Help required: How to get refund of booking amount for Fiat Uno

[aditya101]

Hi friends,

I need help with this problem of mine. Way back in 1996 my father had booked a Fiat Uno with a deposit amount of Rs 21,000/- cash. This was done thru a booking agent. Those were days where you had to make a booking ... cars were not available off the shelf like today.

Neither did dad take delivery of the car and neither did he ask for his booking money back. We were expecting to adjust the booking amount one day with the new Fiat models that were coming up - but simply never got about it because of the company's constant troubles and dad was basically too busy to pursue.

I want to find out how to recover the money back from Premier Automobiles Ltd.

Challenges:

- PAL does not exist anymore, the child company is Premier Ltd which manufactures UVs and Fiat cars are now manufactured by Tata and Fiat JV.

- I have emailed to the customer service contact listed on Premier Ltd website but there is no response even after reminder.

- There is no dealership whom we can speak to since we booked it thru an agent. (dont have any contact info of the guy).

Looks like a tough case. Would appreciate if anybody can advise on how I can recover the booking amount with interest. Any contact in Premier would be nice.

[HappyWheels]

Not something that you would like to hear, but it would be a miracle if you get the initial amount of 21k itself, that too after close to 15 years, and you are expecting the amount with interest.

All I can say is: best of luck!

[gemithomas]

I remember my father paying around 18K for the 118NE which we never took delivery off nor asked for a refund. It just got postponed due to some reason.

[passion4cars]

Try it out , but I think after a bit of running about , you would be sure to write that 21K off. Since you have made cash payment , I think chasing would be impossible as by now you wont be having the 21k Invoice

[GTO]

Such instances spoil not only PAL's name but also Fiat's! Ethics dictate that Fiat India ought to refund all pending booking amounts. Will be chump change compared to the renewed trust factor, and press surrounding a generous move.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

I remember my father paying around 18K for the 118NE which we never took delivery off nor asked for a refund. It just got postponed due to some reason.

gemi, my manager is on the same ship as you. His dad also paid a similar sum for an 118NE , which he never got delivery of. He still has the slip. Wonder what to do

[mnhegde]

+ 1 GTO.
Aditya 101 : Try mailing to FIAT (Equally responsible). They may agree to refund atleast some part of the booking amount .

[ntomer]

Kind of a similar incident, but on a much smaller scale - monetarily and time-wise.

I used to have a Reliance FWP (Fixed Wireless Phone) for which the monthly rental was 700 bucks; one fine day I decided that I wasn't using it and surrendered the connection after clearing all dues. The customer executive told me that I will get my 1000 bucks security back in a month. It was more than two years ago.

I never got the security money back, nor did I ever follow up or pursue with Reliance Communication, and in time forgot all about it.

This Monday i.e. 08-Jun-2009 I received a cheque for Rs. 1000/- from Reliance and it took me 2-3 minutes to register what was it for.

I don't know whether to be happy with Reliance, that they returned the money, or be angry with them since they took more than two year for that :-)

\N

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by GTO

Such instances spoil not only PAL's name but also Fiat's! Ethics dictate that Fiat India ought to refund all pending booking amounts. Will be chump change compared to the renewed trust factor, and press surrounding a generous move.

and how do you know that booking amount reached FIAT ?

as he has posted that they have given the money to a agent.

[nitrous]

Forget the 21k and move on.

[aditya101]

Quite honestly, my expectations are low as well. However I still want to give this a try before giving up.

Well I do have the original receipt with booking number, date and other details clearly mentioned. The only problem is I need to get of a 'real' person in either of the companies - be it the new Fiat or Premier. Unfortunately Fiat does not given any email Id on the website.

Next steps:

(1) There is no Premier dealership in Delhi so one of these days I am planning to approach a Fiat dealer and ask for inputs.

(2) Send hardcopy of the letter to the offices of both companies.

[dadu]

Consumer court can be another option but better to hire a lawyer since its a very old event.

Also the lawyer can guide you whether to file the case against the dealership (he might have moved to some other brand) or the company itself.

[prnvaa]

Hi guys,

I have a similar case - have got all the documentation though, the booking note or whatever.

I had followed up with Fiat about one year back and they actually have (had) a claims department to handle such claims. Somehow lost initiative then but I plan to follow up again.

Will call these guys up again and update everyone (tmrw hopefully).

~Pranav

[hollywoodhogan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Such instances spoil not only PAL's name but also Fiat's! Ethics dictate that Fiat India ought to refund all pending booking amounts. Will be chump change compared to the renewed trust factor, and press surrounding a generous move.

the company itself does not exist anymore, so how can you make such a statement of "ethics"? Fiat India need not carry any accountability or liabilities of PAL. there could be a non-liability clause in the agreement between PAL and FIAT when PAL wound shop. Why should FIAT india refund any or all payments made to PAL?

Its unfortunate that aditya in in this situation but after 15 years this is what is bound to happen. where was aditya when PAL was winding up? so, please do be so harsh or judgmental on FIAT india in this aspect.

and if they do refund this amount, then there likely will be 1000 other adityas claiming the same. so the idea of chump change v/s trust factor is not going to work.

this is business, not charity.

[simply_sunny001]

First thing, you shouldnt have waited for so much time

Now that we have a rare situation on our hands, i would suggest you getting in touch with FIAT/PAL and keep pursuing the matter.

Maybe as a goodwill gesture, FIAT might give you discount on any FIAT car you would like to buy if not refund the amount which i think is a rare possibility

but you never know so worth trying.

Good luck