SAguirre

I thought I should share this little story because I was surprised when this happened. I bought my E in late August and after using the Tele Aid to I really liked the hands-free system so in October I gave myself a gift and had the linguatronic and phone installed.

When I called AT&T to activate my phone I specifically asked if the $2.99 per month insurance fee would actually cover this Mercedes Benz phone. They said yes (but I don’t believe these customer service people anyway). So last week I had to talk to a manager at AT&T and I mentioned this issue again. She said she did not know if the phone would be covered, but she gave me a number to call.

Today, I called that number and the actual underwriter for the coverage said that Mercedes phones are not covered. I was transferred back to AT&T and I explained my displeasure about being sold on something that does not apply to me. They acknowledged that I had asked about this in October (I had them note it on my account at the time). So when I asked for my money back for all the insurance I paid since I activated this phone they put me on hold for a while. They came back on the phone and said that the underwriter now is very sorry for the mistake and they would either refund me the $12.00 or they would special order a new phone for me!

I guess they assumed that I had a faulty phone , but I just wanted to see if my phone was covered. Well, they never asked if my phone was damaged so they special ordered a Mercedes Benz V60I as a courtesy gesture and told me that my insurance coverage on my phone was now void. So in the end, I will be receiving a brand new MB phone for a co-payment of $35.00! I guess I will not be so worried about damaging this phone when I ski with it. I must admit that I do not feel guilty about this since I have been with AT&T for 5 years now and I have always paid for this insurance that I never used until now. Now I have a spare phone for $35, not too bad.

So for all of you who have this cell phone insurance with either AT&T (now Cingular) or Verizon you should be aware that your Mercedes phone is not covered.

Just FYI,

Steve A.

lorinserbenz

The ESN to your current phone is going be denied. Whenever you make an insurance claim they deny the old phones esn so people dont scam the insurance company.
Sometimes they dont do, I had a similer situtation with a Treo 600. The insurance carrier didnt want to replace it. Well in the end they did and never asked for the old one back which had a cracked screen. I happened to try it a few months later and it worked.
Now if I am correct the V60 you have is the TDMA version and chances are good the ESN will be denied since the new phone you get will be active when they ship it.
It would suck to waste the claim since you cant make another....

lorinserbenz

With T-mobiles insurance underwriter they will cover ANY phone up to $1000. If they do not stock the phone they just mail you a check for it. You are allowed one such claim a year.

SAguirre

I thought of this and I have a plan if this happens. The interesting thing is that if they do render this ESN invalid, which will not be a big deal since my dealer has now ordered a replacement phone for this one anyway. I have a few little problems with the current phone, but I think that they are caused by the car actually. So if they deactivate this phone, I will be activating the new one next week from MB. Then I will be keeping the one they ship (it will not be activated) as a spare. They said that it will take about 3 weeks to ship.

About T-Mobile, I did not think that was an accepted carrier for Mercedes. My choices were either AT&T or Verizon.

Steve

lorinserbenz

Motorola did make a v60 that was GSM (tMobile). I would think it would work with your car kit.
The V600 kits (which I just ordered) are GSM for Cingular/At&T. An unlocked V600 on T-mobile should work with that kit.

Back in the old Cellular One days they made sure to deny the ESN of a lost or damaged phone. I dont think they are as strict now so you shouldnt have a problem seeing as insurance is through a third party. Its up to the insurance company to report to the carrier.
Worst case is you ccould have the ESN changed on the phone that was "damaged". There are web sites that do it for 50-$100 .

fazooley

You could also use sprintpcs with the V60X which is what I use. They offer phone service through pretty much every carrier; however only really promotoe at&t and verizon. I had to let them know they even dealt with sprint, and then provide them with the part number to order it for me; lol.

Fazooley

SAguirre

Well, as it turns out I received the replacement phone yesterday via FedEx. The insurance company said that it would take 3 weeks. It took 3 days, weeks/days what's the difference anyway?

So the update is that my phone insurance has now indeed been canceled since the Mercedes phone was excluded. My old Mercedes phone still works and the ESN has not been retired. At the same time, my Mercedes Benz dealer said that to fix the problem (with the synchronization of the phone when the phone is left in the cradle and the car is turn off and then restarted) they decided to also replace the V60. They said that the main problem is in the car, but they wanted to be sure.

So I will have this work done next week and I will trade in my old V60 to my dealer and they will give me a replacement. This would mean that if the old phone's ESN was retired, I would at least still have a new main phone from Mercedes. Then I still have a brand new Motorola Mercedes version from the insurance as a spare.

I can't complain I guess,

Steve