Quote:
Originally Posted by libranof1987 The probable reason why such initiatives don't see light of day is, there is just increased liability for the dealer, for very little benefit (customer trust).
Until there is a threat of legal liability, dealers don't have a lot of motivation to bring in more transparency. |
This has got nothing to do with the dealer. As I said in my earlier post, this has to come from the manufacturer to change perception, gain customer confidence and increase sales. This is for manufacturers such as Skoda, Tata, Nissan, etc. In the current market scenario, when you are at the bottom of the barrel you either do something revolutionary and move up the sales chart or face exit.
And, a video of your car with a mechanic or two working on it doesn't mess with a huge part of law. Also, one of the purposes of video recording is to ensure that the dealer corrects any goof-ups he does while servicing the car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO Overkill, buddy. Neither do car owners have the time to view these videos, nor does the service station to prepare them. If a car spends a day at the workshop, that's 10 hours of feed. Who's going to sit and watch that? Certainly not me. If it's an overnighter, that's 24+ hours of recording to scrutinise. |
Nope. A general service usually takes around 2-3 hours at the max. And once or twice in a year I don't mind sitting through the video of my beloved car getting serviced. Imagine the time most of us spend on Youtube and Facebook daily. A few hours for my car on couple of occasions in a year is nothing at all.
Quote:
It all boils down to TRUST. If you don't trust your dealer, don't give your car to him. If that is very important to you, buy a car from a manufacturer who keeps dealers on a tight leash (Maruti, Hyundai, Toyota etc.).
|
There is a saying something like, "Trust is costly, don't expect from cheap people". I generally give trust to people for them to break. When my fruit vendor or my grocery shopkeeper tenders change I do not count it again, I do not bargain with them either. But here, it is a different thing altogether and trusting a person is very different from trusting an entity. Even if I trust the dealer, I am apprehensive on the ground staff. Most dealers, especially of low selling manufacturers, face severe attrition and the middle management usually have very limited control on what is happening on the ground. I have personally witnessed myself on how the car gets abused.
Just see the number of Fiat owners in Bangalore who are driving to Salem(more than 200kms) to get their car repaired. Obviously,
they do not trust the dealers. Imagine the number outside of Team-Bhp.
Quote:
I wouldn't say 'common'. They are there, but at a very low percentage.
|
I do not want to be a part of that percentage(whatever be it). I am paying big money and I am leaving my million rupee car with dealer, all I want to see is what is being done to my car. And I don't think it's unethical or immoral or lack of trust. It's just that it is. How many IT services companies have Cameras on employee work areas, how many restaurants have cameras inside restaurants, it is not lack of trust, it is adapting to technology.
Also, more than the monetary part I'm more worried about the reliability of my car.
A lot of cars come with 15000km service interval nowadays. Most of them have a 30,000km service interval for Diesel filter change. Imagine if they do miss changing oil or miss changing the diesel filter, imagine the exponential increase in cost when the engine fails due to their malpractice, the dealer will happily make the customer pay.
Quote:
I've never experienced this kind of fraud with Vitesse (Maruti), Milestone (Mahindra), Concorde (Tata), Auto Hangar (Mercedes), Navnit (BMW) etc. The only bad dealership experiences I've had are with Nissan, but even then, it was lack of competence (not fraud).
|
Let's assume a dealer is not into major fraud, but does not change one item in every three cars and that one car is mine and the item is Diesel filter(which is supposed to be changed at every 30,000 km but the dealer tries to make some bucks). With all the new oil, filters, my car will run well for the next, say 7000km, but one day the diesel filter gives up and bam, I'm looking at expenses running into tens of thousand rupees. I just want to avoid all these, I am paying several thousand rupees and all I want to see is what was done to my car and the video does it for me.
Quote:
Simplest solution = stick to brands / dealerships with a track record of integrity .
|
Unfortunately, we enthusiasts lust(and often lust takes over) for cars from brands such as Skoda who treat customers like zilch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Akshay1234 Also what is to stop the service centre from stopping the camera from recording, or even pulling the power on it and continuing with whatever malpractices. |
Video recording is not fool proof, but it can help avoid fraud to a large extent.
Quote:
If someone is so paranoid, it makes more sense to just stay in the workshop and watch the vehicle being serviced.
|
A lot of service centers do not allow customers to stay on floor which they say is for safety. Also, service work timings on a car will be erratic as mechanics a lot of times work on round robin basis.
And when Technology is there, why not use it? Instead of sweating it out in the service stations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hybridpetrol If the current level of malpractices are so high that you would need a HD video to prove that the service centres are actually doing their work correctly, then don't you think they would invent fresh ways to still dupe the customer? |
As I said already, this is not fool proof, but it can help avoid many a fraud. And instead of the whole black box experience, I will be more than happy to see my car being serviced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by narayan Given the impracticality |
Why do you think it is impractical? It is just video recording.
Quote:
3) Use an independent garage and buy your own parts - closely scrutinize the work being done.
|
Chennai hardly has any independent garage that is worth the visit. The popular one in this forum, Ignite, is always crowded. And other than Ignite, it is void.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk The dealer will never agree. No more hanky-panky. That is where they get their moolah! |
Exactly!