[gkoneti]

Dear Friends

i am owner of a 4 year old Polo 1.2 petrol and touch-wood, the car has been a dream. No issues whatsoever. The good old 80s Hero Honda punch line "Fill it, shut it and forget it" suits quite well.

Now the only fly in the ointment is the fraudulent behaviour of dealership, PPS motors which owns three dealerships in Hyderabad viz, VW Hyderabad, VW Secunderabad and VW Somajiguda. They also own two non metro dealerships at Karimnagar and Tirupati.

Fraud no: 1
Year: 2011
Nature of visit: First service, 15000km reading
VW service centre: VW Hyderabad service centre at Khajaguda, Manikonda
Fraud committed: VW announced a paint protection service with 3M tie up and for INR 3600 they offered a 3M total paint protection package including swirl marks removal. Since i am aware of the benefits, i opted for this along with first service. At the time of delivery, i parked the car under bright halogen light to check swirl marks removal. No they did not apply the 3M rubbing compound, instead did only wax polish. Unless you have a keen eye, you can not notice the difference. I promptly called the service advisor and informed about this. He didn't agree initially as he himself was not aware of swirl marks. Later he agreed to get it done next day.

As usual, the 3M distributor (Vishnu Auto-mobiles for Hyderabad) who were tied up with PPS motors to do this thought that vigorous wax polish is more than enough to deceit the customer and did not perform actual job of removing swirl marks. This time, i had no patience and asked the service advisor to call the 3M distributor to the workshop to solve this. Distributor came to the workshop and on heavy argument, he agreed to the mistake/ fraud committed.

I gave the feedback promptly to then VW Sales head of India whom I knew and he promised stern action. What happened next. On second service, i came to know that VW removed this swirl marks program from workshops.



Fraud no: 2
Year: 2014
Nature of visit: Fourth service, 45000km reading
VW service centre: VW Hyderabad service centre at Khajaguda, Manikonda
Fraud committed: Gave the car to service centre for fourth service. one of the senior service advisor (name not important as all staff were hand in glove) inspected the car and gave a quote of approx 9000 and promised deliver next day evening. There were no issues to correct except Yellow sensor malfunction light in dash board. He said that it could be some faulty oxygen sensor and will be removed when the car is connected to computer for diagnosis.

Next day, i called and went to the workshop at 4pm. Car was undergoing wash. He kept saying that though the yellow light error has been removed it is better to get the engine compression test done to avoid any issues in ignition coils. I said, sorry there is no link between sensor and ignition coil.

Finally the car came to delivery area and i started the car. I was aghast to see the car vibrating like a mad devil.

Called the service advisor again and asked what the hell is this? He now says that during the check up they found one faulty ignition coil and the vibration is due to that. He opens the engine top flap and removes the ignition coil in one of the cylinder. Inside the coil, rubber beading is not present and he compares it with a new coil. He says that, if you replace the coil which costs around 3500, it will be all right and i can go home. I controlled the urge to slap him.

I asked him, when i gave the car in superb condition, how can you say that ignition coil is bad in one of the engine cylinder?. Neither this was informed to me over phone as and when this was noticed. He kept silent. I said, please call your workshop manager and also bring me the diagnostic report of the car. After 10 min, one guy comes and apologizes and says that sorry, this is unwarranted mistake. We will replace the it with your original coil. I was stunned to see the reply from the manager. He says as if it is a routine thing happening every day. He also showed some 24 page diagnostic report of my car. could not read at all as most of it was in coded language or in German. I somehow took that 24 page report during that heated argument and will upload it here to see if we can make sense of it.

Friends, VW Polo had been a quite nice car and it never gave up except for this bad dealership. I knew that PPS Motors is fradulent from first service but since the other service centre is quire far ( VW Deccan, Uppal) i had no choice.

Dear VW top management, You have a wonderful chance of becoming No1 car in India replacing Maruti. i firmly believe this as I also own a tin car named Alto. The only reason Maruti ticks in this country is because of their service attitude and nobody can touch them in that area. So please please for the love of cars, please remove these kind of dealers.

[rajeev k]

Dear VW top management, You have a wonderful chance of becoming No1 car in India replacing Maruti. i firmly believe this as I also own a tin car named Alto. The only reason Maruti ticks in this country is because of their service attitude and nobody can touch them in that area. So please please for the love of cars, please remove these kind of dealers.

VW can not become the No.1 car company anywhere in the near or distant future, with their this kind of attitude.
It was not quite clear from your post as to from where did they bring back your original ignition coil? Out right fraud, is it not?

[CAPTAIN REX]

Originally Posted by gkoneti

Inside the coil, rubber beading is not present and he compares it with a new coil. He says that, if you replace the coil which costs around 3500, it will be all right and i can go home. I controlled the urge to slap him.

After 10 min, one guy comes and apologizes and says that sorry, this is unwarranted mistake. We will replace the it with your original coil.

You mean to say that the service station put in a faulty old coil into your car ? And after the argument, he agrees to put back the original coil ?
Man, this is serious problem and this matter has to be taken up with Volkswagen India.
Get on to their website and shoot them a mail with all the details.

[dark.knight]

It is high time that organized private mechanics set up shop in major cities. The spare-parts must also be available across all brands over the counter mandatorily.

Enough is enough with the "Authorised" gyppers in the garb of service centre. I've read & experienced enough ridiculous claims by so called advisors who do everything but fix the core issue. The problem is that 10 years back so many cars/brands did not exist so the Authorised Station acted as a friendly eager to please garage who even voluntarily did brush touch-ups & polish for minor scratches. With the growth of sales and demand, their arrogance grew as well. This has been a change across all brands, its not good business practice to suggest unnecessary replacements.

Coming to VW, their innate superiority complex will be their doom. Showing pages & pages of Deutsche manuals and coded readings is merely a diversionary tactic with the intent to throw the customer off making them feel that only the company knows its car. Common-sense however dictates that a car must never be worse-off after service than it was before, else something has gone wrong. Secondly all cars of all makes have the basic mechanical outline, be it brakes, clutch, steering or engine assembly. Most problems mechanically can be found out during daily driving and during weekly self check-ups (checking fluids, coolant, oil etc). Any hiccups in the ECU/BCM can be found out by hooking a diagnostic which must then clearly reflect the same to the customer in <English>. Like I said, most brands if not all are guilty of taking advantage of regular customers. This must stop.

[pranjal1984]

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN REX

You mean to say that the service station put in a faulty old coil into your car ? And after the argument, he agrees to put back the original coil ?
Man, this is serious problem and this matter has to be taken up with Volkswagen India.
Get on to their website and shoot them a mail with all the details.

Mails and feedbacks left in their website are redirected to the local dealerships. Unless a higher level executive is contacted personally, resolution of most VW cases are done mostly locally.

[Carpainter]

Now that is one serious problem with these dealers. These are reasons why I never left my car overnight for those routine services during my ownership years of Polo. Always gave them the car in the morning and pushed them to give it back to me by the evening. And yes through out the four years of my ownership, my Polo was like 'fill it, shut it,forget it'.

[nakul0888]

Damn, not very confidence inspiring I must say. I mean this is just nasty stuff right here. Replace the original part from a customer's car, put in a faulty one and then asking them to pay for new ones right in the face of the customer.
If it's true that, all the customer complaints are simply redirected to dealerships I don't think there will be an end to this sort of shameless behaviour. I just serviced my polo, it is sparingly used and has just run 6000 km in 1 year. I am now doubting whether they had actually changed the engine oil, and because I am a simpleton who knows nothing about mechanicals of cars I am completely at the mercy of someone else in these sort of situations. A.K.A sitting duck. These sort of cases really makes me uncomfortable about owning a vw.:thumbdown:

[Rudra Sen]

Mod note: Thread moved to Indian Car Dealerships.

[Ajaybiz]

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[gkoneti]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

VW can not become the No.1 car company anywhere in the near or distant future, with their this kind of attitude.
It was not quite clear from your post as to from where did they bring back your original ignition coil? Out right fraud, is it not?

Dear Rajeev, Captain Rex

they removed my ignition coil and kept a worn out coil to intimidate me with the vibration of the car and then coerce me to buy new one. since i stood by my argument that it was never discussed with me during check up, they had no choice but put back my actual ignition coil. Looking back at that experience, now i feel so bad and frustrated with the dealer. i should have slapped him then.

[CAPTAIN REX]

Originally Posted by pranjal1984

Mails and feedbacks left in their website are redirected to the local dealerships. Unless a higher level executive is contacted personally, resolution of most VW cases are done mostly locally.

Pranjal.
I dont think it works that way. If the matter has to be taken up at higher levels it is not redirected to the local dealer. I know, since I had contacted VW on an alloy issue with VW Mangalore, and the case was not directed to VW Mangalore. I spoke to the customer care at Mumbai, and then received a call from VW Mangalore with an apology for their mistake.

Originally Posted by gkoneti

Dear Rajeev, Captain Rex

they removed my ignition coil and kept a worn out coil to intimidate me with the vibration of the car and then coerce me to buy new one. since i stood by my argument that it was never discussed with me during check up, they had no choice but put back my actual ignition coil. Looking back at that experience, now i feel so bad and frustrated with the dealer. i should have slapped him then.

Gkoneti,
You should bring this case to the notice of VW India. Use the 'contact' option at their website or send out a mail to 'customer.care@volkswagen.co.in' with this matter in detail including names also if you remember. And then follow up the matter by a telephone call to the TOLL FREE number if you do not get a reply to your mail.
This sort of service by VW is daylight robbery.

[pranjal1984]

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN REX

Pranjal.
I dont think it works that way. If the matter has to be taken up at higher levels it is not redirected to the local dealer. I know, since I had contacted VW on an alloy issue with VW Mangalore, and the case was not directed to VW Mangalore. I spoke to the customer care at Mumbai, and then received a call from VW Mangalore with an apology for their mistake.

Well I have experienced the exact opposite. When I left a feedback in VW's website regarding their shoddy service where car shampoo was not washed off the car body before delivery and which became visible only after a day when it dried, VW customer care simply forwarded the mail to their dealer and as usual and as expected they didn't bother to even contact me.

Previously on another instance they had given a quote of Rs 9000/- for painting the lower door which got scratched in a turning. When I expressed dismay at the astronomical costs involved and left my feedback in the website they again reforwarded the mail to the dealership who expressed their inability to reconsider their prices.

Their biggest bargaining power in Guwahati is presence of only one dealership in entire North East India. I don't want to criticize them because India has become a hard core capitalist economy by now but the ultimate catch is I have realized that I need to have really deep pockets to maintain any VW group vehicle.

[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by gkoneti

Fraud no: 1
......
Fraud no: 2
....We will replace the it with your original coil. I was stunned to see the reply from the manager. He says as if it is a routine thing happening every day.

Sorry to hear about your part of VW horror. My advise is to take the matter to VW higher-ups. It is of no use to call those toll-free numbers or sending an email to VW customer care. Those folks will not pass this message to higher-ups. Instead they will try to hold on for some time assuming with time, the intensity of the issue will go down or the customer will get frustrated and stop following up. Unfortunately, this trick works in their favour most of the time.

Originally Posted by pranjal1984

Mails and feedbacks left in their website are redirected to the local dealerships. Unless a higher level executive is contacted personally, resolution of most VW cases are done mostly locally.

+1
As I have already said, for this kind of fraud, customary calls and emails do not work. They simply forward the complaint to the dealers asking them to settle/resolve the issue with the customer.

I really don't understand why dealers are behind a quick buck instead of focusing on getting more volumes/vehicles via more customers. May be their sixth sense tells them that they may not get the same customers again because they will run away from VW after these kinds of experiences. Hence, loot for one last time.

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN REX

Pranjal.
I dont think it works that way. If the matter has to be taken up at higher levels it is not redirected to the local dealer. I know, since I had contacted VW on an alloy issue with VW Mangalore, and the case was not directed to VW Mangalore. I spoke to the customer care at Mumbai, and then received a call from VW Mangalore with an apology for their mistake.

As I have said in the above response, they will forward the complaint to the dealer and the dealer says the customary sorry and that's the end of the matter. The dealer will commit the same fraud with the next customer and say sorry again. The story continues.

Here is my experience with Skoda (which is owned by VW):
When I went to Skoda ASS for replacing one broken rear view mirror, price tag on the carton was much lesser than the price on the bill. When I scanned and sent both, the bill and price tag sticker on the carton/box to Skoda customer care, they simply forwarded my complaint to the dealer and asked me to settle the matter with the dealership.

P.S: We hear one good experience with VW/Skoda and 2 horror stories immediately after that. With these kind of dealers, I wonder if they can retain their current position (forget about being #1).

[gkoneti]

update:

Got a call from VW HO Pune asking for feedback on the service of the dealer. I explained about the fraud at PPS motors. Service lady listened silently and asked for my rating. I promptly gave a Zero. Next moment, i got the below SMS.

" Dear XXXXXX, your feedback is precious to us, we have noted your concern regarding your Polo bearing Regn no XXXXXXXXXX. You shall be hearing from our authorized dealer Volkswagen Hyderabad soon for further coordination. Kindly bear with us till such time."

Holy cow. It looks like thief and judge are same. very stupid of you VW.

[pranjal1984]

I told you already. Volkswagen simply forwards your complaint to the same dealer and the unending vicious cycle just continues. If possible try to take help from senior members of this forum and get the corporate mail IDs of Volkswagen HQ so that the case is taken seriously.