[kingjulian]

Originally Posted by mohandasnikhil

The 85Ps car they told me is going to be used as a Test Drive / Display Vehicle. Renault India isn't going to let the dealership sell it off either as a new car or as a second hand car through a DSA. I kinda checked this out, cos one of my friends was ready to pick up the car at 20% less.

In the thread I forgot to add that the Dealership didn't allow us to do a PDI citing stockyard timing and personale issues.

...

An investigation by Renault India is still pending on the issue. Len Curran informed me the same would start tomorrow.
...

I have spoken to a few friends and a couple from the Automobile Industry as well. They have all advised me to ask for a compensation anywhere between 20 to 40 percent of the car value.

While there seems to be a happy ending to this individual case, there would be other cases which would have ended in a sour note. Time and again, the auto industry and their dealerships have given a hard time for the consumer. In an industry which should be giving close to 100% satisfaction to the customer (considering the margins at every level), raw deals and fleecing seems to be the norm.

Of course, it does not help that the customer goes on the quiet after being "suitably compensated" by the dealers instead of pursuing it till the issue becomes a nuisance for the dealer involved by resorting to some sort of wide negative coverage or mass boycott. On the contrary, there will always be people to dismiss it off as a clerical error/one-off case or others who look for crass opportunism in such episodes as indicated here by the friend who tried to purchase the "tainted" Duster at a 20% discount despite knowing the dishonesty of the dealer and the hardships he caused to his friend.

[Giri.R]

Supreme Court had sent notice to Automobile Dealers Association seeking the explanation of extra charges being collected from the buyers apart from the registration fees. Hope some serious action is taken.

SC slams car dealers for illegal charges

[swiftnfurious]

Happy that it ended well. But I am surely un-happy with the customer first. When a customer pays a million for a car, they better understand the product or take someone else with them who can understand it! Driving away a totally different product & not understanding it is a very serious problem. I will blame the customer first and then the company / dealers at that.

Now I read in one of the posts that a management lady convinced the customer NOT to file a case against Renault official but was OK to file FIR on the dealer?? I believe they worked out the solution ONLY because the company guys were scared. Had this been an instance like selling an accident car by the dealer, I don't think the company would have dished out the same experience. They probably would have gone the Skoda way, leaving the customer to fight with the dealer & watch the fun from the stands.

Renault could have used this instance to understand what the dealers are up to & bring up the customer service standards thru out India. Sadly, I don't think they are "that" serious. All I get to read is about the attitude & arrogance of sales teams still. Also this instance should have inspired Renault to tighten the process and involve the customer care to reach out to the customers who are waiting for the car and inform them about the allocation of vehicles. This would help prevent the dealers taking advantage and bring in transparency in the operations.

Trust me, you escaped this time ONLY because you have strong proofs of the goof ups. Please do make sure things don't get this bad in future.

Hope you put all this at the back of your mind & enjoy the car.

[raul]

This whole incident smacks of sharp practice. First the system which Renault instituted to prevent dealer charging 'on money' is completely non-existent. I think the review here should be updated.

Before coming to this specific incident I think the Renault system has completely collapsed under the demand for Duster. I think Renault India needs to get its house in order, and quickly. Because of the ensuing chaos and confusion, dealers have been resorting to their usual bag of tricks; unresponsive and high handed behavior, hinting at early deliveries 'for something' and delivering a poor customer experience, and jeopardizing good will and brand value.

On this specific incident given how difficult it is to get away with something this blatant it is most likely gross incompetence. In the mad rush of customer booking pileup, deliveries and constant calls from customers waiting for their car deliveries no one knows anything. However when pointed out, for the dealer GM to sit on it is criminal negligence. Its the same high handedness at play, and its Renault job to address this, as these are their customers.

I think the Renault response once appraised of the situation was prompt and decisive leading to quick resolution, but they must have a strong check at dealers who are the frontline interface for customers and custodians of the brand experience. There have been many instances where dealers and manufacturers choose to be indifferent and that's when one is left hanging in a bad situation.

Clearly Gupta was given a mouthful compelling the call and the 3 lakh deposit. This also highlights the problem of folks like Gupta running multiple dealerships so they are less accountable to customers and manufacturers. If one manufacturer takes away business due to poor practice he always has others to fall back on. This can only lead to highhandedness rather than professional customer service.

Renault needs to review its processes, dealers and systems and get its act together fast or they will have squandered the momentum and positive vibe from the Duster launch.

Since the issue has been resolved satisfactorily I would refund the deposit and close the matter.

[mohandasnikhil]

Latest Developments on the Case

The M.D Sumit Gupta of the dealership had been sending messages from various parties to me to settle out the issue. In my last conversation with Mr. Sumit Gupta on the phone I categorically informed him that I didn't want to make this case personal and involve parties known to both of us and our business circles in this issue.

Further to his he dropped into my office yesterday to apologize and settle the issue. I had a whole list of points to discuss with him. We had a coordial discussion which culminated with a settlement on the case.

He "seemed" genuinely concerned of the damage the entire case was causing him and his dealership. Finally we have amicably in principal settled the matter and the paperwork to finalize all loose ends should be completed by the 5th of October 2012.

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to disclose the settlement terms and conditions, but do feel the penalty he has had to bear financially and in terms of bad publicity is justifiable.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by mohandasnikhil

Latest Developments on the Case
but do feel the penalty he has had to bear financially and in terms of bad publicity is justifiable.

No You should not. The only reason I feel this went your way was because it was a corporate purchase and you had the firepower of company lawyers at your disposal.
Otherwise outcome might have been different.

[mohandasnikhil]

Originally Posted by download2live

No You should not. The only reason I feel this went your way was because it was a corporate purchase and you had the firepower of company lawyers at your disposal.
Otherwise outcome might have been different.

The car wasn't a Corporate Purchase. We are a average sized business house, but the car was purchased individually on one of our Director's name (Our company was only a co-borrower on the finance, which the dealer couldn't have known). Though we did have our company lawyers at disposal, we never used them even once for any sort of communication with Renault or the dealer. All the communication done at all levels were done by me personally and we never involved a 3rd party or took any references. My point being that any individual consumer who faces a similar problem like us can fight the dealer and Renault India.

[thoma]

@mohandasnikhil, hope all the loose ends are tidied up by now. Any further updates on the investigation from Renault's part?

Though the below is a bit out of context, thought I will share it on this thread. Something opposite to what happened here occurred in USA and the dealer had the customer arrested for not paying the excess! Chevy dealer accidentally sells car for $5,600 less than asking price... and then has buyer ARRESTED for theft

[PhiGolden]

This thread is linked in the Wikipedia article about Dacia Duster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Duster

[DieselDon]

Originally Posted by PhiGolden

This thread is linked in the Wikipedia article about Dacia Duster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Duster

Did not quite believe it.

Before they make changes - a quick snapshot

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear all - this reminds me of an extremely funny incident which happened in 1985. I was working as a junior engineer in the R&D department of an automobile manufacturing company. They had imported a car from France for the MD. I was told to drive it down from the shipyard to the factory which I did. It was promptly registered and sent to the MD's bungalow. The funny incident happened the next day. It went like this - the MD's driver in white clothes and cap rushed (government ishtyle) into R&D and angrily told GM(R&D) that "Sir, AC is not working". An order was immediately issued to "call that Behram Dhabhar, what has he done"? I was asked - "why AC is not working"?, then I was fired for around 10 minutes. Finally I replied - "because there is no AC in this car. It is a non-AC model Sir"! "How can it be? Check it properly". I said "Sir, there is no compressor, no condenser, no reciever drier and no evaporator". People standing around nodded their heads but few understood that a car needs a compressor to be able to cool its passenger compartment. LOL insertion is definitely called for here! .

On checking the request papers sent abroad, I found that the jokers had indeed ordered a non-AC car. I got fired because I happened to be the fall guy! I have numerous such examples I can share. Therefore, CONFUSION REIGNS SUPREME!

If jokers can order a wrong car from abroad in 1985, what prevents other jokers from delivering a wrong car to a customer in 2012? After all, most of us in TeamBHP will agree that dealerships are full of people for whom it is just a job, so who really cares? You mean the dealer principal really cares? He cares more about the area manager than about customers, because he gets his business from there! He cares still more for the Head of Marketing when the Big Boss visits his area, airport to airport. And the other "company guys" who are "supposed to care" are perenially "in meetings, you know"!

It is only the poor customer who can understand the pain. Leaving aside his life's priorities, he has to deal with such nuisance value activities which should not occur at all in the first place. In my last job, I have dealt with numerous customers one-on-one. It takes exactly one minute to take the correct decision and then stand by it, provided somebody admits the mistake and has the real will to implement the correct solution in totality. That organization is now (after 8 years) reaping the benefits of converting liabilities to assets by getting customers and business to its doorstep.

Dear Mohandasnikhil, how much time elapsed before the "correct decision" was taken? Only "taken time" please, not "implemented time". Kindly revert.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[mohandasnikhil]

Have finally closed the case out with Dealer and have signed a settlement agreement, the clauses of which forbid me to discuss the issue on a public forum.

[Rameshdude]

Originally Posted by mohandasnikhil

Have finally closed the case out with Dealer and have signed a settlement agreement, the clauses of which forbid me to discuss the issue on a public forum.

All is well that ends well. Good to hear that the issue was resolved amicably and quickly. Enjoy the drive.

[isldhn]

Originally Posted by mohandasnikhil

So the case now has taken a new turn and one which will hopefully end the ordeal. After my mails to Marc Nassif, the M.D of Renault India on 13th September, Ganesh Rasal, the Regional Manager - West (Renault India )had called me late in the evening around 9ish and apologized and promised to have the new 110PS RXL car delivered on 14th September. I sent him a mail confirming the details of our conversation immediately, and asked him to confirm on the mail which he said he would do the next day. The following day when I didn't hear anything from him, I called him back and asked him about the car, and he cited some delays and promised to have the car delivered to me on 15th September, latest by 4pm. He also shot me an email confirming the same, but said that the car would be registered only by Monday.

On 15th September, By 4.15pm when I hadn't received the car, I tried calling Mr. Ganesh Rasal, but his phone was switched off. I immediately shot off an email to him with a CC to Marc Nassif mentioning that they had left me with no option but to file an FIR, and that I was proceeding with the same making Renault India as a party to it.

Immediately Himani Jain, the Area Manager of Renault India called me to inform me that the car would be delivered to me within an hour. I told her not to bother, because I had already begun the process of filing an FIR. After a lot of pleading she convinced me to atleast take delivery of the 110PS and then continue my fight with the dealership.

The car arrived by 5.30pm, and I took the keys to the new car and didn't sign any papers or hand over the 85PS car. I told the Sales Executive that he could take the 85PS car when he completed the registration formalities of the 110PS RXL. I also learnt that they hadn't transferred the insurance onto the new car even though all the details and cover note had been given to them long back. The dealership almost agreed to let me keep both cars, since they had no other choice.

But soon Sumit Gupta the M.D of the dealership (he also owns G3 Motors - Mahindra, Nikhil Auto - Chevrolet, Spectra Motors - Suzuki) spoke to me on the phone.
He was an extremely smooth talker and very nice on the phone and kept asking me how he could make up for the error. I informed him that I hadn't yet thought of any compensation. He requested me to let him take the 85PS car back since it was now uninsured and unregistered. I refused citing trust issues, and that I would release the 85PS car only when my new 110PS car was insured and registered. He immediately offered to buy me a new insurance policy for the new car (instead of transferring the old one). Since he couldn't register the new car, he offered to cough up a security deposit of 3lakhs in cash that I would return once all procedures were completed. I thought this was a fair enough deal, and wrote and signed a letter to him that I would return the cash when the new car was registered and I was compensated for the ordeal we had to go through. Mr. Gupta arranged the cash from his co-promoters house which is a stone's throw away from my office, and also a new insurance cover note. I handed over the keys to the 85PS car when I got
1. The new 110PS Duster
2. My refund of excess registration and depot amount totalling 14,500/-
3. The Insurance Cover Note for the new car and
4. 3lakhs in cash.

By the time this procedure was completed I had spent more than half an hour on the phone with Mr. Gupta and the time was 8.30pm. I dropped off the new 110PS Duster car in my office parking lot and headed out, and Mr. Len Curran, the Vice President of Renault India, Sales and Marketing called me. After his introduction and long apology, we had a good chat and I pointed out the problems Renault Customers were facing in terms of the monopolisation by 1 dealer in all of Mumbai (all 3dealerships are owned by the same person). I also informed him of the Depot and Registration Charge fraud the dealer was getting away with. He was quite interested and seemed keen to fix the problem and hinted at an investigation and a new dealer being introduced in Mumbai. He gave me his personal mobile number and also dropped me an email with his contact details, and told me to call/email him directly if I had any problems with our Renault cars.

So for now, things seem settled. Now need to have the car registered and seek out a compensation for the entire harassment. Any suggestions?

Sir,could you pm me the email Id's and phone numbers of the Renault management. I too have been taken for a ride by the dealer in Ludhiana who has not deposited the registration money with the authorities and is now demanding the 2% hike in taxes even though there was a gap of 10 days within my buying the car and the taxes being increased. With your little help I can get my issue resolved. I am sure the Renault management would pay heed to my query even though it's been man times I too have complained on the website but to no avail.
Thanks.

[isldhn]

Reminder!!!! Sir, could you please PM me the numbers