Skoda dealer changes parts in my car = Consumer Court = Car not returned in a YEAR!

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by diffsoft

Why don't we compile all complaints from this site, call it "Complaints Dossier from Team BHP" and send it to the VW Board and the Skoda Board?

We can update it every year and make it an annual feature.

Cheers,

@ GTO & All Moderators


Very valid suggestion. Let the might of T-Bhp move the powers that be ! What say GTO ??






Cheers

[Ravveendrra]

Hi,

I got an opportunity to speak to Mr. Ashutosh Dikshit when he was in Hyderabad for the launch of the new Superb.

I told him that though Skoda had great products and the new pricing was nice, they were killing themselves because of bad dealers and horrid A.S.S.

He was aware of the problem. He also informed me that he tracked the TBHP. He assured me that he has spent the last year getting the service issues sorted out, one of the results was the prices of spare parts coming down.

I came away with the feeling that Skoda has taken it's head out of the sand and was now not only aware of the problem but, was also trying to solve it.

I hope they succeed.

Cheers,

[GTO]

Let me get this right:

1. A Skoda dealer replaced parts of your car - WITHOUT your permission - to the tune of 4 lakh rupees!

2. You've followed up with the top management of Skoda, VW and some officials from the political / commerce offices.

3. You caught them red-handed trying to move parts, and then they want you to sign an undertaking or pay up?!

Instead of apologising for their representatives follies and making up for their mistakes, Skoda is actually fighting you in court! What does it say about a company, when it so obviously wrongs a customer and then goes further to fight him in court?! This only shows that Skoda India cares a damn about the Indian customer. Would Skoda have DARED to do this in Europe? Let us show them that the Indian customer isn't ready to be walked over just yet.

Kudo's to your spirit, Harish. It is fine gentlemen like you who help in making the big manufacturers take customer service seriously. Some people have commented that court judgements lead only to miniscule reimbursements for the company's wrong doings. That's not the point. The real blow is in AWARENESS.....awareness of what low levels a multi-million $ organisation can stoop to....awareness of such malpractices. One case is enough to straighten up a thousand scoundrels.

The entire community of 40,000 BHPians is with you Harish. Anything that I can help with, just drop me a PM directly.

Initially, the said vehicle was reported to M/s.Nummer Eins, Chembur workshop for accidental repair work in the month of February.
- Please refer carefully the enclosed photographs of the said vehicle and extent of damage at the time of accident was occurred. The accident was taken place at only front LH side.
- The enclosed photographs are received from the Insurance Surveyor.
As per the customer’s apprehension and as per the final invoiced parts list, all the replaced parts have been inspected for their originality.
- Please carefully refer the enclosed photographs of inspected parts by me; all the replaced parts are Non Genuine (substandard spares which are available in grey-market).
Apparently there were some unjustified/unnatural repair works also carried on the vehicle along with accidental repair jobs, the details follows as;
- V-belt with belt tensioner assembly was replaced without any reason.
- Electric magnet clutch of AC compressor was replaced without any reason.
- Original battery fuse box was swapped and fitted with damaged/burnt fuse box is fitted on vehicle.
- Original battery was swapped and fitted with underspecified voltage and substandard (make AMRON) battery was fitted without battery clamp.
- Original radiator fan was swapped and fitted with a damaged fan.
- In the month of January 14th, 08, the said vehicle was reported for periodic service and during that service schedule the dealer had replaced both front brake rotors (brake discs), but within a month period the customer has faced concern about brake juddering, as per the customer apprehension, I have inspected the replaced brake discs, found the same are Non-Genuine parts (substandard spares which are available in grey-market).

i was helped immensely by the media namely
Hemal Asher, Mid day
Soumitra Pote, Maharshtra Times
Danish Khan, Mumbai Mirror
Ravi Rao and Hafeez Mateen, Times of India
Durgesh Singh, Navbharat Times
S. Muralidhar, The Hindu

Kudo's to these fine gentlemen.

Skoda is a big advertiser in newspapers. Lot of pressure was put to stop these newspaper articles.

No such worries on Team-BHP, Harish. Our community was built on the foundation of truth, honesty & integrity.

Skoda continues to fight with me with their clout and resources because they have to protect their image and my matter has kind of become a prestige issue for them.

Skoda's image is going downhill, thanks to their utter disdain for the Indian customer. Skoda's terrible customer service and absolute disregard for their existing car owners is costing them crores of rupees in business. Look, there is a reason that the Fabia has been a ROYAL FLOP in our market, and Octavia / Laura sales are dwindling at 300 - 400 cars a month.

This episode is an eye-opener to the cheap lengths that a company can go to....this is absolute blasphemy! Alongwith other Skoda experiences on Team-BHP, I am convinced that there is no point in buying a car from such a lousy organisation A car is a serviceable product, and not like a pair of levis Jeans. When you are assured of zero support and ill treatment from dealers & the parent company alike, why WASTE your hard-earned money on a Skoda? There are far better options...in terms of products that perform and companies that take care of you. Toyota comes immediately to mind. Even Mercedes, for all their unreliability, they literally go out of the way in maintaining the highest standards of dealership service and replacing defective parts for me. For Indians, a car is the second biggest reason of financial outflow (after a house). What's the point of buying a car that is going to need service, and that service is performed by a bunch of dealer scum. Who seem to have the full-fledged support of the parent company. Jeesuz, this is downright CHEAP behaviour that isn't even expected of my local neighbourhood kabariwala!

Not like Skoda's are reliable either. Who can forget the various issues that many Laura owners face. Or the Fabia 1.4 petrol engine debacle.

The number of Skoda issues i have seen in this forum are scary. This is one brand i will not buy in India even if they cut down the present prices on all product by half!

That makes for the two of us. I don't think a wretched Skoda is going to make it to my driveway for a long time to come. Period. I can assure you that several other potential customers think the same way.

How about, we change Team-BHP sticker to include some bad publicity on skoda.

"Thank god i don't own skoda : Team-BHP"

You've just given the sticker dudes an idea!

P.S. : I see that this thread has made it to the top of our home page as well!

[GTO]

He was aware of the problem. He also informed me that he tracked the TBHP. He assured me that he has spent the last year getting the service issues sorted out, one of the results was the prices of spare parts coming down.

I came away with the feeling that Skoda has taken it's head out of the sand and was now not only aware of the problem but, was also trying to solve it.

Let them take care of this wronged customer first. Then I'll buy it. One representative making a sweeping statement doesn't hold any value. Actions speak louder than words. If they are serious about doing business in India, let them first take care of their existing customers. Else it's just all bull-crap and no substance.

I've heard their management talk about "improving customer service" since the last 5 years. Am still waiting......

[colwyn]

Originally Posted by GTO

Let me get this right:
P.S. : I see that this thread has made it to the top of our home page as well!

skoda is a cheap brand in europe, and now they are just proving it here with their cheap tactics. an overpriced car not a good buy at all.

[JayPrashanth]

I just came across this thread now and to say the least I'm shocked

Bad publicity is the way to go. Skoda deserves to pay really heavily for such a dirty attitude towards the customers. Hats off to you Harish, for your resilience and tenacity.We are proud of you. Try to present your case on prime time TV man.

[Gagan.js]

Woo top of the home page, lets try to keep it there!

The fact that they are fighting you is ridiculous since you have great proof, other companies would have settled it by now.
As for taking care of it, like GTO said, they have been saying this for years.

Anyway GTO, care to shed some light as to why the skoda banner still exists? You seemed excited about the sticker idea to defame skoda so about a different, better car for a banner Heck maybe even a banner of the month voted by the 40k strong community.

[thangu]

Mods - Is it possible to change Octavio photo in the Team-bhp banner, as a show of support for Harish.

[phamilyman]

^ +1 to that.

We need to make it brand agnostic. Its BHP we all lust and live for, no?

[normally_crazy]

Nummer Eins has always been a dicey A.S.S center. There have been numerous instances of complaints about the said dealership and Skoda still fights Harish in the court ?

[diffsoft]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

.... He also informed me that he tracked the TBHP.....

I came away with the feeling that Skoda has taken it's head out of the sand and was now not only aware of the problem but, was also trying to solve it.

Sir - I can assure you that I received no help from him or his Sales Manager when I found my registration committed through forgery (with ample proof). Their primary Bangalore dealer was handling it.

My issue was discussed thread bare by t-bhpians so if he "tracked the T BHP" he should have helped me out.

In fact their Sales Manager refused to pick up my calls (after I told him it was forged) - no response from anyone from Karsten Bogun downwards. Finally Karsten Bogun sent my reminder mail to someone who sent it to someone down until it came to the most over worked person in Skoda - Mr Sudhir Srinivas.

And Ashutosh Dixit was very much around. So if he were so concerned about his customers why did anyone from Sales refuse to hear me when I laid my problem?

Harish in fact felt that there was enough to imply fairly senior folks were aware, if not involved in the "spare part racket". And Ashutosh is an old hand from Imran Hassen days and continues even after Imran was nudged (to put it mildly) out of Skoda.

If he were reading T-BHP then he should have resigned by now owning moral responsibility!

But hopefully after your interaction at the very least he will start going through Team BHP and take it suggestions seriously.

Cheers,

[lurker]

Originally Posted by thangu

Mods - Is it possible to change Octavio photo in the Team-bhp banner, as a show of support for Harish.

the most popular car on the board is the Getz CRDI. And that is what should replace that Skoda in my unsolicited opinion.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by GTO

The entire community of 40,000 BHPians is with you Harish.

It will be nice of TBHP to show support by not having a Skoda as the brand ambassador of this forum.

Hope you win your battle Harish. Wish you luck.

[SirAlec]

how about an image of Nano! just a suggestion

[navin]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

I got an opportunity to speak to Mr. Ashutosh Dikshit

Originally Posted by GTO

Let them take care of this wronged customer first.

I agree.

See post #70 on this thread: I emailed Mr. Sudhir Srinivas who put one Mr. Liyakat of Autobahn-Skoda in touch with me. I spent 1 hour of MY time with Mr. Liyakat and gave Mr. Liyakat a 3 page list of common problems faced with the Skoda Octavia vRS. He promised to (a) send me his contact details via SMS (b) discuss the list with Mr. Sudhir Srinivas and get back to me. It's been more than a week now (maybe two) but I have not heard from Mr. Liyakat, Mr. Sudhir or anyone from Skoda.

What exactly did Mr. Ashutosh say?

Originally Posted by SirAlec

how about an image of Nano! just a suggestion

Either that or Rudra's Amby. It is an Indian icon and it is owned and wonderfully maintained by a respected TBHPian.