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Old 24th October 2017, 16:13   #121
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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
So guys, this has been the way Skoda is handling the issue, It has continued to trouble it's customers in worse of the worst ways.


Okay , now I request my dear BHPians to suggest me on different ways that i could further escalate this matter and what's the best way to settle it .
d.
Suhas - Based on your post, one can make out that Ketan (ASM) is being sympathetic towards your situation. I will recommend you to keep on working with Ketan and make sure he is present in every meeting you have with the dealer. You should reschedule meetings if he is not available. This way, the dealer might not try to muscle his way with you for a resolution. We have multiple examples in this forum on how these dealers try to use muscle to solve these customer issues rather than using their brains.

According to me, getting a new rapid will be your best bet. Refunds much more difficult to get as compared to replacement.

Finally for the litigation route, you will for sure win the case but be aware that in our country cases run for years (too many stalling mechanisms available). If you are ready for long battle, nothing like it. Only sad part will be that till that time you will be stuck with the fake car.
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Old 24th October 2017, 16:54   #122
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Hi Suhas

Sorry to hear about your predicament.

Just to let u know there are some guys still around, at Skoda, who can be reasonable and understand the situation and suggest a solution.

Hope u attain satisfactory closure
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Old 24th October 2017, 16:59   #123
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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
They initially offered me an exchange to the present rapid
If this is still an option, you can seriously consider going for this option and closing the matter. You can try to include extended warranty etc.

Very sad to hear of such threats in today's date. I suggest next time to record any conversation you have with them as evidence.

Truly wish your ordeal gets over quickly and amicably.
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Old 24th October 2017, 17:31   #124
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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
Okay , now I request my dear BHPians to suggest me on different ways that i could further escalate this matter and what's the best way to settle it.
I hope you have engaged a good lawyer by now, if you have not then do it. Also do not meet them again without consulting with the lawyer. Hopefully somebody here will be able to help you connect with Harish who may have some suggestions for you. I think Harish is from Mumbai (notsure).

Maybe motorguy can help you in contacting Harish and his input will be helpful to you if you proceed legally.
Quote:
Originally Posted by motorguy View Post
Harish is personally known to me. He has described the pain that he went through the years due to this and to eventually win the case. It required persistence to carry on through the years of litigation with Skoda missing the hearings and trying delaying tactics.

Last edited by Sankar : 24th October 2017 at 17:34.
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Old 24th October 2017, 17:40   #125
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaggu View Post
Sad to see that manufacturers and dealers have no clue on how to settle matters amicably with customers. My suggestion is to proceed with legal options using consumer forum and ask for damages that you deem fit. At the end of the day victory at court might not be monetarily a big one, but that will send a clear message to these unethical business men.

Do not settle unless the offer is reasonable to you.

As far as threat's go, do ensure all such conversation are now recorded. As consumers we are all with you on this.
Yes, Definitely the legal battle won't stop unless my offer is met .
As far as I can clear out about the settlement what I have been expecting is not unreasonable as all I have been asking is a No-loss,No-Profit settlement with all expenditures compiled which are connected to the issue .

And a big Thank you for being a back-bone support and helping out with the issues.

Quote:
Originally Posted by narayan View Post
There was another member - Mr Harish - who fought a long battle at the consumer court against Skoda and eventually won. If I recall right, he was from Bangalore as well. Request the mods to check if feasible to connect Manjunath with Harish ?
Yes, I am in touch with Harish.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shashank.nk View Post
If I were you, i'd meet the Skoda rep Ketan and make it clear to him that you are willing to pursue this legally if your demands of refund aren't met.

Also, apprise him of the fact that cases are fought and won based on facts and evidences, and not based on contacts/financial power as your disillusioned dealer thinks. This should hopefully straighten them.

If all else fails, approach a good lawyer and see if a criminal case can also be filed while simultaneously filing a petition with the consumer forum, once a legal notice is served to the dealer and Skoda India, they may come to the table with more to offer.
Yeah, Did check with Ketan and he was busy today . I will definitely plan and meet him by tomorrow.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dry Ice View Post
I am amazed at the audacity of this dealer to threaten you about contacts and backing, after cheating you!

Something is terribly wrong at Skoda. The frequency with which their dealers are changing parts is alarming. The last legal case of Harish against them was also about changing genuine parts with spurious ones. So I guess it's a matter of luck before your car's parts get swapped.

Do speak with BHPian Harish - who successfully fought a case against Skoda - and won. The concerned dealership was also closed in the process.

And also contact BHPian Silverwood - he has been fighting legal battles (including the most famous one against Govt. of Karnataka reg. annual road tax) all over our country for the benefit of motorists. I am sure he can help you with good legal advice/contacts as well as further course of action.

All the best in your fight against the most pathetic automobile company in our country today.
Yes I have been in touch with Harish and regarding Silverwood , thank you for intimating about him , I shall try to get in touch with him .

Quote:
Originally Posted by motorguy View Post
Harish is personally known to me. He has described the pain that he went through the years due to this and to eventually win the case. It required persistence to carry on through the years of litigation with Skoda missing the hearings and trying delaying tactics.
I'm already in touch with Harish personally and he has definitely advised me on how to go about the matter and he got his resolution . He is true gentleman and has personally spoken to me .

Quote:
Originally Posted by ferrarirules View Post
Suhas - Based on your post, one can make out that Ketan (ASM) is being sympathetic towards your situation. I will recommend you to keep on working with Ketan and make sure he is present in every meeting you have with the dealer. You should reschedule meetings if he is not available. This way, the dealer might not try to muscle his way with you for a resolution. We have multiple examples in this forum on how these dealers try to use muscle to solve these customer issues rather than using their brains.

According to me, getting a new rapid will be your best bet. Refunds much more difficult to get as compared to replacement.
Yes, i'm in continuous touch with Mr.Ketan and I have also asked him to personally be present during the following meets(If any meetings happen) and he has also obliged the same and has given me a positive view as far the settlement is concerned.
Regarding a exchange , I'm not very keen on it as i will be stuck with Skoda and the dealer for quite sometime and it might cause me trouble in future .

Quote:
Originally Posted by avdhesh15 View Post
If this is still an option, you can seriously consider going for this option and closing the matter. You can try to include extended warranty etc.

Very sad to hear of such threats in today's date. I suggest next time to record any conversation you have with them as evidence.

Truly wish your ordeal gets over quickly and amicably.
Exchange is not on offer now! And as said earlier, I'm not keen on looking to use another Skoda after all the trouble that I have gone through for a whole year.
Regarding evidences , all possible conversations are on records .
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Old 24th October 2017, 23:23   #126
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

I am wondering if you have filed a Criminal case too as this is a clear cheating case which does come under the purview of Criminal courts. I would say as long as you have strong evidence of Criminal Intent, you should use that weapon as that would send a stronger message and intent against them.

Yes after such experiences, nobody would want to have anything to do with such brands who have cheated and been indifferent towards customers. I can completely relate to your situation.

Stay strong and keep your stand strong. I would say do not let either sweet talk or threats soften your stand.

The next time you talk to them, ensure the meeting if at all it happens, happens in everybody's presence and tell them it has to be on record as they cant be jumping around trying to waste your time.

All the best. Do update the thread about your thoughts on a Criminal case.
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Old 25th October 2017, 10:12   #127
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

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Originally Posted by bikerzindia View Post
I am wondering if you have filed a Criminal case too as this is a clear cheating case which does come under the purview of Criminal courts.
============
All the best. Do update the thread about your thoughts on a Criminal case.
Criminal Case has not yet been filed but thoughts of doing it have definitely come but as far as I know , fighting the case in the criminal court will take longer and it's definitely easier to drag the case in a criminal court. Also a criminal case can be filed only after involving the police , and as we all know once police is involved it's a easy getaway for them
But if the threats continue and resolution doesn't help me then i shall definitely file a criminal case too.
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Old 25th October 2017, 18:54   #128
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

This is pure Cheating, 420, Criminal, Theft.

I'm shocked to learn that Uday and Chengappa were hand-in-glove since I knew them well during my ownership of Yeti from 2014-16.
How can any dealer stoop so low? Isn't the risk of losing credibility much higher than not selling A car for 1 customer. They could have informed the customer that the said variant is not available and refunded the amount. Why go through this Circus, and ultimately endup with eggs on face.
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Old 25th October 2017, 19:43   #129
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Hey BHPians,
I had promised to put up my version of the issue and here it is ! and really sorry for the delay.


I purchased a brand new Skoda rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT Black Package(Limited Edition) in Candy White colour from Vinayak Skoda located in Sadashivnagar, Bangalore on 31st October 2016 but dealer ended up swapping cars to make believe that the delivered car is genuine !

Take a few minutes and read as how the entire scam unfolded .

During the first week of October 2016 , I decided to buy a car in the price range of 10 to 12 lakhs and then test drove Volkswagen Vento , Hyundai Verna , Skoda Rapid and then narrowed my buy to Skoda Rapid as it had a better build quality than the Hyundai Verna and was priced better than the Volkswagen Vento . After taking this decision I visited the only two Skoda dealers in bangalore to get their respective offers , post which Tafe Access told me that they don’t have the stock for the Skoda Rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT Black Package(Limited Edition) but when I visited Vinayak Skoda , they checked and confirmed to me that the stock for Skoda Rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT Black Package(Limited Edition) in Candy White colour is available but they have just 1 car in stock and I have to make the booking as soon as possible if I needed the car.
After finalizing the discounts, I went ahead and locked the deal with Vinayak Skoda for Skoda Rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT Black Package(Limited Edition) in Candy White colour for Rs.11,80,000 .
According to the deal , the amount of Rs.11,80,000 was including Ex-showroom price , Road Tax , Insurance, Essential accessories(mud flaps and floor mats) and Handling charges . which were split up as following :
Ex-showroom price : Rs.9,72,617
Road Tax and RTO charges : Rs.1,51,144
Insurance : Rs.44,904
Handling Charges : Rs.10,000
Essential Accessories : Rs.1,750

On 14th October 2016, I paid a booking amount of Rs.20,000 to book the car.
Later during talks with the dealer, they were very hesitant to let me avail loan through my wishful bank and persuaded me to avail the loan through the dealer itself and as I already knew that every dealer has a understanding with their banks to get commission for the loans sanctioned from them, I stood my ground and told them that I will cancel the booking if they don’t let me take my loan from the bank which I wish.

Later on 18th October 2016, the dealer demanded another Rs.30,000 to fully block the car and give me proforma invoice to apply for loan, So I went ahead and made that payment of Rs.30,000 .
After submitting the documents to the bank, they approved my loan .

On 23rd October 2016, I had further discussions with the dealer, I had issues with the insurance provided by them and there was a huge price difference between the dealer and the market price for the same insurance policy, so I decided to do the insurance from the agent I personally knew . So now the total amount that I had to pay to the dealer had dropped to Rs.11,35.096 (as the insurance was done by me and not the dealer)

On 24th October 2016, I spoke to the dealer and conveyed that the amount is ready and it will be transferred to them and I told them to get the car ready for delivery on 26th October 2016 and the dealer promised to do so.

On 25th October 2016, I further instructed my bank to transfer Rs.10,85,096 to the dealer’s account immediately.

On 26th October 2016, the dealer failed to deliver the car by giving silly reasons.

Finally on 31st October 2016, the dealer delivered my car and the car looked genuine but there were problems with documents issued for the purchase of the car. Firstly the dealer had given an underpriced tax invoice, a wrongly issued temporary registration certificate. This is further explained below.
As the dealer had promised the car’s ex-showroom value would be Rs.9,72,617 but they had issued a underpriced tax invoice for just Rs.9,24,740 and there was a difference of Rs.47,877
And since I wanted a particular registration number for my car, I had instructed the dealer to get temporary registration done before delivery, In that temporary registration the dealer has mentioned the car as Skoda Rapid Style Plus 1.6 MPI Automatic(AT)
The underpriced tax invoice was also not reflecting the car’s limited edition/black package .
On questioning these issues, the dealer promised me to re-visit his showroom on the 2nd November 2016 and they would solve all my problems with my car and as 31st October and 1st November were holidays due to Diwali and Karanataka Rajyotsava and just the delivery team would be working on these days to fulfill the deliveries as it was a auspicious season, I took the delivery of the car.

On visiting the showroom on 2nd November 2016 and talking with the dealer, he said the issued tax invoice could not be changed so subsequently I realized that my Road tax amount would drop from Rs.1,51,144 to Rs.1,43,706 and the difference would be Rs.7,438 and he had not issued any invoice for the handling charges(Rs.10,000) and the essential accessories (Rs.1,750) .
So the dealer further told me that all he can do is raise a non-refundable debit note and not help me in any other way, I argued with him for his unfair trade policies and cheating the customer in front of their own eyes but he still did not understand my problems,so not agreeing to the issuing of debit note for the total difference amount of Rs.67,605 I left his showroom .

On 9th November 2016, I contacted Skoda customer care through phone and e-mail addressing them to help me sort out the issues connected to the debit note and the issued tax invoice not reflecting Skoda rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT ‘Black Package/Limited Edition’ for which they sent me a silly or unprofessional reply stating ‘please contact the senior general manager of the showroom in vinayak Skoda’ and they had attached his phone number.
Such a reply from a manufacturer like Skoda left me puzzled as to why the company was not intervening in the issue and not helping it’s customer get a suitable solution.

On 14th November 2016, I sent another E-mail to Skoda and the area sales manager regarding the debit note issue but made sure to attach evidence with this mail showing the underpriced invoice issued when compared to their proforma invoice split-up given.

Between 4th November to 21st November 2016:
On 4th November 2016, The bank asked me to submit all the documents to them as I had availed a loan. So when I spoke to the bank manager about the difference in the amount (Rs.67,605) he said I shall either have to pay up the difference amount immediately or I should rectify the documents and then submit it to the bank within a weeks’ time .
So hearing to this I again visited the showroom several times for close to three weeks(between 4th November to 21st November 2016) after the delivery to request them to rectify my documents for which they replied to me in very rude and unprofessional manner saying ‘We deal with all our customers in this manner, if you cannot accept the documents we have issued then it’s not our problem and since you have not availed the loan from us we cannot help you with this’ but still since it was causing me financial trouble, I still requested them and after a few arguments the dealer obliged to talk to the bank and sort out the matter On 21st November 2016. The bank finally was ready to accept the debit note for the difference in amount with a clear caution given to me that anytime during the bank audits if any problem arises with the debit note then I shall be responsible to pay the debit note amount back to bank immediately as the debit note which was given from the dealer looked very unprofessional as it was just typed on letterhead and did not bear any auditable/accountable information of the dealer such as a VAT or TIN numbers and the the entire amount did not have a tax break-up which is usually shown in invoices. Since I was tired of running between the bank and the dealer and after seeing the unruly behavior of the dealer and the manufacturer not helping me in any way, I agreed to the claw put by the bank.

On 18th November 2016, I realized that the headlights of the car were malfunctioning (flash and high beam not working) so I contacted the showroom for which the manager asked me to visit their service center where they would help me fix the issue. Meanwhile I told him that my car’s invoice doesn’t reflect the ‘limited edition/black package’ so how will I contact them with my car’s issue being the headlight. So the manager made a smart and sly decision to make me wait for sometime before I contacted the service center so that he could issue me a second tax invoice copy where he had edited the invoice and included the ‘black package’ in the invoice and asked me to submit the new invoice if they asked.

So on 27th December 2016(Delay in visiting the showroom as i was not in town for a few weeks and then I had my exams), I visited the service center and reported my issues with the car. The service center technician had failed to assess the problem so the service center manager asked me to give them 8-10 days to figure what the problem was and he allowed me to take the car and use it normally.

On 6th January 2017, I contacted the service center and they asked me to meet them with my car so they could show me what the issue was, When I visited the service center, the manager took my permission to demonstrate the problem in my car during which he showed me that the regular Skoda rapid’s headlight was functioning normally on my car and just the limited edition/black package Skoda rapid’s headlight was malfunctioning on my car which is because my car was not manufactured as a limited edition/black package Skoda Rapid but was a regular Skoda rapid .
So, I realized that the dealer has completely modified the car from exterior to make it look like a limited edition/black package before he had delivered it to me.

Following this I decided to directly talk to the senior general manager of the showroom and confront to him about his foul play with my car, He later accepted his foul play and said he didn’t have a Skoda Rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT Black Package(Limited Edition)in Candy White colour so he had swapped a few parts to make regular Skoda Rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT in Candy White colour to look like a Skoda Rapid style plus 1.6MPI MT Black Package(Limited Edition), Later I even called the owner of Vinayak Skoda and he also admitted to the mistake done by his employees and told me that his senior general manager would contact me to address the issue.

The very next day, i.e on the 7th January 2017, the senior general manager of Vinayak Skoda contacted me and requested me give him one chance to fix my headlight issue and I felt it’s always right for a human being to get a chance to correct their mistakes. So I obliged. He asked me a few more days time to find a solution to my headlight issue.

On 18th January 2017, the senior general manager of Vinayak Skoda called me and confidently told me that they have found a solution and I should visit their service center again and later on the same day I called up the service center manager and he confirmed to me that the headlights have arrived from Skoda and it's as simple as just swapping it with my existing headlights.

On 20th January 2017, since I had promised them to give them a chance to rectify the issue, I visited their service center again where their service center manager tells me a funny story that ‘they have specially requested Skoda to manufacture a special pair of headlamps which look like limited edition/black package headlamps but will function on a regular Skoda Rapid and as my car was still under warranty and the dealer would claim it under the warranty’ after he said this , I clearly understood that the dealer has planned and executed some masterplan to close the issue without them getting caught publicly for cheating the customer, If the service center’s manager’s words were true and if Skoda has specially manufactured such headlamps for my particular car (which is next to impossible) then why hasn’t the company contacted me directly and taken my consent too ? if the warranty was being claimed then why didn’t the manufacturer inform the same to the owner of the car (as whenever any warranty is claimed the owner of the vehicle directly gets a update on their registered mobile number) but still I didn’t argue with him on these points, I simply let him demonstrate me that the ‘specially manufactured headlamps’ and it indeed worked normally on my car but later when I investigated about specially manufactured headlamps and asked them reveal what is changed/different in the ‘specially manufactured headlamps’ I realized that they were fake or black package headlamps which had twitched internal wiring to work on a regular Skoda rapid. Realizing this I declined his offer to fix my car and walked out of the service center without my car being fixed or altered from that present condition.

Later I did some research online and realized that the Skoda company has an app which is directly managed by the manufacturer(Skoda Auto India Pvt.Ltd) where we can register our cars and avail complete information about it, So I did install the MySkoda app and entered my VIN number and followed the registration procedure to check my car details, from which it clearly showed me that the car I owned or which was delivered to me was a regular Skoda Rapid and not The limited edition Skoda Rapid.

After this, I immediately contacted a lawyer and filed a consumer court case against them for all the unfair trade practices and cheating, with all the evidences that I had and since I had started recording all the calls which were connected to this matter, It has become easy for me to fight the case in the consumer court. I also spoke to a chartered accountant who told me that such debit notes without TIN number of the issuer do not hold good for accounting purposes and filing of taxes and thus they in turn become the black money or illegal money for the hoarders
Later when I was doing some more research about similar cases by dealers’ of Skoda, I came across the case of Harish kanchan which has gone viral on the team-bhp and has become famous in all platforms, Later when I spoke to him personally he told me he had to fight hard to get his justice!


I also want you guys to clearly know that it’s not just me but there are hundreds of other people who have been a victim of such debit notes and car swaps and which clearly shows that Skoda dealers are not just cheating their customers but also cheating the nation by avoiding taxes and making illegal money . Moreover such dealers tend to bring negative impact on the brand and also impacts the manufacturer as they create such fake ed/converted variants of a specific car when only a limited number of products have to be manufactured and sold as they are Limited versions
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Old 25th October 2017, 20:27   #130
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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
Hey BHPians,
I also want you guys to clearly know that it’s not just me but there are hundreds of other people who have been a victim of such debit notes and car swaps and which clearly shows that Skoda dealers are not just cheating their customers but also cheating the nation by avoiding taxes and making illegal money . Moreover such dealers tend to bring negative impact on the brand and also impacts the manufacturer as they create such fake ed/converted variants of a specific car when only a limited number of products have to be manufactured and sold as they are Limited versions
Just when I thought Skoda has changed to a better company and was about to plan for a purchase of OctaviaRS (influenced by a good TBHPian friend who bought recently), this news has enlightened the senses. I am going to stay away.

This ethics and integrity issue seems to be cultural across VW group. Recall the Diesel emission scandal that cost them billions in penalties.
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Old 25th October 2017, 21:30   #131
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

Quote:
Originally Posted by harishpr View Post
This is pure Cheating, 420, Criminal, Theft.

I'm shocked to learn that Uday and Chengappa were hand-in-glove since I knew them well during my ownership of Yeti from 2014-16.
How can any dealer stoop so low? Isn't the risk of losing credibility much higher than not selling A car for 1 customer. They could have informed the customer that the said variant is not available and refunded the amount. Why go through this Circus, and ultimately endup with eggs on face.
Yes , this is pure cheating and as customers and common man we can easily understand this, but as dealers they have thought it is not any major mistake that they have committed.
You are shocked about Uday and Chengappa have worked hand-in-glove but sorry to let you know that is the fact

As far as losing the credibility goes , It's possible to lose the credibility but what is astonishing is that SKODA INDIA have not yet taken any action against the dealer or might have taken their action against the dealer but not made it public So I do feel Skoda India has indirectly backed their dealer and not helped their customer attain justice.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nareshtrao View Post
Just when I thought Skoda has changed to a better company and was about to plan for a purchase of OctaviaRS (influenced by a good TBHPian friend who bought recently), this news has enlightened the senses. I am going to stay away.

This ethics and integrity issue seems to be cultural across VW group. Recall the Diesel emission scandal that cost them billions in penalties.
I still do feel OctaviaRS is one of the best performance cars in the Indian market to buy but definitely as a customer the first thing that we need when we want to buy a product is the feel of genuinity with the brand and the safeness from after sales operations which Skoda has clearly lost by their customers.
So if you feel the dealer from whom you are buying is genuine then please go ahead after making through inspection on the car that will be delivered to you .


BHPians, Update on Today's proceedings:
Had a discussion with Mr. Sanjeeva Rao, But I did expect Mr.Ketan who is the ASM for Skoda India to join us for today's discussion as I had previously been informed that he will be physically present for today's meeting but unfortunately it was disappointing to know at the very last moment that he was not present for today's discussion.
I have very clearly told Mr. Sanjeeva Rao that I'm not interested with the offer that he had made on 23rd october 2017 which is enlightening myself to upgrade the car with the flamboyance of choosing all wishful accessories to upgrade my car which would be done for free of cost . It is very clear to him from my end that I do not want to continue with the car for any further and I have also told him my only viable settlement option is a refund.
So he did understand my entire requirement and has told the same will be conveyed to the owner of Vinayak Skoda and in the next 1-2 days time , we would all meet again in the presence of the owner of Vinayak Skoda Mr.Suresh Bafna, COO of Vinayak Skoda Mr. Sanjeeva Rao and ASM for Skoda India Mr. Ketan to try and achieve a closure to this case.

I thank all the BHPians who are providing support and inputs continuously and helping me do the right things to attain a good settlement.

Last edited by SuhasManjunath : 25th October 2017 at 21:44.
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Old 25th October 2017, 22:59   #132
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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
It is very clear to him from my end that I do not want to continue with the car for any further and I have also told him my only viable settlement option is a refund.
So he did understand my entire requirement and has told the same will be conveyed to the owner of Vinayak Skoda and in the next 1-2 days time , we would all meet again in the presence of the owner of Vinayak Skoda Mr.Suresh Bafna, COO of Vinayak Skoda Mr. Sanjeeva Rao and ASM for Skoda India Mr. Ketan to try and achieve a closure to this case.
Yeah, getting refund and walking away would be the right options. At least you can look for a better and more trust-able brand outside.
Also not just refund, but they should provide suitable compensation for all the trauma you have to go through.

Unlike Harish's case, hope the outcome of the discussion is made public.
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Old 26th October 2017, 16:14   #133
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

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Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
So he did understand my entire requirement and has told the same will be conveyed to the owner of Vinayak Skoda and in the next 1-2 days time , we would all meet again in the presence of the owner of Vinayak Skoda Mr.Suresh Bafna, COO of Vinayak Skoda Mr. Sanjeeva Rao and ASM for Skoda India Mr. Ketan to try and achieve a closure to this case.
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The Honorable Consumer Court will settle the case and give relief as per your prayer. This may take time, but will eventually be in your favor.

I had won a case against a Furniture store and it took close to an year. Hearings were postponed as they didn't turn up, tried every trick, even showed fake back dated credit notes.

Make sure you have a lawyer when you meet the dealer representatives and record the meeting (Notify them that you are recording). That way, they would be extra careful, in their choice of words.
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Old 26th October 2017, 17:37   #134
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

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Originally Posted by SuhasManjunath View Post
Hey BHPians,
I had promised to put up my version of the issue and here it is ! and really sorry for the delay.
Thanks!

Have added this to the first post of the thread as well.
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Old 3rd November 2017, 22:11   #135
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Re: Man buys Skoda Rapid Black edition; Vinayak Skoda sells him a fake ed converted from a regular R

BHPians , here's another update !

Had a few discussions over the last week with Mr.Sanjeeva Rao , COO of Vinayak Skoda who told me that he would put forward the matter for a direct discussion with Mr.Suresh Bafna who is the owner of Vinayak Skoda but Mr. Suresh Bafna had very unusual request/order of involving my father for the discussion and if I do not agree for this request then he had conveyed it to me that the discussion would not be organised. Since i was left without a preferred option but to agree for the involvement of my father, i agreed for the discussion.

Mr.Sanjeeva Rao had planned the discussion on 30th October 2017 by 7:00-7:30 PM at the Vinayak Skoda premises in the presence of Mr.ketan who is the ASM of Skoda India, Mr.Suresh Bafna who is the owner of Vinayak Skoda and my father and I.
As planned , my father and I turned up at the showroom on-time(6:50 PM) but as we all know the hospitality of Skoda dealers is remarkable and they very well keep up their plans for which they have to appreciated without fail so they in turn made us wait for over an hour, Meanwhile I called up Mr.Ketan to confirm his presence for the discussion and Mr.ketan said he has already started from his office and he is on his way to Vinayak Skoda and after a few minutes comes another happy news , Mr.Ketan who was on his way to Vinayak Skoda gives a reason and says he cannot be present for today's discussion and asks us to proceed with the discussion. Very reluctantly my father and I agree for this as we had already wasted over an hour at the showroom so we went ahead and met Mr.Suresh and Mr.Sanjeeva.

Discussion started and as I expected, they started playing the Blame-Game really well, Mr.Suresh starts by blaming the whole fault on my father and tries to get away with a lie stating that he had personally spoken to my father soon after delivery where he had told him about the conversion of the car and requested my father for the inconvenience caused and apparently my father had agreed for this, My father immediately denies this and says no such information was given to him before the delivery nor during the delivery or after the delivery. To state a fact the entire process from booking to delivery was handled by me so I do not understand on how can such foolish statement be pulled off by saying it was intimated to my father?

Anyway, I later understood that they wanted to involve my father to only create more unnecessary confusions and also try and convince him to not demand for an exchange or refund as they clearly knew it was easier for them to get away with the whole fraud when it comes to convincing my father instead of me, as my father is quite old and has very little knowledge when it comes to cars. So they again tried to convince my father by saying that such conversion would not cause any trouble to the car and my car was not the only car that had been converted but they had actually done 6-8 more such conversions ! I later asked my dad to not discuss but let me talk to them, So I further made a very clear point to Mr.Suresh and Mr.Sanjeeva that I am not budging down for any such words and I either want a refund or the car that I had originally booked, for which Mr.Suresh said it is not possible to do either of it. So I told him if he isn't ready for such a compromise then i'm not interested in discussing further. Mr. Sanjeeva again makes another indirect threat that if we wouldn't settle the matter then my father and I would have to face legal issues and it would be really difficult for my father to pay up defamation charges at this age ! but ignoring him , we stood up and walked out of Mr.Suresh's cabin , while we were walking out, Mr.Suresh who was so far portrayed as very humble businessman had the audacity to comment saying we were only here for wasting his time ! So I clearly told him that it was not us but them who were wasting our time by repeatedly calling us for discussions when they had no intentions of closing the matter but make threats against us and scare us to budge for their spoofy offers such as delighting ourselves to an unending list of accessories which absolutely has no connection to the resolution needed !

Later the next day, I spoke to Mr.Ketan over the phone who initially during the discussions seemed very helpful but lately I have doubts on him as well !
I told Ketan the entire incident of what had happened the previous night at Vinayak Skoda , he heard to it patiently. Next, I asked him a few questions for which he gave a rather mediocre kind of answers, I particularly wanted to know a few things:
Has Skoda taken any action against their dealer for such issues?

For which he says there is very stern action in process!

But what i don't understand is when Skoda has been aware of this issue for over 6 months , why was no action taken for so long and how much time do they need to actually take any action ?


Why has Skoda not involved or tried to settle the matter?
For which he says in your case the compensation has to be done by the dealer principal and Skoda has very minimal say in it.


So what I don't understand is , is he trying to say that the manufacturer has no hold over their own dealer or is it just that Skoda is too scared to even fight their dealer? It more looks their dealer is the boss for the manufacturer.

I also brought it to his notice that their dealer has been practicing various other things which voids different kinds of warranties on brand new cars and asked him how has Skoda stayed numb by not ordering their dealer to stop such practices?!
For which he had a standard reply of saying a stern action is process .

I also told him that you should understand that such dealers are not just cheating their customers but also cheating the Skoda company as well by tampering with the products to bloat up sales.
For which he again says this is different issue and Skoda will take a strong action against the dealer and we can discuss this separately.

Later he also said from a personal point of view , if he was in my place then would have accepted the spoofy offer by Vinayak Skoda of delighting myself with a huge list of accessories along with installing of a fully functional headlamps for which he would make sure Skoda takes complete responsibility of all warranties and closing the issue as it would take decades together if we fight it in the courts!
He also said when such a headlight would be fit onto my car then there would be no difference between my car and a limited edition car, so I countered him by saying that it's not just features and looks that matter but the documentation by skoda which matters the most! and i asked him after doing all the changes physically, will your company's documentation also be changed ? for which he had no answer which basically implies that through the looks, my car will be a limited edition car but on records it won't.
So I said I shall consider changing my headlights only if Skoda shuts down Vinayak Skoda and I'm not interested in delighting myself with any such accessories for which he said he will talk to the dealership and ask them to come out with a quantitative sum as compensation instead. Also he said he will discuss the matter with his higher ups and get back to me by 3rd November 2017 by 3:00 PM, which again he has failed to do so and when I tried calling him later in the evening, the call went unanswered.

With Ketan missing on discussions and lately talking in support of the dealership, i personally feel they are working hand-in-glove again to make a buck and not respect the customer's need.

I sincerely request all BHPians to help me, by letting me know how else I could escalate the matter to the higher authorities of Skoda ? also is there any other platform that will help me win this issue ?
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