Team-BHP > Team-BHP Reviews > Indian Car Dealerships


Reply
  Search this Thread
348,923 views
Old 23rd February 2018, 14:37   #181
BHPian
 
BopsKA12's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: KA12/MEJ
Posts: 62
Thanked: 49 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by drmohitg View Post
Well although I do not have any saying in this, but if you really want to be on the safer side or give any importance to this issue, then don't just shy away from this dealership but rather altogether avoid Skoda. Only then they might understand the gravity of cheating a customer. Because as we all know Skoda played hands in glove with their dealer when they washed off their hands in such an "apple vs oranges" sort of a case. It is SHAMEFUL ( I can't think of a better word) on part of Skoda to not resolve this otherwise straightforward case.
And Skoda India is still trying to push people towards Vinayak Skoda? Would not even touch Skoda with a bargepole. Skoda is not for me and the people I know.
BopsKA12 is offline  
Old 24th February 2018, 16:21   #182
BANNED
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 60
Thanked: 692 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Proceedings Update :

Brief re-cap :
  • Vinayak Skoda appeals to the court to allow them contest the case after 155 days of being placed as an ex-parte.
  • The court surprisngly accepts their application and allows them to contest the case even though certain rules say that such an appeal cannot be made after 90 days of being placed as an ex-parte. Such a move by court alarmed me about someone taking a shortcut to glory.
  • Upon a request by the Vinayak Skoda's lawyer, the court then referred my case to try for a resolution through mediation.
  • Both, Skoda India or Vinayak Skoda had no Decision-making representatives present for any of the 3 mediation sessions which lasted over 2 months.
  • The case was sent back to the court after a unsuccessful mediation which had just wasted the Judiciary time.

During the last hearing at the court :
After unsuccessful mediation through court, the case is back to be fought out at the court.
During the first hearing post the mediation sessions. My lawyer made valid points and also pointed out to the Judge about the opposition parties just wasting the court's time by requesting for mediation and what was later heard by my lawyer during the court proceedings was shocking.
The lawyer representing Vinayak Skoda makes a mid-conversation false statement to the Judge saying " We gave them an offer of Rs.8 Lakhs and they declined that offer "
Later what the Judge said almost made it very evident that even the Judge was more or less likely pocketed by the opposition party.
The Judge stated directly to my lawyer that " If your client is not ready to accept this offer then you will repent the judgement that I shall pass, So please talk to your client and get back by the next date "

Such a Hooligan-is-tic way of handling the case shows the credibility of Skoda in India and how low it's dealer can stoop and how distrustful the Judiciary system in India is.

Autocar India :
Post the whole scenario, I contacted Autocar India as suggested by a few people.
I wrote to them and Autocar being very responsible contacted me within an hour's time and Mr.Sergius got in touch with me to understand the whole problem.
Autocar then escalated the issue to Skoda India (which I had previously already done) and said they would help me resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Skoda India tries skid away from Autocar by saying they had sold the car to me for just Rs.8 Lakhs and they were ready for a full refund. When Mr.Sergius communicated the same to me, I sent him all the documents and showed him the actual payment details and it was definitely not Rs.8 Lakhs

Simultaneously, The usually very unresponsive Skoda customer care sends me an e-mail stating " At the outset we understand your concern and regret for the inconvenience caused to you. We have taken up your concern with the respective dealership for further resolution at the earliest. Please feel free to speak with CRM from Vinayak Cars Ms. Kavitha on 9900XXXXX5 for any assistance required in this matter. Hope for your understanding on the same and assuring our best services at all times. Regards, Deepak K "

I further called the mentioned number to only understand that Ms. Kavitha is not working with Vinayak Cars anymore and the person who answered the call has whatsoever no idea about my problem or what Skoda India has asked the dealer to do. She says " give me 5 minutes and I will call you back " and disconnects the call and I'm still hoping for a callback which is most likely to never happen.

This clearly shows how well Skoda India is informed about their dealers' and its employees who are working and not working with them and with Skoda india passing on the responsibility of asking the customer to contact the dealer and not vice-versa shows the kind of concern they have for their customers even after their dealer has handled the issue in an ineffective/resolution-less manner till date.
Moreover adding the cream to the cake was their dealer's representative having absolute no information about the issue or it's resolution shows the lack of communication between Skoda India and it's dealer and the company just washing off its hands by asking the customer himself to contact the CRM of Vinayak Cars by simply providing the contact number and not any details of what kind of resolution would be given is like the cherry on top of the creaming for Skoda India to simply skid away from the issue.

Such is the state of affairs between a Multi-crore car manufacturer and it's dealer principal who has been operating without any principles so far !

I'm yet to get back in touch with Mr.Sergius (which is most likely to happen by monday) and inform him about how bluntly Skoda has responded and the happenings of when I contacted their dealer as per Skoda India's e-mail.

I shall update the thread once I get in touch with Mr.Sergius or IF Skoda ever reverts to my e-mail or when the next proceedings happen.

Also, With Skoda India trying push customers based out of Bangalore to Vinayak Skoda is a fact as my very own neighbor experienced it and once I spoke to him about my Fiasco, He has Runaway from buying a Skoda

Last edited by tsk1979 : 24th February 2018 at 16:24. Reason: Please do not use more than 2 smileys
SuhasManjunath is offline   (15) Thanks
Old 24th February 2018, 17:40   #183
BHPian
 
Nonstop-driver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Noida
Posts: 676
Thanked: 780 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

This is terrible. The most shocking part for me was how nonchalant the judge was despite all factual information being made available to him.

Stay strong Suhas, I'm sure you'll come out of it with the desired result.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
When Mr.Sergius communicated the same to me, I sent him all the documents and showed him the actual payment details and it was definitely not Rs.8 Lakhs
Out of curiosity, how much did you pay on road for the vehicle?
Nonstop-driver is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 24th February 2018, 18:10   #184
BANNED
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 60
Thanked: 692 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver View Post
This is terrible. The most shocking part for me was how nonchalant the judge was despite all factual information being made available to him.

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay on road for the vehicle?
What caught me out of surprise was, The opposition have not yet filed their evidence nor has any argument taken place. According to the present status of the case, the opposition are yet to file their version and then produce their evidence and even before all this, The Judge is quite sure that the Judgement would be against me !

I have paid close to Rs.12 Lakhs for the car during Delivery, What has burdened me more is I've been paying unnecessary Bank interest from the time I bought the and also inculcating charges such as insurance and maintenance when the car has been sitting idle in my garage and giving no pleasure of utilizing it.
SuhasManjunath is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 5th March 2018, 11:29   #185
BANNED
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 60
Thanked: 692 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Update :

The two faced dealer/manufacturer !

With regular follow-up by Autocar with Skoda to help me resolve my issue, It has again exposed about the two-faced Dealer & Skoda !

To my surprise, the first time Autocar spoke to Skoda and Skoda had replied to Autocar saying that the customer (i.e Me) has a unreasonable demand to resolve the issue and he expects us (Skoda or it's dealer) to give him a Skoda Octavia vRS as the replacement to his Rapid.
Further, Autocar communicated the same to me and I had made it clear to them there is no such demand from my end and the resolution that I've been looking for is a Complete Refund of the car's value along with all the expenses borne till date.

Autocar again spoke to Skoda, and this time Skoda says we've already offered the customer that they would take the car back and give the customer Rs.8 lakhs and Skoda sees this as the most resolvable offer as according to them the car has already been driven for 80,000 KM and the customer has been enjoying the car till date, So difference amount should be considered like a lease price or the price for utilizing the car and when Autocar communicated this to me, it sounded really funny as the car has barely done over 7,000 KM (to be precise 7,133 KM) and I had sent them a picture of the ODO meter reading to prove the same. Autocar is yet to get back to me after talking to Skoda.

The above incidents clearly shows how the dealer has manipulated the condition and communicated the same to Skoda and inturn Skoda has supported the dealer for this issue or this could also be a technique used by Skoda to oil themselves and slip away from Autocar or any respectable forum that could influence/help me resolve the matter.

Do Indians really need such a player(like Skoda) in the Automobile industry?
Also, Such bad Laws by the Judiciary are entertaining the car dealers to take customer for ride !
SuhasManjunath is offline   (12) Thanks
Old 5th March 2018, 21:11   #186
Senior - BHPian
 
blackwasp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 2,966
Thanked: 26,228 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Do keep up the fight, we are here for support.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
Also, Such bad Laws by the Judiciary are entertaining the car dealers to take customer for ride !
Meanwhile, some good news in general. Change is here:
Quote:
No more 'tareek pe tareek'. Enough is enough," an irked Bombay High Court said here while ruling out any more adjournments in a case, and imposed a fine of Rs 4.50 lakh on a public charitable trust for failing to file an affidavit since 2016.
source - TOI
blackwasp is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 7th March 2018, 22:59   #187
BHPian
 
Chalu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 109
Thanked: 69 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Suhas - After reading your ordeal my blood boils. If i was in your place i would have lost my cool where i would have taught these folks in a way they would understand.

You have been a gentleman where you are pursuing this case to a logical end through fair legal means.

I appreciate your steely resolve & tenacity on this matter.

Keep up the fight.

Cheers
Chalukya
Chalu is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 8th March 2018, 01:29   #188
BHPian
 
Nonstop-driver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Noida
Posts: 676
Thanked: 780 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post

The above incidents clearly shows how the dealer has manipulated the condition and communicated the same to Skoda and inturn Skoda has supported the dealer for this issue or this could also be a technique used by Skoda to oil themselves and slip away from Autocar or any respectable forum that could influence/help me resolve the matter.
This makes sense. Why don't you write to Skoda directly marking their lawyers about your exact demands and facts of the case along with proof? While Skoda is ready to give 800k, another 400-500k shouldn't be a big deal for them to dispose off the case. Or maybe ask them to meet you bypassing the dealer to clarify the case and your stand. It appears to be a case where the dealer is severely misleading the company to cover its own frauds.
Nonstop-driver is offline  
Old 8th March 2018, 09:05   #189
BHPian
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: trivandrum
Posts: 314
Thanked: 615 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
Update :

The two faced dealer/manufacturer !

To my surprise, the first time Autocar spoke to Skoda and Skoda had replied to Autocar saying that the customer (i.e Me) has a unreasonable demand to resolve the issue and he expects us (Skoda or it's dealer) to give him a Skoda Octavia vRS as the replacement to his Rapid.
Further, Autocar communicated the same to me and I had made it clear to them there is no such demand from my end and the resolution that I've been looking for is a Complete Refund of the car's value along with all the expenses borne till date.

Autocar again spoke to Skoda, and this time Skoda says we've already offered the customer that they would take the car back and give the customer Rs.8 lakhs and Skoda sees this as the most resolvable offer as according to them the car has already been driven for 80,000 KM and the customer has been enjoying the car till date, it sounded really funny as the car has barely done over 7,000 KM (to be precise 7,133 KM) and I had sent them a picture of the ODO meter reading to prove the same. Autocar is yet to get back to me after talking to Skoda.
Honesty, I have been a Skoda fan boy, for the products they have offered in the Indian market. But these callous attitudes by the company annoys me too much to be a repeat customer, as I have been.
crdi is offline  
Old 8th March 2018, 11:43   #190
BANNED
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 60
Thanked: 692 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver View Post
Why don't you write to Skoda directly marking their lawyers about your exact demands and facts of the case along with proof? While Skoda is ready to give 800k, another 400-500k shouldn't be a big deal for them to dispose off the case. Or maybe ask them to meet you bypassing the dealer to clarify the case and your stand. It appears to be a case where the dealer is severely misleading the company to cover its own frauds.
Indeed, It definitely appears to be a case where the dealer is severely misleading the company to cover its own frauds and I have no doubts about that !
But what's more amusing is that Skoda themselves have NO or very little information about the whereabouts of its dealers. So, whenever I have tried contacting Skoda directly for which I get a standard template reply stating, "Please contact XXXXXXX from Vinayak Cars along with their number mentioned" What is even more hilarious is that the particular person who I would've been asked to contact would have already resigned or the said person would not even be existent with Vinayak Cars.

And , Since I have no direct contact with Skoda's or its dealer's advocate it is a little difficult for me to communicate directly to them. Also thinking practically, this would be a bad option as it can create more chaos and more delay as they would definitely get all the evidence that I have and further push the matter against me at the court !

The only way that I could bypass all this is by travelling to Skoda India HQ at Aurangabad and directly knock on the doors on the top authorities !

Quote:
Originally Posted by crdi View Post
Honesty, I have been a Skoda fan boy, for the products they have offered in the Indian market. But these callous attitudes by the company annoys me too much to be a repeat customer, as I have been.
Haha, Even I was Skoda Fan Boy when I bought the car but NOT ANYMORE! Their products in the Indian market are good but definitely not the best they can offer. What has put them down is their after-sales and of course the customer hospitality and the way they have no control over their dealers.
It's quite humorous that a company like Skoda being a subsidiary of one of the biggest global automobile organization VW cannot command over a small dealer who operates in just one city with two showrooms and cumulate them 0.00xx% sale globally but a fiasco like this would hit their sale nation-wide .
Considering all this, Skoda is no more an option for me ! I would have been a lot happier buying 10 autos as their parent company's tagline was "DAS AUTO" or being "Simply Clever" by not opting for a Skoda as their tagline is.
SuhasManjunath is offline   (11) Thanks
Old 8th March 2018, 13:57   #191
Senior - BHPian
 
selfdrive's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Zurich
Posts: 2,962
Thanked: 3,534 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
The only way that I could bypass all this is by travelling to Skoda India HQ at Aurangabad and directly knock on the doors on the top authorities !
Do any of them use social media? Perhaps a tweet towards the relevant higherups could help here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
Haha, Even I was Skoda Fan Boy when I bought the car but NOT ANYMORE! Their products in the Indian market are good but definitely not the best they can offer. What has put them down is their after-sales and of course the customer hospitality and the way they have no control over their dealers.
This looks more like customer hostility than hospitality
selfdrive is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 8th March 2018, 14:35   #192
Team-BHP Support
 
Turbanator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 6,681
Thanked: 28,121 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
I
The only way that I could bypass all this is by travelling to Skoda India HQ at Aurangabad and directly knock on the doors on the top authorities !
Drop a mail to their HQ and also include Board members of VW who are common with Skoda. They are already into troubles due to the lawsuits in the US and elsewhere, I have a feeling that Skoda India will then behave differently.

I don't think that Skoda dealer can influence Judge, maybe due to the pressure to clear backlogs and with the limited time and details being available to Judge, he was ok in mediation @ 8 Lac.

Last edited by Turbanator : 8th March 2018 at 14:38.
Turbanator is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 9th March 2018, 09:59   #193
BHPian
 
motorguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Bangalore Rural
Posts: 273
Thanked: 214 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

I think judges can be influenced. With the vast resources that Vinayak Skoda has, there may be a possibility hat some underhand dealing has occurred. I have seen it in many legal cases.

Unfortunate that the customer who is the rightful party here is being harassed by the dealer, the principal (Skoda) and now even the judge despite it is so clear that Vinayak Skoda is in the wrong.
motorguy is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 9th March 2018, 10:25   #194
Team-BHP Support
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 14,840
Thanked: 27,790 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by motorguy View Post
I think judges can be influenced. With the vast resources that Vinayak Skoda has, there may be a possibility hat some underhand dealing has occurred. I have seen it in many legal cases.
.
Frankly Vinayak are losing more in terms of cash, morals and brand equity as opposed to apologising for the salesman's duplicity, replacing the car and offering reasonable compensation.
ajmat is offline   (5) Thanks
Old 10th March 2018, 18:32   #195
BANNED
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 60
Thanked: 692 Times
Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by selfdrive View Post
Do any of them use social media? Perhaps a tweet towards the relevant higherups could help here.
Unfortunately No !
The two recognizable people of Skoda are Ashutosh Dixit and Sudhir Rao but with Sudhir Rao not being a part of Skoda india anymore, it seems of no use trying to connect to him. Ashutosh Dixit could not be traced on Twitter or Facebook but found him on Linkedin and got his email through the profile and even shot an email on 14th November 2017 and there is no reply till date !

Quote:
Originally Posted by Turbanator View Post
Drop a mail to their HQ and also include Board members of VW who are common with Skoda. They are already into troubles due to the lawsuits in the US and elsewhere, I have a feeling that Skoda India will then behave differently.
I have already dropped a mail to their HQ in Czech Republic on 14th November 2017 and even received a ticket number : E22F60A5A6809 for the complaint raised . I even further followed up with them till the 14th December 2017 and on that day they slid themselves saying "we resend your case to the Indian department of Skoda Auto and we have to wait for the answer. Please be patient."
But I have not involved members of VW as Skoda are sole decision makers when it comes to their sales and after-sales.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmat View Post
Frankly Vinayak are losing more in terms of cash, morals and brand equity as opposed to apologising for the salesman's duplicity, replacing the car and offering reasonable compensation.
I really don't feel it's the salesman's duplicity. Poor guy seemed like he took the booking only after his boss gave a go-ahead. It's a con-job done by the Senior General Manager, Sales and the stockyard in-charge but with the way the owner of Vinayak Skoda has been reacting to exposures of their con-jobs shows that he supports such works and appreciates it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by motorguy View Post
I think judges can be influenced. With the vast resources that Vinayak Skoda has, there may be a possibility hat some underhand dealing has occurred. I have seen it in many legal cases.
I agree, It's definitely a possibility to influence judges as most of the consumer forum judges have absolutely no or very little knowledge about the product that has the issue/problem and has come in-front of the Judiciary for resolution. Also most of these Judges get influenced for extra gains as they consider the cases in consumer forum to be not high profile .

Last edited by SuhasManjunath : 10th March 2018 at 18:43.
SuhasManjunath is offline   (2) Thanks
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks