newbabynewcar

I did a quick seach on this but didn't find it so I thought I'd share. Today I called the Tele-Aid guys to see about the traffic feature... he ended up telling me the following for folks who have the Digital tele-aid which is in my '05:

1) Mercedes just decided to stop charging for the extra minutes for Tele-aid and now (again at least for digital folks who are in the first year of their ownership) you can use as many minutes as you want.

2) The bulter feature is included and with it you can ask for traffic details by asking the customer service rep to goto www.traffic.com. Again this is now unlimited for Digital folks.

3) You can buy the traffic feature which now only comes as a voice feature - no more download to comand but it is $215 and frankly is easier just to do #2 above.

4) With the unlimited bulter feature you can ask them to call anyone you want and use it as a cellphone ( apparently this is for emergency's when you cell phone is dead and if you abuse it they may limit you). It is nice to know you have a backup cell phone.

He said he would be emailing me additional info. I'll post once I get it. Can anyone else verify this information?

Brian_I.

I can't imagine with all the corners they've been cutting to increase their profit margin that they'd just give away airtime but who knows. If it is true, I wonder how long it will last.

newbabynewcar

He seemed to indicate the digital service was cheaper for them to run and hence the reason they could do this. I know in the cellular industry was true, Digital mobile was cheaper and hence today we get way more minutes for the same or lower price....

But I'm still waiting for the documentation ...

Baby Jocko

Yep! That's what they told me. No airtime charges.

pa28pilot

What's the build date of your car? How exactly did you figure out that you don't have AMPS service on your Tele-Aid?

I would have figured that MB would send out a press release or something once they settled on a new digital service strategy.

DWP

"Bulter"?

TPAbnz

Is this something different than OnStar?

Phillip711

its true.. for all 2005's with digital tele aid, the service is free for 1 year.

BudC

It's similar but a different company. Lexus also have a similar service. I don't know who runs it. BTW, it's a $1,215 option on an LS430 and after the first year the charges are $400+/$800+. If course, leather is free so the Japanese have made a better marketing choice than MBUSA (what else is new?).

saffrontiger

Ok, help me out here. I have a 05 E320 CDI. Just got it four months ago. Now, do I have a digital tele-aid? How would I confirm this if I do. Also, the 1 year program, if I am reading the posts correctly means that there is no charge for useage after the alloted 30 minutes?
Secondly, what is the Butler feature and how does this differ from the normal call to tele-aid. If these have been answered before , please excuse and redirect me kindly.
Best Regards,

Jay

newbabynewcar

Butler service = concierge service - they will do almost anything for you... book tickets, surf websites, etc.

I bought my car in early Sept the build date was 07/04 (from the plate on the inside of the driver door).

When I registered it originally they told me that I have a digital system. You can probably just call the 18007569018 number and ask.

rbordel

I suspect that the early build US market CDI's all have the analog system. When I activated tele-aid on my CDI (built 03/04), I noticed the tele-aid phone sounded a DTMF tone on power up similar to the way the AMPS phones we use at work do.

I do not have any way to confirm this theory, though.

By the way, I discovered that the Tele-Aid call center (or at least one of them) is in the Las Colinas area (near the DFW Airport.)

saffrontiger

Great now they're "offshoring" call centers to the "great country" of Texas.
Thanks for the info. I will call MBUSA and see if I do indeed have the analog v. digital system. BTW, how do you like the CDI? Loving mine.
Best Regards
Jay

pa28pilot

So tell us more about this surfing website thing? You mean I can call them up and have them read Drudge Report headlines to me? That could be awkward, especially if you ask them to read this month's Maxim or FHM.

How does that actually work?

newbabynewcar

It's not really meant for long readings... more for short things like:
- Can you look up the hours that this store is open
- Can you check traffic.com for traffic advice
- Can you look up the phone number of X

paulhu

I just purchased a 2004 E500, and the first year Tele-Aid service is free also. How can I tell that I have digital or not? If I do, and the butler is FREE, then I will call every morining and have him read me the entire Wall Street Journal (saves me reading it everyday).

Ormond2004

I called support to discover that my cars are digital. I have yet to use Teleaid. Now that I know that I have "minutes" I may give it a try. I am glad that I saw this thread.

Brian_I.

So can we confirm that this all works?

Brian_I.

Okay, just called the number and here's what the lady told me comes with the "free" subscription:

1. Car Recovery Service if car is ever stolen
2. Remote Unlock if you lock yourself out of the car
3. Accident response if the airbags deploy
4. Roadside assistance calling

She says the "concierge" service is an additional $210/yr for the first year and $450/yr every year thereafter. That service gives you the ability to have them make dinner reservations for you or get you show tickets and stuff.

She definitely made no mention of being able to make calls on the TeleAid.

Can someone please confirm their findings?

newbabynewcar

The guy I talked to was a manager and he said that not all of the reps knew about the changes... however he did mention he would send me an email documenting the changes (see my original post in this thread) which I never got. I can call again later this week and check.

Brian_I.

During my initial setup call the guy I spoke with did confirm that since I have digital TeleAid the calls would be free and unlimited. The concierge I spoke with also confirmed that I do get the full service from them with the 1-year subscription. It was fun to have them call people for me. They do tell you that it is a conference call so they do have to sit and listen to the conversation but one lady told me she puts down the earpiece and just watches for the connected party to hang up and then if I told her in advance that I want to make additional calls she'll come back on the line, otherwise she or I can just hang up.

She also confirmed what newbabynewcar stated about being able to surf the web for us. She also said that she could order gifts or flowers online for us and even get us tickets to sold out events like the world series or basketball games. She said those types of tickets sell for about 3-5 times the face value but they are pretty much guaranteed. Not bad at all...