your comments have been fed back into the
> business.
>
> Yours sincerely
>
> Giselle Parker
> Senior Customer Service Representative
> Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Center Maastricht N.V.
> Gaetano Martinolaan 10
> NL-6229 GS Maastricht, the Netherlands







Hi Again,
As yet the warranty company has not paid for any of the two invoices from
Mercedes Carlisle, mainly due to Carlisle giving two different repair prices
and the warranty company have refused to pay the full amount and Mercedes
Carlisle are adamant that the costings they gave to the insurance company
Engineer was the same price as they eventually billed me for. This whole
episode is ridiculous in the extreme. I paid £700 for the extended warranty
with this company in the event the car should break down, this warranty was
to be used for a wear and tear situation NOT for a Manufacturing defect. I
am NOT in the business of ripping off insurance companies and it is and was
always my intention to return any contributions from Mercedes Benz to the
warranty company, after all why should my insurance pay for your poor
workmanship and your deceitful Dealers?

I am as you are aware furious and as I mentioned to the numerous "Customer
Service Reps" I have spoken to I intend to publicise this dangerous SBC
braking system.
You may have read the comments on the Mercedes Club website and how many
people have had their vehicles repaired free of charge even up to 6yrs old
and 75,000mls, we are all wondering why MY case is so different, my car has
done 32,000mls now and is under 5yrs old so why the brush off? Is this
because you thought the insurance company would just fork out and nobody
loses? hmm not the best attitude to take.

I have the full backing of Mercedes Benz E Class W211 owners, and
as for your Main Mercedes Dealer in Carlisle THEY put my and my families
life in danger by damaging the new SBC pump whilst fitting it and gave the
car back to me in this condition! if the Red warning on the dashboard hadn't
informed me that brake fluid was pouring out of the pump I could have ended
up with no brakes AGAIN.

I had to take this car back to the Dealer 3 times,
(1) Brakes locked on , I rang Mercedes Carlisle they gave me a number to
ring, I rang the number and the guy said my car has no service history so
they want to charge me £180 to recover the car to the dealer! I am at this
time informed that I must not drive the car as it is dangerous to do so! I
try to explain to the guy that the service history is full and all done by
Mercedes, he said not according to his records and sorry I'd will have to
pay. I refused.
(2) I eventually get the car to Mercedes Carlisle and talk to the Service
Manager and show him the service documents for my car and he agrees YES it
has full history. I then ask why then could Mercedes not see it on their
system? He said "I don't know but it shows on our system" and he goes on to
say it isn't the first time they have got it wrong! I explained that
Mercedes have just saved themselves £180 then.
(3) The dealer said to leave the car with us and we will investigate the
cause, and also says he couldn't loan me a vehicle at this time.
(4) 2 days later I get a call from the dealer informing me that the car
requires a new SBC brake pump and it will cost around£1400, I asked the
receptionist if this part was covered by Mercedes as I had been informed of
this via the Mercedes Club, she said no I have never heard of this but I
will ask Mercedes for you and let you know. I rang my warranty company who
send their Engineer to the dealer and they gave him the costings and he gave
the go ahead for the work to be carried out.
(5) The next day Mercedes Carlisle rang me and told me that Mercedes
wouldn't give any contribution towards the repair costs and I would have to
pay and claim from my warranty company. Unfortunately the part was not in
stock and although they have the go ahead to repair the car from the
warranty company the part will have to come from Germany and could take a
few days, unfortunately they still don't have a loan car for me to use.
(6) 3 days later I get another call from the dealer to tell me my car is
ready. I call down to the dealership and pay cash for the repair totalling
£1400, I drive away and arrive at my place of work and notice that the SBC
light on the dashboard is still lit.
(7) I decide to check the car over and on opening the bonnet I find that
there is brake fluid all over the place and the once nice clean shiny engine
covers are now a yellow/white colour and brake fluid is covering the NEW SBC
pump and the surrounding areas.
(8) I ring the garage and speak to the Manager who asks me to bring the car
back for him to inspect.
(9) I take the car back down and show the manager the engine bay and inform
him that the SBC is still faulty and I ask him to return the engine bay to
its original condition. He asked me to leave the car with him and he
apologised for the poor condition the car was handed back to me,
unfortunately he still doesn't have a vehicle for me to borrow.
(10)The next day the dealer rings me again and tells me that they have
eventually located the fault to a failed Floor Control Module? so they have
contacted the warranty company and agreed this new repair. Unfortunately it
is going to cost a further £400.
(11) The following day I get a call to say the car is ready for collection,
I called down and before paying for it (again in cash) I inspected the
underbonnet area, all seems in order so I leave a happy man.
(12) I drive my car for around 5 days and suddenly the dashboard lights up
red and tells me to stop as the BRAKE FLUID level is low, I looked under the
bonnet and hey presto the New SBC pump is spewing fluid out from one of the
unions which had been crossthreaded and the fluid level is on the minimum.
(13) I rang the manager again and asked to meet him at the dealership with
the mechanic who carried out the work on my vehicle, the mechanic and the
Manager inspected the car and although the Mechanic informed me he was NOT
the one who carried out the work he was going to be the one to sort it all
out. On inspecting the pump both the mechanic and the Manager agreed that
whoever had installed the new pump had damaged the threads on the unions and
this was the cause of the leaks.
(14) The following day I get a call to tell me my car is now ready for
collection, I call down and collect the car and since then I have had no
further problems.
(15) I contact the warranty company after 4 weeks to ask if they have raised
a cheque yet, they inform me that Mercedes Carlisle had given me an invoice
for £90 more than they told their inspector. I rang Mercedes Carlisle about
this discrepancy and they said the price they gave to the warranty company
was the same price as they charged me, so whatever happens I would loose at
least £90. I told the warranty company I was going to liaise with Mercedes
UK with a view getting some reimbursement and would contact then as soon as
I hear anything.
(16) Obviously I am very annoyed with Mercedes Carlisle especially with the
poor workmanship my vehicle has received during this SBC system fault. I
can't understand why you have dismissed ANY recompense for the dangerous
situations I have been placed in by one of your vehicles, this is why I am
taking the time and trouble to inform other owners of the potentially
dangerous braking systems fitted to the E Class.

It has been mentioned by the Technical gurus on our Club Website that this
SBC system is flawed and after a certain amount of braking applications the
system has to be replaced or it could fail, I believe all Mercedes owners
should be made aware of this.

Yours Sincerely

Alf Beard F.I.Diag.E

 

[Rory]

Hmmm...it's taken 5 pages for the whole story to come out.

Wild guess - Carlisle told MB they didn't need to pay as the car had a 3rd party warranty?

MB won't be interested in the poor dealer service - they couldn't car less, "nothing to do with us, guv."

 

[ALFIEBEARD]

Hmmm...it's taken 5 pages for the whole story to come out.

Wild guess - Carlisle told MB they didn't need to pay as the car had a 3rd party warranty?

MB won't be interested in the poor dealer service - they couldn't car less, "nothing to do with us, guv."

Hi Rory,
The whole story has been told on this forum right from the start(look at the posts under !!Dealers MB Servicing!!! where I mentioned my car was covered by a 3rd party warranty, even though up to now they hav,nt paid out I am asured there will be no problem, I am going to loose £90 for the dealers mistake in invoicing, but I dont mind that, its the fact that Mercedes feel that as its covered by insurance THEY dont have to fork out for an inherent fault, this whole business start to finish has been terrible, I am not out to gain from this situation I just feel that Mercedes should own up and do the right thing.my warranty company is fully aware of my actions so far, and if I can get any recompence from Mercedes it would go directly to the warranty people.Although this warranty came with the car in the deal I was informed it cost £700, which when I get paid out will have been very worthwhile.

Hope this clarifies my situation.
Alfie B

 

[Rory]

Hi Rory,
The whole story has been told on this forum right from the start(look at the posts under !!Dealers MB Servicing!!! where I mentioned my car was covered by a 3rd party warranty,

Thanks for the clarification but I think it's a bit much to expect us (well me, anyway) to link a story back to a mid-April thread.

I appreciate the moral ground that you're holding here, but it's still somewhat bemusing that you're spending time chasing MB when the warranty company will pick up the tab. You buy a warranty mainly for peace of mind. Surely if the warranty company think the bill is unreasonable then it's their job to chase MB?

 

[ALFIEBEARD]

Thanks for the clarification but I think it's a bit much to expect us (well me, anyway) to link a story back to a mid-April thread.

I appreciate the moral ground that you're holding here, but it's still somewhat bemusing that you're spending time chasing MB when the warranty company will pick up the tab. You buy a warranty mainly for peace of mind. Surely if the warranty company think the bill is unreasonable then it's their job to chase MB?

I dont really agree, the origional thread mid April concerned the safety aspect of what had happened to my vehicle and the dangerous situation I had been in, the other threads came up as I asked questions and the bad service I was receiving at the time, and fact was that I was originally informed that the SBC system was covered for ten years and then MB tell me no such thing, although they paid for many other vehicles far older with more miles than mine, also the main point of the original thread was to point out that Mercedes were unwilling to agree that their SBC system is flawed.and with possibly dangerous consequences, I am pleased my thread has bemused you but really the costings are immaterial because the tab will hopefully be picked up by the warranty company,but it would have helped if they did make a contribution in proving that the were at fault, I say again that just because its insured that does,nt give Mercedes the right to shirk their responsibilities.
In my line of work we work very closely with insurance companies and indeed carry out inspection and diagnostic testing on behalf of them, and all too often we find manufacturing faults that have been claimed for wrongly, and the insurance company is left to pick up the tab its because of this blatent attitude we all have to pay extortionate premiums to get our vehicles covered.
I suppose its how you perceive being treated badly:neutral:.
thanks for your input.

Alfie B

 

[television]

In a way its like sending a company a huge bill, just because the company finance dept will pick it up and pay it, and the driver never will

 

[Rory]

I suppose its how you perceive being treated badly:neutral:.

I don't fundamentally disagree with you - I'm in a long running letter writing battle right now with SEAT UK as my daughter's car failed MOT at 4yrs/34K miles due to a suspension bush failing (I gather it's been redesigned) and the rear brakes basically needing to be serviced, yet they aren't part of the service schedule.

Both things are completely unacceptable to me, yet SEAT UK think this is fine.

I know reality is that I got scammed by the dealership because they did the MOT and they created a few hundred pounds worth of work.

 

[ALFIEBEARD]

I don't fundamentally disagree with you - I'm in a long running letter writing battle right now with SEAT UK as my daughter's car failed MOT at 4yrs/34K miles due to a suspension bush failing (I gather it's been redesigned) and the rear brakes basically needing to be serviced, yet they aren't part of the service schedule.

Both things are completely unacceptable to me, yet SEAT UK think this is fine.

I know reality is that I got scammed by the dealership because they did the MOT and they created a few hundred pounds worth of work.

Hi Rory,
I know what you mean it seems that nowadays every damn company tries to shift the blame and unfortunately its us that gets stuffed eh, well not to worry if its all publicised enough may,be we can save at least on or two people the same heartache.

Hope you get sorted.
Alfie B

 

[turbopete]

Alfie, there is another way around this. the insurance pays for your repairs, then THEY chase it up with MB for reimbursal! they can afford to take it through courts if need be! however i think your principle is correct. by going to the press etc, it will then become widespread knowledge that theres a problem and then MB may have to not only reimburse you, but end up recalling all affected models to sort this design problem out! if they dont they will risk HUGE LAWSUITS if people are injured or killed due to this fault!

 

[ALFIEBEARD]

Alfie, there is another way around this. the insurance pays for your repairs, then THEY chase it up with MB for reimbursal! they can afford to take it through courts if need be! however i think your principle is correct. by going to the press etc, it will then become widespread knowledge that theres a problem and then MB may have to not only reimburse you, but end up recalling all affected models to sort this design problem out! if they dont they will risk HUGE LAWSUITS if people are injured or killed due to this fault!

Hi Pete,
Thanks mate, thats exactly my point of pursuing this dangerous situation regarding the E Class W211 with a view to helping others not as fortunate as me, I will see how things go then maybe push the warranty company to assist.
Take Care
Alfie B
I am off to sunnyFrance tonight so I cant reply until I get back next friday.

 

[turbopete]

pity this happened. the merc would have been the ideal tool for the job! much nicer than a toyota anyhow! i can never get totally at home in them.

 

[lingsim]

Did it just stop or was it a major problem

I had the warning light on the dash, saying something like....

Brakes, visit workshop. Two indys confirmed it was the SBC pump.

MB also confirmed it was the SBC.

 

[television]

I had the warning light on the dash, saying something like....

Brakes, visit workshop. Two indys confirmed it was the SBC pump.

MB also confirmed it was the SBC.

Did you have any deterioration in the braking effect when this warning was up