[docswarna26]

Came to know the matter when the brake lining snapped from the brake shoe in the rear drum brake of my friend's Punto Sports.

The incident happened 15 days before. On calling, Garodia Fiat (the sole dealer in Kolkata) they said, that they don't have the brake shoe in stock at present but have notified Fiat about it but are yet to receive the parts. They refused to take the car as they were not sure when they would be able to provide the parts. On researching we found out that they have been refusing cars for last 1 month.

Called FIAT Customer Service, they revealed that they have been receiving several complaints about Garodia Fiat and as a result have decided to cancel their dealership and open a new one. A new Fiat Service is likely to open in September.

We decided to visit the Garodia Service, all the personnel were present but they informed that they have not been able to service anyone, not even oil servicing of new cars that have been bought 1 month before,as there was shortage of supply from FIAT. This is so unbelievable !!

We informed them about what we heard from FIAT Customer Care, but they refused knowledge of any such developments !! Garodia shop on VIP road though is open.

How can a company allow a service station to stop taking a car ?? There are so many FIAT vehicles on road here but not a single service station in Bengal !! They are in the process of rebuilding their image and this is how they do it ?? Once again they have proved how unreliable they are, in spite of making good cars.

This is pathetic because for a work which would have taken hardly half an hour the car has to stay in garage because there is no one to service it!! And it is even more pathetic since the punto is his only car.

Guys is there any news on the new workshop or a dealer and where is it coming up?? Please share

[Altocumulus]

Get the car done from outside. Alok automobiles works on a lot of Fiat cars including that of Tbhp members. They use Fiat parts, or you get them the parts and they fix it for you. Very reasonable pricing.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Get the car done from outside. Alok automobiles works on a lot of Fiat cars including that of Tbhp members. They use Fiat parts, or you get them the parts and they fix it for you. Very reasonable pricing.

If his car is under warranty, taking to a unauthorised shop will not help.

In this case he needs to write to Fiat India on their suggestion. If the solution does not work, he needs to take it to the consumer court.

Infact, even I hadn't heard too good reviews about Garodia and I think there must be a strong reason for Fiat to have taken the step.

Any workshop can actually be asked to stop providing service under the company banner if they fail to meet certain conditions. In doing so, the company is actually looking into safeguarding their customers interest. So write to Fiat India and see what they say.

[Rajeevraj]

My sisters Hondo Brio also was a victim of this scenario. This was in the city of Calicut in Kerala, there was a 1-2 month gap between the closing of the existing Honda dealership/Service Center and the opening of the new one. Unfortunately we had an issue of rats chewing through wires around this time. The existing dealership said they cannot take it since it was closing down and the new one opened 2 months later. During the period the car was stuck at home. Even after the new one opened, there was a delay in getting the needed parts.

Escalating to Honda had no effect.

[docswarna26]

Originally Posted by 1100D

If his car is under warranty, taking to a unauthorised shop will not help.

In this case he needs to write to Fiat India on their suggestion. If the solution does not work, he needs to take it to the consumer court.

Infact, even I hadn't heard too good reviews about Garodia and I think there must be a strong reason for Fiat to have taken the step.

Any workshop can actually be asked to stop providing service under the company banner if they fail to meet certain conditions. In doing so, the company is actually looking into safeguarding their customers interest. So write to Fiat India and see what they say.

He did mail to the company twice and has called up their customer care umpteenth number of times but nobody seem to be committing to a particular date or a place where its going to open.

They only say it will come up shortly and this sort of answers in Indian context bodes very ill.

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Get the car done from outside. Alok automobiles works on a lot of Fiat cars including that of Tbhp members. They use Fiat parts, or you get them the parts and they fix it for you. Very reasonable pricing.

The car is only 2 years old and under warranty for 2 more years, so getting the brakes done from outside can have warranty issues.

[swiftnfurious]

This is actually wrong from the part of Fiat. They ideally should have deployed someone from Fiat to check why the dealer has so many complaints; parallelly work on setting up another dealership (if they could do their own shop - all the better) and then shut down this once the new one starts operations.

This is the kind of approach needed to build confidence and NOT making the customers suffer in the name of "safeguarding their interests". In addition to it, I hope they are getting at least 2 shops up and running to break the monopoly (because of which the dealer was behaving differently I presume).

Edit:: It would be great if Fiat can set up at least 5 service centres of their own (like Concorde or HMP) for each zones (East, West, South, North & Central) in India where people, if needed, can look upto in case of such disasters; even if they have to drive a lot more. Such a move will also help to instill a lot more confidence on a brand trying for a make over.

[zenren]

Looks like the 2545 crore fine is being justified in a day. These incidents, though relatively rare should be publicized through the media to ensure there is a very strong push to make the parts available to regular workshops.

[arjab]

Nothing surprising.
The appointment of Garodia as an authorised dealer and service centre of FIAT in the first place itself was wrong.

Problem was, FIAT was desperate to have some sort of representation in the East, after their severance from Tata Motors, and none of the Tata-FIAT dealers were willing to invest separately for Fiat. It seems only Garodia had agreed to stump up the cash.

Garodia's past is quite chequered. They were, once upon a time, an affiliated service centre of Tata Motors. From what i know from a friend of mine who worked with TML and was responsible for service operations in the East, Garodia never complied with any of the standard operating procedures and routinely flouted most of the OEM's norms. There were also issues related to poor servicing, invoicing, parts availability etc. Customer satisfaction also hit a nadir.
Matters came to such a state that TML was forced to jettison Garodia and terminated the service agreement.

Hope Fiat makes a better choice this time around.

In the meantime Alok Auto can service Fiat's in Kolkata. Also you can try Wheel Works run by Mitil Chakravarty - its located off the 2nd Hooghly Bridge towards Kona side. Parts are available online at 99rpm.com or try Royal Motors , which is located just before the Kolkata Audi Showroom on AJC Bose Road.

[Carpainter]

This is a really bad news for Fiat car owners. This is the disadvantage of having just one service center in a city. When the company wants to take steps to make good of their reputation by changing dearlership for the benefit of the customers, they are actually losing the faith of the customers by being unable to give them required service.

I hope this issue is temporary and Fiat will find a better dealer soon.

[riturajsharma19]

There isn't a service center in the entire state of Assam as well. A big thumbs down to Fiat for putting customers in this kind of predicament. That day doesn't seem far away when it decides to pack its bags and flee the country again.

[a4anurag]

What Fiat has done here is both Good and Bad but the Bad gets more highlighted and I must say, Not Done Fiat!

The Good:

They were listening to customers and their negative feedbac towards the dealer / ASC hence decided to close it down for the good and to save their brand value from diminishing further.

The Bad:

Couldn't Fiat wait till a new dealer / ASC is opened and operational so that the customers can be diverted. What if a customers has a major problem and needs repairs Where does he go? Who'll help them and moreover what about the regular servicing activities that are done daily?

Who accounts for the delay in servicing due to NO ASC? (servicing done by time / kms covered, whichever is earlier).

By this closing down Fiat has created a pit for itself.

Anurag.

[adimicra]

It's exactly for reasons like this that Fiat India is in shambles.
Any person reading this would think a hundred times before buying a FIAT.
Simply unacceptable from Fiat.

I don't see any huge push from FIAT management either. I don't think they are really serious about their car business in India. I think they might be packing their bags soon.

[Ohh!Oxygen]

Are they still selling cars in Assam and Bengal? I mean does Fiat have authorized sells dealers in these two places?
In past I have been professionally involved with authorized two wheeler and four wheeler service centers. Vehicle manufacturers put in very strict guidelines like what should be size of customer lounge to what should be the tile colour. Its very rare that service centers follow the ditto standard operating procedures.

From another perspective, it does not make sense for the dealers to put in upfront investment if volume is not there. Sometimes the company pays the dealer money to set up a service center and overlooks some short comings.
This tu tu mein mein continues for ever.

However closing the only service center in a metro city is never heard of.

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by docswarna26

The car is only 2 years old and under warranty for 2 more years, so getting the brakes done from outside can have warranty issues.

Its a brake shoe that you need to change that too in a 2 year old car. Who will know that you changed it and hamper your warranty. Anyways it won't be covered under warranty because its a wear and tear part. Get it done from outside and start using the car. Just my opinion.

[docswarna26]

Originally Posted by arjab

Nothing surprising.
The appointment of Garodia as an authorised dealer and service centre of FIAT in the first place itself was wrong.

Problem was, FIAT was desperate to have some sort of representation in the East, after their severance from Tata Motors, and none of the Tata-FIAT dealers were willing to invest separately for Fiat. It seems only Garodia had agreed to stump up the cash.

Garodia's past is quite chequered. They were, once upon a time, an affiliated service centre of Tata Motors. From what i know from a friend of mine who worked with TML and was responsible for service operations in the East, Garodia never complied with any of the standard operating procedures and routinely flouted most of the OEM's norms. There were also issues related to poor servicing, invoicing, parts availability etc. Customer satisfaction also hit a nadir.
Matters came to such a state that TML was forced to jettison Garodia and terminated the service agreement.

Hope Fiat makes a better choice this time around.

In the meantime Alok Auto can service Fiat's in Kolkata. Also you can try Wheel Works run by Mitil Chakravarty - its located off the 2nd Hooghly Bridge towards Kona side. Parts are available online at 99rpm.com or try Royal Motors , which is located just before the Kolkata Audi Showroom on AJC Bose Road.

From what we felt during our conversation with Garodia After Sales Person is that they are deliberately not doing any service after they have come to know of Fiat's intention of setting up a separate service station, on a hartal kind of thing. My guess is that they haven't even ordered the parts which are out of stock. If you go their, the gates are open, but they will discourage you from dropping your car by every means.

If Fiat would have cut off its ties completely then they would have closed their gates and discontinue using the Fiat banner and if they would not been doing a hartal kind of thing, they would have atleast done oil servicing. The recommended grades are easily available in the market. I'm just speculating but it seems Garodia is the culprit, but then the otherwise is also possible.