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Old 19th July 2013, 11:39   #1
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Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

We bought a Skoda Rapid Ambition Plus from Mahavir Auto on 26 June 2013.
We opted a 2012 Model car, because there was a discount of 1.1 L on the OTR Price of 10.84 L.

We were told and assured that the 2012 and 2013 cars are the same and there are no differences at all except the date of manufacture.

During delivery, we noticed that the electrically adjustable OVRM are missing and Chrome trim was missing.
The sales executive at Mahavir Skoda, Secunderabad Mr. Sandeep told us that, there was a small difference which he overlooked to mention and pleaded us to take the delivery as the Life Tax has been paid and he would lose his bonus.

Even though we were apprehensive, we took the delivery out of pity for the sales guy, thinking it was a genuine mistake, of forgetting a feature. Tanked it up to the full and went home.

Next day, on the first drive, we felt that the rear speakers were not playing. Out of suspicion, when we rechecked the brochure and various online forums, we realized we were cheated.

Mahavir Skoda added a Skoda Music Player to the Ambition Variant and sold it even paying the life tax to the Govt. of AP as an Ambition Plus Variant.

They cheated us, the insurance company as well as the Government of AP.

We called the sales executive Mr. Sandeep and he put me on with his sales Manager Mr. Ravikant, who lied to me saying it might be a case of wrong paper work and their stock register said it was an Ambition Plus.

If it was indeed a case of mistaken paperwork as mentioned by you:

* How did a Skoda ICE system get installed in an Ambition variant?
If you indeed say it was from the factory that this happened, I would proceed legally against Skoda India on the same.
Is their Quality Control so poor? That they cannot differentiate an Ambition and an Ambition Plus?
That they cannot hear the rear speakers not playing/ not being installed?

This is fooling the customer and taking him for a ride either by Mahavir Auto or it is Negligence from Skoda India in manufacturing cars.

Now this gets interesting:

Mr. Pradeep Gandhi, CEO, Mahavir Skoda calls me and says as he cannot procure a 2012 model they’ll either refund your money or give us a 2013 model if we pay the price difference. We refused, saying they cheated.

He then says “Yes, cheating happened, now what??”

After a lot of discussion and talking to Skoda India we were offered a 2013 car in lieu ONLY because they did not have another 2012 car in stock.

After all this mess, we are apprehensive and afraid of Mahavir Skoda for the maintenance and service of our car.

Mahavir Skoda is the only dealer in Andhra Pradesh and there is nowhere else for us to go either for service or spares.

So, we asked them for

4yrs FREE showroom Preventive + Maintenance Service (including consumables and spares) to keep the car in good condition. (Please note that we have taken 2 years extended warranty when we bought the car).

So that we are assured of the service

4yrs Zero Depreciation Insurance with Bumper to Bumper coverage to be covered by Mahavir Auto. (For 1st year we have already paid when we bought the vehicle.)

As compensation to the mess and the cheating.

Our request was denied.

We waited all this while to file a Police Complaint as Mr. Ravikant requested us to settle the matter amicably.
We on our part have requested Skoda India also to settle our issue, but

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Acknowledgement Mail Mr.A. N JAYANTH
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 09:12:06 +0530
From: "SKIN R: Aurangabad, Skoda India Customer Care" <customercare@skoda-auto.co.in>
To: <anjayanth@eth.net>
Cc: <gandhi@mahavirhyd.com>

Dear Mr. Jayanth,

Greetings from Skoda Auto!!! Acknowledgement

Request you to co-ordinate with the dealership for addressing of the concern. Also please find the attached mail by the dealer sent to you.

Trust your kind understanding on the same.

Regards,
Pranali Randive
Customer Support | 1800-209-4646
Škoda Auto India Pvt. Ltd


So, Skoda India has sided with the dealer.

When contacted numerous times about the variant the car was manufactured, they did not give us any information.

We now assume that Skoda India is hand-in-hand with the dealer.

In light of all this, we now not only want the car we paid for, but also compensation for the cheating, mental agony and time consumed in resolving this issue.

Being a customer, we would like to invoke the following:

Cheating Case against Mahavir Skoda and Skoda India for selling a car of a different variant.

Forgery Case against Mahavir Skoda and Skoda India for insuring and declaring the car as another variant.

RTI Act on Skoda India for providing the information about the car manufacturer variant when provided with the VIN.

The MRTP Act, 1969 : As Mahavir Skoda is the only dealer in Andhra Pradesh and customers have nowhere else to go for service, warranty claims and purchases.
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Old 19th July 2013, 12:33   #2
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

This should be in the dealership section.

Oh boy another Skoda mess up story. When will SKoda and their dealers learn to be transparent in their dealings?

A PDI before registration would have saved you all this agony.

Good thing is they are offering you a refund. Why not just take it and say goodbye? Will save you a lot of mental agony. The legal process in India is very very slow. No point in dragging it out in the court.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:04   #3
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

Since you have been offered full refund, I say get the money and get the heck out of there. There are multiple horror stories of Skoda, and for sure, you don't want to go on that ride.

All the best !

On a side note, Skoda products are pretty good actually. But the dealership experience on average throughout India, is poor. Being in India for over 10 years, the experience has not improved much.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:12   #4
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

+1 on getting the money back. But only if you dont have to run piller to post for the same. Rapid is a good car, but dealers are poor. Vento being the same car has given better dealership experience amongst bhp users. Either that or some other car; its time people show their power of wallet to skoda by taking the business elsewhere.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:12   #5
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

There are two ways to go about it the way I see it. Since they are liars and cheats as your story goes you should either go to the courts and demand compensation which you rightly deserve. But this would take a lot of time and a lot more money which in turn will add to your mental agony till this issue comes to rest. Alternatively you could just take your money and run! You were offered a complete refund. Something which rarely happens. If I were you I would want nothing to do with such characters. There are plenty of cars in the market you can get for your 9+ lacs.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:15   #6
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

Sir, I know its quite infuriating to be a victim of such malpractices and it is very natural for anyone to drag them to court and teach them a lesson so that they never repeat the same with any other customer but giving a practical and frank suggestion I would say, please don't get entangled in all those legal proceedings.

Just take the refund and walk away. Go for any other car you like, but never look the Czech way hence!!
You have endured enough mental stress till now, so don't strain yourself further, and consider it as a learning-experience & forget it sooner rather than later.
It is indeed disheartening to read such horrible experiences.

My two cents.

-Bhargav
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:23   #7
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

As others have mentioned, please get the refund and then walk away. Pity such wonderful cars are being let down by such shoddy dealers. Even if you get all that you request for, them being the monopoly in AP, you will never have peace of mind whenever your car goes for service.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:24   #8
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

i fail to understand how Skoda and VW- siblings/cousin's have service levels which are on the opposite end of the spectrum. This is another addition to the Skoda woes i have heard. And the part about declaring the wrong variant as another variant really knocked me out as if it was laughing gas. If the dealership guys cannot identify variant's accurately, how is the customer expected to? And even if this were true, it is not a case of Caveat Emptor as it is reasonably expected that the dealership would have full knowledge about their products.

And a request to all automobile manufactuers; If you guys are launching 'Plus' variants of any existing variant (LX Plus, VX Plus, Ambition Plus, GLE Plus, SLX Plus etc), please put a metal moniker on the boot of the car. It isnt that costly is it? And plus it helps us discerning automobile enthusiasts identify the car.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:31   #9
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

Please please PLEASE take the refund and walk away. You do NOT want to give Skoda the satisfaction of being a +1 on their statistics chart. You are NOT a happy Skoda customer at all.

Engaging in a court battle will result in a lot of time wasted, not to mention resources. Take the refund, smile, and just walk away. You'll be a lot happier without this car.

As for the fact that the CEO said “Yes, cheating happened, now what??” it's a pity that this won't be taken on record in court due to having no proof of this conversation. Hence this will not be taken as evidence in a court of law. These matters need to be proven with hard facts. I would earnestly suggest, as a fellow forum member and well wisher only, that you don't pursue the matter legally, if and only if you receive your every last rupee back from them.

Please keep us posted.
Good luck.
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Old 19th July 2013, 13:31   #10
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re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

O Boy!!! the Czech devils are on the prowl again. A simple PDI would have saved you a lot of headaches (and heartaches as well).

But let the bygones be bygones, take the refund and get the hell out!!!

There's more than enough choices to make from.
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Old 19th July 2013, 15:04   #11
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Re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

This is a very bad experience with Mahavir Motors. Having booked my Ambition Plus with them, I too am a bit skeptical about the car now. The main issue, there is no way, you can make out if it is Ambition or Ambition Plus just by looking at it as there is no badge on the car, which specifies this.
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Old 19th July 2013, 15:13   #12
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Like everyone has said, you should take the refund.
The intention of the court case being that they have to be taught a lesson for their malpractice, there are other ways to hurt them.
One of them being what you have already done - post it here on team bhp. There are a lot of audiences this will reach.
Additionally you can post it on other auto forums, customer forums, and even find a hungry journalist or two.
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Old 19th July 2013, 15:13   #13
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Re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkLordOfSith View Post
Mr. Pradeep Gandhi, CEO, Mahavir Skoda calls me and says as he cannot procure a 2012 model they’ll either refund your money or give us a 2013 model if we pay the price difference. ......
Now that you have poured your heart out, I guess it time to use your head and be practical. Take the refund and walk out of the Deal. Litigation will be much more frustrating than this episode.

Secondly, Skoda cannot be legally held responsible for something which has happened in the dealership between the Dealer and You. It is unlikely that the court will hold them guilty of misconduct.

More importantly, if you file a case and in defence the Dealerships tells the Judge that they had earlier accepted their responsibility and offered you a refund, but you have refused their offer and filed the case with the intent of making money, the judgment may not go in your favour. There have been no instances where people have got damages inexcess of what they have actually suffered. Hence it is wishful to think you can get exemplary damages for such a case.

The Dealer is paying the price for bad publicity and will have a financial hit when he sells the car as a used car, since it is already registered.

As most BHPians have suggested before, take the refund and walk out of the deal.

Cheers

KPS
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Old 19th July 2013, 15:19   #14
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Re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

I read this as soon as this was posted but decided to reply now. Let me put this to you purely by the business side of things. Any legal entanglement you choose to get into will only cost you more time and money which really isnt worth it when they have given an option for you to get out of it. If by chance you negotiate hard and get a new vehicle also, which seems unlikely, still you shall be in the hands of Mahavir again for service, spares etc which will put the advantage in their court once more to try and cut their losses. A sound alternative - cut your losses and checkmate them. Get the refund & use the money to buy a car from a company which believes in honesty and great service. VW/Skoda isnt one of them. Trust me a loss of sale/future earning opportunity is a bigger loss to them than any other
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Old 19th July 2013, 16:58   #15
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Re: Mahavir Skoda (Hyderabad) Cheats. Customer-NO-Care@skoda-india!

@All :

Refund is not an Option here. We were offered 18% interest on the amount paid by us from the date of the cheque, and offer was politely denied.

The amount paid was 3.9 L -> Cheque , 6L -> Kotak Mahindra.
We have stopped the loan dispersal and are not paying the EMI.

This is happening over and over and let someone stand up. Why should the customer be taken for a ride always.

A customer is paying his hard earned money and the dealership is behaving as if its charity on their part.

We are ready to make an example of this case, how ever long and what ever resources it is going to take.

The insurance company, bank and RTA were also sent forged/ wrong documents.

To top it all, it was a B'day gift to my dad. Why should I compromise when they have stolen such a good memoir.
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