[rhenius]

This is a proud FIAT owner writing with a sense of happiness and elation in not only owning a vehicle which has had its share of negative feedback in terms of service from all over the country but having experienced exemplary service. I would like to table my appreciation for the great service I received on Friday 9th August 2013.

I was driving with my family to Madurai from Chennai, and at about 10.00 am I heard a noise emanating from under the hood, it was similar to rubber tyres being shred and the flapping noise coming from that. I checked and found that one of the rubber belts had started ripping and was apprehensive whether I could proceed further. So called up Mr. John, my Service Advisor at Ramkay Fiat and appraised him of my situation. He said not to go any further and he will call me back. Initially we thought we could tow the vehicle back to Chennai and the Workshop. And so I sent back my family in a Taxi back to Chennai, while I waited with the vehicle on the highway. I then got information from Ramkay Fiat that they are sending me mechanic with spares. And I was absolutely delighted that a dealership is going to that extent of sending trained mechanics to service a broken down vehicle in the middle of nowhere (Melmaruvathur) and they came with more than enough spares and replaced the belt and the car was back good as new. And was able to proceed on my journey to Madurai after picking up my family once again.

Now that I have returned to Chennai, I thought I must take this opportunity to thank the Team at Ramkay Fiat who strive for customer delight and I will definitely make this known to my circle of Fiat owners about the wonderful experience which Ramkay gives. On a personal note , I am so happy that Ramkay is now part of the FIAT family as I have been a customer with the Ramkay group once as a proud Suzuki Samurai owner and my family as one of their first TVS 50 customers when they started their dealership back in the early 1980s.
I would like to place on record my thanks to Mr. John the Service Advisor, Mr Manikantan and Mr Mogan who were the mechanics who came to my rescue on 9th August at Melmaruvathur and also the Workshop Manager/ Team leader who saw it fit to send the mechanics to an offsite location. Also if it hadn’t been for their CRM Ms. Sukanya who had introduced me to Ramkay Fiat, I wouldn’t have had this wonderful experience.

Madhusudhan Rhenius
Fiat Linea Emotion Pack FTA model year 2009

[RevvMusic]

Brings a smile to my face reading about your experience. Truly, a great gesture, and happy to see that FIAT India is trying it's best not to let down the spirits of FIAT'ians in any possible way.
A person who has in his life risen from ashes and has made his own way all by himself will be a lot better in all aspects, than someone born with a silver spoon. FIAT's story in India has been a lot like the former, and I seriously hope that they surpass our expectations in the days to come.

Go FIAT, bring it on!

[ghodlur]

Thats some news for the Fiat owners. Good and quick service by the Fiat dealer/workshop always instills the sense of confidence in Fiat products. I hope you must have reciprocated the good feeling the Ramkay Fiat team which I am sure will use as a customer testimonial.

Curious to know the reason of the belt damage and the cost incurred in replacing the same. Also did you attempt to contact Fiat RSA? Not sure if the response would have been faster than Ramkay's.

Hats off to Fiat, keep the same good work going.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by rhenius

I was absolutely delighted that a dealership is going to that extent of sending trained mechanics to service a broken down vehicle in the middle of nowhere

Within most cities, Maruti can dispatch a service van to reach you within about 20 minutes. I'm surprised a dealership of Fiat is able to do something similar for reaching vehicles beyond the limits of the cities, considering the small volume of vehicles that they sell in India. People on the forum have nothing but praises for Fiat, but have bad experiences from some of the Tata service centers. I wonder if Fiat's decision to create separate distribution channels for Fiat has resulted in separate service centers too, or will result in separate service centers in the foreseeable future.

[rhenius]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Thats some news for the Fiat owners. Good and quick service by the Fiat dealer/workshop always instills the sense of confidence in Fiat products. I hope you must have reciprocated the good feeling the Ramkay Fiat team which I am sure will use as a customer testimonial.

Curious to know the reason of the belt damage and the cost incurred in replacing the same. Also did you attempt to contact Fiat RSA? Not sure if the response would have been faster than Ramkay's.

Hats off to Fiat, keep the same good work going.

Cost was Rs 0, no charges. Ramkay mechanics took the cut belt with them. FIAT RSA was called but they too said that they would have to organize a tow truck from Chennai to take the vehicle to the nearest service center which would have been either Ramkay Fiat or RDC Fiat.

[extreme_torque]

What fiat needs to change is the perception of the people. Skoda has more and horrific horror stories around its cars relating to dealer attitude, the company attitude and even product engineering quality and still they find themselves in better position than fiat India.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by rhenius

Cost was Rs 0, no charges. Ramkay mechanics took the cut belt with them. FIAT RSA was called but they too said that they would have to organize a tow truck from Chennai to take the vehicle to the nearest service center which would have been either Ramkay Fiat or RDC Fiat.

FIAT dont insist on towing your vehicle all the time, at least not if you have the free RSA package. We have two Puntos in the family, which have now run for a cumulative 6 years between them. We have used the FIAT RSA thrice till now, and twice they sent the mechanic to where the car was, rather than organise a tow. The RSA call center generally arranges a conference call between the service center, them and you, and then a decision is taken as to what will be done. Considering that they have provided free RSA to pretty much everybody, they would obviously want to reduce costs incurred as far as possible. And sending a mechanic or two out to the car is always cheaper than sending a tow truck.

[RevvMusic]

Originally Posted by rhenius

Cost was Rs 0, no charges.

Now that's something what I call as "too good"
How old is your vehicle? Still under warranty? Can you please throw some light on the reason behind the belt being cut?

[rhenius]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Thats some news for the Fiat owners. Good and quick service by the Fiat dealer/workshop always instills the sense of confidence in Fiat products. I hope you must have reciprocated the good feeling the Ramkay Fiat team which I am sure will use as a customer testimonial.

Curious to know the reason of the belt damage and the cost incurred in replacing the same. Also did you attempt to contact Fiat RSA? Not sure if the response would have been faster than Ramkay's.

Hats off to Fiat, keep the same good work going.

Originally Posted by RevvMusic

Now that's something what I call as "too good"
How old is your vehicle? Still under warranty? Can you please throw some light on the reason behind the belt being cut?

November 2009 model, Under extended warranty. Belt cut is being investigated. Could be the handiwork of rats

Originally Posted by rhenius

This is a proud FIAT owner writing with a sense of happiness and elation

Another satisfied customer of Ramkay FIAT. Hats off to Ramkay FIAT for serving their customer going all the way for 85 km.

[bharanidharang]

Good going Madhu with your faith in Fiat. Will this innings by Fiat be their turning point in India.

One question. Was this belt ever changed before ? Also rats go for electrical wires more than belts (I could be wrong)

[rhenius]

Originally Posted by bharanidharang

Good going Madhu with your faith in Fiat. Will this innings by Fiat be their turning point in India.

One question. Was this belt ever changed before ? Also rats go for electrical wires more than belts (I could be wrong)

No the belt wasnt changed till now, But the way it was ripping seemed more like as a result of a bite rather than wear and tear.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by rhenius

Cost was Rs 0, no charges. Ramkay mechanics took the cut belt with them. FIAT RSA was called but they too said that they would have to organize a tow truck from Chennai to take the vehicle to the nearest service center which would have been either Ramkay Fiat or RDC Fiat.

Is this the AC fan belt? I would doubt if it was due to rat, more seems due to wear n tear of the spare. I remember the same thing happened with my earlier Fiesta. I was told to get the car towed rather than driven. Even I preferred the same coz the noise due to the cut belt hitting the engine body was scary.

[rhenius]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Is this the AC fan belt? I would doubt if it was due to rat, more seems due to wear n tear of the spare. I remember the same thing happened with my earlier Fiesta. I was told to get the car towed rather than driven. Even I preferred the same coz the noise due to the cut belt hitting the engine body was scary.

Its the alternator belt on the left of the engine block. It could probably be due to wear and tear as well. I have completed 45000 km on it

[julupani]

Originally Posted by rhenius

Its the alternator belt on the left of the engine block. It could probably be due to wear and tear as well. I have completed 45000 km on it

Well, you were coming up on the 4 year point where all the belts need to be replaced. Yours seems like a case where the wear and tear was just a bit faster than usual, causing a failure.