KSM Motors smashes customer's Jetta on a joyride. EDIT: New replacement car!

[DarkLordOfSith]

I would suggest you go to the dealer and tell him that you'll be going to Wolfsburg, Germany and speak to the people there directly.

If you can spare a couple of days, though the idea is a long shot, I would suggest you to do that. You'll end up spending around 2 Lakhs, but your car is worth 20L.

PS : Mentioning Korea to Hyundai actually worked in my case when my car engine was wrecked.

[sudeepg]

Have you tried raising this with Volkswagen india directly? Here's contact info from their site. You may also want to point out all the negativity they are getting

Our dealerships are well equipped to handle your concerns. You may contact the respective Sales Head/Service Head. OR

If you wish to give us your feedback directly, you may contact
Volkswagen 24X7 Toll Free - 1800 102 0909 / 1800 209 0909. OR

If you wish to e-mail your feedback write to us at customer.care@volkswagen.co.in or

[carboy]

Originally Posted by DarkLordOfSith

I would suggest you go to the dealer and tell him that you'll be going to Wolfsburg, Germany and speak to the people there directly.

If you can spare a couple of days, though the idea is a long shot, I would suggest you to do that. You'll end up spending around 2 Lakhs, but your car is worth 20L.

Go to Wolfsburg and speak to who exactly?

[hrman]

Guys, before we jump the gun, lets at least hear the solution if any offered to the OP. He was to update us on the counter offer made by VW.
Even I am eagerly awaiting the result. There has been enough VW bashing and oodles of "Out of the Box" and "In the box" solutions offered.
Fly down to Germany to tell them that the car was damaged by the dealer in India? Really?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Getting another, not-new vehicle, and having to pay money out too, seems in no way fair to me.Not for registration, not for difference in price, not for nothing.

Even if it were a simple workshop accident (they happen) I would say that. This is not a simple accident, it is an accident arising from an absolute breach of trust in allowing the car to be misused in a way that has led to this crash.

Maybe they'd even like to charge him for that service to his now-wrecked car!

EDIT: crossposted.

Guys, before we jump the gun, lets at least hear the solution if any offered to the OP. He was to update us on the counter offer made by VW.
Even I am eagerly awaiting the result. There has been enough VW bashing and oodles of "Out of the Box" and "In the box" solutions offered.
Fly down to Germany to tell them that the car was damaged by the dealer in India? Really?

Yes, you are right, although days are passing, and every day passed is bad.

[GunMo]

Originally Posted by vineetsh08

I am supposed to have a firm offer by today evening or tomorrow in the first half.

Vineet, we are eagerly awaiting to hear the good news.

Originally Posted by vineetsh08

I was requested to put a hold on the 'social media' if possible

This is again showing arrogance by whoever is dealing on negotiation from KSM / VW side.

Hope that isn't tying your hands on giving us the update at least before getting a reasonable and acceptable compensation. (And after getting one, obviously you are going to let the world know that the mistake corrected. I just wish both VW and KSM have enough wisdom to understand such outcome).

Cheers and good luck!

[aghosht]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

Although going to court would bring the malpractices of the VW dealer to light, for the owner of the vehicle, this would mean a very long time before the issue is resolved and the Innova would probably have to be maintained by the owner during this time.

Originally Posted by VW2010

Same here. I hope there is a settlement in this case and anything that goes to court can be taken for granted as "settlement to your grandson" and avoid the legal method.

One way I can think of which will help in quickly settling the issue is to include the overseas company as a party to any proceeding that is initiated. That way there is lots of pressure to have an off-the-court settlement quickly!

[carboy]

Originally Posted by vineetsh08

First off, I have already said this on FB, but let me say it again, thank you all for the tremendous support shown. A big shout out to amit_mechengg for posting this here. I think this is the post thatot got my issue the most traction.

Hi Vineet, Welcome to the Forum. Sorry it had to be under these circumstances. Hopefully everything gets resolved to your satisfaction.

One thing a lot of people in this forum were curious about was the Rs 42,700 figure - which was the estimate given for the servicing (before the accident) - how come the cost of servicing was so high?

[Musicmaker23]

More than anything, I'm extremely sorry for the trouble you've gone through and the stress you've been under, because I know trying to take on a large corporation is like hitting your head against a wall. I started reading your post & although I didn't doubt your claim, I wondered if the accident had actually happened on a test-run. But, following through, the police complaint and the timing of the accident puts the onus of righting this wrong entirely on VW!

Firstly, do NOT to go Consumer Courts first. While handing over the car, there're certain rules the service center has to adhere to, by taking the car out beyond office hours, they've obviously put themselves in a bind. File a criminal case about misuse and theft of movable property & initiate reckless endangerment charges against them. If the police complaint copy you states the name and DL number of the driver, mention that in your FIR. Also raise questions of theft, robbery & intoxication in the FIR, since you cannot come to a conclusion about these aspects without a proper inquiry which asking these questions will ensure takes place.

It is only after you've done all this can you move the Consumer Court. It is imperative you do not approach this forum first. If you possess correspondence copies about the 'deals' being offered, those are primarily of use in the Consumer Forums, & will be called upon only later in the criminal case.

I wish you the best of luck & hope you find yourself a good enough threatening lawyer to get them rattled.

[sameer_tangri]

Originally Posted by Musicmaker23

More than anything, I'm extremely sorry for the trouble you've gone through and the stress you've been under, because I know trying to take on a large corporation is like hitting your head against a wall. I started reading your post & although I didn't doubt your claim, I wondered if the accident had actually happened on a test-run. But, following through, the police complaint and the timing of the accident puts the onus of righting this wrong entirely on VW!

Firstly, do NOT to go Consumer Courts first. While handing over the car, there're certain rules the service center has to adhere to, by taking the car out beyond office hours, they've obviously put themselves in a bind. File a criminal case about misuse and theft of movable property & initiate reckless endangerment charges against them. If the police complaint copy you states the name and DL number of the driver, mention that in your FIR. Also raise questions of theft, robbery & intoxication in the FIR, since you cannot come to a conclusion about these aspects without a proper inquiry which asking these questions will ensure takes place.

It is only after you've done all this can you move the Consumer Court. It is imperative you do not approach this forum first. If you possess correspondence copies about the 'deals' being offered, those are primarily of use in the Consumer Forums, & will be called upon only later in the criminal case.

I wish you the best of luck & hope you find yourself a good enough threatening lawyer to get them rattled.

I agree with this 100%. If you do not have any fruitful and satisfactory conclusion being arrived at, you should definitely file the criminal cases against this agency. It may seem that this (legal cases in India) is a long drawn process but as per my experience, these cases always trouble the culprits and with the kind of evidences you have, they are bound to be punished sooner or later.

I say this from my experience- as I had a minor accident and my case came up for hearing 10 years later! The other individual had filed the case just to harass me even though it was a genuine error of judgement on the part of both of us. He didn't even recognize me in court :-) and also told the judge that he wanted to teach me a lesson and hence filed the case.
I was let off by the judge but only after I had spent a good amount of time and money (Rs. 3,500/-) in the court...not to mention the mental harassment.

Go ahead and file the police case against the agency soon...the longer this matter is dragged the weaker your case gets...unfortunate but true.

[SASproject]

Sometimes these kind of incidents make me wonder if a US-like 'sue for a obscenely large amount' legal system would be helpful in India. Its all daydreaming, i know.

But I am sure if every such incident would have costed the dealer a couple of crore rupees, we would like in a much much more consumer friendly world.

[GunMo]

Originally Posted by vineetsh08

And as per the call I just got, it looks like traction it did get! I am supposed to have a firm offer by today evening or tomorrow in the first half.
PS: More thank yous too surely follow once I have an actual acceptable offer in hand!

Vineet, It's almost a week since you posted the above. Hope all is going well on your side.

Eager to hear the positive news that VW cares for (and NOT scares) its customers!

[vineetsh08]

Hi Guys,

My apologies for not being on top of things as far as updating this forum concerns. I know all of you have stood by me and I would definitely want you guys to be the first ones to know about an actual resolution.

Unfortunately, though we had two separate meetings with senior people at KSM (VW folks are still MIA though every now and again someone from VW sends me a personal message on Facebook), I have nothing but a handshake to show for those meetings.

I have been getting regular phone calls from KSM who in turn say that they are getting regular phone calls from VW to get to me take things down from Facebook. However, on the topic of the actual resolution, they very nicely ask me to wait 3 weeks!

I have made the following clear to them:

1. First resolve my complaint then you may make any new requests

2. I am not a new customer buying a new car that I should wait 3 weeks to resolve a complaint which they was all their fault beyond a shred of doubt.

3. Today is the one month anniversary of the day we were informed about this 'incident' and them asking me to wait another 3 weeks is simply unacceptable.

In spite of what has happened, I have been very accommodating with them and have stayed away from being vindictive. After one of our meetings I got a call from KSM at 8.30 pm saying their people could not go home till I sent a mail stating KSM people had met me and we were nearing a resolution as VW wanted to see that mail. In spite of a very long day, I sent the mail out in the next 5 mins. Unfortunately their response on all these matters have been only nothing but dragging their feet and buying some more time.

As already a week has passed since our last meeting, I have given them a deadline of tomorrow 5 pm to comply with all their obligations failing which we will employee all channels to get what we deserve.

Thank you all once again for all your support. It looks like more of it might be needed soon!

Regards,
Vineet Sharma

[evilshantanu]

Thanks for the update Vineet, atleast the entire scene looks positive now. Additionally the VW folks are trying their muscle power on the dealer. I think which is good for the resolution.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please avoid quoting an entire large post. It inconveniences our small screen & mobile readers.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by vineetsh08

In spite of what has happened, I have been very accommodating with them and have stayed away from being vindictive. After one of our meetings I got a call from KSM at 8.30 pm saying their people could not go home till I sent a mail stating KSM people had met me and we were nearing a resolution as VW wanted to see that mail. In spite of a very long day, I sent the mail out in the next 5 mins. Unfortunately their response on all these matters have been only nothing but dragging their feet and buying some more time.

By all means keep the negotiations as civilised and polite as possible, but not "accommodating."

They want something like this to get VW off their backs, and you have played into their hands. "Nearing resolution" mean VW can now downgrade their attention to this, and just like the call-centre manager who wants to mark everything "resolved" whether it is or not (Hello Airtel!) they will do so.