[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Here is what you need to do.

Walk into the showroom to cancel the booking. Talk to only the bigshots- no salesmen should be talking to you. ...

And do it in the showroom, not in a private office. No need to shout, but be sure that everyone else can hear you.

[motor spirit]

Feels bad to hear such stories, when anybody experiences such stuff when buying some dream product . GTX007 hope your problem gets solved soon & you enjoy driving your PUNTO .

Mod's just wanted to understand one thing.

People Write their happy stories & sad experiences too. TBHP is a place where people put their minds & hearts out. A person who sells a product will be very happy to see people appriciating a product. However when he gets to know if some one is not happy. They should feel what the customer feels & try to solve his issue & make him happy to gain back his loyalty
.
In case of Punto .we love the product However i just hope it does not become a nightmare for customers because of few people . Mr Rajeev Kapoor many a times spoke of building back the lost confidence of fiat in indian customers. He should be made to know wats hapning with his dealers & products & what the customers are facing .He should take responsiblity of such incidents.

I would like to know , Do manufacturers read these columns in TBHP? or are they aware that such forums exist & take feedback to correct themselves . IMO TBHP as a group & portal should somehow help in escalating these problems to the manufacturers & help customers.

[GTX007]

I was feeling stranded in a desert of distress all through these weeks. Now seeing the response from fellow bhpians I really see a ray of hope, I feel proud to be a part of this community. Its only because of this forum I am able to communicate my problem to others.

I thank each and everyone who have posted above and acknowledge their interest in my problem with lots of gratitude.
I am sending a detailed mail to the CEO and Mr.Rahul Jadhav mentioning the trauma I am facing. As phone calls have no result now I am switching to e-mails.

A word of thanks to somebodystopme, nandans2005, WhiteKnight, anshuman, sdp1975, clevermax, backseatdriver, finneyp, Skywalker, Thad E Ginathom and motorspirit.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

I gather that you have paid only 50K to the dealer.

I suggest first thing you to tomorrow morning - talk to Concorde @ Nettoor. (I am NOT recommending them, just pointing them to you because they are the only other Tata / Fiat dealer around in Kochi). Do NOT tell them about the problems @ RF. Just introduce yourselves as a new customer. Ask for an early delivery. Your loan may have to be reprocessed, since the dealer would change. (the cheque is paid to dealer, not you, hence fresh approvals may be required).

You will have to "bridge" the 50 K you paid at RF.

Once the deal is through, insist on 100% refund from RF. 100% because they have NOT booked your car with Fiat. And make it clear that if any amount is deducted, you will take the matter to consumer court. Even delayed delivery of a booked vehicle amounts to deficiency in service.

And throughout, remember one fact - if the dealer makes a booking on your behalf with the manufacturer, he has to pay the entire amount to to the manufacturer (even MSIL is like that). There is a thread by an ex employee of RF - muneermk here. And svsanthosh's thread on his Indigo CS. Go through them for details of the booking process. While you need to be fair to RF, they have no business to play around with your 50K for all these days. If they have made the booking, they ought to have given you the VIN + engine no + chassis No. by now.

[GTX007]

I agree to your point Backseatdriver. The dealer hasn't yet booked a car in my name, thats what I too feel. My full settlement DD is still in my hands, thank God I didn't make the mistake of paying the full amount, if that had happened then I am completely ruined.

There is a bit delay in the availability of White Punto whole throughout Kerala. I spoke to Concorde Kochi, they don't have White Punto E+ in their stock. No dealer in Kerala has it in stock, I spoke to Hyson motors, KVR Motors and Kulathungal Motors. But all these dealers have taken sufficient bookings of White Punto and dealings are fine there.

Meanwhile I came to know from Concorde that their next batch of vehicles will be punched only after 6-7 days. So I am giving RF a 5 days time to give a final answer. If it is not positive I will redeem back my booking amount and fly to Concorde.

[Klub Class]

Hi GTX 007,

Its very sad to hear your experience.We had taken the delivery of our Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 MJD Emotion Pack(Bossa Nova White)from the RF Motors some 2-3 months back.According to the dealers there was a delay in the availability of White Punto through out the country and it took nearly 1.5-2 months for them to deliver the car to us.Meanwhile I insist you to wait for another couple of days and see whats happening around .

Even though I have not yet had any bad experience with the RF Motors,the stories that I hear about the RF Motors are worrying my mind and I am planning to get my car serviced at Concorde Motors.

I hope that your car will be delivered to you within a few days and I highly recommend you to think twice before you change the car.

[GTX007]

No Klub Class, I am not planning to change the vehicle at any cost. Its a decision from my heart and a car is ought to be used for at least 5 years, so waiting for a month don't pose a problem to me.
But its the dealer's attitude that is making me shocked, they are taking the customers for a ride. I think RF motors wont play any more fishy games with me now, I have used all my influence to escalate the issue to appropriate Government departments who do have a say on the survival of the dealer at Cochin. I have forwarded a detailed grievance mail to CEO and other executives too.
Let me see how things are going to turn around.

A friend of mine who came all the way from Thrissur to RF motors to buy a Punto also had a disastrous experience . He got the vehicle last week after waiting for the vehicle for 10 days or more even after making full payment, that too for Minimal Grey colour which is readily available with all other dealers. He has taken an oath that never ever in his life he will refer this dealer to anybody.

[toms_2191]

PMed you the contact No of Mr. Sijo, Sales manager TATA motors central kerala. tlak to him quoting my name. he will definitely help you either in getting delivery or in getting complete refund of booking amount. Pm me your name and details i will also talk to him.

A personal lesson which i have learned in dealing with RF is - Threaten them and always ready to go to any extent ..

[HappyWheels]

A very bad experience, once again, with the same dealer, RF Motors!

I hope you get your dream car soon!

It would have been good if you had mentioned the dealer name in the title thread (that would definitely have been a dead give away to the horror that you face!)

[jacksons]

I think Diwali festival has delayed all deliveries everywhere due to heavy demand for all the cars.
I suggest you wait for few more days, things will normalize after Diwali.
But go to RF motor and threaten them with copy of Email you have send to Fial costumer care and their acknowledgment.

[GTX007]

toms_2191: Thank you so much for your help . I will PM you the details in a short while. I will talk to Mr. Sijo today itself.

HappyWheels: I was thinking of the very idea that you have mentioned above. Can the title of a thread once started be edited?
I request the help of fellow bhpians and moderators in this regard.

Moderators, if possible please change the thread title to " My hopes shattered, my dream of owning a Punto sabotaged by RF Motors, Cochin".

[kuttapan]

Originally Posted by GTX007

Moderators, if possible please change the thread title to " My hopes shattered, my dream of owning a Punto sabotaged by RF Motors, Cochin".

Isn't "My Punto delayed by RF motors", more appropriate?

[nairrk]

@GTX007
Very very sad to hear a Truely Car lover/customer is suffering in the hands of Rude dealers like RF (Rude Fellows?).
You have booked the car on 1st Septemeber, thereafter from 26th Sept onwards you have called them/spoke to various concerned persons almost 11 times. How many times you have recorded it in writing? From the begining itself, you should have followed a practise of confirming all your telephonic talks into email messages. And some occassions you should have threatened them that you will cancel the car unless delivery ---within certain date.

Registering complaint on writing will have more effect than over phone. By now you should have all those message as a strong support in this case, incase you need to go to consumer forum.

Incase you are going to cancell the Booking, DO NOT compromise for any discount.
They should pay you the full booking amount because the fault is theirs and not yours. They were not able to deliver the car on time as promised by them. Infact you can ask for interest for all these delayed dates.

Even if you are going to take delivery at later date, you still ask for interest for all these delayed days. (check reverse of the order booking form -terms and conditions for order/purchase. I dont it is there in your dealer's form)

When one book ford cars, following clause is there in backside of the booking form:

''Incase of valid and accepted orders, customers are entitled to receive simple interest @ 6.5% on booking amount. Interest will be computed from 5 days after the date of reciept acknowledging the booking amount till date the customers are intimated about the availiability of the vehicle by the dealer. Incase the customer fails to take delivery of the vehicle first offered to him, the interest payable shall accrue only upto the date of first offer.

Do give a strong fight and just not lose your heart - you will win, ofcourse.
Cheers

[Thad E Ginathom]

Salesmen have targets, often cruelly imposed; managers the same; companies have to make profits.

Why then is a customer being treated this way? What a nonsense! What a badly run company!

[GTX007]

Kuttapan: Whatever be the title , I just wanted the dealer's name to be blacklisted in the minds of all bhpians. I think the title serves that purpose buddy.

nairrk: Thanks for your interest and advice. I have sent 6 mails yesterday to CEO and 5 other key management personnel in Fiat quoting my trouble.
Rajeev Kapoor [CEO] has replied, "Sorry for the delay, I will put someone to look into your problem ASAP."
Mr.Bhardhwaj, Manager (Sales) has agreed to call me tomorrow morning.
I am waiting for his intervention as a last resort before cancelling my booking.

Thad E Ginathom: You are right, the customer in the Indian car scene is at most times a subject of ridicule. Many threads in this section vouch this point.
Fiat has definitely not improved in customer satisfaction levels. My father is totally let down by the response from the side of the company.
He had rang up the Corporate Department thrice. Two times his calls were left unattended after holding on for 20 minutes. Isn't that atrocious?
Fiat definitely has to improve.