Incident of non acceptable service provided by Mercedes Benz Road side assist South Africa

To Whom it my Concern, On Saturday 15th June 2019 at around 15h00 my family and I, in our family vehicle, Mercedes Benz 200 (Registration number DT NX 92 GP) accidently hit a very large pothole on the road between Ellisras (Lephalale) and Steenbokpan (known as Melson Mandela Drive- Ellisras (Lephalale) Side and unknown name other side) in the Limpopo province South Africa. The incident scene was 8 km from Ellisras and 240km from the nearest Mercedes Benz WonderBoom. Also 520 km from Secunda Mpumalanga our residential address. Our vehicle obtained a burst front right side tyre and could not be driven as it has run flats and no spare wheel nor jack and wheel spanner. As bought & issued by Mercedes Benz dealership South Africa. Hence our sole reliability hands on the assistance of Mercedes Benz Road Side assist and their agents and teams. We called the Mercedes Benz road side assist and agreed for the transportation of my family and I , as well as my vehicle to Wonder boom Pretoria Mercedes Benz. It took from 16h00 until 22h20 that evening to have our vehicle loaded and on its way to in Wonderboom Pretoria.(6 hours and 20 min) I had to pay R5662.00 to the tow truck company to recover our vehicle to Wonderboom. Which I agreed on paying, with the understanding that there was going to be a Kia Picanto curtsy vehicle delivered to me at the side of the road. ETA would have been 21:00, an hour before the tow truck was due. Road side assist only offered one option of a service provider at a rate of 10:59 per km to recover (Precision & Son Tow In) this double the AA rates. Why? and why only one service provider , do we not obtain the best rates for our customers or are we in the business of ripping our customers off at these rates. At 21:00 Mercedes Benz on Call informed us that they could not get hold of a driver to deliver the curtsy vehicle. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere with a R5662 tow truck bill and no way to get home. Portia, the supervisor on duty told us to book into a hotel at our own cost and that we could claim the cost back. She will phone the next day to make arrangements for a curtsy vehicle. At 8:30 Sunday morning Portia let me know that we could pick up our curtsy vehicle at 12:00 at the airport in Polokwane, which was over 2 hours’ drive away. It took 17hour from breaking down, before we received a curtsy vehicle. We were left stranded on the road side and had to try make our own plans to get to a safe place. No transportation means was made by Mercedes Benz to ensure the safety of my family and having us getting home. The level of competency displayed by the road side assistance agents was very poor and all they could do is apologies all the time for our inconvenience, please review all the calls made during this period. Our reference number is *** The road side assist agents only made contact a few time with us that night we had to keep calling them for status update all the time as our lives were in danger. At one stage when agent (Gugu) went off shift she closed the call case as completed and did not hand the case over to the next team on call ,knowing we were stranded out in the middle of the night. And never arranged client safety nor pick up. The vehicle was arrange several time for us to pick up in Polokwane airport 240km away (How do I walk this far to collect a vehicle what are the agents playing at) we are standing next to the road side in middle of the night. The rental was also arrange at one stage to pick up at 21h00 on the incident scene but never came as promised. After several calls and conversations with your agents. Supervisor Portia also took over the case and left us stranded next to the road in winters night with no provisions and safe haven that same night and nothing in place. The next day was a repeat of the night before with regards to the vehicle pick up. Until I assisted them in guiding them to a rental company in Ellisras hence we then received a vehicle at 10h00. Due to me assisting them, can you believe this After the vehicle recovery we were left stranded in dark and an unsafe area in very cold winters evening. The roadside assist did not assist us at all in vehicle rental on scene and accommodation. We could not book into a hotel as we were 8km from town on a road stranded without any means of even financing such a place even if we could nor could we reach the town. I am very disappointed and disgusted by the way I have been treated by Mercedes Benz as I would of thought there standards were much higher in fact World class. I would like an investigation into the matter and I would appreciate feedback on the outcome from this. • I would like to see an apology form Mercedes Benz South Africa and Germany for their poor and unacceptable service and to traumatic experience I have had to experience with my family • Agents competency and knowledge on what to do , needs drastic attention. Supervisor only apologies and have no extra solutions at assisting or resolving stranded clients in help. • The sole source of tow In service providers at over the National AA rates should not be used and an option should be given to clients on different service providers that can be used and at competitive rates • I would like the cost of my vehicle recovery from the scene to Mercedes Benz Wonder boom Pretoria to be reimburse to me as this was not in accordance to the agreement made that night between us and the agent at Road side assist • Some sort of security cover must be given in these cases to ensure the clients are safe next to the national and rural road side while help is been dispatched to them . • Mercedes Benz South Africa to issue all vehicles with spare wheels, jack and wheel spanners as this is Africa and our vehicles are traveling on very unsafe poorly maintained roads with potholes, this is the real reality. roads are not as in Europe and America Please read through this e-mail and try understand from the clients point of view with regards to safety and expenses incurred Please always strive to be the best and give your client the best and what is promised and with care for the families and there well been Please use this e-mail to improve your name brand and avoid this damaging your name On Tuesday 18 June I logged a complaint to Mercedes Benz Road side assist, Our reference number is *** . Until today I have still had no feedback from the team working there . Very, Very unprofessional Positive feedback. The service and assistance I received from Wonderboom Mercedes Benz Pretoria South Africa was world class , professional and very courteous (Helen). A big thank you to this Mercedes Benz dealer ship and its staff. They made me feel at home and part of their family. Kind Regards Andrew Wilby *** ***