Mal practice by Ford dealer in Surat

[kashd]

The flood in Surat has given us opportunity to see the true colours of Ford India and their dealers. Like most citizens of Surat my car (purchased in Feb this year) was also affected by the flood as it was 1/3 under water. As an unfortunate Ford customer who was influenced by Ford name and aura, I have informed the dealer in Surat (M/s Bhavna Ford) for taking necessary care and recovery. The details of my actions are as under:-
[*]SMS send to Ford (dealer) : 10th August (city was still under flood water)
[*][Called and registered with Ford: 11th August (part of the city still under water)
[*][Car Towed from my place: 18th August and without any acknowledgement of any kind (what a service!!)
[*]Token Number given to me: 279 (unbelievable or was it a mistake from my side of not paying bribes to get an early token number!!)

Even with the above ordeal I was keeping my cool as the dealer promised speedy maintenance of the car and that too as a corporate customer within 20-25 days. But as days passed by I was given the same time frame during my numerous visits to the dealer.

The best part was yet to come. I found out from one of my visit that car with token number 280 was being attended while mine being 279 is way out of sight. After enquiry I found out that those who are paying cash directly to the dealer and not claiming insurance are being attended on priority. Those who are claiming insurance cover (must be fools like me!!) are treated like dirt as the dealer has hardly any chance of making money out of them.

I felt that I am dealing with a road side fly by night dealer interested in making fast bucks and not FORD. Or is it FORD which has a different service benchmark set in India for dealers?

[yogi1771]

welcome to the real world kashd havent u heard the liner money walks,talks and even runs and when u claim insurance u usually have to wait because they have to get clearence from the insurance company

[kashd]

Is there any remedy. Cant just leave them like that. Need to find ways and means to bring them to the table.

[yogi1771]

Originally Posted by kashd

Is there any remedy. Cant just leave them like that. Need to find ways and means to bring them to the table.

i think u can contact your insurance company and see what the position is or even get them to contact the dealers and workout something fast but i doubt thats gonna work because even my uncle had the same probs with his accent when mumbai was flooded last year,even though he knew a member from the insurance company his advice was pay cash if u want your car back fast

[F50]

Originally Posted by kashd

Is there any remedy. Cant just leave them like that. Need to find ways and means to bring them to the table.

Thats what im saying time an again ...choose the company wisely. Dont mind paying a bit more premium than rival company because they might have quick settling ratio.
If you have government co. insurance that might take time.
Surat being my native place, we know there was a certain lack of surveyors. But from the figures what I saw, Tata AIG's settling ratio was fastest. Bajaj Allianz was slow as they are more popular in Surat and surveyor team was not able to reach in time.

[kashd]

Originally Posted by F50

Thats what im saying time an again ...choose the company wisely. Dont mind paying a bit more premium than rival company because they might have quick settling ratio.

Thats a good idea and advise. My company is HDFC Chubb. But I also heard Tata AIG is doing a good job. Also Reliance General Insurance is also getting better ratings here.

[abhijit 2284]

Originally Posted by kashd

The flood in Surat has given us opportunity to see the true colours of Ford India and their dealers. Like most citizens of Surat my car (purchased in Feb this year) was also affected by the flood as it was 1/3 under water. As an unfortunate Ford customer who was influenced by Ford name and aura, I have informed the dealer in Surat (M/s Bhavna Ford) for taking necessary care and recovery. The details of my actions are as under:-
[*]SMS send to Ford (dealer) : 10th August (city was still under flood water)
[*][Called and registered with Ford: 11th August (part of the city still under water)
[*][Car Towed from my place: 18th August and without any acknowledgement of any kind (what a service!!)
[*]Token Number given to me: 279 (unbelievable or was it a mistake from my side of not paying bribes to get an early token number!!)

Even with the above ordeal I was keeping my cool as the dealer promised speedy maintenance of the car and that too as a corporate customer within 20-25 days. But as days passed by I was given the same time frame during my numerous visits to the dealer.

The best part was yet to come. I found out from one of my visit that car with token number 280 was being attended while mine being 279 is way out of sight. After enquiry I found out that those who are paying cash directly to the dealer and not claiming insurance are being attended on priority. Those who are claiming insurance cover (must be fools like me!!) are treated like dirt as the dealer has hardly any chance of making money out of them.

I felt that I am dealing with a road side fly by night dealer interested in making fast bucks and not FORD. Or is it FORD which has a different service benchmark set in India for dealers?

I dont think its mal-practice. unless and until the dealer gets a go-ahead from the surveyor why should he risk getting a car serviced and then maybe not be paid for some part of the services rendered.
plus being a flood affected city i think the vehicles to surveyor ratio would have been severly affected leading to this delay.

[kashd]

Its not the question of not servicing. Kindly read my letter carefully where I have mentioned that the numbering and preference is lopsided. Also their aint many fiesta in the city and ford has much lesser flood affected cars than hyundai or honda. The insurance co is also private where work is taken up faster than govt ones.

Anyway I got a call yesterday from Ford that the car is ready. I went there did a test drive with one ford engg. The pick up was not upto the mark and neither is gear control. Thed car had scratches on one side and a small dent on the other. Then came the most interesting part. The bill: Rs 1.17 Lacs that too without any damage to ECM. Well i have not taken delivery as the car needs further tuning. But the amount of Rs1.17 Lacs dont gel. The next step may be to go and check each and every parts they are claiming to have replaced.

I need help from the forum to address my grievance. How to deal with this kind of situation ???

[BMW]

BTW kashd, could you kindly let us know the break up of bill of Rs. 1.17 lakhs? I mean what all work have they done? And what is the update? Have you taken the delivery?