Trade Comand NTG2.5 US head for EU head?
03-20-2016, 02:23 PM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Trade Comand NTG2.5 US head for EU head?
I have a 2009 ML550 that I brought with me from the US to Germany last summer. I have confirmed with HERE.COM (what used to be NavTeq) that the EU database cannot be loaded into this unit because the data format is different. So, I was wondering if anyone has an EU NTG 2.5 head they would like to trade from my US model. I am located in Berlin.
Juan
Juan
03-25-2016, 03:38 PM
#2
Super Member
Thread Starter
Come on, there has to be someone importing an EU Merc with this Comand head who wants to convert to a US head. Anyone?
The following users liked this post:
flybd5 (03-28-2016)
03-27-2016, 05:27 AM
#4
Super Member
Thread Starter
03-28-2016, 03:03 PM
#6
Super Member
Thread Starter
03-29-2016, 09:21 AM
#8
Super Member
Thread Starter
That was painless. For £150 and shipping both ways they'll recode the head to accept EU dvd's and nav maps, as well as use the EU bands for the radio. I also purchased the EU maps, and they'll install them for me as well. I'm a happy camper.
04-07-2016, 08:01 AM
#10
Super Member
Thread Starter
Marc,
This is not your fault, but the attempt turned into a disaster. I sent the unit, and then a day after it arrived MarK Baker said he had tried to update it but couldn't get it to work. He claims Star could not talk to the unit or apply updates -- however, I had the unit last updated at a Mercedes dealer in Boston on July 2015 as part of a scheduled service before I shipped the vehicle to Germany.
In the same message, he offered to upgrade the hardware for £1200, about 5x what I had already paid! I said no, and assumed he would pay for return postage, since I had paid to get it there and he couldn't do what he assured me he could do. He refused. I asked him to provide me with a reference for someone for whom he had doing the same thing before I would agree to pay for return postage, and he went ballistic on me, confirming that it was a crude bait-and-switch attempt. I had to pay DHL £100 to bring the unit back.
To top it off, when I told him to issue me a refund, he said he'd hold the money for the full 28 days he thinks the UK law allows him to, just because he didn't like my attitude. So, I went to AMEX, with which I had paid him through PayPal, and exercised my right to skip the PayPal dispute process and initiate a chargeback. Got my money credited in one day, pending the outcome of the investigation, which I have no doubt will be decided in my favor, given he admitted he could not do the work.
I'm sure others have done business with Comand/Mark Baker and had no problems. I'm not one of those, and will never do business with him again. Your mileage may vary. My recommendation is to not prepay anything from Comand until they deliver what they say they can deliver. I will buy my updates from a local dealer. I will also buy a used NTG 2.5 head here in Germany (there seem to be quite a few in the market for a little more than I would have paid Comand for the recoding and update) and then sell my US head unit.
As I said, thank you very much for trying to help me solve my problem. Not your fault this happened.
Juan
This is not your fault, but the attempt turned into a disaster. I sent the unit, and then a day after it arrived MarK Baker said he had tried to update it but couldn't get it to work. He claims Star could not talk to the unit or apply updates -- however, I had the unit last updated at a Mercedes dealer in Boston on July 2015 as part of a scheduled service before I shipped the vehicle to Germany.
In the same message, he offered to upgrade the hardware for £1200, about 5x what I had already paid! I said no, and assumed he would pay for return postage, since I had paid to get it there and he couldn't do what he assured me he could do. He refused. I asked him to provide me with a reference for someone for whom he had doing the same thing before I would agree to pay for return postage, and he went ballistic on me, confirming that it was a crude bait-and-switch attempt. I had to pay DHL £100 to bring the unit back.
To top it off, when I told him to issue me a refund, he said he'd hold the money for the full 28 days he thinks the UK law allows him to, just because he didn't like my attitude. So, I went to AMEX, with which I had paid him through PayPal, and exercised my right to skip the PayPal dispute process and initiate a chargeback. Got my money credited in one day, pending the outcome of the investigation, which I have no doubt will be decided in my favor, given he admitted he could not do the work.
I'm sure others have done business with Comand/Mark Baker and had no problems. I'm not one of those, and will never do business with him again. Your mileage may vary. My recommendation is to not prepay anything from Comand until they deliver what they say they can deliver. I will buy my updates from a local dealer. I will also buy a used NTG 2.5 head here in Germany (there seem to be quite a few in the market for a little more than I would have paid Comand for the recoding and update) and then sell my US head unit.
As I said, thank you very much for trying to help me solve my problem. Not your fault this happened.
Juan
04-07-2016, 08:18 AM
#11
MBWorld Fanatic!
Wow that sucks! I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I've not actually used this vendor before, so I'm sorry I pointed him out to you.
04-07-2016, 08:46 AM
#13
MBWorld Fanatic!
There seems to be something going on in the autoparts industry. I went a over a decade with only one Paypal dispute, but in the last year I've had almost a dozen. Service has turned to crap and people don't deliver but they still want to be paid.
The new thing I see is, vendors ignore you until you open a dispute and then refuse to do anything unless you close the dispute. I only made that mistake once, I closed the dispute and then they went back to ignoring me. You can't reopen a dispute once it's been closed.
So, I agree with your choice to go through your credit card for a chargeback. It gives you that extra layer of protection.
The new thing I see is, vendors ignore you until you open a dispute and then refuse to do anything unless you close the dispute. I only made that mistake once, I closed the dispute and then they went back to ignoring me. You can't reopen a dispute once it's been closed.
So, I agree with your choice to go through your credit card for a chargeback. It gives you that extra layer of protection.
