[GTO]

A BMW dealer from Bangalore was giving a used car customer the runaround in refunding his deposit. He had given a 50k deposit on a pre-owned 520d last year, but couldn't travel due to the Coronavirus / lockdowns, there were delays and the car was eventually sold to someone else.

Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.

An email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details .

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by GTO

A BMW dealer from Bangalore was giving a used car customer the runaround in refunding his deposit. He had given a 50k deposit on a pre-owned 520d last year, but couldn't travel due to the Coronavirus / lockdowns, there were delays and the car was eventually sold to someone else. Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount. An email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details .

This is real service measured in hard cash.

The values and ethics we stand for and our independence shows out in everything - the quality of our moderation, the cleanliness of our posts (compared to the sheer anger and abuse on Social media in general), the sheer knowledge and wisdom in our threads and to the fellowship amongst Team BHPians.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by GTO

A BMW dealer from Bangalore was giving a used car customer the runaround in refunding his deposit. He had given a 50k deposit on a pre-owned 520d last year, but couldn't travel due to the Coronavirus / lockdowns, there were delays and the car was eventually sold to someone else.

Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.

An email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details .

This is great to hear but shouldn't this dealer be named here so as to prevent future customers from suffering?

This particular person knew about Team-BHP and was able to take their help but what about others who are not aware?

I think there is a difference between doing the right thing promptly and then doing it after 1 year under the threat of bad publicity.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by GTO

the car was eventually sold to someone else; since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.
- email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details

Power of He-Man aka team-bhp I guess

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

This is real service measured in hard cash

Like they say, "Sirf naam hi kaafi hai" (the name alone is enough (to yield results)).

Originally Posted by Foxbat

there is a difference between doing the right thing promptly and then doing it after 1 year under the threat of bad publicity.

Clear case - the dealer lost nothing since the car anyways got sold, but didn't refund the advance. This just boils down to ethics (or lack of it). Let's say someone books a new car, and then decides to cancel the booking. Will the customer have to run around in circles for refund of the booking amount? In India, and perhaps all of SE Asia, threat/ fear/ influence is the only potent weapon to get one's dues or rights.

In the 1990s, my mom won a moped in an small savings scheme contest, and it was a norm for kickbacks for the prize to be processed. My Dad with his tough army upbringing stepped in, approached the top person fearlessly, and the prize was processed with no delays.

[AutoV]

Originally Posted by GTO

A BMW dealer from Bangalore was giving a used car customer the runaround in refunding his deposit. He had given a 50k deposit on a pre-owned 520d last year, but couldn't travel due to the Coronavirus / lockdowns, there were delays and the car was eventually sold to someone else.

Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.

An email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details .

That's fantastic to hear, by an email, We've solved someone's trauma that they've been dealing with for a year. This demonstrates how well the entire Team-Bhp family is regarded by dealers and the automobile industry.

[W16rocks]

Originally Posted by GTO

A BMW dealer from Bangalore was giving a used car customer the runaround in refunding his deposit. He had given a 50k deposit on a pre-owned 520d last year, but couldn't travel due to the Coronavirus / lockdowns, there were delays and the car was eventually sold to someone else.

Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.

An email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details .

This example makes me feel really proud to be a member of this forum. Just the fact that teambhp can independently stand up to such dealerships and their management is a thing to be proud about.

A shoutout to all the bhpians who have helped teambhp to reach such levels of respect and influence

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

This is great to hear but shouldn't this dealer be named here so as to prevent future customers from suffering?

Indeed. The flipside of it is that the honest and good BMW dealers will also be viewed with suspicion because of this bad apple. Better to name such dealers publicly to prevent them from getting away with these shady practices.

[M00M]

Originally Posted by GTO

A BMW dealer from Bangalore was giving a used car customer the runaround in refunding his deposit.

Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.

This was expected from a used car dealer. In 2019 December I had put down 50k with a BMW dealer for a new 530i M Sport. Due to some family discussions and also due to some inward intuition I told the dealer to not order the car but just hold off for a month or two. In the meantime family saw the ES and we booked it as the delivery was to be after 3-4 months. Then came COVID and the lockdown, I contacted the dealer to refund the amount just 1 week before we went into the national lockdown and the dealer kept giving me the run around even though the car was not ordered, eventually money paid to him in December 2019 was refunded to me in October 2020 after I had to push some influential person with the dealer in the middle and have it refunded. Not good customer service.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

This is great to hear but shouldn't this dealer be named here so as to prevent future customers from suffering?

Originally Posted by GTO

Since a year, the dealer wasn't refunding the amount.

An email came in to our common @team-bhp.com address with the complaint, and the dealer was CC'ed. Same day, the dealer replied offering to refund the monies ASAP and asked for the bank details .

Good that the auto world respects our forum. I second Foxbat's suggestion to name the dealer here for the sake of openness. Mistakes do happen and if the respective dealer learns and not repeats it again, BHP-ians will warmly accept those ones who own their mistakes. But leaving the names out does not feel right, IMHO.

One side question: Did the dealer refund with interest for 1 year?

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Good that the auto world respects our forum. I second Foxbat's suggestion to name the dealer here for the sake of openness. Mistakes do happen and if the respective dealer learns and not repeats it again, BHP-ians will warmly accept those ones who own their mistakes. But leaving the names out does not feel right, IMHO.

One side question: Did the dealer refund with interest for 1 year?

If the dealer had not heeded the teambhp warning and continued the delays, he would have been named here right away.

But considering this was the first time teambhp found out about this, and the aggrieved party is not a teambhp member and did not create a thread about this issue of his own free will, once the refund was issued and the aggrieved party was happy, teambhp considers this matter closed.

You could say that teambhps involved was construed a final warning, and luckily the dealer paid heed.

[GTO]

Guys, you all know me, I'm not one to pull punches. Dealer's name is Navnit Motors.