A very bad day: New Optra magnum damaged on delivery

[shuvd]

@ Mods - Don't know if this thread belongs here. Please remove it to an appropriate section if required.

Today was supposed to be a happy day for me. Was getting delivery of my Magnum Force, a Platinum Metallic Optra Magnum diesel.
It started off fine. Reached the dealership, India Automobiles at 12:30. Could see WB 02 Y 3094 smiling mischievously at me from inside the showroom. Completed the formalities and after checking the Magnum Force thoroughly, hit the streets at 1:15.

Force was mocking my gentle inputs on the accelerator. But, I controlled my urge and kept on driving lightly. After about 7 kms, the Check Air Bags light suddenly came on. Was not greatly alarmed. Parked the Force on the side of the road and switched off. Waited for a minute before cranking up. The light stayed on!

Called up the GM A.S.S. and was told to take Magnum there. Reached the place and was shown to the customer lounge. After waiting for about two hours, the service adviser said that the Force was ready and they would take a short drive just to be sure.

They came back after 20 minutes and handed me the keys. On asking what was wrong, I got a very vague answer. "Kuch loose tha sir, abhi theek hai. Gadda mein kudake bhi dekh liye hai. All ok"

I was about to take his answer to the manager but sure enough, the check light was off. Didn't want to hit it off on a bad note so let it be for the time being. At least, my Magnum Force was fine and healthy again.

Before driving off, just took a cursory walk around Force.
Now comes the worst part. I see a long dent on the left front door, about 15cms! Shell shocked, I pointed it out to the supervisor. I couldn't speak for sometime. He looked at the dent and called the guy who had gone for the TD.
Now, this is precious. He comes, squats, looks at the dent and scratches his head! Gets up and says "arrey, lag giya hai." I lost it then and shouted at him "HOW?" B#@$%^& starts scratching his head again and says "pata nahi sir, samajh mein nahi aa rha hai. Then he says "ac on tha aur sheesha upar tha, isilye malum nahi para ke dhakka kaise laga".

Just as I took a step towards him, the supervisor steeped in. A heavy round of "sincere apologies" followed. He said that I should take Magnum home today and bring Magnum back there on Monday for the repairs. I flatly refused. Told them I'm not touching the car. I was at a complete loss and couldn't think straight. Finally agreed to pick Magnum up on Monday. Left the ASSes amidst another bout of "sincere apologies".

Seething with anger, called up Kolkata member shuvc and told him about the whole thing.
Reached home a while back and am posting this.
for the long post, but I had to get it off my chest.

[LLL]

you really had an awefull day. We can only hope that they restore the car to its brand new state. Then this would become a bad dream that's over.

[Lukeskywalker]

Jeez, that is such a shame, sorry that your first day of owning a beauty turned out this way, the guys who take the cars out on test drives could not care less, they just don't get the fact that it is an expensive piece of machinery that they have on their hands.
I too would have clobbered the guy. In fact I almost clobbered the guy who was handing my new Optra, because he asked me to 'get lost' when I showed him a dent and scratches on the bumper of the new car.
Intervention by the manager who replaced the bumper and apologies saved the guy. Their story was that he was overstressed due to continous running around to ensure new cars are ready on schedule to be delivered.

[finneyp]

Shucks, very bad experience!
Shuvd, did it happen during the TD after they repaired the Air-bag problem?

Even Shuvasuma's Fiesta was damaged by Metro Ford during the TD by SC guys after some repairs.

Now, I am scared to give my Car for TD to these SC guys, I think these morons don't realize that we put all our hard-earned money and buy a Car and these guys handle our car in a reckless manner.

Since you have still not taken the delivery, maybe you can ask for another brand new car.

[razor4077]

Jeez dude. What's happening to the dealerships in India? Each one worse than the other.
Don't worry about it now (easier said than done, I know). Go back on Monday and tell yourself today never happened. No point taking delivery of a new car on a sour note.
Grab a drink or two (or 3....!) tonite, and take it easy

[nura]

@shuvd - Man, I'm getting so angry reading your post, I can imagine how you must be feeling. This kind of callousness deserves to be punished severely. It was lucky you spotted the dent. Had you driven off, you would have also ended up paying for the repairs. I would suggest you send off a few e-mails to the GM people as well & keep them in the picture. A friend's car needed to be fully repainted as the touch-up job didn't match. And he made sure they did it (naturally FOC), because the car had been damaged in the workshop during a service.
May God protect our cars from such service people.

[merains]

shuvd,really feeling bad for what happened with you today,razor is saying it right grab a drink for you today and tell yourself to take the delivery on a good note.me taking delivery of my civic MT on monday at coimbatore,was planning to get a driver from honda to drive the car back to kochi (am staying at kochi) as i have driven maruti 800 since 1999 and dont have a hang of civic and thats why dont want to get on highway from coimbatore to kochi.Having double mind now whether to take the driver or drive myself slowly?

[nura]

Originally Posted by razor4077

Grab a drink or two (or 3....!) tonite, and take it easy

Great idea. Drinks on me. I'm sending you my address by sms.

[razor4077]

Originally Posted by nura

Great idea. Drinks on me. I'm sending you my address by sms.

What about the guy who suggested it??

[shuvd]

Thanks people for the kind words. But, I'm still in rage.

@ Finneyp - I had already taken the delivery when this happened.

@ Nura - Thanks for the offer Doc. But, got some guests coming over for dinner. Got to stay at home.

@ Razor - Won't get a chance to get drunk tonight

[normally_crazy]

Shucks man - Shuvd. I can understand how it must feel. But I say - ask the dealer to replace the door and not repair it.

[deepakvrao]

Sorry to hear about this. What I would suggest is to take some pics of the damage. When you go sell the car the buyer may point out that the panel was repainted and you can show him that the damage was not major.

I did this when I had a door dent in my Innova and sure enough the pic was enough to convince the buyer that the damage was limited.

[esteem_lover]

So sad man, shuvd, just take it in your stride. i can easily feel the irritation & the disappointment of it all. Try to forget it & wait for a lovely ride back home on monday. There is no point in getting mad at these guys, but please do make sure that GM knows about this small incident & also ensure some action has been taken on the erring employee, that would keep them honest for the future.

[nura]

Originally Posted by razor4077

What about the guy who suggested it??

Sorry. You know you are welcome, too. I guess I don't have to sms you my address.

[LLL]

Originally Posted by merains

shuvd,really feeling bad for what happened with you today,razor is saying it right grab a drink for you today and tell yourself to take the delivery on a good note.me taking delivery of my civic MT on monday at coimbatore,was planning to get a driver from honda to drive the car back to kochi (am staying at kochi) as i have driven maruti 800 since 1999 and dont have a hang of civic and thats why dont want to get on highway from coimbatore to kochi.Having double mind now whether to take the driver or drive myself slowly?

drive it yourself if you are confident, else take a driver from honda. If its your unlucky day, either way you will be unlucky...