[jackdash]

THE STORY: Bought a 2007 Mercedes equipped with Tele-Aid.

Called Tele-Aid (which is Connected Vehicle Services) and spoke to a representative and purchased a two year contract at a discount ($392). So far so good. But the system would not activate so I was instructed to go to a M-B dealer to have the system flashed. Dealer is an hour's drive away, and I was told that there was an hour's labor charge to flash the system (turns out they would do it for free).

As a result I decided to cancel the NOT ACTIVATED subscription (and to think about mbrace as an option). Called Connected Vehicle Services -- they would cancel the service but NOT REFUND my charges, even though I had not used the service. Moreover, at the time of the sale I was not informed that the purchase would be non-refundable (unless you sell the car or it is totaled). Nor does it say this on the website. Nor do you get any paperwork and a notice of non-refundability.

Forewarned is forearmed -- compare Tele-Aid to mbrace. When you make your decision know that Tele-Aid will not let you cancel and get a refund, regardless of whether or not your system is activated.

 

[Musikmann]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know Tele-Aid was even available any longer. For another phone related issue, my T-A module was ungraded under warranty from analog to digital so at that time I was set, probably 5 years ago. The dealer offered me a contract for $240/year but I declined.

 

[Noodles]

THE STORY: Bought a 2007 Mercedes equipped with Tele-Aid.

Called Tele-Aid (which is Connected Vehicle Services) and spoke to a representative and purchased a two year contract at a discount ($392). So far so good. But the system would not activate so I was instructed to go to a M-B dealer to have the system flashed. Dealer is an hour's drive away, and I was told that there was an hour's labor charge to flash the system (turns out they would do it for free).

As a result I decided to cancel the NOT ACTIVATED subscription (and to think about mbrace as an option). Called Connected Vehicle Services -- they would cancel the service but NOT REFUND my charges, even though I had not used the service. Moreover, at the time of the sale I was not informed that the purchase would be non-refundable (unless you sell the car or it is totaled). Nor does it say this on the website. Nor do you get any paperwork and a notice of non-refundability.

Forewarned is forearmed -- compare Tele-Aid to mbrace. When you make your decision know that Tele-Aid will not let you cancel and get a refund, regardless of whether or not your system is activated.

Please call your bank or or credit company and dispute the charges. You will win this one. The sooner you dispute the charges the better.

 

[jackdash]

Yes -- that is good advice. Thank you!

 

[Skylaw]

That is indeed a shabby business practice.

Tele-Aid is the name for both the car's installed equipment and a separate service provider. MBRACE is the name of a competing service that can use the Tele-Aid equipment. Switching from one to the other requires a firmware change for the Tele-Aid equipment.