Confusion--
I contacted Tele-aid and they claim that they will remain as a service provider. Will both providers then exist as competitors?

 

I just upgraded my system today to Mbrace, I think we are some of the first people to here of the change. Even when I first checked in with my service adviser he told me that they seem to be the last to know, but when I went into the showroom the cars had the Mbrace information displays sitting on top of the cars. So if you log into your MB Owners Online you will no longer see Tele-aid, now you see Mbrace. Regardless if Tele-aid knows or not, their on the way out the door.

 

Even if this is true, the $299 for life deal makes switching to mbrace a better option for those that are eligible.

 

Go figure - I'm talking to MBRACE now - and they are giving me a double story here - double talking me ... "but your friend had tele-aid before probably".... "no, theres no such thing as $299 for lifetime"..... "wait yes there is - but you did not have teleaid before..." "uhhh yes i did!....and did not resubscribe because the service stunk".... "ok let me talk to a supervisor".

This is so stupid!

 

on mbusa website they have a whole section on Mbrace. lots of info. there is no such thing as a 299 for life rather its I think 299/yr. will take my 2010 tomorrow to have the embrace activated . post my experience after the activation.

 

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/#/mbraceOverview/

 

Last night, In the heat of anger, I cancelled my new MBRACE account.

Those *****s don't know what they are doing! Their customer service center is for the birds - they were not friendly, not organized, finally admit they don't even have my credit card # on file (eventhough I was charged last week the $240 for the year).

They told me over and over - you have a 3 month free trial - and I kept replying, yes I know - but this has NOTHING to do with why a friend of mine got a lifetime membership for $299 while I am paying $240 a year.

Their reply............ "Are u a tele-aid customer".......whats the big deal if I am or am not? "OK Hold on".

Its as though I was asking them "Do you know what 1 + 1 =?" and their reply......"Science is a nice subject".

They kept changing the topic at hand - it was really like talking to a wall.

If thats how they are if I crash my car - I'd rather take my chances with my limp fingers dialing 911.

 

Okay, so far I think that just about everyone that has upgraded (or downgraded) from Tele-aid are having issues with Mbrace, myself included. I switched over last week and I'm still trying to get issues resolved. Here's a list of the issues;

1. When I push the "I" button from my car Mbrace sees my car as a R-Class vehicle (Wrong), and has someone else's name associated with that vehicle (Understandable since you have the wrong vehicle in the first place)

2. Currently my expiration date say 11/21/2013, (Wrong) I switched from Tele-aid to Mbrace and paid $299.00. They state, "you're correct we will update your account, it should take 24 to 48 hours and I will escalate this up to my supervisor. Okay this started Friday and I'm still waiting, so I called them again this morning and they knew I was pissed.

3. A simple fix, at less that's what it should be. In my account the list my car as a 2006, but obviously it's a 2007 and this is suppose to take 24-48 hours as well.

So far I'm not getting a good feeling about these guys, they seem totally lost and I'm thinking about sending a message or calling MBUSA. I don't think these guys are ready to take over from Tele-aid. I tried the mobel app to find my car, I was sitting in my living room and I kept getting an error message talking about your car maybe more than a mile away or in an area that blocks your mobile signal. So I'm not pleased and if I keep having these issues I will be canceling as well.

 

Everything you said above - applies to me - and that 24-48 hours is their fast comment to shut your mouth up! I did mine last week - and it still shows that
a) Im driving an 06
b) That I never submit a credit card
c) I was offered 3 months (when in reality I was offered 6 months!)
d) No Such thing as that $299.....saying I was NEVER a tele-aid subscriber eventhough I know I was but did not renew because they stunk.

This is ridiculous! They have NO IDEA what they are doing! I already canceled. I wouldn't trust them if I really needed them.

In any event - Road Side Assistance comes with the car and thats all I really need. If I want reservations - Ill make them myself. the I button is a novelty gimmick. I know all the features on my car.

I really did this for the use of my phone but that too does not work - It won't lock / unlock / track my vehicle. So I canceled with a smile - knowing at least that my $240 is not going to a bunch of dead beat idiots who have absolutely NO IDEA what they are doing or how to please a customer.

The guy that went ahead and canceled for me ended by saying "You got it buddy"....imagine that!

 

Where can you see the expiration date of the plan?

 

I am going to give the mbrace guys one more day and would go ahead and cancel my subscription too. So far I had

1. No issues setting up the new account. The person verified my account information and offered me the $299 lifetime mbrace service. Plus he mentioned that for the first 3 months, I would get trial offer of mbrace PLUS (weird with the caps!).

2. Wife took the car to the dealership to get the mbrace software installed yesterday. She pressed the "i" button to activate the services but was given a response "computers were down. So try later".

3. Last night I get into the car and press the "i" button. My call is picked up by mbrace. But apparently they have NO record of my subscription. Tried giving my VIN number, name, address and still no luck. I was transferred to MB customer service (no idea why they did that). No luck with customer service and they transferred me to the mbrace account setup department. I wonder what kind of ABACUS systems they have because I had to give all my details everytime I was transferred to another department. The account setup person was very impatient and thought I was calling to create a new mbrace account setup. I had to explain her that that part was already done and apparently that irritated her! WTF. Finally she hung up mentioning that the systems would take usually 24-48 hours to synch up (are we in 2009 or 1989?).

One more suggestion - the customer service personnel at mbrace should be trained NOT to breathe heavily while responding to calls. It was very WEIRD hearing them loud and clear in the car.

So far no luck with the mbrace setup in the car. I do not have an account number yet to access the iPhone app. Also the link on MBUSA still wants me to login inspite of me getting there after logging onto MBUSA.

A very amateurish job, at the very least. I wonder if the person who is in charge of implementation, rollup and handling migration of Tele-Aid customers still has his/her job!

 

Apparently a lot of folks are canceling - as I am told by a source.

What we you and I are experiencing is apparently what many are experiencing. I called MBRACE again today to humor myself - they don't even have a record of my calls from MB Manhattan!

 

You have to log into your account click "My Profile" and you will see your account info.

 

I just sent a message to MBUSA concerning all of our experiences with Mbrace this far. I also attached the link to this thread so lets see if they take the time to respond. I'm going to give them 72hrs. and the I will be calling them directly.

 

On #2 - I also have a 2013 expire. I called and was told the lifetime accounts are given a five year plan that is set to automatically renew without a charge. They may know this from doing research on yours.

On 1 & 3 - I also had a hard time getting the account set up and working properly. I kept pushing and they finally configured it correctly.They had to delete my original account and create a new one.

My sense is they are having a few start-up problems. The lock and unlock feature works well on the iphone app. The GPS locate draws a pretty MAP when it does work but I don't think it works when you are close to your car. Try doing it from 500 feet away or more. I'm getting a few false alarms saying my car's alarm went off but hopefully we can get that fixed tomorrow. The find a mercedes dealer feature is pretty good when you are far from home.

I'd give them a month or two before deciding to pull the plug. I don't think the problems are serious. $299 for life is a very good deal. You may not be able to get it back if you cancel.

 

The dealer was suppose to submit a form to have your account set up and connected to the one you created when you called mBrace initially. Sounds like you are having trouble connecting your car with the account. If you call the 866 number they should be able to correct this.

 

My Tele-Aid subscription was automatically renewed less than two weeks ago. I was provided no advance notice by MBUSA about the switch of providers. Tele-Aid refuses to issue a refund. I call MBUSA to express dissatisfaction about not being notified of the switch. I explained to both Tele-Aid and MBUSA bia telephone that Tele-Aid was sold to subscribers as an "official" Mercedes service. Since this has changed, I asked for a refund. Of course, Tele-AId said they would cancel my account, but it was paid up for another 50 weeks and no refund would be provided. MBUSA said there was nothing they could do. I atempted to send e-mail to Tele-aid via their website last week. It bounced. I believe this may be fodder for a class action suit.

Further information Tele-Aid is provided by
ATX Group
8550 Freeport Parkway
Irving, Tx 75063

The president's name is Rene Kingsley.

The following was the e-mail response from MBUSA:

Thank you for your recent email expressing interest in the new mbrace
telematics system.

We are pleased to provide the below website and contact telephone number to
obtain package and pricing information on this new service. We also
suggest you contact your TeleAid representative to inquire as to the
process of cancellation of your subscription, should you wish to do so.

mbrace toll free number - 1-866-990-9007.
wwwmbusa.com/mbrace

You may also obtain details from your authorized Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Mr. , we hope you find this information helpful. We appreciate your
interest in this new service and thank you for your patronage.

Sincerely,

Susan C.
Mercedes-Benz USA

No offer of assistance from MBUSA to resolve this

 

Sounds like a complaint for the Better Business Bureau for both MBUSA and Tele-aid.

 

I Pressed the "I" Button in my car -

a) Of course the idiot i spoke to did not cancel my service.

b) They have no record of that call "Cancel" being made!

c) They still have me down as a 2006.

d) They DO have my credit card on file - and it has been charged the $240.

e) I don't have a 3 month trial - I have a 6 month trial.

f) Because I signed up for the trial, I am not eligible for the lifetime....(to which I said, I signed up for what you guys told me to sign up....you never mentioned anything about lifetime)

g) A guy was supposed to call me back as to whether I could get this lifetime membership switched over.....still waiting...

h) I was switched from the "I" Button person to the "pre-registration person" through their system. When I got to the pre registration person - the sound was like a bad cell phone signal and the guy kept saying "Can u just press the "I" Button next time to speak to me? You have very bad cell phone service". I kept saying "I did not call you with my cell phone - I indeed pressed the "I" button and was transferred to you".

i) I just hate how every single time they come back to the phone - they have to repeat "....and I am sorry again for putting you hold - we value your patience and understand your frustration"....clearly this is right out of a manual...and its annoying. Especially on the 10th time.

 

Okay, it seems that they've corrected/updated all of my issues, however I haven't had a chance to check how my vehicle comes up when I push the "I" button. I will check that later today along with verifying that my service will automatically renew free of charge in 2013.

 

Just called the 866 number was told that the 1st part of the integration is completed since the "I" button connects to mbrace instead of Tele-Aid. The rep mentioned that it takes 3 business days, from the time the equipment is installed, for the account to be setup and connected!! I guess I would have to check frequently to see if I won the lottery and the setup was completed.

 

I haven't posted here before, but I just had to share my horrible experience with mbrace.

I decided to switch the teleaid in my MB over to mbrace because I liked the idea of the i-phone app. I took my car to the dealer about a week ago. They kept the car overnight and gave me a loaner. There was no switching fee, but I did give my credit card info to the dealer to pay the mbrace service fee.

I was told it would take 24 - 48 hours to process the data before I could use the service. I tried using the service the following day (over 24 hours) but the person who answered said they were unable to locate my account. They asked me to spell my name, asked for my account number (I was never given an account number). They even asked for my VIN even though I was driving. I got frustrated with the long hold times and bad setup and asked if I would have to give my VIN number if I were involved in an accident. I then got transferred to the "registration department". The person there told me to wait another 24 hours and try again. I tried another 24 hours later and basically went through the same exact thing including the LONG hold times and repeated apologies (as mentioned by others here). I waited another day and tried again... after waiting 2 minutes for the first person to talk to me I was informed that I was in a car completely different from mine (like someone else said too). When I said no, the person responded "that's not what I'm showing" (apparently their systems are more correct than me sitting in the car!) I spent the next seven minutes listening to blaring hold music until I was once again transferred to the registration department. After several more rounds of being on hold, I was told by a supervisor that my service would be working in 12 hours. I waited another 24 for the benefit of the doubt and tried again... you guessed it. Still no service. They did manage to find my account one time after a bunch of searching, and me pulling the car over to give my VIN number, but mbrace is still not setup to handle my calls.

I was very frustrated and told the agent I was concerned for the safety of my family if this was how mbrace worked. I asked how I could be sure I was safe. The agent said "Do you still have your teleaid active?". I kid you not, the agent suggested teleaid.

I've had it. I heard the dealer could move me back to TeleAid and I am doing it.

 

sorry to hear about your experience. totally unacceptable. Just bought a new car and the sales guy had to enter all the info into his comp. including CC #. 5 mts later got an email with the acc number and other info. so If u did not recieve the email then the dealer dropped the ball, they probably just upgraded the sys. but did not register for ur new account. call the dealer back and talk to the Service Mgr. hate to say it but the merc service dept is not up to the standard that we have come to expect from their cars.

 

No doubt they are having some issues with the roll-out of this service. The dealers were supposed to have their reps take a training course which may or may not have happened at your dealership. The dealership needs to submit a form after the software is upgraded. It took 30 minutes for the dealer to load the software for me and the rest of the day for mbrace to get the account set-up correctly. I suggest anyone who does the upgrade call mbrace at (877) 661-7024 and work with them to get the account set-up. These are not the same people you talk to when you press the "i button"

 

Okay guys,

like I mentioned in my latest post, I sent an email directly to MBUSA and I received a call today from them asking me about my issues. So as we speak they are researching my issues. What I would advise everyone else that are having issues with Mbrace, to send MBUSA an email and cut and paste your conversations from the forum in your email.

Tony