[Captain Slow]

An Uncle we know had given his Manza for its 3 rd service 20,000KM Service to one of the big dealers in Bangalore.

Total bill close to Rs 10,000

This was a routine service, nothing special was done, attached is the bill copy notice the extras here and there.

The Bill also says free service but then final Labour amount is Rs 1,8xx and total bill close to Rs 10,000?

[Raccoon]

What do you expect... when they have successfully sold you snake oil like Bardahl?

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

An Uncle we know had given his Manza for its 3 rd service 20,000KM Service to one of the big dealers in Bangalore.

Total bill close to Rs 10,000

This was a routine service, nothing special was done, attached is the bill copy notice the extras here and there.

The Bill also says free service but then final Labour amount is Rs 1,8xx and total bill close to Rs 10,000?

Well. I started to experience this right from 2008-09 onwards. The service costs almost doubled from what it used to be for my Indica. The part costs were reasonable but the labour costs were quite high and the result was that even a conservative service was 5k plus, more in the range of 8k for a well maintained Indica. The reason was the unnecessary stuff they do, like engine flush every 10k, coupled with high labour costs.

[mjothi]

The synthetic oil + Fuel filter comes to 4K.

Is engine flush part of regular service for 20K service? Also, the wheel balancing + alignment is Rs1000, the highest I have seen. Inspite of the fact that, they charge for the weights separate.

[speedmiester]

600 rs for wheel balancing and 450 rs for wheel alignment is almost three times the market price.
Along with that engine flush and other unnecessary stuff has inflated the bill.

Take it up with Tata Motors and lodge a complaint with them.

[condor]

First question - did you agree to all those items ?

1. Did you agree for Synth oil ?
2. If you did, then an engine flush is standard. If you agreed for Synth, then the Bardahl would be there.

3. If Fiat Filter element is that expensive, you cant complain.
4. Brake oil was only a top-up. So it does not add so much to the overall bill.

The items that I would dispute, after giving benefit of doubt to you and the A.S.S are the coolant - why did it need to be changed at 20k ? The WA/ WB / WR are definitely very high.


Looking at the bill, these items are pretty much standard across brands. Dont get me wrong here, but from experience, even a M.A.S.S will try to load you with this list of items.

[jkrishnakj]

I had identical issues when i took my Safari for the 30 K service, the things that were never told to me were done, the oils that didnt Warrant a change at this service were changed, and to top it, they had not done 2 simple things that i wanted done. This was at the Concorde, Mysore road service centre. Ran up a bill of 21 K. More details in my Tata Safari Gx ownership thread.

I wrote / spoke with the Service manager, and he said he will look into that. Yet to hear from him. Wrote to Tata Motors customer service, and i dont even have an acknowledgement from them yet - or perhaps, they have sent and i dont have it because, they have my details stored incorrectly in their system ( phone and mail id ) and i am tired of telling them to correct those details.

[condor]

@Krishna, did you show your copy of the JC to them ? That would have been easiest way to dispute.

Every brand, every A.S.S will try to maximize their revenue. TML, Hyundai, Maruti - and others too. Every one in the system has his targets. It is also the responsibility of the customer to specify what he wants, and ensure that he is not billed extra.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by mjothi

Is engine flush part of regular service for 20K service?

We really dont know, This uncle trusted the @SS and this is what he got!

Originally Posted by condor

First question - did you agree to all those items ?

1. Did you agree for Synth oil ?
2. If you did, then an engine flush is standard. If you agreed for Synth, then the Bardahl would be there.

3. If Fiat Filter element is that expensive, you cant complain.
4. Brake oil was only a top-up. So it does not add so much to the overall bill.

The items that I would dispute, after giving benefit of doubt to you and the A.S.S are the coolant - why did it need to be changed at 20k ? The WA/ WB / WR are definitely very high.

They never told us all these are required and I think the SA bluffed to the uncle telling him that engine flush and other crap is a must and recommended by the manufacturer!
AFAIK the car was already on Synth oil.
When you put too much trust on the SA and @SS this is what happens.

Originally Posted by Raccoon

What do you expect... when they have successfully sold you snake oil like Bardahl?

We were not told or asked about the "Snake OIL"

[condor]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

They never told us all these are required and I think the SA bluffed to the uncle telling him that engine flush and other crap is a must and recommended by the manufacturer!
AFAIK the car was already on Synth oil.
When you put too much trust on the SA and @SS this is what happens.

Please dont put all the blame on the SA. A car owner is also responsible for his vehicle. Esp in a place like that, where he could checked & said no. When a JC is made, it also provides the approximate costs.
A high indicative cost should have alerted your uncle. Did he check & question it ?
Does he have the JC copy with him ? Did you verify what was mentioned in there, and what was done ?

[akshay4587]

In Simple words,the owner has been taken for a Royal ride by the after sales.
All the additives/flush/Alignment/Wheel balancing could have been avoided,which would have reduced the bill by a few K's.

[RaSing]

I faced the same situation with my Swift Vdi at Motorcraft , Noida Sec 8.
I get my car serviced at 5k interval and ever 20 k is a major. My last bill for the 40k service was close to 7500 . Which did not include WA,WB . And i strictly told them to not to do a engine flush. Had it been done Add a rs800 for Wheel Alignment and balancing plus rs 500 for Engine flush. They also charged me rs 500 for something related to engine oil change(dont remember) to which i showed them my 20 k service bill and got it removed .

I have been getting my 3 cars services at motorcraft noida and the experience getting unsatisfactory day by day. I always felt that the SA will give you ideas of jobs that are absolutely not required but will help them to inflate the bills. Tell them that you dont need this and that and see the expressions on their face
It came out of a discussion with customer care manager that the SAs do have a target pressure on them . and they will always try to maximize the bill.

[ganesc]

Coolant oil replacement? , Bardahl engine flush and another for injector cleaning in a 20K km run car!!! Seriously, these guys has to be escalated.

But as stated above, most Service centers now try and sell possible additional craps to unsuspecting customers for their commission.

This is like a Petrol bunk fraud now that SA smiles and speaks unnecessarily and takes your signature from the job card without even letting you to take a closer look of all that's mentioned. Experienced this in Ford while servicing my car.

Last time, My Father had paid Rs. 250 for their Engine cover protective coating or something that they did without detailing it to my Father, as if it was recommended by Ford. This time around, I checked the list but missed this as it was written to the right most that we would ignore. I found it out once at home while reviewing, called the SA and told him I don't want Engine cover coating and I will not pay for it. He was ok to cancel it but got it done and did not charge me. I am still wondering how this guy added it, ignored it while explaininig it to me, I overlooked it while reviewing before signing the job card. It was like magic!

Full of thieves and we should be careful everywhere

General Service labor for Manza - Rs.1480? Ford is then better that they charged me only Rs.1080 for all the labor of 3rd service with no additional works done. So, with this and another member saying his Swift's 3rd service was more than my 4,500 bill makes me think Ford is now cheaper to maintain

[Viju]

Originally Posted by condor

Looking at the bill, these items are pretty much standard across brands. Dont get me wrong here, but from experience, even a M.A.S.S will try to load you with this list of items.

Totally agree with condor on this. When I took my Ritz for the 20,000 km service, the Service Advisor tried his best to convince me for additive / flushing / de-carbonizing / underbody coating etc. I think the majority of the customers are not knowledgeable enough and take the word of the Service Advisor since they 'know best'.

In spite of my telling him thrice, he went ahead and changed the coolant also!

[bigben]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

An Uncle we know had given his Manza for its 3 rd service 20,000KM Service to one of the big dealers in Bangalore.

Total bill close to Rs 10,000

This was a routine service, nothing special was done, attached is the bill copy notice the extras here and there.

The Bill also says free service but then final Labour amount is Rs 1,8xx and total bill close to Rs 10,000?

when I gave my vista in for the 40000 kms service the SA asked me about an engine flush. he even showed me the manual where it is mentioned . The owners manual mentions that an engine flush is advised if the following conditions occur and there are about 6-7 points mentioned. I told the SA that I did not want an engine flush and it was not something that was forced.

so in this case the customer has a choice to chose or not to chose it. Besides 20000 kms, in my opinion is too soon for an engine flush. I did not do it in my car and the engine is fine.

So i don't think that they are ripping off customers.