Misfortune at Fortune Cars

[abdriver2000]

My car has clocked just 3000+, but I had to take it for first service, since it was 6 months old. I took an appointment with Fortune Cars, Nerul. They give an appointment in 20 minutes slots, 9-9.20, 9.20-9.40 and so on. This way I should have been 3rd person for the day.

To my surprise, I was the 16th person although I went at 9.35. Nobody assisted for the next 15 minutes. Then the service advisor Dhananjay came on to the scene. He put the time of arrival as 9.50 so that they can show it as late.

I explained my problems to them which are as follows:
1. Rear driver side glass handle keeps popping out - SOLUTION - NONE
2. Reverse gear does not engage smoothly. - SOLUTION - NONE - Tata aise hi banata hain
3. Wiper fluid container leaks - SOLUTION NONE
4. Usual checks/wash/top-up etc. - NONE
5. Water on floor - Door membranes replaced at full cost to me. Dont know if it will help.
6. Fitting of 2nd reverse light for symmetry sake. SOLUTION - None - Tata aise hi banata hain
7. AC is noisy at 3 & 4 levels. Also engine stalls with AC. Infact more noisier than the engine
itself. This was also the problem in other demo XETAs - SOLUTION - NONE
8. The pedal heights will need to be reduced a bit. - SOLUTION - None - Tata aise hi banata hain
9. Sound from rear right tyre. Also left side tyre when braking. SOLUTION - None
10. Wiper nozzle - 2 hrs to fix
11. Rusting in engine/tyres - SOLUTION - NONE
12. I also instructed him, not to put their stickers on my car. Thankfully, they obliged.

My request for PUC was turned down; no PUC for 1 year, they said.

Although many of these jobs were refused, they promised a delivery time of 6pm. At the time of appointment, I was told it would be over before noon. When I tried explaining that I had travelled 70km for the service, they said that they are in the middle of nowhere and all cars travel there over long distances.

The service advisor was shown the car. He made a note of everything in the car, like fuel, tyres, etc. and took the car in the service bay.

First thing was the leaky doors at the back. They fixed new plastics which I don't think will help. It was 12 pm, and all that was done in 2 hours was the wiper fluid nozzle!! They went for lunch 1-2pm.

At 2.30pm I lost the patience and went asking for the mechanic in charge. At this point I noticed that the mechanic had stepped into the car with oil on his feet. This spoiled my mat and carpet. When asked if they would oblige to clean this, the answer was 'Get out from here. You are not expected here in the first place'.

It is half an hour before delivery time and no further jobs have been carried out. The service advisor is not to be found.

It's delivery time, and the car is nowhere to be found. I am told that the mechanic took it for a trial, though it could have gone for a test drive with a prospective customer! After all, my car still is new, even the plastics are intact.

At 5.30pm, and after a 9km trial the car is miraculously back in the workshop. But the ordeal is far from over. They decide to wash it. But that will take 1.5 hrs. And there would still be bird-**** on the windscreen after the wash.

I wait in line with atleast half a dozen frustrated people for the bill. I am given a bill for 154, which I pay without questioning since I could barely stand now.

Nothing was done on the car from 9.40am to 8.30pm except changing of door membranes and a wash. Finally the car is at the gate, with 2 dents in the door!

Service manager Dhunanjay miraculously turns into an ex-quality advisor and predicts that this was unintenional.

All this while, I was not allowed to get in touch with the workshop manager Mr. Mahesh Shetty or the GM works Mr. Rawat (who I am told strongly believes in the Indica users group).

At the toll naka , I found that the coin tray was emptied of all the petty cash!
So much for a free service!

I am not going there again, not even at gunpoint, not even if they pay me for it!

Atleast half a dozen people present there would do the same.

--abdriver2000

[danlalan]

I guess a few ma-bhen ka gaali's would have worked wonders..if u know wht i mean.....its really unfortunate for fortune cars to do something like that....however i owned an INDICA DLS for 3yrs and have sent it to the service station for al the services and have nothing to complain about.

[Zappo]

Bah! I am at a loss of words?!!! This is freaging crazy! Compared to this my Tata service station here is probably run by the angels from the heavens mann! And by the way all those "No Solutions" actually are very easily sorted out. And you paid for a leaky door seal? I am amazed. This should have been free of cost.

Take it to some other dealer... they will sort it all out. You should not have accepted the dented car. You made a mistake... should have raised a stink then and there. They would have immediately taken the car in for sorting out the problem. Damaging a scratch-free car is a hugely unprofessional thing to do and companies do not look at it very obligingly. That is why they make those elaborate inspections and note all the pre-existing scratched and dents before taking the car for servcing.

Your Fortune people sound to me like of the ilk Mandovi people of Bangalore are (I think it is Mandovi...). Do yourself a favor. Write a detailed mail to Tata... and draft it the same way you wrote it here... that is abundantly peppered with "Tata Aisi hi gaddiyan banaati hai" and hence "can not be rectified" comments. Your problem may get sorted out.

[SuperSyn]

1. abdriver do hazaar, first you should learn to compose a post properly, the reader is left wondering which car is being talked about. You should mention it in the first peragraph at least.

2. Write a letter to Tata Motors with all this information. You can find the relevant information on their website. Posting here is good, but the company should also know what is happening.

[wolfinstein]

I think you went to worst service center available, or you went on a day the load is too much for them to handle...! I agree certail issues are there with TATA that cannot be rectified, Like the reverse gear not engaging smoothly, However I have noticed that its becoming better after 4500 Kms I clocked on my XETA and By the way the Reverse Gear Issue is there on All TATA Cars.
Door membranes are to replaced under warranty if damaged, unless you had a install of Speakers much larger than the space given, which would have involved cutting+ I think since its the Mumbai Flood thing that these things are not being replaced, You should write to TATA for a clarification,
Engine rusting and Wheel rusting, Relax bhai..All cars rust or are coated with Rust on some portions, The Headers do rust, but its not rust slight formation which appears so..! My lancer has it, My XETA has it..Don't panic, all iron parts do get a layer of rust on them-Science ka funda..!
Tyre noise can be removed by having the wheels rotated and the wheel bearings checked, In most cases the wheel is not fitted properly after any puncture which cause some sounds, If the sound is there on braking, maybe its accumalation of brake dust on the pads obstructing clear woking, just have the pads removed and checked.
Never had my glass popping out, however the solution can be to have the mirror guard installed to prevent it from becoming loose.
Finally, Drive back to them, And get them to straigten things out and get all work done in front of you, and Any mech that says You're not supposed to be here in the first place, You need to have the Workshop manager or the GM present there and then ask him to repeat that, Although the rule book says no customers inside without permission, You can insisit to be with your car. Remeber All service charges are free of cost, you are ony charged for any parts or oil, All labour is free...so if you have a problem then its their problem to find a solution for it.

I don't understand why you took it so lightly, Some users on TIUG are a little too soft and less demanding of their rights as customer..at least thats what my perception has been..! Since you paid for your car you are in all rights to ask for any explanation, any repairs and work carried out.
Lastly, If it was damaged, by them you should have brought to their notice then and there and asked for a repaint, Vivek Auto, slightly scrapped my front bumper with a new Red XETA, And the works manager offered to repaint the bumper. You need to be aware and ask..! If it was your damage then it would have been noted by a guard or worksman on a sheet of paper or Job card having a Indica layout..!

[sajo]

The reverse gear does sometime feel hard, especially when the car(2004 Indigo GLS) is being started for the first time in the morning. The service centre we use here in Pune (BU Bhandari, Wakad) is reasonably polite, and they did a speedy and reasonably priced job of this -->
Though their normal service seems unimpressive. Sorry to hear about your misfortune abdriver. Shoot off a mail to the Tatas.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Your Fortune people sound to me like of the ilk Mandovi people of Bangalore are (I think it is Mandovi...). .

Certainly not, I think yuo mean Manipal. I have had great service from Mandovi - who service Maruti only

[magiceye]

Originally Posted by danlalan

I guess a few ma-bhen ka gaali's would have worked wonders..if u know wht i mean.....its really unfortunate for fortune cars to do something like that....however i owned an INDICA DLS for 3yrs and have sent it to the service station for al the services and have nothing to complain about.

Hey danlan.... Could you please tell us the service station that you gave your DLS to, so that due credit for the good ones can be given?

Cheers!

[manaa45]

though i had heard bad things being siad abt fortune, i dint think they would stoop to such a low level.

but it is no use crying over spilt milk and my suggestion to you would be to write a detailed letter to Tata motors and they will surely get back to you. i can say this because one of my friends had lot of problems with his indica and he writing a mail/letter to tata helped immediately as he got a reply with promise of service from them. i m yet to get an update abt the work done on the car after that. but atleast reply was immediate.

but dont waste any more time on it. and donot forget to attach all the papers of fortune along with it.

Regards

Shubbhi

[omar1310]

One of my friend owns a Fiat Adventure and he too was too bugged with the response with Fortune at Powai workshop. Incidentally, I got my car serviced at Wasan Motors, Deonar, and I had a good experience. As far as response and delivery commitment was concerned.

You can try at Wasan next time!

Regards

[abdriver2000]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

1. My car is the XETA GLS. I forgot to mention that earlier, since I was too frustrated at the time of writing this review.

2. Regarding the dents, it would have meant keeping the car at the workshop overnight, and other owners advised me against it due to rat problems and also parts could be swapped.

3. I bought my car from Wasan, and they were horrible at the time of delivery. PDI was not done properly, and the door handle problem is due to them.

Can someone here clarify the PUC part? Do I need to get a PUC after 6 months or 1 year? I am thinking of getting one just for peace of mind.

[ajmat]

Judging from the reports on Tata Indica, all I can say is that their customer service is dumb dumb dumb

[abdriver2000]

Update:: The membrane replacement has not worked. I still have water
on the floor. Last 2 days, there were heavy showers in Mumbai, and I
guess many xeta owners have a lot of water to flush out.

Also, I have not got the call next day from Fortune Cars as promised.

[fight_club]

gave my palio 1.6 to fortune nerul today, interestingly the job card copy given to the customer carries a note that anything happening to the car while at service center is customers liablility(means dents etc) do you have that copy i mean thats is straightaway mockery of consumer right it will make good publication material let me assure you dude if they get as much as a scratch on my palio thay will be polishing their sorry asses with that same paper. dude what are you waiting for somebody to run over your car .

[always_dui]

hey abdriver

Dude

dont let this get off so easily....

a friend of mine had the same issue with his indica which had just gone for a change in fog lamp assembly and came back with scratches on the bumper.

not sure what exactly happened but he did get a reply from both especially from TATA..

also in his mail he had told them about getting this as an article on mumbai mirror coz his friend works for them

so

use the links below

http://www.tatamotors.com/contactus/

http://www.fortunecars.com/contactus.asp

P.s make it a point to mail tata motors without fail.