[OmThoke]

With deep regret, I'm creating this thread, because I had booked my dream car, the new Audi A4 Premium 2.0 TDI at Audi Bengaluru on Nov 30, 2012, and had hoped to give them a fantastic review after the delivery, but things didn't turn out as planned.

I'd still say that the sales man Kiran did a fantastic job, and I've nothing against him, but the management and ESPECIALLY the loan guy Srinivasa is JUST UNBEARABLE!

I've preferred accounts in HDFC and Priority account with Axis Bank, and these banks would any-time approve my loan without second thoughts, but I decided to go with VW Finance, since they were offering me a better deal, with 7 yr funding option.

After taking all docs, and getting my CIBIL report, and having confirmed that my loan can be processed for 85-90% funding, that guy called me and informed that he can only fund 70% instead of 90%, and perhaps 75% at the most.

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.

He was telling others about me stating "he's so young, and his company is new, and plus he (me) has got so many loans, how can anyone fund such a customer" (while in reality, I just have two) - one in my name, and one in my wife's name, which again is none of his business, and the one in my name is for a superbike, which is not sanctioned so easily in India, so the repayment record was anyway supposed to help me)... And, then he passed on few more ridiculous comments about me and my company (I own two companies by the way, but hadn't told him about the other one either, because it wasn't required, since we were buying in Pvt Ltd Co's name, and I don't believe in bragging about my other income details).

Infuriated by the non-sense, I went straight to the Audi showroom, where things became worse... Instead of apologizing that guy was LAUGHING

When i asked him why he was laughing he said he WASN'T LAUGHING!!!

I told the matter to the manager, who apologized on his behalf, and promised that he'll handle the matter, but I had decided already that it's INSANE to hear such comments when you're shelling out 36 Lakhs for an Audi, and get such a pathetic response in return!!!

I decided to cancel the booking, and was promised a refund within 1 week. Since the manager was on leave, I agreed to wait for 10 days, but the wait didn't seem to end at all... 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks (and counting) had gone by, and still no signs of any refund (I had paid 2Lakhs by the way, not 50k).

AFTER 3 MONTHS of torture I got back my money, and I knew that I'd never even think of buying an Audi in Blore again.

On a side-note, I decided to go with the Volvo s80, and didn't go for a Merc E Class, or BMW 520d, because I got a whole lot of stuff for under 50L budget with s80, and a peppy engine!

And, on another side-note, the Merc guy was ready to fund 90% for C/E class too, but since Volvo doesn't have any such in-house finance, I finally took my loan from HDFC.

So, when you go to Audi Bengaluru, save yourself from even seeing the face of that guy, and if you need help, go to Kiran!

[vinair]

Trust me mate, if I was in your shoes, I would have given some peace of mind and made him regret his foolhardiness till the end of his career!

I too sympathize the lesser fortunate (than me) people and would try my best not to offend them even if I am at fault. However, couple of instances and I have changed my perspective. These guys do not want to change!! so be it!!

[Blue Thunder]

Sad that you had miss out on your dream car the Audi A4....but the S80 is no less dream-worthy. Wishing you many, many miles of enjoyable driving in the Volvo S80 .

[nirmaljusdoit]

Originally Posted by OmThoke

With deep regret, y, not 50k).

So, when you go to Audi Bengaluru, save yourself from even seeing the face of that guy, and if you need help, go to Kiran!

Regret to hear of your bad experience, i deal with the service guys at Electronic city and they have been gentlemen, who have helped me a lot in getting warranty claims done !

Have you contacted Audi directly and shared your grievances, most of the sales and finance guys are the ones who spoil the experience with the brand in the initial stages !

[EagleEye]

It always pains me to hear about such incidences. Not similar, but my dad experienced very bad service and horrible behaviour from staff when he went to book an XUV at Mahindra Cochin. They were getting so many bookings due to the popularity of the car that they became arrogant about it.

Your case is even more surprising because it is Audi and such stupidity is not expected from employees of a premium brand.

[cpbopanna]

Suggest you complain to Audi directly, preferable to the CEO. Please bring it to his attention that Audi lost a sale due to their employee/dealer's attitude and Volvo gained! Audi will then take action against the erring person, which in my opinion, he highly deserves!!

[snkjr]

1. Name and shame the guy, no need to protect his identity. You are commending Kiran for a job well done, you are within your rights to name the guy who could not do his job well.

2. Congrats on the excellent choice of the S80. Happy driving.

[pganapathy]

Definitely get in touch with Audi and tell them about how you were treated. I don't care whether you are buying a 50,000 rupee motorbike or a 10 crore car, nobody has a right to treat clients like that. This guy really needs to be taken to task for his behaviour.

[KiloAlpha]

Please do let Audi India know about the bad attitude, and cross-post on facebook, tweet about it, let the world know that Audi Bengaluru cannot be trusted to treat a customer's financial details with the confidentiality it deserves. I have seen people buying 50K commuter motorcycles on loan being treated with tons more respect than this.

I would recommend, next time you come across bad attitude, never confront the person giving you the bad attitude. Make him beg for his job back from his bosses. Some years back, I was nearly in the same position because of my team's bad attitude in a conf call - I had to eat crow to keep my job!

[Maky]

Very sad to hear that.
I would have suggested going with your first choice the Audi but from another showroom instead or is there only one Audi dealer in Banglore?



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[rakesh_r]

I can imagine the trauma you had gone through.It doesn't matter whether for how much i am spending,customers cannot be treated like this, that too from a world renowned car maker.I was given a much better treatment ever since i bought my first car a Maruti Zen way back in 98 such that till date i bought 2 more cars (a Swift Vdi and an Alto K10) from the same dealership.Please do not bury this matter.Audi should know how they lost a customer.

[OmThoke]

Well thanks everybody - the name of the guy is already in the post (Srinivasa), and he's already nearing the end of his career, so I don't want to get him sacked or anything, because some people don't learn in life, but their families unnecessarily suffer due to their attitude towards life.

I know a close friend of mine who had got sacked from job due to something similar, and his family suffered a lot for 2 yrs, so that's about it

On a side-note, the Bangalore car showrooms are full of such idiots!

When I took TD of BMW X3, I asked the guy, why should i buy it, because neither it gives me the off-roading abilities of Freelander 2, nor the plushness of Audi Q5, and he just told me - it's BMW - so people buy it! (THAT's IT)

(And, as though Audi, Merc, Volvo and JLR are worthless scums!)

I'm simply tired of making complaints, and fighting - just sometime ago, I had fought hard with a builder, and chased him for 3 months to get back 12 lakhs that i had paid as down-payment towards villa, but cancelled since SBI didn't approve the property, and a check that builder had given me to return some excess amount had bounced!

And, heck yes - s80 rocks - it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than an Audi A4, be it in terms of interior refinement, the power punch, or anything else! It's simply NOT comparable; the mediocre 2L 145hp engine against the peppy 230 hp 3.2L engine.

S80 almost has the feel of Jag XF inside, and the leather seats are FAR more comfortable than that of A4, and even A6 business edition for that matter.

So, A4 is no more my dream car, and as they say it all happens for good - I'm extremely happy with my new beast! I took Volvo because after cancelling A4 booking, I realized that Audis, BMWs and Mercs attract too much of unwanted attention, so I went with something more subtle - the s80

And, yeah there's only 1 Audi showroom in Bangalore, though there are two BMW and two Merc showrooms here!

And, yeah btw Audi Bengaluru guys were alleging Akshaya Motors (new Merc showroom) for making false promises of approving loan (in-hosue through MB financials), and promising delivery within 1 week, and doing the reverse, and it turned out Akhshay guys were in fact very good... There's a guy called Deepu (who again I'd recommend just like Kiran) who gave me TDs of B, C, and E-class.... Just that out of personal preferences, I took the s80...

Dumbest of the lot are BMW guys here, who just leave it to the customers to buy their machines, if they want (as though, there's no other choice in the market, huh!) - even when I told them that I was going to book A4 instead of 320d or X1, the guy simply said huh - and kept the phone down (instead of even trying to convince me why I should buy a BMW ).

It's so ironic that these guys have been given responsibility of selling cars ranging from 30L - 1.5 Crores, and they don't even know how to treat customers, and when they try to convince you, it's more of FORCE than LOGIC.

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[Binzone]

When car sales are going down hill everywhere, am surprised that a dealership can get away with such attitude.

Coming from Audi, this is indeed surprising. Wonder if the dealership was selling skodas before this.

If they had concerns on financing the car, they could have politely let you choose your own options. Its not like you were begging them to provide the loan.

You have every reason to let the Audi management know about this.

[ARG]

Originally Posted by OmThoke

And, heck yes - s80 rocks - it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than an Audi A4, be it in terms of interior refinement, the power punch, or anything else! It's simply NOT comparable; the mediocre 2L 145hp engine against the peppy 230 hp 3.2L engine.

S80 almost has the feel of Jag XF inside, and the leather seats are FAR more comfortable than that of A4, and even A6 business edition for that matter.

So, A4 is no more my dream car, and as they say it all happens for good - I'm extremely happy with my new beast!

The story has a happy ending, and that is all that matters!

That you did not stoop to taking it out on this Srinivas non-entity, and your reasoning for the same, deserve a lot of appreciation, at least in my book. Bravo!

At the end of the day, if a showroom employee had the guts to treat a customer that way, it reflects the way Audi thinks of a customer like you. Be grateful & consider yourself lucky, you got away!

[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.