Buying a Palio Stile Sport from Dhingra Motors, Gurgaon

[codemarauder]

Hi,

Here is my buying experience at Dhingra Motors in Gurgaon. It started on 6th Oct and is still on and on and on...

3rd Oct: Walked in to Dhingra Motors, Gurgaon and test drove a red Palio Stile 1.6 Sport. Discussed about offers and finance options.

6th Oct: Submitted documents to SBI and booked a Furnace Red Palio Stile Sport. Sales person told me that you can not get any color apart from Red or Black in spite of me seeing a Magnesium Grey car on the road in Gurgaon. So at last went for Red as it will be really difficult for me to maintain a black car.

Also, saw the same Furnace Red car ready for delivery that I had test drove on 3rd Oct. I am pretty much sure on this as on 3rd they had only Red and Black cars in the showroom and on 6th Oct, the black one was still there but Red was moved to their yard. We were shown that red car in the yard so as to decide on the color.

8th Oct: E-mailed Mr. Jaldeep Virani and Fiat helpdesk at 11 am. Although, I did not get a reply of the mail, but recieved a call from Dhingra motors at 5pm that I can get a Magnesium Grey and it will take 10-12 days. I said ok, go ahead.

10th Oct: Loan approved by SBI.

11th Oct: By that time, advertisements started mentioning 25k cash discount on Palio on the cars invoiced on or before 11th Oct and delivery could be taken at a later date. Paid for the full amount 4.35L including extended warranty, RTO and insurance. Sales person told me that it will still take 12-13 days but car should be here before dussehra.

16th Oct: Called up the dealership to ask about update and was told that it will take time and we will inform you as soon as it arrives. Only a single grey colored car has been ordered specially for you so it will be delivered to you only.

19th Oct: A surprise visit to the dealership just to ensure if the car has arrived and is being used as a TD vehicle. Was told that car was dispatched on 12th of Oct but the trailer was impounded by police near Bhiwadi as there were some papers missing. It should arrive on Saturday or Sunday. So the delivery is sure on Monday the 22nd Oct.

21st Oct: No call from them till 6.30 pm. I called the sales person to ask if it is being delivered tomorrow and do I need to take leave from office? I was told that there was some mistake and the car was loaded on to the trailer. So the next trailer will start on 22nd and they will be able to deliver it only by the month end.

I wanted to complete the first 1000kms and get it serviced before 8th Nov as I had already planned to visit my parents in Lucknow on diwali in the new car.

I did not blast him on the phone, as it is not going to solve the problem. Now, what should I do in this case? Escalating to GM Sales of dealership may not work if dealership is involved in this mess. Fiat-India website feedback form was not working of late, but I have not checked it today.

First of all I wanted to get suggestions from you people and then proceed in a pre-planned manner. Was it a mistake on my part to make full payments in advance? Please advise.

[codemarauder]

An update here. Sent a mail to Fiat India Helpdesk and Fiat Brand Executive in Tata motors. Still waiting for their reply.

Also, in the meanwhile, visited the dealership and met their Sales Manager. He checked and told me that intent was sent to Fiat on 11th October itself but the vehicle did not arrive in the consignment. He will call them up today to put it in transit today or tomorrow and delivery may be made on 31st Oct if all goes well

Too much for a car booked on 6th Oct and full payment made on 11th Oct. If they can make a mistake of not loading a ready vehicle in the trailer, what sort of A.S.S I could expect from them later on.

[sameer551]

Originally Posted by codemarauder

Hi,


First of all I wanted to get suggestions from you people and then proceed in a pre-planned manner. Was it a mistake on my part to make full payments in advance? Please advise.

Call up at Fiat Help Desk look for email ids' no at bhp forums and call them...they';ll surely tell u the tracking of the car whether its dispatched and also if the delay is coz of dealer or co.
Im sure dealer is acting smart since u've paid the full amount to them and they really dont care after that. Its common among all indian shops/dealerships once full payment received let the customer go to hell!!
Go man blast them shout everywhere and only then u'll get delivery in time.

[sameer551]

Originally Posted by sameer551

Call up at Fiat Help Desk look for email ids' no at bhp forums and call them...they';ll surely tell u the tracking of the car whether its dispatched and also if the delay is coz of dealer or co.
Im sure dealer is acting smart since u've paid the full amount to them and they really dont care after that. Its common among all indian shops/dealerships once full payment received let the customer go to hell!!
Go man blast them shout everywhere and only then u'll get delivery in time.

Pathetic man...I am really considering to buy Palio soon but all these issues makes me think again of what will they offer *** for parts in case car is bumped somewhere. A great car in making and worst *** partner TATA.

[codemarauder]

Here is the reply I received from Fiat. So, it looks like it was a goof up on both the ends or rather lack of proper communication.

Dear Mr. Sharma,

I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. We checked in the system that since the dealer didn’t have the colour in stock it had to put order with Tata Motors for your car. However this argument not withstanding, I have spoken to the regional Fiat executive and briefed him on your problem. Rest assured your car would be delivered to you in few days time.

I am once again sorry for the delay in delivery of your car. Please rest assured that you would not face any problems with the after sales service of the car.

Please feel free to write to us anytime. Assuring you best of our services,

Warm regards,

Jaldeep Virani.

[finneyp]

Don't worry buddy! Seems like a mis-communication between dealer, Tata and Fiat!

You will get your beauty soon!
And A.S.S. has improved a fair extent post Fiat-Tata alliance.

[codemarauder]

Their Sales Manager had assured me that they would call me up and update on the status whatever it is and let me know the chassis no. once its in transit. Waited till today morning and called them back. No sure answer again - "Bhaiya it might have already started yesterday or may start today".

On asking about chassis no. I was told that they will be able to provide me the no. only when it arrives here. Thought of calling Fiat Helpline to enquire about chassis no. or transit status as dealer is still not providing concrete details. Fiat's toll free no. is 1800 225 552 which can be dialled from only BSNL/MTNL and its too hard to find a BSNL/MTNL PCO these days


Thanks FennyP for your support in this highly emotional dramatic situation ;-)

[sameer551]

Originally Posted by codemarauder

Hi,


11th Oct: By that time, advertisements started mentioning 25k cash discount on Palio on the cars invoiced on or before 11th Oct and delivery could be taken at a later date. Paid for the full amount 4.35L including extended warranty, RTO and insurance. Sales person told me that it will still take 12-13 days but car should be here before dussehra.

Hey buddy...how much discount u got for the same? as per the price u mentioned i guess you got 40k discount?
I went to showroom they are not ready to give me discount more than 25k in delhi. plus 15k ONLY if I own a car in my name. I told them that i've no car in my name so they say I can't get discount more tahn 25k.
Did you show them the car RC for getting additional 15k discount?

Please tell me will help to buy it with good discount.

[codemarauder]

Originally Posted by sameer551

Hey buddy...how much discount u got for the same? as per the price u mentioned i guess you got 40k discount?

I got only 25k cash discount, as per the advertisements. In Gurgaon RTO charges are only 8,000, way less than that in Delhi. No other discount or accessories (you only need an ICE setup as Sport is fully loaded).

I feel that Tata dealerships are like government offices. That fellow was not budging even a little and kept saying again and again that he can offer disounts as per company policy and can't go beyond that. As I did not finance from TMF, otherwise they would have offered 4% finance payout too. I did not even ask them to match the EMI offerred by SBI.

I had called up a few dealers in Delhi too and no one was going beyond 25k. So I ended up with Mr. Dhingra considering the pains of going to different dealers in Delhi using public transport. (This is going to my 1st four wheeler and I have a two wheeler that is useless for this purpose - Firefox Cyclone bicycle )

[sameer551]

Hi! Thanks for reply...
So it means that if I buy from gurgoan I'll get it for 4.35 with just 25k disc. and add to it if i manage to get 15k more in case if i show vehicle in my name. wow.

[ankura12]

Originally Posted by sameer551

Hey buddy...how much discount u got for the same? as per the price u mentioned i guess you got 40k discount?
I went to showroom they are not ready to give me discount more than 25k in delhi. plus 15k ONLY if I own a car in my name. I told them that i've no car in my name so they say I can't get discount more tahn 25k.
Did you show them the car RC for getting additional 15k discount?

Please tell me will help to buy it with good discount.

Is this 25K additional cash discount applicable only for Delhi Region? Yesterday's Times of India , Bangalore advertisement for PALIO mentions only the price which has been there from the beginning: 4.57L minus free insurance (13K) minus exchange Bonus(10K). Do car manufacturers follow different pricing strategies for different regions?

When I read about 25K discount in papers on 1st october, I asked Bangalore dealer about the same. They said they have no such scheme. and sure enough, even the newspaper ad does not mention any such scheme.

[rkbharat]

codemarauder, I am really feeling sad about the experience... Is it that Tata sales and services has gone down. I guess 6 years back it was better than this. I got my Indica DLS on the day given to me. with in 10 days.

But I think I made it very clear to them, that go ahead only if you can deliver on time, else I am not in hurry to buy for the pain.

[sameer551]

Originally Posted by ankura12

Is this 25K additional cash discount applicable only for Delhi Region? Yesterday's Times of India , Bangalore advertisement for PALIO mentions only the price which has been there from the beginning: 4.57L minus free insurance (13K) minus exchange Bonus(10K). Do car manufacturers follow different pricing strategies for different regions?

When I read about 25K discount in papers on 1st october, I asked Bangalore dealer about the same. They said they have no such scheme. and sure enough, even the newspaper ad does not mention any such scheme.

See direct discount from company is same for all locations but dealers mess in each region as per the market sales of the vehicle and break it up in different categories which is otherwise default discount itself. At present 25k i guess is flast discount in all the regions on palio plus 15k/10k is exchange or loyalty bonus.

[cartech]

Hi Codemauradeder
Did you recieve your 1.6 Mag Grey? I am asking because I intend to buy 1.6 if it is avialble in Mag Grey color. For last 4 months I have postponed buying 1.6 because only red and balck were availablee.

Mumbai dealers still say that 1.6 is available in black or red.

[codemarauder]

My cousin brother was pissed off with my story and decided to call them impersonating me.

He asked for their Sales Manager whom I had met on 22nd. Now hold your breath, that fellow was not Sales Manager. I had met some other sales guy impersonating sales manager. This made my cousin loose his cool and he blasted him. Today if someone could impersonate sales manager in front of a non suspecting customer, tomorrow what is the guarantee that they would not change the original parts of my vehicle before delivering it to me!!

When I had called sales person yesterday and asked him about chassis no. he had told me that it will be available only when car reaches here.

Some more blah blah blah with them on phone and those people asked for my fax no. to fax me the transit report as a proof. And this transit report has chassis no. promptly printed on it.

After my cousin had talked to them, the sales person called me up and was asking "aap meri kya complaint kar rahe the? main wahin sun raha tha." Man, that fellow is like a tail of a dog. When I asked him to fax me the details he still told me "aap ko bata to diya hai, ab kya fax karoon bhaiya.". I was about to loose my cool but controlled myself and told him to fax me the transit report. Even then he said "abhi busy hoon, 15 minute me karta hoon".

Anyways, at last got the transit report that says "Palio Stile 1.6 B3 Sport M/Grey" invoiced by Tata Motors on 23rd Oct.

I am sad that I have to face all this after paying 4.35L upfront. There was no professionalism shown by sales guys, no one ever called up for an update, even after blasting them only the sales manager was apologetic but this sales guy was as usual

He is surely going to loose business for a Safari that my cousin is planning to buy! I will be more than happy to take my car for servicing to Delhi instead of going to "Dhingras the Dependables"