Buying experience of Palio 1.6, about to lose a customer?

[vidushak]

Since a year, I have been doing research on buying a new car. The decision process took me through advice from friends,
auto-mags and my mind finally rested with Team-bhp (in fact I am addicted). Short listed - Palio 1.6 and Swift Dzire(p).
Inclination was towards Palio 1.6 as it fits the requirement and budget.

End of April: Wasan (Borivli) been closer to Home, made multiple request for test drives. After a long wait and casual
attitude towards prospective customer, I decided to try out Shaman (Dadar), who gave a prompt response. A quick dekko of
Palio 1.6 (in showroom) followed by long test drive and dekko for family, decided to go for it.

Beginning of May: Checked out other dealers in Mumbai for good deals. Finalized with Shaman the discounts, insurance provider and promise of delivery in 2 weeks in case of full down payment.

19 May: Wrote a check of full amount after taking a look at the promise of delivery of vehicle within 2 weeks on Shaman
letter pad. Few minutes later sales guy realizes, delivery could not happen in 2 weeks, so requested for additional 1 week's
time. Hmm, ok its 3 weeks!!

Week of 26 May: Started following up regarding the status of the vehicle. Shaman gave me an update that vehicle would be
in-transit on 31 May and delivery around 4 June.

Week of 02 Jun: Shaman update: Vechile has arrived at Panvel go-down and delivery would happen soon. I demanded to see transit report, but got flimsy excuses all the time; Server down, out of office, not authorized to share the report. Finally, they came back with ultimate excuse "Sir, operator has mistaken Furnace Red MJD for Formulae Red 1.6, your car is yet to arrive".

I took the matters in my own hands and shoot a mail to Fiat production to expedite the process. Found the distribution guy from TATA for Mumbai who assured me that vehicle will leave plant on 5 June. Visited Shaman to give documents for furter processing and signed up the registration forms. Feedback from Fiat production never arrived.

09 and 10 Jun: Its TATA guy's turn to give flimsy excuse to cut shot my calls; in meeting, out of city, battery down, busy
with foreign delegates.

11 Jun: Searched for TATA AGM on team-bhp. Got his name but couldn't get hold of his contact details. Finally took a guess
at his email-id and demanded to know what's happening : Why such casual attitude and no respect for customer? Same day reply from TATA AGM, car has left the plant today and will reach Shaman late night or by tomorrow morning. Later in the eve Shaman sales guy SMS'ed me the Chasis no.

12 Jun: Early morning wrote mail to TATA AGM about compensation for the delay. Called up Shaman, who confirmed delivery of
the vehicle and agreed for a quick test drive on SAT, RTO registration on Mon, number on wed and delivery on Thurs. I forgot about
the delays and follow-up pains. I got really existed in anticipation to take the car out for a spin on Thurs, 19 June.

13 June, Morning:
Shaman: "Sir, you need to pay 4000 Rs more because of the price rise"
Me: ***, When did the price rise happen?
Shaman: Beginning of this month.
Me: I made full payment on 19 May, how is this applicable to me.
Shaman: "Sir, it part of the clause in the document"

This was it. This was it. I blasted him left, right and centre. Also, took happiness of TATA sales guy, who agreed to talk to
dealer. Asked of TATA AGM number, took his happiness too. In fact, I was so pissed off that I demand compensation from him.

Called up Shaman sales guy again, demanded to speak to showroom GM ; busy in meeting.
Called up Shaman sales guy again after 2 hrs, demanded to speak to showroom GM ; busy in meeting. I decided to go down to
showroom in the eve and meet GM in person. Also, told him to decide on any one the following options to take the matter to
logical end.

Option 1: Compensate me for the delay
Option 2: Pay my money back

13 June, Evening: First thing I did, after reaching showroom, was to take away the signed documents from sales guy. Met up with Showroom GM and gave him my piece of mind. He made some noises and sounded sympathetic; do not want to lose a customer like this, customer never cancelled booking with us, bla bla bla. I asked "Cool so you are going to compensate me". Hmmm, no we are not, in case you want to cancel the booking, the money will be refunded to you in 10 days. By the way, why not take a day to decide whether you really want to cancel the booking. Good Idea.

So here I am. should I, should I not, should i, should i not, should i, should i not

[v1p3r]

If this is how they treat you BEFORE you buy a car, how will they treat you after you've bought it?

[Jaggu]

My personal opinion, take delivery but request if they can atleast take the interest on payment made and adjust it towards the price hike.

See technically any booking (even if its full amount paid), is subjected to price fluctuation (upwards or downwards). Yeah only some manufacturer/dealer will take into consideration interest amount at certain % for the money paid up, and locked up during the waiting period.

[deep_bang]

I would suggest to take a day and still cancel the booking. Its just how hard you need the car right now that you would need to consider. If I were you, i would cancel.

[Rahulkool]

i will say go for it ..... i have gone thru' all this but still when i floor the 1.6 i forget everything , if you really like the car wait a few more days for it , it will be worth the wait .....

there is some trouble with A.S.S. but the way my case was handled by the TATA after a very lousy start it was really good, i am impressed by their attitude

read this thread and you will get a idea http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...1-6-sport.html (Got my Red Hot Hatch :D (Palio Stile 1.6 Sport))

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

vidushak: I dont think they will reduce the amount. Most of the dealers charge increased prices even though booking has been made. I think one of the guys who bought new Palio few days back paid the extra money. (Remember reading in a thread)

Weirdest thing is your car is a furnace red. Going by the other FIAT threads, its the most available colour, with the least waiting period. And promising delivery in three weeks? Its not like the car is in excess demand anyway!

Originally Posted by v1p3r

If this is how they treat you BEFORE you buy a car, how will they treat you after you've bought it?

What if there was a record for- number of cars sold v/s number of complaints against?

[greenhorn]

damn, this sucks. we managed to wring about 3k worth of discounts from our local tata dealership because they made us wait 4 hours to deliver a xeta. We didnt even have to escalate this to management. the Customer relations guy we talked to apologized and gave it to us ...
I think its the dealerships attitude that matters.

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

vidushak: I dont think they will reduce the amount. Most of the dealers charge increased prices even though booking has been made. I think one of the guys who bought new Palio few days back paid the extra money. (Remember reading in a thread)

Weirdest thing is your car is a furnace red. Going by the other FIAT threads, its the most available colour, with the least waiting period. And promising delivery in three weeks? Its not like the car is in excess demand anyway!

What if there was a record for- number of cars sold v/s number of complaints against?

it is formula red, furnace red is not available with 1.6

[Abhijat]

Well after going through your story, i should point out one thing we had a thread here which mentioned about the delay in delivery of the Palio MJD (i think 1.6 is the MJD).

My friend you have gone for the car purely because you like the car, palio being such a car.
I think bearing in mind how it works with the Tata service we have threads by people mentioning second treatment shelved out to them over Tata.
You should make an assumption that you will suffer such glitches during your car ownership experience.

However, this should not be a let down point after carefully researching and choosing your car (and it is a enthusiasts car) just be mentally prepared and enjoy your car to the fullest.

In short now that the car is there how can you resist !!

Even if you cancel the booking, you have already lost out on the interest what then?
Also, take into account the energies you would be spending again doing all this (no price on that).

[aaggoswami]

IMO, avoid taking this car. Right now its just delivery of the car. God knows what will After Sales & Service (A.S & S ). Cancelling the booking is in your hands and those people just sound ultra sympathetic, but in reality they are not. Its your money and if you want to cancel and get the money back, they cannot play any role.

FIAT A.S & S is not good even after the tata collaboration. You can read this in another thread(s). How much good be a product, A.S & S can break or make the success of the product on sales chart.
Not recommended.

[bottle]

thats the problem with fiat whether they are tied up with sundaram or fiat, you get screwed on all fronts but given a choice i guess i would still go for it. for this price i cant think of anything else that can match the driving pleasure.

[vidushak]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

My personal opinion, take delivery but request if they can atleast take the interest on payment made and adjust it towards the price hike.

See technically any booking (even if its full amount paid), is subjected to price fluctuation (upwards or downwards). Yeah only some manufacturer/dealer will take into consideration interest amount at certain % for the money paid up, and locked up during the waiting period.

Tata AGM has stated that price rise should not be applicable in my case and Shaman has agreed to absolve the cost. Few rupees here and there is no big deal, it's the manner in which the buying process been handled by TATA-Fiat and Shaman that has put questions in my mind.

• Is Tata-Fiat alliance really working?
• Will I be subjected to similar treatment post-sales?
• Should I just go through few days of painful process of getting my money back? Instead of subjecting myself to below par ownership experience for next few years
• Does buying from another dealer help? (I really doubt, as Shaman is better among the limited lot)
• Is this just one-off case?
• Should I ignore such an experience for this beauty?

Intention to ask for compensation is not to make money, but to gauge dealers committed to make amends. I was mentally prepared to accept some degree of hurdles in A.S.S. But looking at the buying process, it seems I have under estimated how much I am willing to tolerate.

[phamilyman]

Calm down bro.

Your life is what you make of it. You either get pissed, or get even.

Hop over the PUG at Yahoogroup and junta will help.
PS: Its jaideep.virani@tatamotors.com or the man himself, Mangesh.Kodalkar@fiat-india.com ?
Mangesh Kodalkar
After sales
Fiat India Automobiles Pvt.Ltd
B-19 MIDC
Ranjangaon
Pune 412 210
+91 2138 672764

[Torque123]

My suggestion would be not to go for it. You have other options also at the same budget. If you can increase your budget a little bit then nothing like that. Please consider them before going through more pain.

[vidushak]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Calm down bro.

Your life is what you make of it. You either get pissed, or get even.

Hop over the PUG at Yahoogroup and junta will help.
PS: Its jaideep.virani@tatamotors.com or the man himself, Mangesh.Kodalkar@fiat-india.com ?
Mangesh Kodalkar
After sales
Fiat India Automobiles Pvt.Ltd
B-19 MIDC
Ranjangaon
Pune 412 210
+91 2138 672764

I was generally patient through the entire buying process till the call from Shaman today morning that triggered it all. The issue is certainly not about few rupees here, but insensitivity to customer situation and lack of respect.

Yes, Mangesh was very helpful who gave me contacts to right people. Fiat email ids are change to name@fiat.com