[Sheel]

Our Skoda Yeti Elegance 4X4 was purchased from Jia Auto's upscale sales outlet at Uttaroyan, Siliguri on 5/11/'12.

Around 6 months later, Jia Auto decided to close down their sales operation and earlier this year, even the authorized service center has been closed.

When contacted, there was no satisfactory reply, either from dealer level or from company level. There were a lot of e-mails exchanged and at the end, Mr. Pradip from Jia Auto, Calcutta agreed to send trained mechanics with necessary consumables and spares every 15 days or in 3 weeks, depending on backlog. He also said, that they were in process to tie up with an independent garage and that service issues should be taken care of.

But as expected, nothing happened. During its almost 2 year sales operation at Siliguri, they sold quite a lot of cars, all those are without any service support from Skoda. Is this ethical on their part?

Lets get a bit deeper into this. Earlier as well, I had not been hearing very good things about Jia Auto, a fellow enthusiast's Octavia vRS and Fabia was not treated well either at their Calcutta service center. Jia Auto is the one and only franchisee which has opened dealerships and or service centers in West Bengal. Have heard, has plans for Assam as well. Explains the nexus to some extent...? In my opinion, Jia Auto is the one calling the shots in its relationship with Skoda and Skoda can't seem to overcome this. Why Skoda? You are losing customer's trust and in the long run, this is going to cost you.

I think I came across an advertorial seeking partners for Skoda dealership in Calcutta around 3-4 months back. Any update on this?

And now, no one is ready to buy a Skoda, either new or pre-owned. You may get an immaculate Fabia for 1.25L to 1.5L and came across the 1st lot Yeti Elegance (multi-spoke) for 6L.

You think the people in this region who took faith in Skoda, bought one, would ever touch a Skoda, ever? Or recommend a purchase to anyone?

Where do we go from here?

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Indian Car Dealerships. Thanks for sharing!

[.anshuman]

Dealerships are Achilles Heel for Skoda. It is impossible to reform some of the old fat dealers, most of them have grown their network having a sort of monopoly in the region examples Jai Auto(Giriraj) in NCR, Krishna in Chandigarh and Punjab. They have made fortune out of customer's miseries.

My own car went for a radiator change yesterday at Giriraj Auto Gurgaon. Forget about professionalism. The Service staff aren't trained to interact with customers politely, the service staff cannot even dress properly, most of them are hired from local villages as the owners are locals and don't give a damn. While the radiator costed 12k, they charged another 10k for coolant and fitting. Earlier they wanted to charge me 20k for consumables and Labour for compressor under warranty. Sadly Volvo Gurgaon dealership is run by same group.

Every month when i check sales thread, i do not feel sorry for Skoda. They do have brilliant cars- Superb, Yeti, Octavia.. even for the premium imported made in Germany spares with Audi logos i am OK to pay premium for it but i feel uncomfortable paying them this kind of labour charges of dealerships.

Even in Haryana, service support for Skoda is zero, a dealer in Hisar shut down their operations few months back. Spares availability anyways was poor, nothing except fliters and lubes was stocked. With this kind low sales figures, it is difficult for dealers to make money sticking to ethical conduct.

[vb-saan]

They're feeding themselves with slow poison by closing down so many dealerships. I remember another member mentioning that the dealership in Meerut is closed, and he has to travel far to get his Superb serviced. I used to get emails on sales promotions from Skoda Thrissur (Kerala) dealership, and it stopped for the past few months. Checked on Skoda India website and noticed that the dealership is off the list. Dropped an email to check and got a response from Skoda Kozhikode, the same group who used to operate the Thrissur dealership.

[Sheel]

Quoting dkaile as well, so that he can share his experience

Originally Posted by dkaile

...

Originally Posted by vb-san

I remember another member mentioning that the dealership in Meerut is closed, and he has to travel far to get his Superb serviced. I used to get emails on sales promotions from Skoda Thrissur (Kerala) dealership, and it stopped for the past few months. Checked on Skoda India website and noticed that the dealership is off the list.

That makes it 3 dealerships. One in North, one in East & one in South. So, what is Skoda smoking?

Mr. Rao in his various interviews have stated on more customer oriented programs. I am sure, he did not mean this.

EDIT: I did e-mail Skoda about this on November 20 and they are yet to revert. Have they outsourced their Customer Care to No Man's Land?
This, certainly is not funny.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

my experience with Skoda confirms my belief that given decent interaction, all dealerships of all manufacturers are capable of giving you good service.

The Skoda Yeti's AC compressor was acting funny. When we spoke to the dealer* dealership insisted on bringing the car twice.

• Once for checking on the AC Compressor and to see what error code it throws and to order it.
• And once when the AC compressor arrives, to fit it.|

Involved Mr. Srinivas Sudhir, who oversees after sales operations pan India.

He confirmed me over e-mail that my Yeti's VIN falls under FSA [field service action] for the AC Compressor.

Despite a dozen e-mails, phone calls & a couple of SMS's my issue stayed unresolved. My brother [who owns the Yeti] frustratingly drove it over to Patna. Some valves were changed but the compressor unit was not changed. Compressor not changed despite being in FSA, despite escalation to the top most gent in India who oversees sales.

What would you call that?

* Singh Skoda, Patna

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Sheel

What would you call that?

It doesn't change my experience in any way does it? What am I expected to do, now that you've dragged my quote from another thread into this one?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

It doesn't change my experience in any way does it? What am I expected to do, now that you've dragged my quote from another thread into this one?

Not aware of any discussions/arguments between @sheel and you so don't want to make any assumptions. My apologies if this post seems offending.

But I'd probably say - maybe give a realistic picture when people ask for advice on buying a Skoda.

On a similar note, my VW ownership of 3+ years of experience has been nothing short of fantastic; all thanks to BU Bhandari dealer (Pune) and the good product Vento Tdi. However I always give the disclaimer to everyone regarding VW and Skoda about the high potential risk (of bad dealers) you will take up when you go the European way.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Not aware of any discussions/arguments between @sheel and you so don't want to make any assumptions. My apologies if this post seems offending.

None taken. There were no discussions that I am aware of, hence as surprised to see a part of my post from another thread being quoted here.

My advice has been realistic - the vehicles are very good, but you need to 'manage' the dealerships to remain happy. The quote has been taken completely out of the context it has been discussed in, hence the confusion.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

My advice has been realistic - the vehicles are very good, but you need to 'manage' the dealerships to remain happy. The quote has been taken completely out of the context it has been discussed in, hence the confusion.

It is the same company, I never ever had issues with any other ASC's, be it 2 wheels or 4. Here, despite the top management knowing everything, and my vehicle being in FSA, the AC compressor was not changed.

Quoted you, because I was as polite or as eager to provide details or bring my vehicle as I always was, with other manufacturers. Despite that, my vehicle's genuine concern was not looked into.

If a company is hell bent on making quick money or not interested in customer service, any good behavior or being a saint doesn't work with them.

You narrated your experience and I narrated mine which is completely against what you experienced. If my quote perturbed you, apologies.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Sheel

It is the same company, I never ever had issues with any other ASC's, be it 2 wheels or 4. Here, despite the top management knowing everything, and my vehicle being in FSA, the AC compressor was not changed.

I have a feeling they have a shortage of compressors for replacement. But we shouldn't have to sit and speculate on their intentions or constraints in this manner.

[pramods]

Not every Yeti AC compressor are changed, the service bulletin is check either AC compressor or valve what need to be changed. @Sheel I believe your Yeti might just need the valve change, please see if the AC is working ok, if not they report back and compressor will be changed.

-Pramod

[Sheel]

Been hearing that Patna's dealership is about to be closed as well

Where to go now? One can't go to Calcutta or Jamshedpur everytime, both being around 500 kilometers from where I stay and about 700 kilometers from Siliguri where Skoda sold us the car.

[Turbanator]

Where to go now?

Look for a blue oval logo nearby , I am sure endeavour will be far more capable vehicle for you and your brother , get rid of this somewhere probably

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Look for a blue oval logo nearby , I am sure endeavour will be far more capable vehicle for you and your brother , get rid of this somewhere probably

Blue oval has been booked, the 3.2 Titanium in white will be loaded from factory in a day or two and will be delivered in April, best part is, they have opened a spanking new dealership within 7 kilometers from home.

But...with out service support, who will buy this?