[vkochar]

Thanks for all the input guys. I have just asked him to register here so he can answer all the questions and take all your esteemed help in solving this issue.

[AkMar]

Couldn't have put it better than Arun. I second everything what he has said. However, with regards to this: "If its a temporary structure, or adjoining empty plot, highly unlikely the dealer has it covered under his insurance" I feel that insurance or no insurance, the dealer has to take the responsibility as the dealer had decided to use the place.

[Axe77]

Here are my 2 cents on the issue:

- This is a freak accident.
- I don't think Skoda India can be blamed for the incident per se. It could have happened anywhere to any dealer of any brand.
- The dealer should take some ownership for the incident and provide some financial relief beyond the owner's own car insurance (Total loss claim). If nothing else through moral ownership of the incident.
- This is where Skoda India does come in. Life is not just about legal liability. A customer of your flagship offering (should be true for a customer of any product of course), is in distress for no fault of his. Try and ease his life. At least have an open dialogue with him. Work with the dealer and together absorb a bit of the loss along with the dealer. Pressure the dealer to act reasonably. Even offer throwing in a healthy discount on a new car if he's open to the proposition. That's how you win customers.
- On a separate note, if there was indeed a tremor but the falling of this wall is disproportionate to the surrounding damage of other structures, I'd say it might be a kachha structure and therefore again the dealer should have some extra responsibility for the consequent damage.
- Also, the fact that the car was at the workshop for a month more than the stated delivery date (undue time spent at the workshop) should also increase the dealer's moral responsibility. The car was at the dealer's workshop much longer than it should have been. Having said that, I wonder whether the reason for a large part of the extra time might be that the car suffered the damage much before 1st Sept and then the dealership was trying to figure out over the next few weeks what stance to take with the customer. I won't be surprised if that's the case.

Finally, on a lighter note, you have to credit Skoda for being thorough and true to the promise of their product offerings. If their cars don't die an early natural death due to internal complications, they ensure that they physically beat them to death at their workshops.

[AYP]

The best thing IMO which Skoda/the dealer can do is provide the customer with a new Superb by asking him for a suitable premium, let us say 10 lakhs. I hope that this issue gets sorted ASAP and in a way which is acceptable to both the parties.

[antz.bin]

Shouldn't be much of an issue if the Dealer is properly insured and the incident happened at the insured premises.

A few weeks back, a boundary wall of the Hotel Gateway Nashik (Taj Group) collapsed outwards into the premises of its next door neighbor, the Mahindra / Chevrolet Dealer in Nashik (Jitendra Wheels) due to 180odd mm of rain on that particular day. This collapsed wall ended up damaging multiple brand new + ready delivery vehicles parked at the Dealer's premises.

Insurance Company of Gateway Hotel has agreed to pay for the damages. Don't know if the transaction has gone through but it was in the news recently.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

Shouldn't be much of an issue if the Dealer is properly insured and the incident happened at the insured premises.

I added some bold. Indeed, this should not be an issue at all.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Couldn't have put it better than Arun. I second everything what he has said. However, with regards to this: "If its a temporary structure, or adjoining empty plot, highly unlikely the dealer has it covered under his insurance" I feel that insurance or no insurance, the dealer has to take the responsibility as the dealer had decided to use the place.

I agree with this statement above.
The car was with the Dealer. Hence it is in the Dealer's custody under trust. Hence it is the Dealers responsibility.
If the Dealer elects to park the car in some particular space which the dealer has arranged, then it is still the Dealer's responsibility.
This is why I mentioned earlier that this ought to be covered under Dealer's Fidelity or Risk Insurance itself.

The one thing I can't understand is the time lag between the date of vehicle submission and the date of information of mishap.

What happened in the one month that went by in between these two milestone activities?

[lemedico]

What was the final outcome of this incident? Did the dealer give in and compensate the owner?