[rdhawan15]

In a way, Sid was lucky that he was aware of Team-BHP and the process to decode the VIN. But, general public is not aware of the VIN and the process to decode it. This means that the dealer would have easily disposed off a 2012 manufactured model to an unsuspecting and unaware customer.

Can Skoda or any manufacturer do anything about this? This is largely a dealer malpractice and something that a manufacturer won't be able to track, unless they are maintaining a centralized repository of all vehicles being sold. So, each sale transaction with the associated VIN gets recorded with the manufacturer.

Good for Sid, but am sure that such things are common with other manufacturers as well.

Now that the proof of booking (and the VIN offered) is out in the open, the next course of action lies with the Dealership to rein in the manager and for Skoda to have a talk with the concerned dealership.

[SaurabhSaran]

Another shocking story but the better side is that the fellow member saved one customers from being cheated. No doubt that SKODA build good cars but don't know why even after so many cases reported company is not taking steps to rebuild its image as good as their cars.

-
SS

[sidkeenlearner]

Originally Posted by rdhawan15

In a way, Sid was lucky that he was aware of Team-BHP and the process to decode the VIN. But, general public is not aware of the VIN and the process to decode it. This means that the dealer would have easily disposed off a 2012 manufactured model to an unsuspecting and unaware customer.

Can Skoda or any manufacturer do anything about this? This is largely a dealer malpractice and something that a manufacturer won't be able to track, unless they are maintaining a centralized repository of all vehicles being sold. So, each sale transaction with the associated VIN gets recorded with the manufacturer.

Good for Sid, but am sure that such things are common with other manufacturers as well.

Now that the proof of booking (and the VIN offered) is out in the open, the next course of action lies with the Dealership to rein in the manager and for Skoda to have a talk with the concerned dealership.

Hi Dhawan Ji,

That exactly what one wonders. My uncle was so happy that he involved me in the whole process and conveyed to me that without my effort he would have bought the car. One is bound to think if the dealer tried similar practice before or not. Most astonishing is the fact that how these people lie on your face. Nobody can make out if they are lying or not.

With this thread i hope i can make prospect Skoda owners aware about this particular dealership.

And Thank you for expressing your views.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by sidkeenlearner

Most astonishing is the fact that how these people lie on your face. Nobody can make out if they are lying or not.

I don't know about the other dealers but Skoda is trained their staff to lie openly with courage and bold attitude so no one can catch it.

I fail to understand what that company (Skoda) wants to do and how it looks at the market share for the future!

Anurag.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by rdhawan15

Can Skoda or any manufacturer do anything about this? This is largely a dealer malpractice and something that a manufacturer won't be able to track, unless they are maintaining a centralized repository of all vehicles being sold. So, each sale transaction with the associated VIN gets recorded with the manufacturer.

Actually Skoda cannot do much in this case, not that they do much in any case!
The thing is right now the industry is a slump and almost all dealers are bound to have stock of unsold cars going back into last year or rarely even 2012 models depending upon that particular brand and model's success in the market. Now the parent company cannot forbid its dealers to sell these off even after they have been lying in the yard for a couple of years. Infact sometimes the dealers only get a shipment of cars that according to the VIN decoding were made quite a time back but were lying in the yard at the plant and for some reason the company dispatched them late. Regardless to say the dealer would sell these off. The right thing to do is to tell the customer that this is the date of assembly and hence throw in some discount and probably extended warranty. But out of greed and the general lack of knowledge on part of 99% of the customers, the dealers have started resorting to this practice.

[satyamkaushik]

Originally Posted by sidkeenlearner

Thank you everyone for chipping in with your useful comments.

As suggested to me by fellow BHPian's, I am attaching the copy of booking invoice to ensure the legitimacy of the thread. Also find below the VIN as given to me by the dealer.

VIN : TMBBLKNA6CG032324

Thanks Sid for sharing the VIN no. & the booking slip.
I'd suggest the Mods to put a Sticky of this VIN no. either on the first post or in the title. This would help other prospect buyers to know about this particular car.

Originally Posted by ad3952n

Hi mate, Team Bhp has been instrumental in preventing and protecting common people from falling in the SKODA trap. Apart from 1 specific incident; in general SKODA has been in the firing line of the Indian users.

In my opinion SKODA OEM has now become weak with regards to keeping a check on the dealings done by their sales network. In the present case which is being discussed here I believe our fellow bhpian took the right step by cancelling the booking and bringing this matter to light. I had almost fallen into the SKODA trap because of their agency here in NOIDA by the name of NAWAB motors in July 2013. I was promised the Champagne Beige color by the Sales Advisor Praveen for the SKODA Rapid but when I went there with my father to discuss the deal I was informed by a person from the OEM Plant in Aurangabad that the color is not in production since its not a fast moving color. When I asked about this person Praveen; I was told that he has left the job in the morning. I was shocked and simply came back home. I thought to take a second opinion from our forum and after reading the views I called off the deal and did not entertain any talks with the above agency.

Here is the proof that what I mentioned above is not false.

Thanks

AD

Hi AD,
It definitely seems a practice that Skoda follows to generate numbers. I guess the only thing they are told in their sales training is "Kuch bhi karo, Kaise bhi karo, Bas sales generate karo."
This is partially a result of not recruiting the right people for the jobs and a poor Internal Control System. The overall environment as such, specially of the sales department that i have seen is in a pretty messed up situation. The genuine ones are not able to cope up & eventually leave. I have known two such people.
The sales executives left, just don't bother about the brand they work for or the car they are selling. They are more concerned about their personal goal & achieving their targets for a good incentive. Which in a way generate sales for the dealership and its a Win-Win situation for both the executive and the dealership and thus the dealership supports the executive in what he is doing. So basically in the end it is the consumer who has to suffer.

IMO its not just the dealer who has to be blamed for all this, both Skoda & the Dealerships are equally responsible for this. I agree that Skoda can't intervene the daily operations of a dealership, but when most of its dealerships are known for such malpractices, It should definitely look into its Internal Control System. Skoda needs to keep a check. It should inspect & conduct audits on a regular basis of its dealerships to maintain the standards.

Thanks to Team-Bhp once again for the knowledge & helping us all stay away from such situations.

--
Satyam Kaushik

[humyum]

Glad you got away from this fraud. The fault lies with the dealership as with the manufacturer aka Skoda. If the daddy had enough whip to keep its kids in control, the kids would never end up cheating and creating a bad name for the manufacturer.

Complain about something similar being done at a Maruti Dealership to a Maruti Headoffice and see how the dealer is brought down to his knees.

Heck many a times posting something on teambhp about a particular dealership experience gets Marutis response.

Skoda has lost the plot in India. You can make Titanium plated and armored cars which make you feel like you are sitting in a tank, but if they don't last long, are expensive to service and top it all are sold and maintained by cheaters, you have dug your own grave.

In spite of continuous negative feedbacks, if people still continue to buy skodas, I feel zero sympathy for them. They had it coming

sidkeenlearner: Please Please, find another car from another manufacturer to keep you happy now and for a long time.

[.anshuman]

Giriraj Auto and Jai Auto are owned and operated by the same people. Search the forum and you will know how ethical they are.

The problem with Skoda is they do not intervene, no matter what the dealer does to your car. This makes the dealers confident to commit all kinds of frauds. Why is it that all the shady stuff happens at Skoda dealerships?

I own a Skoda car for last 3 years. No doubts on the car, amazingly built, very reliable, fast, fun to drive, efficient.... but at each and every visit to service station they try to rob me in one way or the other. The Bill generation system is online but every time they generate an invoice, they try to adjust the overcharging to other manually generated invoice, categorized as something else. The standard excuse at every Skoda service center- "System Down hai".

How on the earth would you justify consumables worth 20,000 Rupees plus taxes for a/c compressor replacement under warranty? Shoot a mail to Skoda India, the same automatically generated template mail arrives, but charges come down to 2-3k for the same job. Or a 10,000 Rupees labour charge for a regular service manually adjusted, "system down sir".

Claiming extended warranty requires hell lot of documents. What if the owner does not have the copy of invoice still with him after close to 4 years of buying the car? The warranty approval process takes weeks, then the parts arrive at a sweet relaxed pace. The dealer sold me Extended warranty but this does not reflect in Skoda's database, where did the money go? Why is it that everytime something shady happens, the start blaming the online system, the server and what not, but the dealer never takes the blame. Then, Skoda supports the Dealers in consumer courts.

[KEN-RAND]

Its not only Skoda that can lie to your face I took Mahindra in Goa to task when the workshop did not change the oil on the first service of my XUV500 awd car as per the service instructions. When asked what was missing from the invoice (oil for PTU and transfer box) answer was Mahindra tell us not to change the oil only at overhaul because it costs 78,000, right get me the manager. I told him I could fly back to UK and buy the oil in UK and return cheaper then 78,000. The manager then tells the service representative to tell the workshop to carry out the work, 595 was the cost of the oil and less than 1/2 hour to carry out the job. ]

Bottom line I was back onto Mahindra and got the dealer another rocket the first being fitting after market parts for Mahindra items on delivary.

I friend here in Goa who was a senior manager for Mahindra said this dealer is new (about 3 years) as the last one was terminated for bad service!!

I wish I could get the a copy of the workshop repair manual I would do the maintenance myself so I would not have to go to such people.

Just returned form Ooty went via Hampi and Mysor direct back to Goa enjoyed the drive very much. Stayed at Mahindra club in Ooty free two days came with the car, good trip.

Ken

[rdhawan15]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

But out of greed and the general lack of knowledge on part of 99% of the customers, the dealers have started resorting to this practice.

You summed it aptly.

But, won't it make sense for Skoda to go on sale for 2012 models with a straight discount of 2 lakhs on Rapid? I am sure many people would be happy to buy it, even if its a 2012 model.

Evidently, Skoda is not transparent and so are its dealers. Sadly, no sustainable business can run without transparent practices. And, this, I must say is another nail in the sulking, sinking brand reputation of Skoda.

[sidkeenlearner]

Originally Posted by humyum

Glad you got away from this fraud. The fault lies with the dealership as with the manufacturer aka Skoda. If the daddy had enough whip to keep its kids in control, the kids would never end up cheating and creating a bad name for the manufacturer.

Yes, one can only thank the knowledge base put up at T-BHP with help from the respective members. You know, people have been saying that any dealer of any brand could do the same thing, however i have come across mostly Skoda related threads related to unethical practices.

I really hope the Skoda gets its act together and start treating the customers fairly. If they play it right, they can hope to do very well in our market but for that they to be ethical.

Originally Posted by rdhawan15

You summed it aptly.

But, won't it make sense for Skoda to go on sale for 2012 models with a straight discount of 2 lakhs on Rapid? I am sure many people would be happy to buy it, even if its a 2012 model.

Evidently, Skoda is not transparent and so are its dealers. Sadly, no sustainable business can run without transparent practices. And, this, I must say is another nail in the sulking, sinking brand reputation of Skoda.

This whole episode could have been avoided if they told us in the very beginning that they have a 2012 model which they would like to sell. I mean why can't you tell us that?

If that had been the case we might as well thought about it twice. But, you keep the customer in dark, you lie on the face and you even sign the booking receipt on a 2013 model!

There is a lesson for every dealer here and winning the trust of the customer should be the focus. I might as well add offering chunky discounts on old models might actually be very lucrative option and people would be very tempted to go for such deals.

Everything goes the other way if you lie from the moment the customer enters your showroom.

[dozer]

Originally Posted by sidkeenlearner

MY EXPERIENCE WITH DISHONEST SKODA DEALER.

Please note my uncle wanted the car with old Skoda logo and so the salesman told us he would confirm in the morning if it’s available or not.

...
I WAS DUMBSTRUCK!! On decoding the VIN I found out the car was manufactured in OCTOBER 2012.

Isn't this evident from these two points? When a company changes its logo it will be for the newer batch of cars. If you ask for an old logo, it's quite likely that the older logo would be present in the older batch of Skoda cars.

[sidkeenlearner]

Originally Posted by dozer

Isn't this evident from these two points? When a company changes its logo it will be for the newer batch of cars. If you ask for an old logo, it's quite likely that the older logo would be present in the older batch of Skoda cars.

But did we ask for a 2012 car? No. So when someone is trying to sell you a car manufactured in a year which you dont want and trying to project it as a 2013 model when its not what would your reaction be? And FYI a Rapid with old skoda logo is available with other dealers manufactured in 2013. The point here is the dealer tried to sell the wrong model and got caught. Your point would be apt when someone asks for a 2012 model.

[dozer]

Originally Posted by sidkeenlearner

But did we ask for a 2012 car? No. So when someone is trying to sell you a car manufactured in a year which you dont want and trying to project it as a 2013 model when its not what would your reaction be? And FYI a Rapid with old skoda logo is available with other dealers manufactured in 2013. The point here is the dealer tried to sell the wrong model and got caught. Your point would be apt when someone asks for a 2012 model.

Fair enough, I wasn't disputing this point. But Skoda being Skoda, I'd go there with Sherlock Holmes before booking a car!

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by dozer

But Skoda being Skoda...

Dear Mate, It's people like us and forums like Team Bhp who know how to set right cunning people like these Skoda Dealers. Since this matter was readily addressed by our fellow bhpian; I assume Skoda will realize that not every customer can fall in their trap and they will have to improvise upon their methodology of selling cars in India.

Secondly, Team Bhp is well known in the Skoda circuit; I am sure they will work up a plan to improve else the dead end awaits them.

Originally Posted by sidkeenlearner

But did we ask for a 2012 car? No. So when someone is trying to sell you a car manufactured in a year which you dont want and trying to project it as a 2013 model when its not what would your reaction be? And FYI a Rapid with old skoda logo is available with other dealers manufactured in 2013.

Dear mate, We as customers are not bound by the protocols of the brands hence we should be least bothered about their inventory. Secondly, not just you; rather any person who is visiting a showroom in 2014 is coming with a mindset of owning a latest year vehicle and not an old vehicle. Lastly, If the dealership knew that the logo of the brand is upgraded why did'nt they muster up the courage to speak to the parent brand about the inventory caused due to this? As I have quoted in another thread that "Dealerships are puppets of parent brand"; this statement makes sense even here.

Thanks

AD