I couldn't agree more, seems like a waste, but someone said something about it coming in handy for them in a time of need......but yeah, we have too many other forms of surveillance.....just seems like overkill.....and more of your money...
I would like to try it just to try it though... hehe, maybe play around with it....

 

Not worth it for me.

 

That tracking feature only comes into play when you have explicit communication to Mbrace. Your insurance premium for having an active alert system is based on the system being enabled, not just installed. I find that the automatic crash notification is worth every penny for peace of mind. You can't assme that a cell phone is a proper substitute in that situation.

 

That's it for me, too. I'm up in the canyons a lot (Malibu and the Central Coast, etc.) and sometimes I'll even forget my phone. If something happens and I go off the road (like Mel Gibson did here the other day in his Maserati, lol) and down an embankment I guess it would be nice for somebody to know where I am. Peace of mind always costs a few bucks. (btw, I once had TeleAid contact someone at my house when I forgot my phone, they did it no questions asked; I thought that was pretty good of them.)

 

In an extreme situation there is no doubt it could be useful. Back to reality those are long odds that you will be at the bottom of a ravine with no phone and no one else around with a cel phone.
As for Mel, he is most often the author of his "problems" and I'm not sure mbrace is the answer for him.
In any event,you are right, it has a purpose but my point was that the car 's options are now making this service practically obsolete.

 

There have been several instances recently in NC where a car went off of the road and into dense vegetation. Person wasn't found for 6 to 7 days. The vehicles were not visible to search teams.

BTW, who is "Mel"?

 

Mad Max!

 

hehe, I see what you all are saying and I agree.....but I also wonder what kind of negligence was involved with running off the road.......going too fast? taking a call? making a call? making a sandwich? what? anything besides paying attention to what you're doing behind the wheel seems pretty negligent.....

and sure, you've got the embrace....then you'll probably need a neck brace after that......and that's a whole different kind of insurance, lol....
but like I mentioned, I'm looking forward to giving it a go to see if I get connected to a cute sounding operator.....

 

Some sound pretty good!! Actuallly - they're very helpful. The only thing I'd complain about is - they always pick up the phone quickly....i never wait for a connection, but then it takes them what seems like forever to look up an address and download it. Even the downloading part is quick...its like they're always saying "our computers are sleepy today" but its EVERY DAY.

 

LOL...........you guys watch out for those ravines and mountains huh??

 

I tend to agree that the car has so much in it that the service is obsolete. About the only thing it's good for (and the only reason I get it) is the accident notification and theft recovery (which from what I'm reading is also going into obsolesence(sp?) )

As for driving off the road. Here in northern New Jersey, if you drive off the road chances are it'll be into someone's house, roof, other highway, river, golf course or pool.

 

As a long time Mercedes customer I recently received the solicitation from Mbrace for Telaid customers. It seemed like a pretty good deal $299 for the life of my car for emergency notification services. This offer however is only aimed at taking business from Telaid and they are offering new car customers who have no choice, or so they think the same service for $280 per year with no discount what so ever. That is a very substantial difference and while Mbrace is aggressively pursuing to take customers from a competitor they are ignoring the fact that new customers deserve fair treatment and a value for the money that they pay for service and $280 per year is not a reasonable charge for this service.
With comparable services like Onstar charging about $150 per year after a discount if you shop I wondered what motivated Mercedes Mbrace to be so aggressive. I called Telaid, now called Connected Vehicle Services at 1-800-756-9018 and found that they could very well service my 2010 450GL for a cost of $190 per year or $365 for 2 years. My Mercedes dealer can and will flash the unit back to them for service and I can set up an account. I now feel better knowing that I have a choice and will be using them for service. My fellow Mercedes owners should know about this choice and stand up for their rights as consumers.

 

My "d" has "BMW Assist" which,it appears,is pretty similar to Mbrace.Although I got the service for free for 4 years I think I'd pay $300/yr for it for the emergency notification alone.Remote door unlock (I don't think we get lock),IMO,is a big plus and stolen car tracking is as well...and gets me a discount on my insurance.

 

I was unlucky enough to buy my 2010 ML550 (Oct. 2009) three weeks before the "announcement" that MB was switching to MBrace in November last year. I was on a trip using the 'search and send' feature (which is cool and allows you to send from your computer, a map routing directly to your car's navigational system via Google) when it just STOPPED working. No advance notice from MB or teleaid. Here is the actual "agreement" rules posted on MB website:

"Service is available on any vehicle equipped with a digital Telematics Control Unit (in general, vehicles produced since Model Year 2005, and earlier models that received an analog-to-digital upgrade), EXCEPT vehicles retailed from November 16, 2008, through November 15, 2009. Mercedes-Benz mbrace service will be available for those vehicles beginning November 16, 2010."

I am in the "except" group. I wrote and complained (nicely I thought with NO repl from Teleaid OR MB) that 1) this was terrible customer service; 2)the genius that penalized every MB owner for a year because of the "negotiations" between teleaid and Mbrace had to be a lawyer who drove a BMW; and 3) I received very little in the way of explanation of the reason for the loss of my 'search and send service last year until weeks later.

I am now faced with a quandry like all MB owners who bought their cars in the year 11/09 to 11/10 What will the pricing be for MBrace? Why switch (though I DO want the Mbrace 'search and send" feature, but not at $300 a year) I have seen the stories on this forum about the SOS feature and am being swayed to enroll however.

This is a black eye for MB that they would do this to new owners for the past year. If I had bought my car three weeks later I would have Mbrace and would have a totally different impression of management at MB. OK enough, complaining since it hasn't doesn't any good except help my blood pressure.
Do others who are in the one year "untouchable" category (seriously, that is what MBrace calls us!) feel the same way? Are you staying with Teleaid or switching to MBrace, or neither on 11/16/10. BTW I have received NOTHING in the mail from Mbrace about 11/16 and it is three weeks away......

 

^^^^

There's nothing wrong with TeleAid (or Mbrace.) Remember these are simply contracted service providers. MB decided to go with Mbrace for reasons besides providing the best service to consumers. It's all about money. What do you expect?

This isn't the first time things like this happen. And it won't be the last. Remember the analog to digital fiasco (and class action suits)?

The reason it didn't go smoothly again this time around is due to legal contract issues. The consumer never sees the real story underneath it all. But if you want to know more, go to the telematics industry websites and professional industry journals. It's an eye opener. This all about bidness. And it's becoming an even bigger business with new technologies and smart phone integration. And being tied into service and recall information via telematics (written notices cost a fortune.)

Call TeleAid and they'll give you a deal. Both companies are competing. Have you looked at TeleAid's website and read about their personal navigation services? Also they are coming up with new services competitive with everybody else. So is Mbrace (they're new to telematics services.) It's all very competitive. Pick your poison. Mbrace isn't any better then TeleAid and vice versa.

But of course you're going to be persuaded to switch to Mbrace. That's the point. And if you owned a BMW or a Rolls Royce, then you'd be persuaded to use TeleAid (their service contractor.)

 

Btw the lock feature on my iPhone app for my 2011 E is now working.

 

Gareth,

Your comments are right on the money with respect to the way MB handled the transition to Mbrace. I was in the same boat as you when I could no longer use the search and send feature on my Oct09 delivered 2010 E350. My complaints to both Teleaid and MB got me responses that referenced legal issues between the two parties and no satisfaction. Teleaid did confirm in writing to me that is was MB who actually pulled the plug on search and send for Teleaid equipped cars. I made it a point last year to cancel the auto renew provision in the Teleaid contract in hopes that Mbrace/MB would offer some deal for those of us in this group. Teleaid has since offered me a renewal at $140 and Mbrace has suggested that some promotion will be available in November for those who wish to switch to Mbrace. Shame on MB for putting its customers in the middle of the Teleaid/Mbrace fracas.

 

Thanks. Well said and appreciated.

 

Steve,
Thanks. Let me know what kind of deal MBrace offers you and its nice to hear I wasn't alone in my annoyance!

 

Got my car Nov. 2009 and it came with mbrace. Salesman told me that had one guy spend all day changing folders and tags in cars from Teleaid to mbrace.
After six months I let it expire as it seems too expensive for my needs.
I contacted both Teleaid and mbrace. No deals from either one and I think switching from one to the other requires a re-program by the dealer?
It's like any other option on cars, worth it to some, but not to others.

 

Here's some food for thought:

"My local dealership even mistakenly put out brochures (obviously intended for in-house use) that exalted the profit potential for the service departments to get customers to switch to Mbrace."

Again, it's all business. Pick your poison, but don't assume a huge shareholder owned corporation (aka Daimler AG) is necessarily looking out for your personal well-being. Caveat emptor.

 

Mbrace is being heavily marketed by MB (MAILER - "SERVICE UPGRADE PLEASE CALL IMMEDIATELY"). So I call and well I tell the person finally to FO because of the hard sell. So sticking with Teleaid (has the best unlocking feature). BTW, you can lock your keys in the car easily because the keyfob has no idea if it is inside or outside the car. So when you hit the lock button listen to the muted noise of three beeps and look in to see you keys. If you use Teleaid, download the ap iroute and it'll unlock your car.

 

Is MBrace (I don't know if I have a free six-month trial with them, I just got my car last month and never dared pushing the button) using cellular network or satellite or both? Thanks.

 

They use both, satellite to track your position and cellular to talk to you and open your car with cellular transmission

 

1. My question was is it using a satellite connection to relay an emergency in areas where there is no cell coverage (since, obviously, it's using inbound GPS signals to gather the car location)?

Basically, if it is not, like it seems to be the case, since everything I read mentions a "cellular network" only, that would mean that if you go to a lesser travelled road (like in Death Valley) and you have an emergency the system is not going to be of any help and at the time you might need it the most since nobody will drive by or your cell phone won't even work...

Further, there is no mention of whose cellular network is used? All of them? Or just ATT or whatever?

2. I played with the iPhone app lock/unlock feature, cool. But if you lose your keys, unlock the car with iPhone, you still cannot start it. The display shows "calling SOS" so perhaps MBrace people can allow you to start it remotely? I doubt. So maybe it is only useful for people who forget their keys inside. With Keyless Go not only this never happened to me in past years (since keys stay in pocket) but I believe there is no way the car would allow me to lock itself if I were to leave the keys inside. Any feedback? Thanks.