[tilt]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

The biggest worry is these guys, even if they are fired, will work for another service station. Now that they have learnt what transpired, they will have different tricks up their sleeves. *SNIPPED FOR RELEVANCE*

This is what worries me too. The maximum that could happen is that these guys get fired, and they'll move to another service centre at a different manufacturer.

And it will only be the technicians who might get fired; and maybe the service advisor. The manager and GM will not be penalised. They will be instructed by management to not be caught like this again in a stupid fashion.

Cheers

[shivasi]

Think the problem is also with the tons of cars they get to service every day. I am sure that a SA & his staff have a target to meet per day. So they do such adjustments.

I do stay the entire day if I put in my S-Cross for service. I also make frequent visits to the service bay to see what is happening. Just don't trust them unfortunately. I too had a bad experience with my Wagon-R and since have been staying with my car.

It is also appalling at the way these guys rev the car and almost abuse it.

[i74js]

This applies to all. Not sure about other companies, but the reverse of every FIAT service coupon (free or paid) has the long list of items to be checked, tested and replaced.

I took a photo of the coupon which was to be taken away by the SA at the time of handling over of the car and when the car was ready, I took him to the task by asking him to narrate what all has been carried out and the fellow was caught in first 10 seconds when he could not explain what all was carried out.

It took me 2 more hours after he was done with closure of job card when he was standing next to my car and 2 mechanics were carrying out everything inline with the reverse of coupon as I escalated the matter to the owner of the dealership as I had his business card since we exchanged pleasantries at the time of car delivery.

At times the shortcuts are taken by SAs because they are allocated with large number of cars to attend to, and this can very well be the case with MSIL dealers, mine was FIAT where SAs are generally not overloaded.

Leaving the car at ASS and believing them on the service - I don't think its worth it !

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by gpa

A new one opened on Maj. Sandeep Unnikrishnan Road from M.S Palya circle towards Yelahanka recently (one month ago).

This is still their usual Service Center and I too notice this every time I m returning from work.

The NEXA Service outlets which are coming up now will be exclusive for cars sold under NEXA only.

[turbodude]

Originally Posted by aerohit

I was once at Bimal in BLR My vehicle, then a swift, required a rubber grommet spare part which was not in stock.

SA removed it from other customers car and installed in my vehicle.

While it resolved my problem, I was not too happy about it.

Aerohit are you serious ? If you knew that, how did you allow him to put someone else's spare part in your car? Isn't that a blatant theft?

Make sure you don't allow this anytime, anywhere and by anyone.

Speaking about the ordeal by ROG_AK, it looks like everyone from the service center is trying to save face and no one is concerned about the incident and its possible consequences. A petrol leak can result in huge fireball and entire car can go up in flames. I had experienced a petrol leak in 2011 when I used to drive Maruti 800 and Shivam Auto Care (A.S.S. in Kalyan West) acted really quick and fixed it.

Thanks to ROG_AK and Team-BHP for staying firm and not removing this article.

[Santoshbhat]

Looks like this whole free service thing is just a sham. Something of a feel good for the customer at no cost to either the service centre or the Auto Cos. I am sure the Auto Cos hardly compensate the service centres for this 'free service' and it may part of the investment that a service partner makes for getting the 'Authorised Service Centre' tag. This practice may well be prevalent across multiple brands and service centres. Thanks to you, the public is now aware.

If its that rudimentary, I wouldn't mind if they do away with it. In today's busy world its a pain taking time off to drop off / wait/ collect car etc... VAG cars initially came with no free services and the 1st paid service was to be done after one year directly. I think they too came under pressure to offer this 'feel good' free service and they have now come up with a 6 month 7500 kms free service inspection . And its not optional. If you don't get that service box ticked, you open the door for escaping warranty claims. "But saar you haven't followed the prescribed service schedule, see its there in para no. so & so"

Free service gives no feed good factor for me atleast. Its a royal pain in the a**.

[tharian]

Looks like this has become Monday morning hot news in office's.
I overheard a group talking about this in the cafeteria at the same time watching the video. No surprise MSIL was so adamant on trying to get the thread removed.


Talking about the free service sham, now I am wondering if all the car manufacturers do it.
I had to give my Ford Aspire for the first check up(not service) at 2,500 kms.
I had requested for the engine oil to be replaced which was not part of the schedule. For some reason, I did not think of checking the engine oil on the dipstick before taking the car. Couple of days later I checked, and it looked like it wasn't replaced. But it was something which I could not confront the service center with since the fresh oil in the diesel engine turns to black in no time.

Add to this, my car was taken on a Sunday and when I said I will wait for it, they insisted it will take time and to come back when it is ready. Which was just 3 hours later! I am quite sure it was washed and returned as well since the other branch of the same dealer had shut down and this was overloaded with cars.

[vijay_k]

Sad to see this, I am a customer of Mandovi from past almost 10 years and have never faced any such issue, I have always got good service from them. Most of my friends who own Maruti cars are also a loyal customer of theirs and even they have never experienced such issues from them.

Vijay

[Mafia]

I am neither shocked nor surprised, just saddened at this. This has happened to me with my bikes for sure. Cars, not so sure as I lacked the technical expertise to evaluate in the initial years of ownership.

I feel this is a part of how the business of service is run. There have been multiple threads in other forums discussing 'fake'servicing in other countries too. Especially these engine oil top up centers are a full on scam in a few cases.

I wonder if we will ever reach a stage that we can be rest assured to get the best service by just paying money.

[ROG_AK]

Oh my lord! Wonder if there is a record for hearing the word 'sorry' a certain number of times in a span of 24 hours, pretty sure I would make it in the books . On a serious note, all their apologies seem to have a serious ulterior motive!

This is what happened today:

- As promised yesterday, four gentleman (service manager, senior general manager, mechanic and RSM of Maruti Nexa) come to my house in the morning to inspect the fuel smell.
- They come to the conclusion that it is an enriched fuel mixture which occurs when the engine is cold to bring it up to operating temperature. They leave a few moments later ensuring me that everything is fine.
- I was making my way to the office when I get a call from the relationship manager, who took care of the delivery process, asking me to meet him. I oblige and asked him to come to my office.
- The relationship manager brings the service manager and yet another manager with him. They start off by apologising and go on to tell me how customer satisfaction is the number one priority at Maruti and they take their customers very seriously. We have a conversation for sometime, I tell them that it is important to change the attitude and work ethics of the mechanics and service advisors so they don't just do the work just for the sake of it.
- Then they also request me if they can take the car in again and do a system scan to check for any issues. I told them that would be possible only next week because I was going on a trip.
- This is what pissed me off! Right when they were about to leave, they make a humble request to remove this thread and to explicitly mention that they had come and apologised to me.

Maruti, let me make it CRYSTAL clear:

I will NOT remove the video and this thread cannot be deleted!

You can sweet talk all you want but it will not make ANY difference. I appreciate all your apologies but please focus on making things better instead of trying to do damage control!

[audioholic]

Now this is in Moneycontrol. Guess this issue will reach heights of escalation. Since its in Moneycontrol, a lot of top management people might get to see this and it will definitely lead to some changes at various levels. Curious to know the aftermath from the dealer's side. And now that this matter has become serious, I don't think they will allow me to take on my car for service with the dashcam running If they do let me leave the camera running, then I will trust them.

[pnredkar]

The news also appears here:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bus...y-2413539.html

Edit: Guess cross-posted with audioholic.

[centaur]

Like many others have pointed out, now not only Maruti, but all other service centers too will be extremely cautious about any dash cams in cars. The service centers will be sent a circular asking not to accept any car with a dash cam or ask the owner to disable/switch off the dash cam before giving in the car for service. Even worse, they might purposely damage the dash cams to discourage owners from having one in the cars.

We are speaking of this from a manufacturer who is the largest by volume in the country and that is just because of "good service" and given that this has happened within their premises, I wonder what would be happening in most other service centers across manufacturers.

If Maruti Suzuki wants to do some damage control, they should rather encourage people to send their cars for service with dash cams and allow the owners to see the vehicle being serviced from their own video footage. That is the only way they can rebuild the trust and show that they are still very clear that customer is king for them. If they start asking people to stop dash cams, I am afraid it would not help them much

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I don't think they will allow me to take on my car for service with the dashcam running If they do let me leave the camera running, then I will trust them.

Now expect MSIL to bulk order GoPro Helmet mount cameras that they will ask each of the Mechanic and service personnel to wear it all the times with a battery pack in their apron .

Too difficult for them to ignore this as we have seen many cases where smallest of complaint has reached highest levels. The damage is now done, it cannot be reverted.

I know of a case where a very big dealer in Bangalore was fined 10L by MSIL itself for offering more than the usual Cash discount for a brand new car. As we all know, every month the Cash discount for each state/city is set by MSIL, this one was offering more than the prescribed one when buyer showed legitimate evidence on this, the other dealer sent a complaint to MSIL who acted strictly with a heavy penalty.

[Desi Dybuk]

What a disgraceful fall it has been for Mandovi. I remember that they were one of the early dealers for Maruti in Karnataka. My father bought his Maruti 800 from them in Bangalore in 1980s since there was no dealership in our hometown.

Maruti cars aren't cheap. Most of Maruti's customers are middle class who have put a substantial portion of their earnings into a trusted brand. And Maruti service charges aren't cheap either, running into thousands. And this is the kind of 'service' one gets. Don't for one moment think that this is unique to Maruti. I'm sure that it's the same case with other brands as well. It's just that they haven't been caught (yet).

Heck, I'm sure these guys have even billed for oil & transmission oil changes but haven't replaced a drop.

Maruti NEEDS to take a stringent action against these thugs & not let them get away with a mild slap to the wrist. Revoke their franchise agreement. Unless a very PUBLIC example is made of them, the TRUST which Maruti likes to tomtom about, is a sham. If Maruti lets this slide, it only means that even they are glove-in-hand with these thugs in looting middle class of India.

And being a Kannadiga, you know what galls me the most? It's the usage of the word 'ಅವನು' to describe the customer. In our language, it's the singular usage & is considered disrespectful.

Shameful, Maruti.

PS.: I hope the next time Team BHP is reviewing a Maruti vehicle, that statement about the supposedly solid service network is not mentioned. They don't deserve the high pedestal Indians give to Maruti-Suzuki.