[rahulmd]

Vehicle details
Make and Model Ford Figo - TDCi Titanium
Purchase Date May 2010
City Bangalore
Services to date All services done at Metro Ford, St Marks Road, Bangalore
KM done to date ~ 30,000km

Incident 1 - June 2010 - 1600km Free service
As part of my first free service @1600km, I had requested a wheel balancing and wheel alignment, since there was wheel wobbling at speeds over 100kmph. I was charged INR 800 for this, but on negotiation, this was reduced to ~INR 500.

HOWEVER, in less than 2 days after the service, I had taken the car on a long drive, and the wobbling was still there. I subsequently took the car to Sai Iyengar & Sons in Indira Nagar, and got the alignment and balancing done again for about INR 400. I took the car out on a long drive about 3 weeks later, and the wobbling was no longer there.

My inference
Either Metro Ford did not do a good job of wheel alignment/ balancing, or MAYBE they did not do the job at all and simply charged me.

Incident 2 - Dec 2011 - 30,000km Service
I had requested couple of specific issues be looked into, including the changing of a fused right head light on the low beam. While collecting the vehicle after the service on the evening of 2nd Dec, it was noticed that the light was not changed. So they took the car back into the garage to change the light. I went along, saying that I wanted to see how it was done, since I do a lot of long drives in the night.

Upon going into the garage and opening the hood, I noticed that the engine cover was missing. When I raised the issue of the missing engine cover with the mechanic, he said that Ford Figo Diesel does not have a cover for the engine. I was pretty sure that it did have one, since the previous weekend I had seen it while getting the left head light changed at another garage. While changing the lights, it was also noticed that the rear cap for the left head light assembly was missing. I asked how much it would cost, and they said that I would need to change the whole assembly.

Once the light changing was done, I went to another Diesel Ford Figo which was parked at the other end of the garage, which had its hood open, to confirm if it had an engine cover. I noticed that it did have one. On seeing this, I called the Service Advisor. He looked at this Figo and said that it was a newer model, and that mine was an older model that did not have an engine cover. However, I was VERY SURE, that my car did have an engine cover, and that I had seen an engine cover the previous week while getting my left headlight changed at some garage in Kerala. It was my word against theirs, and obviously they were the experts!

The Service Advisor, rushed back to my car, and started asking around for the mechanic who did the servicing on my car. And by the time I got back to the car, they were fitting the engine cover back. Im attaching a snap herewith, taken after they put the engine cover in place. You can see the difference in the dust levels on the engine cover and the other parts of the engine.

By this time, I was FURIOUS!! I called for the service manager. He came and I explained the situation to him. I put my hand into the left side head light assembly to hightlight the issue of the missing head light cover. And guess what? The cover was back!!! The mechanic said that it had fallen down and that he put it back!!!

My Inference
I would have written it off as a case of negligence, BUT for the fact that both the Mechanic & the Service Advisor, tried to convince me that my model did not have an engine cover! AND that it is not the first time it is happening with me at Metro Fraud, as you can see from the 2 incidents above.

Now, I'm convinced that it is a case of Fraud.

My Dilemna
I also had the link rods of my suspension changed. How do I know if that has been changed correctly, and they have not taken away a few bolts? How do I know if any of the other parts are missing?

The other big question for me now is, where do I take the car for a service. I would think that Metro Fraud is one of the bigger Ford Dealers in Bangalore. If this is the condition of affairs there, how bad are the other dealers? If I take the car to an independent mechanic such as CarNation, my extended warranty would become void.

GM Service from Metro Fraud called me on Saturday Dec 3rd saying that this would never happen again. I would have agreed and written off this incident, BUT, for the fact that this was not the first time it had happened, as you can see above.

Also, will you ever take your car back to a garage where you fought with all the staff? (Would you ever go back to a restaurant, where you fought with all the waiters?)

[ArunV]

Similat thing happened to my Verna when i went for a repair in Trident hyundai in IRR, Bangalore.

The guy had disconnected the right Indicator, the earth wire was pulled out of the ceramic holder(I have philips 100/90 with a relay), the cover behind the unit was not locked. I opened the bonet to see why the indicator is not working and saw all these.
There was a rattling sound also when the engine was switched on and off.

Took it to service center again to change the ABS sensor and found that they had forgotten a spanner also inside the engine bay which made the rattling sound.

That was the only time i was not present while serving the car, and they screwed it up.

[revintup]

I know of a certain ford dealer where the service personel do 'favours' for some 'preferred' clients who grease their hands by changing faulty parts with used good ones at a fraction of the cost of the original unused ones. Obviously all these parts come from some unsuspecting clients.

I myself have had problems with maruti authorised dealer at salem fairlands. They swapped my battery with a non working one and claimed it was always weak when i brought it in. yeah right, but how can an amaron change into an exide when dead? idiots thought i would never notice. They went on arguing for an hour and when they realised that i wouldnt let it go and would make sure that their business would suffer, they brought mine from the interior of shop claiming someone misplaced it while 'charging'.

My uncle had his unused stepini removed during service. But sadly he realised that at next service only and by then he had shifted from salem.

My point is, these things do happen, only thing is, seldom do we notice. Always go to a reputed workshop and not to your 'convenient' workshop.

[mayankjha1806]

Another Ford A.S.S problem, just yesterday i was talking to someone in the garage that i usually go to (i was there to get the bulbs of my head lamp replaced) and there were many (5+) Ford cars with their owners for service and other problem fixes).

Was talking to one of them he quoted exactly the similar example with one of the Ford Service Centers (Don't remember which one was it). What did he do? after finishing of free service he quickly moved to nearby garage to get things repaired. I would recommend you the same.

In case if you are left with free service do make it a point to be there when they service the car (might mean taking off for a day from office) and get things done in front of your eyes.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by rahulmd

GM Service from Metro Fraud called me on Saturday Dec 3rd saying that this would never happen again. I would have agreed and written off this incident, BUT, for the fact that this was not the first time it had happened, as you can see above.

Also, will you ever take your car back to a garage where you fought with all the staff? (Would you ever go back to a restaurant, where you fought with all the waiters?)

Try Cauvery Ford near Binny mills if you don't want to go back to Metro.

My approach is simple. If you've fought with them because they messed up you can get them on your toes.

Send a mail to Ford directly with the link of this thread and explain your experience. Go to the Ford Figo facebook page and put it there as well.

Ford customer service should call you and they will forward the complaint to Metro Ford. Metro Ford will call you back and the CRM will ask to meet you.

Also, if you were at Metro Ford then they would have given a feedback form. Give them an extremely poor rating in the form.

This will atleast make them realise that they cannot take customers for granted.

I've had my fair share of issues with them but have got it sorted it out with the above approach. Since they did sort it out I have decided to give them a second chance and continue to take my Figo to them.

[ghodlur]

@Rahul,

Very sad to know the trauma you had to go through with the Ford dealer. Have you written to the customer support of Ford with all the details, if no request you to do ASAP. CC the same to the MD's mail id.

I have experienced Ford dealer high handness when once I was charged Rs 1200 for WA/WB which after pointing out to the Workshop manager was reduced to Rs 800. Form then I decided I will get it done from outside.

Did Metro Ford provide any customer feedback form? If not demand one and pour in all your frustration.

[SDP]

A bad experience indeed.
As Vid6639 has mentioned, take the dealer to task. In the indian context, where customers are plenty, just walking away because of a bad experience is not good enough. The loss of one (or few) customers is not deterent enough for dealers and service-centers to fall in line. We should demand for right quality of service.

[rahulmd]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Send a mail to Ford directly with the link of this thread and explain your experience. Go to the Ford Figo facebook page and put it there as well.

Ford customer service should call you and they will forward the complaint to Metro Ford. Metro Ford will call you back and the CRM will ask to meet you.

Also, if you were at Metro Ford then they would have given a feedback form. Give them an extremely poor rating in the form.

Hi Vid6639,

After the argument at Metro Fraud, I drove out without settling the bill. I told them that I would settle the bill only after I heard from Metro Ford GM service, AND from the Service in Charge at Ford India.

The GM Service at Metro Ford (Prashant) called me the next morning, however, they refused to escalate the matter to Ford. Then as per the process detailed out on the Ford website, I wrote a mail to the MD of Metro Ford last Tuesday. I got no reply till Thursday morning. Then, I posted this on Team-BHP and wrote to the President of Ford India with a link to this post.

The team at Ford wrote back saying that they are looking into the matter. But I'm yet to hear from them after that.

About staying at the service station while they service your car: If that is the approach one needs to take, you will end up staying there for 2-3 days on some of the longer services where you have things like the clutch replaced. Is that really practical? Should we have to worry about things like that? Aren't these things that the manufacturer is expected to sort out with the dealer?

If Ford has big plans for India, can they really achieve those plans without a reliable service network? I would think twice before buying another Ford!

[motorguy]

I had a similar experience with Metro Ford - they are quite unreliable and not ready to accept mistakes.

Some years back, there was a rattling sound on the suspension of the car especially when it ran over speedbreakers or even small potholes. I brought the car to Metro Ford, who said they need a couple of days to diagnose the issue. When they got back to me after 2 days, they said the power steering assembly needed to be changed (the car was under warranty so no expense to me). I smelled something fishy here and told them not to do anything before I decide. I pulled the car out and brought it to a Maruti mechanic I knew. To be fair, he also took out the calipers and shocks but could not find anything. Perplexed he put the car on a lift and walked around it . As walked toward the front, he saw one bolt and nut loose on the tie-rod (the nut was on the verge of coming out, and if it had, I would have had bad accident). Apparently it seems during the PDI Ford never checked this. Anyway, bolt and nut tightened, sound gone, and no such problems anymore.

I complaint to Ford India about the diagnostic skills on Metro Ford. Then I went to Metro Ford and told them - they were least interested and still tried to insist that the power steering needed to be changed. I just walked away and told them that I will never bring my car to them again.

[ampere]

Today I got a call from Allied Ford (Bangalore). They said have they started with a new dealership in Bangalore.
They are located at Mahadevpura/Whitefield. Anyone aware?

On Metro Ford, I did have a bad experience yet. Satisfied with the service.
Maybe I have not dug deep enough.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by ampere

Today I got a call from Allied Ford (Bangalore). They said have they started with a new dealership in Bangalore.
They are located at Mahadevpura/Whitefield. Anyone aware?

On Metro Ford, I did have a bad experience yet. Satisfied with the service.
Maybe I have not dug deep enough.

I know the new Allied Ford service center. It is not a dealership and only a service center for Ford. They do not have quite a few parts, especially for the Endeavor in stock and are as lethargic and careless as Metro Ford.

I recommend Lathangi Ford at Bangalore and have posted a separate review on my first experience with them.

[creative420]

Is there any service centre or a garage you guys would suggest for Ford Endeavor apart from Metro Ford in Bangalore? A friend of mine had a nightmare of an experience with them. What started out as a whistling problem to a minor air filter problem past month has gone on to become a complete air filter assembly problem. They have quoted him a bomb of a price to fix the same. Not that he has a problem with repairing it, what has ticked him off is the immaturity shown by the mechanics there and the unnecessary delay in diagnosing/fixing it while they keep charging him a bomb of labour charge every time. So basically he is looking for a place where he could get a complete diagnosis/fixing done without so much fuss. Please let me know asap. He is needs to fix the same for a long road journey in July. And any name or reference would be appreciated. You can PM me for the same.

[motorguy]

@creative420 - you may try Cauvery Ford - somewhere on TBHP I read a post saying that they have re-opened (they were closed for a couple of years). But, even there I had a bad experience. I was shifting my car to Kerala (a Ford Ikon) in 2003 and asked them to check it up . Upon hearing that I was shifting the car, immediately they told me that all my wheel bearings had to be changed at Rs.2800 a bearing (the car had run about 12,000 km). I smelt something fishy and brought it to a repair shop (Fast Cars near Palace Road). Jay (the person who owns the place) checked it out and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the bearings and if it needed replacement it was just about Rs.800/- per bearing (the bearings are SKF and these are readily available in the market so Ford cannot even claim OEM parts). I called Cauvery Ford back and talked to a lady there who I had buttered up in the past and had developed a friendship. She told me that it was a practice to do this kind of thing, especially when they have no chance at servicing the car (i.e. car shifting to another location). The scary thing is she told me that in training, they were actually told to do this to extract more from the customer.

So, in a nutshell, many dealers do these kind of practices. The key is finding the better among the worst. Good luck on your Endeavour. PM me if you need more details on Fast Cars.

[F150]

Sad to know the story Rahul.

First things first.

Wheel Alignment: Most of the team bhpians get it done from outside the A/S/S. You too should have done the same.

Engine cover: This story is appalling. You should always be alert and make the SA get a feel, that you shouldn't be messed with. Once they get this feeling, they wont try such silly tricks on you. You should be able to identify the smart *** SA and the humble SA, you will know who to choose.

Finally, maintain a good relationship with the works manager, after all he is the one who runs the shop.

[creative420]

Originally Posted by motorguy

@creative420 - you may try Cauvery Ford - somewhere on TBHP I read a post saying that they have re-opened (they were closed for a couple of years). But, even there I had a bad experience.

So, in a nutshell, many dealers do these kind of practices. The key is finding the better among the worst. Good luck on your Endeavour. PM me if you need more details on Fast Cars.

Sorry to hear about this. Is that Fast car place still there?

The worst part is that the Service Manager at Metro kept saying "what's done is done". No sign of remorse on his face.

Anyway. Any Endy owners on this thread? Preferably one who belongs to Bangalore and can suggest one honest mechanic? Please do.