[SmartCat]

Maruti is like a Bollywood Superstar who has been caught breaking the law.

The mainstream press adores this Superstar - but once the Superstar has been caught on the wrong side of law, media is usually relentless in the coverage.

[Latheesh]

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bus...13539.html/amp

This report has reference to TBHP

[maverickmano]

Thanks for thread buddy. It is an eye opener, I used to remove the dash cam(to avoid getting it stolen) and leave the car for service. Seeing your incident I would want to leave it in the car in future. I guess with this incident most of the service centers and SA's would become 'dashcam aware' and I hope to get a better service if the SA spots it

[YaeJay]

This is not a one off incident. I have personal experience with a few brands. Same with two wheelers. It was the same 20 years back. Every free service is paid by the company. Every service center always gets you to sign before you take delivery of your car/bike before you do. most of my friends go the authorized service center not to void the warranty, but do check up with their preferred place. I don't think they will change. I think the main reason is because, most of the workers are not passionate about what they do.

[jayantvs]

Originally Posted by maverickmano

....I hope to get a better service if the SA spots it

Though it is a good thought but the service center may find various loopholes in this which are listed by various members in previous posts, especially after the pace at which this thread has gone viral

1. Not accepting cars with dashcam.
2. Disconnecting USB/Power to dashcam.
3. Removing SD card.
4. Damaging dashcam to discourage owners from leaving behind dashcam.

The best way is to have CCTVs in the service center which should be continuously monitored by the management and if requested should be shown to the customer.

[deehunk]

The talk begins with one of the attendant saying customer is not there, take it to wash, then somebody else tells him to wait till the customer is not in the vicinity. Someone identifies the camera, then there is a small brain storming session about the camera and how it records. After sometime they realise it is recording and it is a front view camera. They also speak about taking vehicle to polish after the wash, customer is then blamed for coming late. No hint of cleaning the seats or checking the smell, really a Crazy NEXA experience for a Crazy star fan.

[rohitoasis]

I have been going through the comments in this thread and the reach of this news across various media. Non petrolhead friends of mine are today sending me the link of this by even SMS. (Mind you i am fairly isolated due to my absence in Whatsapp, but i can imagine many more would have shared in that media also now) Like many have theorized by now. The checklists for M.A.S.S would now include a check to see if Dash Cam is available and if it is turned off.

What breaks my heart is, this car carries an important engine for Maruti. One which is new to them and should ideally be monitored the most closely (Unlike other engines which have been in service in lakhs of cars for at least half a decade). Maruti should have been keenly monitoring the parameters of the engine at every possible point this car is made available to them.


I can also imagine that with increasing loads at the service stations, the attention each cars get is limited and there must be brownie points to the service station to improve the through put and improve the revenues. But to do what we have seen in this thread is not appropriate by any standards.

In my little town we are used to a Maruti service technician who is practically a family friend and intimately knows each Maruti car in the vicinity like the back of his hand. Coming from such a trusting environment to a busy metropolis, i sure have been gullible till date in believing whatever any service engineer would dish out to us. For car service stations which have a certain load, i cannot imagine a bike service station with 20 times the volume, i cant imagine what measures of fraud we riders must be exposed to.

In most situations, people dont get to stay with the car due to many reasons. If someone says they have checked and rectified something, it acts as a placebo effect on us and we tend to believe that the issue has been sorted out. This event has indeed been worrying and eye opening to me. Gives all the more reason for everyone who cares for their vehicles to build a camaraderie with a trustworthy service engineer.

I wish better luck to the OP in future, hoping he finds better service support (Like many in the forum claimed that Mandovi was capable of providing) and wishing many more safe miles ahead.

[ashwin49]

Originally Posted by jayantvs

Though it is a good thought but the service center may find various loopholes in this which are listed by various members in previous posts, especially after the pace at which this thread has gone viral

1. Not accepting cars with dashcam.
2. Disconnecting USB/Power to dashcam.
3. Removing SD card.
4. Damaging dashcam to discourage owners from leaving behind dashcam.

If I were competition and the market leader is caught up in something like this, I would come up with a full page ad stating we allow all cars to have dash-cams and we will allow you the freedom to follow your car at the service station as well as look at the video in our CCTV. Indeed honesty will have its price but in the long run you will make up for it. There is not a single largish country in world apart from India where the market leader commands a 50% market share. Hope the competition wakes up - We all will be benefited in the long run by such blood letting.

[sanjayk]

Caught this story on Google News with a link to moneycontrol. These days Integrity and Honesty have a new definition - On Camera, Off Camera.

Isn't it time for Maruti to start "Company Owned Company Operated" (COCO) Service Centers? This would at-least put an end to the greed of the Dealer Owned Ones.

I am planning to go for a 3rd Maruti Vehicle, these incidents make me think twice. But, honestly do i have a choice? Every other Manufacturer has similar horror stories around.

At least in India, people spend a fortune to own a car, in return they get cheated by these Unscrupulous dealer's.

[nerd1200]

ROG_AK: Thanks for not giving in to all those apologies and taking the video down! The guys should really drop their overconfidence.

I was curious some time back about what really goes down during the service. So, I kept the Dashcam on during the service. The SA did not care to check.
In the evening when I go to collect the car back, the Dashcam is missing (the GPS mount was there though) alongwith the media (thumb) drive. When reported, the SA said - "Sir, we asked you to remove valuables, right? Now er cannot be held responsible!"
After "dealing" with him and speaking to the service manager, I was able to get back the dashcam (the SD card was missing though). The thumb drive couldn't be recovered.
Well, that pretty much was the last time I played detective. It was at Advaith Hyundai, Bangalore (near Graphite signal) BTW and I've since switched to Trident.

+1 to the CCTVs in the service bay suggestion!

[ROG_AK]

Thank you all for the great support! I have not got any calls or communication from Maruti apart from what happened in the morning.
So they say there is a positive side to every situation right? Well this incident is what got me into this great community! I had sent a mail to share@team-bhp explaining the entire incident and a few hours later got a mail from GTO asking why I am not part of the forum. I had applied a few months back and got rejected, he asks me to register again, he approves it and am finally here
I did not think this would gain so much traction! Just goes to show the power of a community like Team-bhp.

Originally Posted by RaghuVis

..please be a bit more alert
All those guys came to your house so they know exactly where you live!

..

I most certainly will, thank you for the concern.

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

..What breaks my heart is, this car carries an important engine for Maruti. One which is new to them and should ideally be monitored the most closely (Unlike other engines which have been in service in lakhs of cars for at least half a decade). Maruti should have been keenly monitoring the parameters of the engine at every possible point this car is made available to them.

This is exactly what I told the Maruti guys! The service centre could not give a flying fish though. In the video one guy even asks 'Is this a petrol car!' I was just like wow!
There was another incident which I recall when they were carrying out the actual service the next day, a Swift Dezire was lying in the rain with the bonnet completely open! It was raining 'cats and dogs' that day and not a single person bothered to close the bonnet! They just walked past it not being bothered. Wish I had the footage of that, would have hit the nail in the coffin.

And in other news.. People are trying to make a quick buck out of the incident. This guy uploads the video and conveniently removes the songs at the end, which are a copyright infringement due to which the video cannot be monetized, and is trying to cash in! Then he says it's not for money making

[vagabond128]

I had a very bad experience at Mandovi Motors, Old Madras Road. I reported that in my post on Team-BHP:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4261397

It seems to be structural problem:
1. Under-trained and under-aged mechanics were employed by Mandovi
2. Trained mechanics had serious attitude issue. They had seemingly delegated work to these untrained, probably underpaid workers. I could see them standing in a group simply gossiping
3. SAs didn’t have any control on them.
4. I filled feedback form on Maruti’s app with low scores. There was absolutely no reaction from Maruti to negative feedback!! Not even a call or auto-generated mail.

[maverickmano]

Originally Posted by jayantvs

Though it is a good thought but the service center may find various loopholes in this which are listed by various members in previous posts, especially after the pace at which this thread has gone viral

1. Not accepting cars with dashcam.
2. Disconnecting USB/Power to dashcam.
3. Removing SD card.
4. Damaging dashcam to discourage owners from leaving behind dashcam.

The best way is to have CCTVs in the service center which should be continuously monitored by the management and if requested should be shown to the customer.

I have to agree. CCTV is a long way to go, until then the only option is to man the car while it is being serviced.

[Durango Dude]

Just imagine if you left the dash cam on in a Skoda Service Centre; not that they'll be bothered!

[srikanthns]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

That said - I never leave my car at the service station, except only on one occasion where they had to keep it over a couple of days to check a recurring a/c issue. Sometimes it feels like a waste of time (which could otherwise be utilised at office or home) but these sort of incidents just proves that it is the only way out!

[/url]

But in Trivandrum Maruti Service centres, you cannot even peek into the service area! Those are off limits to Customers. You are expected to cool your heels in the "customer lounge". Usually, people here give the car in the morning (8-10AM), discuss issues to be attended, go away, come back i nthe evening (3.30-6PM) Ato collect the serviced car! INDUS modus operandi is like this only! Since you are based in Trivandrum, you can comment on this or share your experience of Trivandrum MARUTI service centres!