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-   -   Metro Ford suck!! They totalled my Fiesta while testing EDIT: WON the case in court!! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-dealerships/14837-metro-ford-suck-they-totalled-my-fiesta-while-testing-edit-won-case-court-7.html)

I hope the metro chaps have not greased palms to push this case every time it comes for hearing, Idea being, you will get fed up of the entire thing and agree for a out of court settlement and then they dictate what they will offer.
Its cheaper ( from bribing point of view) as against winning a case.
I speak from my own experience when you find that the court needs too many documents and things are adjourned pretty often you can infer that something fishy.

Logically they should deal with the cases by value and settle them in that order. I am sure in the two weeks the court is busy settling saree,pressure cookers etc type of cases. You can read them every day in the news papers. Not that smaller items should not be settled but they should be taken in the order of their value, I am sure you are losing quite a bit on interest, which will eventually get paid back by some one if you win the case. But who will pay for the anxiety that is caused??
And anyways where is the logic, all the govt policies are based on illogical things are logic which is not applicable to current times
You may have a tough time explaining your case to the the judge since they won't be tech savvy and would consider repair a good enough option. You need to be vehement on your case every time you get an opportunity to speak. Educate your lawyer as well. And I hope you are fluent in kannada as this can be a major issue.

I think Getting your story printed in newspaper will definately get Metro Ford the Bad publicity that they deserve and hit them hard. I guess Times Of India prints such reports regularly. Maybe then they would consider out of court settlement by giving you a new car. Though I dont have good contacts with media I am sure some people on this forum would definately have and could help you out.

I was born and brought up in bangalore. So speaking kannada is not a problem at all. Also, our lawyer has been briefed technically about the impact on the car due to the accident. I am waiting for the case to reach a conclusion(hopefully it will be sooner than later). After that I am planning on putting it in the newspaper. But I have already written to Overdrive and Autocar and hopefully they will publish it.

All this brings about a thought in my mind.What if metro ford had just repaired of the car and passed it on to you.I mean how many of us inspect our cars after giving it to the service station.Time delays can easily be covered up by the service station.

Another point is that Planet ford[pune] forces you to sign a contract that they would not be responsible for any damage caused to the car during its time at the service station.Is this the case with all dealers.

I always choose to get the lancer serviced on sat or sun when I'm free..One day in 3-4 months is worth enough to spend on someone who loves you the same..! The only Time I ever left her alone was when the small accidental work was being done, but even then i used to go at least twice a day and check whats happening..!

Hi Guys,

The case was postponed to 24th of Aug, thats tomorrow. The court had asked us for some statement which we submitted. I think the arguments might start tomorrow hopefully.
On the previous court hearing, Metro Ford's lawyer approached my lawyer asking for an out-of-court settlement. Our lawyer stated what we wanted(for the millionth time) and after that haven't heard from them as usual.

Suhas,

Really sorry to hear what has happend with you. Needless to say you deserve to win this case.

My best wishes are with you.

The eternal cynic in me would like to ask couple of questions.

What is the arrangement with your lawyer? Is it a fixed fee or a per appearance and expense model? The adjournements are stressful.

Would you consider giving up your claim for a new car (you still lose money)? Instead ask for compensation equal to reduced vaue of the car for structural damage. I don't know what it should be but can always do the math.

Just asking.

That's an interesting angle rover, Shivasuma you better negotiate with your lawyer on % basis, which will give him enough motivation not to agree for adjournments very easily

Hi Rover,

The fees is a fixed one, but I have promised him a larger percentage of the compensation if he can win the case in a fixed period. More the compensation the more he gets.
Initially I did think about accepting the repaired car( before filing the case) along with some compensation. But certain things made me think twice.

One, I know an inside person in Metro and he specifically asked me not to take the repaired car since the accident was pretty severe.
Two, I don't trust those Metro Ford guys after they tried to pass this accident as a "minor" one. Also not sure whether they will bring the car back to the same condition it was in. Also whats the guarantee that they will put in new parts (they tried to con me earlier).

Three, after filing the case, we did have a discussion wherein I was told by the service manager that the value of the accident car was Rs.7 lakhs and after repair it would appreciate by Rs20,000 only , i.e, the car value would be 7.2 lakhs. So I asked him to sell the car without repairing and return my money along with some compensation( this would have saved Metro Ford a lot of money, if what he said was true). But he declined and started giving me excuses for not wanting to sell the car. So after this I lost whatever little trust I had in Metro Ford. In short, they were basically trying to save their a****s, even if it meant the customer getting screwed.

I know it might take a while for the case to be resolved, but I am willing to wait. Somebody had to stand up against these fools and fortunately or unfortunately, it had to be me.

Suhas

hey babe on wheels nothing against you but all ford dealers aint the same....
if u own a ford internationally you would know....

sorry suhas,

but i think you'd agree with me on this....rl:

cheers psycholyn

hi....

Shivasuma...


I’m really sorry on what happened to your car dude...


its a really tragedy...


I ain’t gonna say that u got to forget it...but this is a once in way sort of issue that things like these don’t happen everyday…


But s*** happens..:Frustrati ....


no matter how much we wnat to go back and try to make sure it does'nt happen we can't....


anyway I hope everything works out for the best…


and all of our prayers at team-bhp are with you during your ordeal...


But after your whole encounter with metro ford please note that not all ford dealers are like that. I own a Ford Focus 2006; it’s a top of the line hatchback vehicle. I bought the car in Jan 2006 from Al Tayer Motors Dubai, For most of you that ain’t from here they are the local sponsors for Ford out here in Dubai, 4 days after its official launch in the market out here. And overtime I’ve really grown to love the car more and the dealers even more.


As the saying goes it’s the little things that matter, imagine during summers they sms on your cell phones telling u to check air pressure due to the heat. They call u when your service dates are pulling closer.


As well as mostly everyone said that most agencies or car dealers ask u to sign a waiver saying they are not responsible for any damages occurred in service that’s absolute nonsense, out here they check your vehicles assess and mark down on a smaller size of a blueprint of your showing details about where your car may have any starches or dents. They are however ask you to sign a waiver that other than this there were no other marks of damages of any sort,and upon delivery of the vehicle if there are that they will be responsible for it.


Any ways
take care people i got to get back to work..
Cheers

pSychoLyn rl:

Very sorry to hear this story, All the best Mr. Suhas.

I have prepared to file a case against MUL for selling me faulty swift and making me visit dealership mor ethan 5 times and still problem not solved and MUL bangalore regional manager Mr. Shaaji and Mr. Singh started lying too much with me, but I am waiting to file a case against them since I know in India its hard to get verdict in short time and I prefer loosing money of 60K by selling my swift instead of fighting against MUL and dealership since visiting court and lawyer stuff doesnot work out as far as time calculation for busy guys, But I am going to attack MUL in other way, In all most all software companies and other leading organizations I am going to post my swift's story, already I received hundreds of calls from all over india when I published about siwft story in many websites. This is another way to fight against car company/dealer. I am soon planning to launch a group of customers who got cheated from different car companies.

Ravi.

Hey pSychoLyn,

I agree. You cannot generalize based on one dealer's pathetic service. Like I mentioned earlier the service manager told me that such incidents had happened and he was able to resolve it( I guess he convinced them to take the repaired cars). What it says about Metro Ford is that they have not learnt from their previous experience. Since my office is very close to Metro Ford, I still see the service guys drive rashly.

Anyways got an update just now. The service manager who was handling the case is no longer working at Metro Ford.

Good day to all and hopefully to me!

Suhas

Hey Lamborghini,
Thats a good idea but don't know if the court will accept that as evidence or proof, nevertheless a good idea.
About the case, unfortunately the honorable judge didnt turn up due to a "personal reason" and the case postponed to 28th Aug( usually its postponed by 2 weeks, but luckily this time they didn't). Will update after the hearing.

Update,

Yesterday, I filed an affidavit for the total loss incurred due to this incident(Total car price + cost of travel for everyday since the incident + compensation and other charges). Metro Ford had to file their version(defense), but as usual they asked for time. I asked requested the Judge not to grant them more time as they were trying to delay the proceedings. The judge gave them time, next hearing is on 14th Sep. They are also going to "mark" the documents on that day. I guess the next would be the final round of arguments and hopefully the verdict will be out soon.

Suhas