[sidkeenlearner]

MY EXPERIENCE WITH DISHONEST SKODA DEALER.

Does the title surprise you? I am afraid not. Well, after reading about the numerous incidents of fellow BHPian’s with Skoda, I gathered much courage to go ahead with the brand as I was completely sold over the Rapid.
Please note the car was to be bought by my uncle and I was helping with the purchase.

Now, let’s begin - The hunt for a new car was gaining pace as our old car Maruti Esteem was proving to be heavy on the pocket with its maintenance expenses. My uncle from the very beginning was interested in Skoda Rapid as he found the car to be the best in that segment as per his needs. Now as soon as he told me about his interest in purchasing a Skoda I replied – DON’T BUY IT! He said why? I told him the car is great without doubt but you can only pray to God for a good after sales experience. He accepted my concern but still insisted on sticking with the brand as he loved the Skoda Rapid.

So, now the turn to visit dealerships came and we went to the nearest one to our home – THE JAI AUTO located in Bhikaji Cama Place. As with the discounts on previous year models we had made up our mind to go with the previous year model. We wanted the top of the line Elegance as it was the only model which came with 2 Air Bags. I would like to thank T-BHP - As before safety was never really a concern for us. But the BHP community made me aware and we decided not to skip any of the safety features. We wanted the white colour and asked if the same was available. He said YES and after test driving the car and negotiating for discounts we agreed and paid for the booking. 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.


GET READY FOR THE FIRST SHOCK - We got a call in the morning only for us to know that Elegance in white colour is not available and the car that was in the stockyard which the dealer assumed to be the top model was actually the Ambition + model. It was somewhat disappointing as initially it had been confirmed to us that the white colour was available but this incident was not a deal breaker. So we enquired about other colours and we got option of silver and black. Considering the maintenance effort required with black we decided to go for silver. For this we got additional Rs 5,000 discount as we insisted for compensation for the mistake made by him. Everything went ok and the dealer made a commitment to deliver the car next day. Took the VIN number of the car and we all came home happily.

JAI AUTO IS A FRAUD - We got home and I thought let’s check out the VIN.

I WAS DUMBSTRUCK!! On decoding the VIN I found out the car was manufactured in OCTOBER 2012. Shocked at the result for a moment I was not able to believe my eyes so therefore I rang up the dealer to confirm the VIN again. Confirmed it twice over the phone and the VIN indeed turned out to be of the car manufactured in OCTOBER 2012. I rang up my uncle and told him about the same. He too felt very disappointed and told me to wait for today as he wanted me to confirm the VIN for the final time by looking at the VIN sticker on the car. But the joy of owning a brand new car was already over and trust in the brand took a deep hit. Please note the booking amount had already been made and the invoice was made on 2013 manufactured car. Just goes to show how these people can lie on your face.

THE DAY OF SHAME AND NOT EVEN A SORRY BY THE SALES TEAM AT JAI AUTO

So at about 3:30 today we went to the dealership to check out the car as my uncle had still not seen the car in person. We decided not to make any noise about the FRAUD these people were trying to commit before I could confirm the VIN number from the sticker on the car itself. Entered the room where they had kept the car and I straight away looked at the windshield and realized the WORST FEARS had come TRUE. Indeed the car was manufactured in OCTOBER 2012. I conveyed it to my uncle standing next to me and then he told the sales guy that the vehicle is manufactured in 2012. His first response was – No Sir, it is manufactured in 2013. I laughed and told him to decode the VIN for me. At this he said he will confirm from his senior if it is indeed a 2012 manufactured car. I mean what? You made the booking for 2103 model and now you are telling me you are unsure? At this point we realized the entire team was taking us for a ride. I actually loved the look on this guy’s face he was shocked and did not even look me in the eye while talking.

So furious as we were, we went back from the yard room to the dealership to see what MR PUNEET ANAND had to say. Punnet is the one who looks after all the dealerships of JAI AUTO and he is the biggest culprit in this mess.
When we sat to talk this guy started by saying – Sir, what happened? We are giving you a 2013 model. I said prove it. Having nothing to say in his defence this guy went mad and started to tell VIN is not how manufacturing date is determined and told us everything from insurance to invoice would be done on 2013 model. This is exactly what he said and one wonders what kind of dealers these people are as they can even take the insurance company for a ride and give incorrect details.
Mr Punnet all of a sudden was ready to offer us a 2013 manufactured car but not once did he accept his mistake and no one from the sales team said Sorry. And moreover when my uncle started to write the letter of cancellation I asked Puneet – How can you prove the car is manufactured in 2013 and not 2012? Look at this guy’s reply – Why should I bother to tell you that when you are not buying the car? And this guy did not have any guilt and not ready to accept that he was wrong. Gave the cancellation letter and walked out of the showroom realizing the disaster from which we had been saved. All is well if it ends well.

Skoda your cars are great but the people who manage your brand are insensitive and incompetent. If you ask me I would say what happened with me is Daylight robbery.

At the end its all thanks to the whole BHP community for making the average Indian car buyer like me that much more aware and thanks for saving me and my uncle from buying the wrong car. Without the effort of Moderators and members I might have gone for the car.

Please find below the address of the dealership

JAI AUTO
No 1 - 5 Office No 18 / 19 Lower Ground Floor, Bhikaji Cama Place, South Delhi, New Delhi

[sabsubs]

One more horror story on Skoda. When I was reading I felt happy about how team-bhp has spread awareness about cars pre delivery checklist which saved you from buying a lemon. You have been saved.

[sidkeenlearner]

^ So true if not for TEAM BHP i would have accepted the delivery of the car. The article written on Decoding of VIN numbers came to my rescue. Indeed i would have got a lemon if i didn't pay attention to these details. At the end of the day i am happy as everything turned out to be good.

[satyamkaushik]

Kudos to Team-Bhp for spreading the awareness.
I remember Doing all the checks thoroughly before before taking delivery of the car just to insure that i wasn't been given a lemon.

I distinctly remember the look on the sales executive's face when i took out the long Team-Bhp PDI list. Moreover when i asked him for the VIN no., he was like "Sir aap kya karoge VIN no. Ka".

I wonder how could Brands like Skoda afford to let things keep going this way ignore their corporate social responsibility. Moreover it has damaged the Brand image in a big way here in india. They are losing their existing, as well as potential customers because of this attitude that the dealers have, just like in this case.

Just one more thing that came to my mind, was all this because of the old green logo badge that your uncle wanted ? I mean the dealer might have thought of giving you a 2012 model car projecting it as a 2013 model, just because you wanted that Green logo ?

[sidkeenlearner]

Satyam : Not sure whether all this happened just because of our demand for the green logo but during the heated discussion we were having with Mr Punnet, he did make a reference of the green logo. Not sure about his exact words but it was something like - Sir, Appne he to green logo demand kiya tha and we arranged for it.

But this should not even be the reason for this mess as we never said we had to get the green logo or else we would cancel the booking. At the time of booking, we told the salesperson that we wouldn't be so bothered if the green logo is not available. In any which way you look at it you this was completely unfair and malicious on the part of the dealer.

[phamilyman]

I would suggest that you share the VIN in the interest of full disclosure and proof. Would be great if you have the pics (incl copy of cancellation letter, along with dates) to back things up - it ensures no one can ask any questions about such threads later.

That said, what the hell were they thinking- they basically try their luck I guess. They will keep trying banking on the fact that the average user will not know better, and would neither have access to team-bhp like forums for help. Big mistake!

[F150]

This can happen with any dealer or any brand if the customer is not careful.
Of late, there have been several SKODA bashing threads, so if you have any proof for the above said incident, please share it with us.

TBHP has always been there for the car buyers/owners, this incident proves it yet again !

[satyamkaushik]

Originally Posted by sidkeenlearner

Satyam : Not sure whether all this happened just because of our demand for the green logo but during the heated discussion we were having with Mr Punnet, he did make a reference of the green logo. Not sure about his exact words but it was something like - Sir, Appne he to green logo demand kiya tha and we arranged for it.

But this should not even be the reason for this mess as we never said we had to get the green logo or else we would cancel the booking. At the time of booking, we told the salesperson that we wouldn't be so bothered if the green logo is not available. In any which way you look at it you this was completely unfair and malicious on the part of the dealer.

This is definitely unfair & malicious on the part of the Dealer even if the Green Logo was a criteria.
They could have told you the exact scenario, that they didn't have a 2013 model with a Green logo and the one they have is a 2012 model.

However as mentioned by others, it would great if you could share the details of the deal, like the VIN no., copy of the booking/cancellation, any written communication etc. This would not only help proving the case legitimate, but would even help other prospective buyers.

(We have had a fake thread started by a member in the past, just to defame Skoda & the dealership.)

[lurker]

Basically it's the fault of the car manufacturer i.e. Skoda that they do not hold their clearly fraudulent dealers to task. Maruti would have cancelled the dealership, and here the GM or Manager of the dealership has the guts to lie at your face since he is secure in the knowledge that there is going to be no consequences from Skoda. Skoda & VW seem to be genetically corrupted as far as their Indian operations are concerned. Outside INdia, they may be different, but at same time may not be too different.

[Sommos]

So Skoda does it yet again
and thanks to the forum for saving people from possible agony.

I personally think this attitude of the sales team can be found in several dealership across brands. If the buyer is not fully aware of what he is paying for, then more-often-than-not the SA will take him for a ride. All this is possible only because of the poor consumer protection system in this country.

[KiloAlpha]

My friends, this is a free market. And in a free market, both buyer and seller are free to participate, not participate, and if they participate, they are free to negotiate the price as per their wishes.

What really makes the free market not so nice is information assymetry. This is when either the buyer or the seller knows more about the product than the other party. In case of cars, the dice are loaded in favour of the seller - the dealers always know more than the customers.

I am really glad this sale did not go through. It goes to highlight the role of forums like Team-BHP in redressing information assymetry and ensuring that the market is both free and fair.

[atlantis0965]

hi !

Yes the practice of the dealership was definitely unfair !

Just on a different note. Are the customers too not encouraging the practices of buying earlier year models at discounts and registering them in the next year and reaping whatever little benefits out of it ?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by F150

This can happen with any dealer or any brand if the customer is not careful.
Of late, there have been several SKODA bashing threads, so if you have any proof for the above said incident, please share it with us.

I agree with you here

Originally Posted by atlantis0965

Are the customers too not encouraging the practices of buying earlier year models at discounts and registering them in the next year and reaping whatever little benefits out of it ?

But in such cases the car is shown as a October, 2012 manufactured car and NOT a 2013 one cheating the customer. Any un-suspecting customer would have happily bought and Skoda would have been rejoicing as the older stock was skimmed off from their inventory list.

Fault here stands ONLY of the dealer as he has hid information ad resorted to cheating.

[sidkeenlearner]

Mod Note : Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD!.

To know how to multi-quote, click here.

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

Originally Posted by atlantis0965

hi !

Yes the practice of the dealership was definitely unfair !

Just on a different note. Are the customers too not encouraging the practices of buying earlier year models at discounts and registering them in the next year and reaping whatever little benefits out of it ?

No I don’t think so, rather for me it’s the other way around. Getting the best deal is the right of every customer and one can only get such lucrative deals on previous year models. But the case here is, this model was not even manufactured in 2013, to be precise it was more than a year old model they were trying to get rid off and that without even letting me know!! It’s the best example of unethical business dealing.

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by satyamkaushik

Kudos to Team-Bhp for spreading the awareness. I distinctly remember the look on the sales executive's face when i took out the long Team-Bhp PDI list. Moreover when i asked him for the VIN no., he was like "Sir aap kya karoge VIN no. Ka".

I wonder how could Brands like Skoda afford to let things keep going this way ignore their corporate social responsibility. Moreover it has damaged the Brand image in a big way here in india. They are losing their existing, as well as potential customers because of this attitude that the dealers have, just like in this case.

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