[navin]

Originally Posted by samyakmodi

there is absolutely no written document with me.
All the documents that can be provided are :-
1. date of vehicle sent to the dealership
2. payment which was made in feb 2011
3. telephone call details
4. e-mails that were sent to the officials


just as i was posting this, the service centre's manager called up - stating that the car has been ready from past 3 days and should they send it over?

If you want to ensure you get fair treatment do not take delivery of teh car untill you have reached a fair settlement with the dealer.

Originally Posted by samyakmodi

the car dealership has offered me one year of free labor each time the car goes to them for any service OR repairs.

what should be the compensation i should be looking for?? considering the car has been with them since november 2010, and they had said that it would take about 2 months to repair it completely. a payment of 1,00,000 was made in the month of february.

Since the street price of the car is far less than the invoiced value the dealer should have informed you of this (in writing) before doing any work.

If the dealer claims that they had no idea of the cost of reapirs it is they who is at fault. Ignorance is not an excuse especially when they are familiar with the car and trained to repair and service it.

Originally Posted by samyakmodi

attaching here the proforma invoice generated by them. and as weird as it may sound - there was no estimate (written/printed) given by the dealership prior to the repair. The only estimate they had made was for the insurance surveyor. but absolutely nothing for the customer to get a nod to go ahead with the repairs. on the telephone the engine's repair job's cost was totally different than what is charged.

It is obvious that the dealer has not been completely honest with you. At the same time you should have requested for a written estimate before the work started. Since both you and the dealer were negligent in this the best recourse would be settle for a value that is deeemded fair by both parties.

Originally Posted by Cesc

My suggestion - talk directly with the dealer/owner and push real hard to get the bill reduced by as much as you can and get the discrepancies eliminated.

The dealer already has 2L (from you the insurance agent) my guess is that you shoul dbe settle for about 50K more. There is no way the repairs cost the dealer 3.5L. Your best bet is to get a competent technical man to give you the corrrect cost and then deduct the 2L that dealer already has.

Originally Posted by samyakmodi

did anyone else also see some grey areas in both the invoices?

I am not technically competent to comment on either of the two invocies but I am sure that you can find many a garage man who is. Your best bet would be the works manager at a competing dealership.

BTW given the recent change of heart your dealer had I would not be surprised if the dealer is monitoring this thread.

[samyakmodi]

@ navin

thanks a lot for the advice. haven't taken the delivery of the vehicle yet (though they insisted that I should take the delivery and settle the payment later - my conscience didn't allow it)
In the invoice generated, they had charged for both the arms' change. I raised a question on saturday to one of their service executives - why were the arms changed without asking me - if they were damaged - they should have been included in insurance, and if not - they should have asked me!! to this the guy responded - sir probably galat charge ho gaya hai! and this is not the final bill - we will send you the final bill on monday.
so let's see what happens now.

[honeybee]

Yikes, it's already Monday! Why not take the invoice you have received and go through each and every item with the SA and question him on the same? Most likely there are other such 'galat' items which will come out.

[samyakmodi]

ok so today i get the revised bill for the car

and they have "corrected" it. infact they have just deleted the headlamps that they had charged in both the invoices.

have a dekko.

and when inquired again for the arms, the guy said "sorry sir, i forgot about it. gimme 10 minutes i will get back to you after figuring it out." this was at 12:52 pm. still waiting for his 10 minutes to get over.

anyway

[honeybee]

Pipe condenser (Rs. 564.78) missing in the new bill (refer invoice 7234.pdf earlier)
Glass sealment kit (Rs. 1200) ditto
Must Bulb h/light H4 (Rs. 1253.19) ditto
Unit Headlight L (Rs. 4039.15) ditto
Most items under 20K Paid check

I found these items missing from the revised bill.

[samyakmodi]

this might be getting a bit out of hands now.

didn't get the invoice till wednesday. the service staff asked me to speak to the owner directly who apparently is not available till tomorrow.

once again i request you all to help me decide on what is the least i should be expecting from the dealership regarding the delay.

full labor cost waived off?

[samyakmodi]

would like to revive this thread.

i think it was a mistake to keep shut all this while. i got the delivery of the vehicle in the month of july, and upon initial inspection i found these things wrong - the ORVM mechanism wasn't working properly. The paint on the car had already started rusting!! the body panels were misaligned. since i had a bit of an urgency to take the car's delivery - i was assured that the problems mentioned would be rectified as soon as i send the car back. i did that after 7-8 odd days (end of july) when there was a major wobbling in the front wheel (according to them the bearing had become faulty). while giving the vehicle i had also mentioned that the car's braking doesn't feel right and the visibility is very poor during slight rains in the evenings.
again i was assured that everything would be corrected and the vehicle would be delivered in pristine condition.
i was delivered the vehicle on 12th august with a bill of about 6k for the bearing and wiper blade etc. change. i didn't pay the bill as the paintjob and body work still wasn't right and they said that they would correct it all as soon as the monsoons are over as the paintjob wouldn't be that great.
the new problems i found with the car were
1. the driver seat wasn't adjusting properly
2. there was more rust inside the bonnet (apparently they were all changed and repainted)
3. the car had scratches all around it.
4. the brakes weren't working properly still
5. the ORVM mechanism had not only stopped working, but the mirrors started folding in all by themselves (the entire mechanism is manual - not auto)
6. took the car out one evening when it was not raining - just to realise that the poor visibility wasn't because of poor headlamps or bad wiper blades BUT because the windshield had scratches like any old windshield would have.

the car was sent to them again with the entire list of repair work in the end of september. on 10th of october, when i went to take the delivery of the car after their calls and assurance that the car has been completely repaired and all the problems have been rectified - i just checked the car from outside only to find that there was nothing done about the shoddy paintjob and misaligned body work. when i asked the service executive regarding the same, he said that "sir i spoke to your father since you weren't in the country - and he didn't explicitly mention about what all needs to be corrected in the paintjob and body work. so we didn't do it at all"
so this time around i not only told them what all needs to be corrected but also marked it all with a marker for them not to miss it.
when i asked them about when will they deliver the car to me - the guy promptly said - sir we can give you the car only on 16th or latest by 17th of october. i was OK with it but still told him to make sure that the car is done by that time as i would be needing a spare car to drop off my wife to her hometown around that time.

on 19th october i called up the dealership to enquire about the status of my car. (16th, 17th and 18th none of the service executives were responding to my phone calls)
19th morning i had to call the service manager, and he promptly said that sir i will get back to you in next 10 minutes. about an hour later a service executive (the same idiot - praveen, who had misquoted the repair estimate and had fled from the scene since may 2011) calls me up to assure me that the vehicle would be delivered in the evening 100%. i told him that if this time if he can't live upto his commitment - please keep the vehicle with him and give me a cheque of Rs. 4.5 Lacs instead. (3.5 lacs for the repairs that they had charged me + 1 lac for the vehicle itself) he said - sir come what may you will get the vehicle in the evening today.
at 7:30 in the evening the idiot calls up again and says - sir i am extremely sorry but i would only be able to give you the vehicle tomorrow morning by 11. i was furious and asked him to keep the vehicle with him and get me the cheque instead OR get me a letter from their MD stating that they are sorry and they are simply incompetent to repair a car in 10 months. he apologised profusely and said that sir i will personally come to deliver the vehicle tomorrow morning. i just hung up after again making it clear to him what my conditions are.
didn't get the car OR any letter OR any call from the dealership till 6:30 in the evening. Praveen calls up and says sir where are you and where should i deliver the vehicle? i just told him that i am not interested to talk to him till the time he either gets me a cheque of 4.5 lacs OR the apology letter stating explicitly that the dealership is incompetent to repair my car and they are sorry for all the false commitments they have made since the past 10 months plus.
since then i haven't heard from them so i decided to write to honda customer relationship stating the entire matter.
below are the mails sent to them - and the replies i have received from them.


Dear Rosein Haqq

Kindly refer to my previous mails in which i had expressed my disappointment with the repairs of my car.

Now the matters have taken a serious turn as I still haven't got my car and all I have been getting from the dealership is false commitments daily.

The car was returned to me in the month of August after regularly following up with them.
when I got the car - i had pointed out more than a few irregularities with the paint job. I was committed that they will be taken care once i send them the car back as this is the monsoon season and there are chances of the paint quality being not upto the mark.
in the month of september i had sent my car to them ( the second time after i got the delivery in august) for the regular problems i was facing like - the brakes not working properly, the driver seat not adjusting properly, the side view mirrors mechanicals not working, the wipers not performing, the new windshield not being clear etc. Along with this I had also mentioned them to look into the shoddy paintjob and the misalignment of body panels.

On 10th of october 2011 I had visited the service centre after I received a call saying that my car is ready and i can pick it up. upon arrival to my utter disappointment none of the paintjob issues or misalignment issues were taken care of. with a simple explanation that those problems were not explicitly mentioned.
I had personally marked all the concerned parts and had asked them to rectify them at the earliest to which i was verbally committed a date of 16th -17th of october 2011. On 19th october's morning when i had called to enquire about the car, the service executive again committed that the car would be delivered 100% by the evening. In the evening he called to say that sir i would need some more time with the car and come what may i would personally deliver the car to you tomorrow morning by 11 AM.
I didn't hear from the guy till 6 in the evening today.

I am sorry to say this but my trust in HONDA brand has been completely shattered because of the incompetent service centre you have in indore - and the irritation rises because of the utterly dishonest service staff.

I would like to remind you that my car met with an accident on 22nd November 2010 - and has been with the dealership from 28th of November 2010. I got the delivery of the vehicle only in August 2011 with a total repair bill of a whooping Rs. 3.5 lacs (approx) when I was informed that total repair + engine overhaul would cost Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 80,000 (accidental repair) + 1,00,000 (approx. for engine overhaul). In the month of July I was presented with a total bill of Rs. 3.7 Lacs which was later reduced to Rs. 3.5 Lacs because of some accounting mistake from their end.

Inspite of over charging by almost 100% from the estimate, the dealership still hasn't been able to repair my car to my satisfaction level in past 10 and half months.

After all this, I am not interested to retain my car - and have already asked the service representative to either buy the car from me for Rs. 4.5 Lacs (Rs. 3.5 Lacs of what they have charged me for and Rs. 1.00 Lac for the car) OR they can accept that they are not competent enough to repair a car in 10 months time frame and should seriously consider closing down the service centre.

I request you to kindly look into this matter at the earliest as now there is only one option left for me that is going to the PRESS and to the consumer forum. The company has been taking our patience and decency for granted and has been cheating us from over 10 months.
Going to the consumer forum and the PRESS would mean a bad repute to HONDA SIEL Cars too for appointing dealers + service centers who have no respect for anyone's time, money and patience.


Our faith in HONDA brand has been totally shattered and we are now sure never to buy any HONDA product EVER.

We request you to kindly send one of your personnel to settle this matter at the earliest.

Thanking You,

Regards,

Samyak Modi
+91 98260 49009
+91 96300 07007

in this while i tried getting in touch with Mr. Ashish Ghanekar from Honda india, and requested him to look into this matter as he is responsible for MP region. There was a standard response from him - that we will look into this matter and some one from Honda CRM would be getting in touch with me soon.
I didn't get any response from them till yesterday that is 3rd November 2011.

the response was this:

Dear Mr.Modi,

This is furthe to our mail dated 25th October ,2011

We understand that necessary clarifications have been given to you by our dealership M/s Abhikaran Honda,Indore , we understand from our dealership that to assure you of their sincere efforts and as a goodwill gesture any service that you would avail from our dealership starting from July 2011 labour would be free of cost to you.

We once again regret for the inconvenience caused , However we would regret our constraint to honour your request favourably for

Thanking you and appreciate your kind understanding on the subject.

Regards,

Rosien Haqq
Customer Relationship Management
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. ,Greater Noida

the buggers are offering me free labour for any servicing or repairs starting from July 2011 onwards!! the car has been for more than 4 months with the dealership itself. and they want to count those 4 months in the "goodwill gesture"

i got absolutely no clue what to do now. not only the dealership is DISHONEST even Honda is playing along with them.

Is honda going the Skoda way??? (though i have not faced any problems with any of my skoda cars yet!!)

[AkMar]

This is ridiculous. I think you should stick to your demand of Rs 4.5 lakhs/apology letter.

[samyakmodi]

guys

desperately need some help here.

[samyakmodi]

@mods::

can you please rename the thread?

i have finally got the car today. that too they have delivered it without me settling the issue with the dealership/honda people.

another 10 days and they would have had it for a year.

can nothing be done about this ??

[khoj]

@ samyakmodi, just read the entire thread and though I do not have any advise for you, you do have my deepest sympathies.

I was once a Honda customer too, in fact bought my OHC on 22 February 1998 a good two weeks prior to their commercial launch in Chandigarh. Experienced their once exemplary service go down the drain and then their QC too, which led me to sell my second car from them, a NHC bought in 2006 within 4 months of purchasing it. I am sure there are many stories such as yours and customers like myself who will no longer buy the marquee untill the Honda Siel boffins get their act together and treat their customers right. Maybe their current M.D. being recalled is a step in the right direction. Another factor contributing to such high handedness is our week legal system, especially the consumer courts. Hopefully our grandchildren will be able to benefit from an ever changing scenario which sees increasing competition, an increasingly pro active consumer(s) and better implementation of the law of the land.