[Warwithwheels]

Really sorry to hear your bad experience. Glad that you have found a worthy alternative.

The guy could be technically right, but the way he presented it is totally unacceptable. Period.

[OmThoke]

Actually the problem is Audi doesn't have its own finance arm unlike Merc and BMW, so basically VW Finance was the root of the problem, but ultimately it's Audi that's getting the bad name! So, yeah they're not selling Skodas but rather VW Polos and Ventos

And, @ARG, the problem is that these days just about everyone has the same issue.... In realty markets, people are quoting 1crore for a villa, and have such pathetic attitude that you won't even feel like paying 1Lakh for such a thing! Even HDFC LTD and HDFC bank have internal problems... I had applied for a home-loan through bank, and the file reached the HDFC LTD credit manager only after 29 DAYS!!!

I have been to all showrooms in Bangalore right from Audi, BMW, Merc, VW, Skoda, Chevy to JLR, and Volvo.

Sundaram Motors is none better for Mercs, though Akshay guys are pretty good. Again BMW isn't any better, though Volvo and JLR are again very courteous and nice...

Just couldn't check out the Porsche showroom, though I went to service station on Hosur road, and again the service manager was very good (though she didn't even know which one was Carrera S, and which was 911 or Panamera lol!

Anyway, looks like I'm not the only one being ill-treated; another MD went through something even worse, and that was AFTER buying the car - the case of Sleepwalking Audi - http://forbesindia.com/blog/business...pwalking-audi/

Makes me wonder if there's really such a thing called premium brand (one that gives you premium service)

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Originally Posted by Warwithwheels

The guy could be technically right, but the way he presented it is totally unacceptable. Period.

Well, there was nothing so technical about him to be right; anyway I'm over with it.

This thread was created to spread awareness, and neither to put anyone into trouble nor take any sort of revenge (anyway I'd call it waste of my time, so get someone punished, because I've already cancelled my booking, and Audi has lost 37 lakhs already!)

[sajusherief]

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[BoeingDriver]

I was recently in your shoes.. just booked my C220 Avantgarde. I must say the salesmen from the mentioned brands in Chennai seem to be much better. Great follow up by all Audi, BMW, Merc. Chose the later for personal reasons but have to give due credit for BMW and Audi's sales team.

[Motored Mindset]

Many of us are familiar with Audi's lacking customer service, as evidenced by customer reviews especially in my city - Bombay. To be fair though, auto manufacturers can't be entirely at fault here for terrible customer service faced at the dealer-level because the relationship they share with a dealer is one that guarantees the dealer a fair bit of autonomy especially in the HR department.

Although dealers are the "face of the manufacturer", you have to remember that your average Indian dealer couldn't care less about a manufacturer's several decades of history producing automobiles, their success in motorsports or their worldwide brand building exercises. They are people with no prior experience in the automobile sales industry who have been handed this mantle by manufacturers because they commit to spend several crores towards floor space, interior design and an equipped service center and are looking to earn healthy profits.

The result is that after the initial screening process which the dealer may just scrape through and pass, it becomes very difficult for a manufacturer to dismiss him due to very strong contractual clauses in favour of the dealer, seeing that he has invested a huge amount of money towards tooling costs for the service center, interior design and buying/leasing floor space. The areas where the dealer can skimp on are staff salaries, reducing the number and quality of training sessions they receive and customer care initiatives. This invariable makes a sales person's job one that most people look at as something temporary till better prospects arise, and sales assistants at showrooms don't dedicate as much to their job as they would if it were a better paying permanent one.

If one were to look at dealerships in more mature car markets, especially the United States, where vehicles have been selling by the millions since the first half of the twentieth century Indian dealerships would have much to learn in terms of incentivising buying from a particular dealership and recognizing that it is not merely a single purchase from a single customer but a longstanding relationship over several years spanning several vehicles if they guarantee a good first buying experience. Forbes has written about the best dealerships for 2012 and what goes into making them better than the others in the U.S. here - http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/08/bes...r-dealers.html

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Motored Mindset

If one were to look at dealerships in more mature car markets, especially the United States, where vehicles have been selling by the millions since the first half of the twentieth century Indian dealerships would have much to learn in terms of incentivising buying from a particular dealership and recognizing that it is not merely a single purchase from a single customer but a longstanding relationship over several years spanning several vehicles if they guarantee a good first buying experience. Forbes has written about the best dealerships for 2012 and what goes into making them better than the others in the U.S. here - http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/08/bes...r-dealers.html

I agree with this point. If one has a first class, first time buying experience, the 'stickiness' with the brand and dealer remains and one tends to go back towards that same level of comfort when considering a new vehicle or upgrade in the future. If these dealers were to realize what 'consumer lifetime value' means, in terms of monetary earnings, they would revamp their strategies completely. However, most unfortunately, in general all of them seem to be programmed to think short term and to try and recoup their ROI asap and make profits. There is no patience at all left to build long term, long lasting relationships with consumers...

[ARG]

Originally Posted by Motored Mindset

The result is that after the initial screening process which the dealer may just scrape through and pass, it becomes very difficult for a manufacturer to dismiss him due to very strong contractual clauses in favour of the dealer, seeing that he has invested a huge amount of money towards tooling costs for the service center, interior design and buying/leasing floor space. The areas where the dealer can skimp on are staff salaries, reducing the number and quality of training sessions they receive and customer care initiatives. This invariable makes a sales person's job one that most people look at as something temporary till better prospects arise, and sales assistants at showrooms don't dedicate as much to their job as they would if it were a better paying permanent one.

Valid point, Motored Mindset. Having said that, is it that difficult for a manufacturer to ensure that there are "very strong contractual clauses" w.r.t. customer service, too? The manufacturer could request independent feedback from walk-ins/prospects, commission audits by third parties or in-house audit teams, etc and tie dealer-dismissal to performance on the customer-service perspective, also.

[n_aditya]

Glad that in the end, it all worked out well for you.

You should consider writing an email to the management at Audi and thank them profusely for messing up the sale which which led you to your new Volvo. I hope they can understand this sarcasm though

Of course, wishing you happy miles and do post an ownership thread.

[Maky]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Glad that in the end, it all worked out well for you.

You should consider writing an email to the management at Audi and thank them profusely for messing up the sale which which led you to your new Volvo. I hope they can understand this sarcasm though

Of course, wishing you happy miles and do post an ownership thread.

Absolutely.
You should also tweet, if you have a twitter account, to this man @PerschkeMichael. I've seen him answer concerns put forth by Audi owners and link him to this thread.

[OmThoke]

Nah guys - thanks, but I already have wasted enough time dealing with idiotic builders in Bangalore; one of them just screwed up a deal yesterday even after doing the sale agreement, by demanding 2L extra!

When I had bought my GT650R, there was a person called "Triveni" (again in finance department - don't know why but there seems to be all the trouble in the world in that dept) at Satya Mitra Motors, Bangalore who had ALMOST screwed up the deal - so much so that I was about to cancel the booking and take a Harley Superlow or a Suzuki Intruder M800 (which was a new launch at that time)... Had complained to their manager, who apologized, and somehow got the bike delivered!

Had made a complaint to Tata Motor finance guys in the process of taking superbike loan also, and then that guy apologized!

I don't just understand whether you pay 70k for an Apache, 6L for a GT 650R, 37L for an A4, or 1 crore for a villa - there's just no RESPECT from the sales guys! They simply don't understand the very meaning of "Customer Satisfaction".

As they say - there are some things money can't buy, and for everything else there's a MASTER CARD, and even after paying a hefty amount, that "something" happens to be customer satisfaction!!!

BTW, thanks, I've added "Michael Perschke" on FB, because I don't use Twitter too often, and will certainly update him about the incidence.

But, I don't want another round of fight with Audi guys (because apologies often turn into heated discussions, and ridiculous conversations, and then there's no way I'd NOT lose temper this time!).

You know i had to even give them a FALSE assurance that I'd buy the A4 from them after few months, to get back my 2lakhs, because otherwise they were determined to deduct some amount of money from the booking amt, despite having promised that it's 100% REFUNDABLE until the day my car gets registered.

I had even agreed to pay Rs50k extra for the brown color (because my wife badly wanted it) in TDI 2.0L premium variant, because premium plus was 2.5L extra, and brown color was available only in premium plus trim with the dealer at that point, which was again not very professional on their part!

I think today one of the Audi guys was trying to call me after reading this thread (or my blog post), but I'm terribly busy with my year end closures, and some imp biz deals, so didn't have time to speak to him. And, won't be able to do so till April 1st either, but nah more than an apology, I don't want anything else, because all the damage has been done, and there's no point in digging the old graves now!

And, yeah perhaps I'd certainly send that sarcastic mail thanking them for what they did , in response to their apology (if at all, they send any apologies) - if I really had to raise the matter, I'd have done it right on the SAME DAY of getting the refund...

DISCLAIMER: I created this thread ONLY to spread awareness, and neither to defame Audi Bengaluru, nor to gain any kinda' publicity!

Originally Posted by OmThoke

It was a little shocking to hear, but I was prepared to shell out that extra 15% without any prob, but what really annoyed me was his background commentary over the phone.

I'd like to add another small thing here - I HAD TO LIE that I don't have extra 15% down-payment money, because otherwise they were NOT willing to refund my 2 lakhs booking amount.

Secondly, I also had to LIE that I'd book the car again after few months, in order to get back my 2 lakhs, and even then I got it after a long wait of over 5-6 weeks, and that too after threatening them that I'd report this matter to higher authorities!!!

Originally Posted by sukhoi30

You know, I am not surprised at this behaviour. This guy, you mentioned must be towards his late 50s. I have often noticed that people, especially sales people of that generation just cannot digest younger people who are affluent and well to do. They carry this assumption that all young people are reckless with money and stuff.
Anyway, congratultions on your Volvo. Upload some good pictures in your initital ownership report.

Well yes, you've a point; there are many who can't digest the fact that I'm young and run couple of companies... And, I've dealt with many such "UNCLES" in past, but this guy just falls in a different league altogether.

Landlords have questioned me if I'd be able to pay high rents, during the early years of my life, despite giving them 10 months month as safety deposit!

Anyway, let's end this story here, and I'd much rather appreciate if others who've had bad experienced with any of the premium car dealerships, share their experiences, than cursing the culprit(s) in my case.

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[androdev]

Originally Posted by OmThoke

I have been to all showrooms in Bangalore right from Audi, BMW, Merc, VW, Skoda, Chevy to JLR, and Volvo.

Does Volvo have a dealership in Bangalore? Btw Audi has done a huge favor to you you should thank your stars - it's like missing a flight that crashed!

[OmThoke]

Yes now there's a new one on Race course road - btw, this one is imported (how i got it is another big story, which I'd prefer to keep private) - currently Volvo is only selling the Volvo S 80 D5, D3 Kinetic, and D3 Summum in India - and the best option being the 2400cc diesel engine; no 3.2L petrol option here, but they're indeed launching the s80 3.2 and V8 AWD shortly in India officially. Probably that should happen next month or so.

Plus, when I got this machine, there was no dealership operating in Bangalore at that particular instant of time, and the new showroom has just opened up just 8-10 days back... But, there was one more on Mysore road earlier, which got shut-down.

I had lost patience after Audi incidence, so had to resort to some other route to get it

Oh and BTW, mine even has a phone inside the car, with an option to put a SIM card, though haven't been able to explore that feature (and many other features too such as the rear entertainment with wireless headphones, refrigerator etc).

Currently, they've set-up a service station on Hosur Road (near Kudlu gate), and most of the servicing work is done mainly at Chennai, Coimbatore, and Hyderabad.

Will include everything in the initial ownership report after the first service (including the experience with the service guys)

[SankalpDesai]

Originally Posted by OmThoke

Yes now there's a new one on Race course road - btw, this one is imported (how i got it is another big story, which I'd prefer to keep private) - currently Volvo is only selling the Volvo S 80 D5, D3 Kinetic, and D3 Summum in India - and the best option being the 2400cc diesel engine; no 3.2L petrol option here, but they're indeed launching the s80 3.2 and V8 AWD shortly in India officially. Probably that should happen next month or so.

Plus, when I got this machine, there was no dealership operating in Bangalore at that particular instant of time, and the new showroom has just opened up just 8-10 days back... But, there was one more on Mysore road earlier, which got shut-down.

I had lost patience after Audi incidence, so had to resort to some other route to get it

Oh and BTW, mine even has a phone inside the car, with an option to put a SIM card, though haven't been able to explore that feature (and many other features too such as the rear entertainment with wireless headphones, refrigerator etc).

Currently, they've set-up a service station on Hosur Road (near Kudlu gate), and most of the servicing work is done mainly at Chennai, Coimbatore, and Hyderabad.

Will include everything in the initial ownership report after the first service (including the experience with the service guys)

Om, sad to hear about the Audi experience. Audi has garnered enough bad press in India that it makes me wonder how can the management be so ignorant of the ground reality and completely agnostic to customer problems. But then Indian customers are not used to the international standards of customer service, except for learned individuals like you and a handful of others. And Audi is fully aware of the fact.

Anyhow, you've emerged as the winner here. With Volvo, you might not have got the eye-ball grabbing sugar candy, but it is no less an engineering marvel than the arrogant German. What i'm interested here is a detailed review of the Volvo S80 with loads of interior and exterior pics. The question is - WHEN?

[OmThoke]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

What i'm interested here is a detailed review of the Volvo S80 with loads of interior and exterior pics. The question is - WHEN?

I'm planning an Ooty trip this weekend, so will certainly post the pics, and review after that; so probably 8-10 days from now

[manualManuel]

Too bad about the Audi experience. But since it resulted in the Volvo, looks like it was a blessing in disguise!

I had taken the A6 on a test drive sometime late last year, and it was Kiran who brought it. Quite a nice chap, thought he sometimes goes over board with the promotion of the brand and description. He actually started with a meaning of what the 4 circles stand for and went on about every single aspect of the car