Team-BHP - Left Toyota Fortuner for a service, MP3 player missing!

I took my new Fortuner in for its first service to the Nandi Toyota on Hosur Road. I left a small music player (worth only about 50$) attached to the music player's USB cable inside the glove box of my car. I waited for around 2 hrs while they worked on my car. When the car was returned to me, the player was missing. I had obviously forgotten to remove this from the glove box before handing over the car to them. At this point they questioned the staff that had worked on the car, but did not recover the player. While staff were helpful through the whole process - until I spoke their "Head of Customer Relations" Mr. Mahadevan who was extremely rude and unhelpful. He essentially ended our discussion saying tough luck - you shouldnt have left it there.

The end result is of course that I've lost my player, have not been offered any compensation and have lost all faith in Nandi Toyota.

Somehow I dont think I want to leave this be. How do I trust my car with this dealership. Writing to the black-holish email address that TKM provides isnt really what Im looking for. Who can I write to (emails/contact numbers will be REALLY helpful).

Has anybody else had things stolen from their car while servicing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyaksha (Post 2317528)

Has anybody else had things stolen from their car while servicing?

Here is the list.
1) Imported Leather keychain (got as a gift from my brother's well wisher:Frustrati) from Alto during the second free service (2004)
2) Audio CD of latest Tamil movie (Original) from Wagon-R (2006)
3) LH side Wheel caps (2 Nos) from Estilo (2008)
4) 1 pack 'Lays' and 1 litre 'Aquafina' (Sealed bottle) from Civic (2010)

For the list 1 to 3, the dealership (Ambal Autos - Coimbatore) said 'Sir, those were not there when you left the sar to us'

Point no.4 is not a theft, but the SE is much attached to us, so taken that as a granted for his evening snack:) (doesn't bother)

Apart from cars, I had a worst experience with 2 wheeler service.
Had around 7~8 litres of petrol in my RTR 160 and left the vehicle for service. On delivery the cluster shows only 1 point s and on my way home it was Reserve. Called the dealership and enquired. Got a sweet answer, "Sir, petrol was taken for cleaning carbeurator"

My Service engineer while leaving my cars for servicing always reminds me of any valuables left in the car. He notes the same down (car stereo, speakers, toolkit, spare wheel etc.) those which I leave behind in the job card. This is the right pactice to follow. In India we do have this issue of people (especially working class who earn a pittance) flicking small souvenirs.

Try the hotline number :
+91-80-66293001
Dont think any compensation will be worth the rigmarole.

Its pathetic, yes, what has happened.
but, hey, its not just you.
Has happened to almost everone at some time.
Although it ideally should be the ASC's responsibility of safekeeping stuff left in the car, its an acknowledged fact that if its left in the car, and has some intrinsic value, its gone.
one tbhp member even had the spare tyre stolen/replaced, i think.

Once, the hyundai service centre, i dont recall which one, near noida somewhere, asked me to remove EVERYTHING from the car.
I had a "formula1" tag hanging from the sunvisor, left it.
but the SA came and told me,"sir, please take this off.mere bacche sab kuchh le lete hain".
so there, from the hungry horse's mouth.

PS:Although, no such thing with ford ASC.
not even petrol, with the DTE and all probably stopping them.
but Hyundai has tuned me such that i empty the car at home before dropping it off.

The best way to avoid this is to leave the car at the dealership after ensuring that all personal items are removed. I have been doing so since 7 years now and have not lost a single item. I guess we have to be careful here and ensure that the day the car is going for service/repairs etc we must ensure to remove all personal belongings.

If parts that cannot be removed gets stolen then it is grand theft! Then i suppose legal action needs to be considered.

If you have left behind anything valuable in the car, without making an entry of it in the job card, tough luck. Most often these are small things (keychains, USB drives, idols etc.) that can easily be flicked off and hidden without getting caught easily.

I generally remove every such thing from the car before giving it for service or ask them to note the same in their job card.

All that you can do is to make a complaint to the dealer and the manufacturer and be more careful the next time.

I had my display unit missing after service of my Zen from Pratham motors. Lucky enough it was entered in the job card and they replaced me with a brand new Sony Explode display unit, with USB slot.
Make sure you enter everything in the Job card before giving your car for service, this could really help in situations like this.

The most I have lost is the keychain - that too provided by the dealer!

Without an entry somewhere to establish your claim, I wonder if any mails would help.

All the dealers I have been to for servicing (Maruti/Chevrolet/Honda) have every thing in the car listed on the job sheet esp. tool kit, music system etc. So, that is the proof you have left something back.

By the way, it is generally during the vehicle wash and the following wiping that someone would notice what is in the dash, right? Could you have your SA to have a word with the washing guys?

Didn't loose any, as far as my experience goes (Hyundai and Honda) SA does a through check of everything and hands over anything that is left inside the car. I normally got to service station only with service booklet in it.

I wonder why Nandi doesn't have this as a routine. I guess even Hyundai and Honda would have started only when they received huge complaints about lost items.

Wow! I thought my case was a "one-off", but seems it is the norm. Here's my thankfully insignificant and hilarious list of items stolen/misplaced during service at Chevy A** :

1) A plastic water bottle.
2) A soap(used)
3) Rubber bands stored in the rear armrest.
4) A cap (got it for free at the service camp itself) and
5) Newspapers!

Had a very good experience at Tata A.S.S recently - Car was with two separate TASS for few days (gave the car at TASS near our home and they had to send the car to the main TASS) for FIP servicing, but when we gave the car, dad forgot to remove all the personal belongings (USB stick, face plate, pens, car mobile charger, a bottle of car freshener, loose change etc).

When we got the car back, was pleasantly surprised to see that everything thing, including the loose changes we left in the cubby hole under the hand break leaver and in the front cup holders were intact. The SA at the first TASS took the USB and kept it with them and called us and informed that he have kept the USB drive safely.

@hyaksha: I think you should inform the higher management about the attitude of Mr. Mahadevan - it may not be possible for him to retrieve what is stolen, but he can sure make an effort and there is no excuse for him to be rude and unhelpful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumathindra (Post 2317726)

+1. One must always remove items such as money, car perfumes, idols, etc. as much as possible.

I get my car picked up from home for service and ensure that its cleaned out every time. If its getting picked up from my workplace, then i dump the items in my cabinet.

I also check for the spare wheel, jack, jack handle (?) etc. before taking back the vehicle. Once i found the jack handle missing and it was hidden in the corner of a workshop (it doesn't exist anymore but was a Maruti A.S.S at one point near Palace Guttahalli. Now Hyundai has a facility here). I raised hell and the guys claimed it was forgotten there as it was removed for cleaning.

Some of these guys are really cheap as small things such as valve caps go missing, bulbs replaced with cheaper ones, etc. I always do a thorough check before taking my cars back from service.