[am1m]

This thread has certainly made some impact. Even today, I was asked if I had heard about the 'Maruti fake service' incident. And that too by a person who has no interest in automobiles and is not on TeamBHP. ROG_AK thank you for creating this thread and thank you TeamBHP Mods for supporting him and thank you all BHPians for pitching in. Whatever little impact this thread has had, it has made some difference. Even if it is only awareness, it's a small start to a loooong way to go for some of us to at least start getting some of our honest moneys' worth in this positively pathetic customer service environment/attitude that we see all around us. It's a start.

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by tharian

Visited Mandovi motors (Hennur Rd) on Sunday morning for a small work on my Swift.

Noticed a marked change in behavior of the staff..
..Saw a notice which said no photos and videos allowed in the service bay.

Also to note was , I was the only customer there who had come for some ad-hoc work.

Well that's good to hear. I'm sure the incident is still fresh in their minds, I just hope they don't slip back to being 'normal' as time goes by.

Originally Posted by am1m

This thread has certainly made some impact. Even today, I was asked if I had heard about the 'Maruti fake service' incident. And that too by a person who has no interest in automobiles and is not on TeamBHP. ROG_AK thank you for creating this thread and thank you TeamBHP Mods for supporting him and thank you all BHPians for pitching in. Whatever little impact this thread has had, it has made some difference. Even if it is only awareness, it's a small start to a loooong way to go for some of us to at least start getting some of our honest moneys' worth in this positively pathetic customer service environment/attitude that we see all around us. It's a start.

It definitely created more awareness than I was expecting and hopefully things will change for the better. As you said, it's a small start.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by A350XWB

The below video was posted by someone from Alapuzha, Kerala, where he alleges that the Wagon-R's battery was replaced with an old one by the NMC service center guys when the car was sent for servicing. (Narration by the owner is in Malayalam)

Looks like Maruti's famed after sales is going for a toss. But this is the reality everywhere, I think Maruti is unable to keep track of their enormous service network properly.

Many people including myself have never gone to the authorized service centers for obvious reason's. They are just not that different from your neighborhood garages these days.

[A350XWB]

Thought the below news is relevant to this thread. Hyundai is awarded the India Customer Service Index Study (CSI)-Mass Market (2017) by J.D.Power.

[gururajrv]

Well, it looks like most of the dealers are on a spree to bring down the brand value of Maruti Suzuki. It's time for MSIL to step on the A pedal and start rigorous checks against the dealerships on the practices they are carrying out. In one of the reports I came across online, one of the customer had paid additional registration fee when purchased the vehicle. After reviewing the bill only she realized there to be a discrepancy and has taken a stand against the dealership. Finally consumer court is in favor of the customer and has asked the dealer to pay a compensation of Rs.1,00,000 - a slap on the face and a lesson that some deceiving dealers should be taught about.

Link: Rushlane

[Ramon]

Took our Wagon R not for its 10,000 Km, / 1Year Service to Indus Motors, Trivandrum. I was in and out in 3 hours flat and stayed with the car throughout. Service was topnotch and all my points were attended to.

Saw two new additions after my last visit in May.

1. RF ID tag readers at the gate and the shop floor entrance. Older cars without the tag are given a temporary tag at the entrance. Now all the in and out movements of the car - inside the premises and inside the shop floor are logged electronically. Only the odometer reading is manually noted.

2. Found a new board. " Photography and Videography inside the premises is strictly prohibited.. Talk about shooting the messenger.

[ankitsharma]

Ohh Yeah ! Got time to read this incident in detail today. It is not shocking to me as I have seen these things with other customers and myself too. Many people do not report these incidents but it is being done everywhere in India.

Thanks a lot for bringing this in limelight.

I will also witness 3 incidents that happened with me.

1) I was planning to buy a car and went to Regent Maruti (Ghaziabad). I was checking swift dzire details and suddenly this agent comes up and says "Sir lets go for a test drive". I had already enquired for a test drive vehicle and they had told me that they do not have any(All booked and outside). But this guy to my surprise offered us a test drive in a non-test drive vehicle. I was wondering how that was possible but then as I came back after the test drive I found that the same vehicle was to be delivered to someone . Imagine test drive on a consumer vehicle which is to be delivered.

2) My driver side seat belt went kaput and my car was still under warranty which was about to get over in a month. I immediately called up the showroom from where I purchased the vehicle (Rohan Motors Ghaziabad). This guy says that he has the belt and it would cost 4.5k initially but when he got to know that my car is still under warranty he immediately refused for the availability. This guy later called me after 2 months knowing that by now the warranty might be over and the customer has to pay.
I had called up another service centre and verified the availability of the belt. Only after I landed up there and these guys changed the belt I told them that my car still had the warranty. After this the workshop manager met me and told that I should get the next and subsequent service done from their workshop instead of Rohan Motors so that they should also rip me off on service charges and labours.

3) On another note my car read ended another dzire and the bonnet, intercooler, radiator , hoses and bumper had to be changed. I got it done under the insurance and after the delivery I found that there was a whistle from the engine on turbo buildup. I got it checked from the service centre and they dismissed it saying it is not there. 2 weeks later I again took the vehicle to the service centre and bombarded the workshop manager for not addressing the issue. He immediately got this thing checked and it was found that they have not changed the intercooler while repairing the accidental claim while they had already got they money for this from the insurance agency.

Mod Note: No more than 2 smilies per post please

[shashank.nk]

Had been to Mandovi to get the 60k service done on my car today, my first visit post the fiasco.

I left the dashcam as is instead of disconnecting it like before and it started an interesting conversation and ended with a polite request to remove it.

Nonetheless, 60k service on a diesel swift is a major one and i'm happy to say I was out in 3 hours! Dropped in around 9 am and a SA greeted me as soon as I pulled up, helped me park, listened to my complaints and we were out for a trial. I entered around 9-9.05 and the car went into the bay as soon as we came back from the trial. Absolutely no time wasted from the time I entered to the time work actually started.

I was sitting in the lounge as always, but recollected certain things i'd forgotten to mention earlier so I walked into the workshop and hung around until the car was serviced, absolutely no complaints from anyone around unlike before where they'd be eager to shoo me away. Some did give me the 'What are you doing here' stare but no one told me I wasn't suppose to be there.

All work was done as requested and the technicians patiently answered all queries I had without any sign of irritation.

What left me impressed was how much things have changed and how a major service was done and car delivered in a matter of few hours,I hope this continues in future too.

I'm positive the OP had a small role in bringing about this change, so thank you!

[abhisheknandan]

It is a SA responsibility to ensure that all the required service checks are done on the vehicle. The staff at the service station as generally stressed out due to huge flow of vehicles. It generally takes around 2-3 hours to properly service a car, however, the service centre asks for a whole day. It is better to be present at the Service waiting lounge and make quick visits to the service area to see the status of the vehicle.

Your investment of a few hours will give you the confidence that the service was done well. I see people taking the option of pick and drop for service and I am not too convinced with that.

[ROG_AK]

Returned to the service centre today to get the Android Auto update, the place almost looked deserted. The volume of cars has reduced significantly and most of the staff were new. The old manager has been shifted to another location apparently.
Everyone seemed to have a more mature attitude, they even took extra effort to fix the notchy gear shifts I was experiencing. All the while only one person had recognized me (customer service manager). The new manager did ask me to disconnect the dash cam, which I did.
Good to see some positive changes

[shijanto4]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

Returned to the service centre today to get the Android Auto update, the place almost looked deserted. The volume of cars has reduced significantly and most of the staff were new. The old manager has been shifted to another location apparently.
Everyone seemed to have a more mature attitude, they even took extra effort to fix the notchy gear shifts I was experiencing. All the while only one person had recognized me (customer service manager). The new manager did ask me to disconnect the dash cam, which I did.
Good to see some positive changes

That's really a positive impact. Maybe MS acted quietly without making things public. Anyway, hope this change sustains long term and won't last only until another customer faces a similar incident.

[bkc]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

The old manager has been shifted to another location apparently.
Good to see some positive changes

I had my 50k service there, two weeks back. I usually service at Mandovi in Basaveshwaranagar. I went for usual service there and enquired for manager, Mr.Santosh. I was told that he was put in that yeshwantpur branch, without thinking, drove all the way to Yeshwantpur and gave it for service there.

He assigned the car to Mr.Gopi and did a wonderful job, they even replaced my rear suspension on warranty, saying they inspected some oil leakage.

Brake pads were also replaced for the first time in 50k kms, it had juice but I had asked them to replace however good it was. On inspection, they confirmed it was just right to be replaced. I forgot to ask for brake light replacement and got it done during delivery.

It was a good experience overall.

[dailydriver]

The 90K service for a friend's Ertiga Zdi cost him four thousand odd rupees. Things done were oil change and water wash, the labour for which amounted to ₹1795. But that is not the subject of this post. The crux of the matter is that my friend escaped being another ROG_AK by a whisker.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, he took his car to the local dealer workshop. The job card was promptly opened, estimate given and delivery promised within 2 hrs. Since we live in a small town and since my friend is known to be a busy man with many business interests, it was expected that he will go home and come back later. He came out of the workshop, had tea and instead of catching an auto, retraced his step towards the wash area. Just as he got inside, he heard the mechanic and SA sitting inside the car and talking. What he heard shocked him to the core.


(Guru, oil en change madtiya. Agide anta heli kalsibidu. Bere en trouble ilvalla. Avnigen gottagalla. Hengu 5 savrak matte servicege bartanalla.)

Translation: Why bother with the oil change. Tell him that we have done it. The customer won't know. Anyway, he will come back after 5000 km.

Fortunately, since the place wasn't well lit, they had missed seeing my friend in the mirrors. As soon as they sighted him, they blurted some incoherent excuse and started working on the car. It was hoisted on the lift and oil change done forthwith. Even after being caught red handed, they were unwilling to wash his car citing labour shortage. At this point, he lost his cool and offered to wash the car himself. Upon which the wash too was done by them.

I have now asked my friend to read this thread and go through the video in the opening post.

To give the incident some context; though I purchased my car from the same dealer I stopped going to him for service after finding out how adept the staff are in taking customers for a ride. On one occasion, my 5 wheel balanced, 5 wheel rotated and aligned tyres hadn't budged an inch from their original positions! Not to speak of the dust smeared spare which was sitting comfortably in the boot.

In a nutshell, one can still assume that the dog's tail which showed promises of straightening when this thread was HOT, has gone back to where it actually belongs. To expect it not to bend is just plain foolishness.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

though I purchased my car from the same dealer I stopped going to him for service after finding out how adept the staff are in taking customers for a ride.

From your town, I am already guessing this since you mentioned it is a Dealer workshop (Since you also bought the car from them) and not an ASC! I am sure they have presence in Shimoga too?

However, I am surprised if they can really do what they were discussing and if they really do, then you are not the only one they are conning.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

In a nutshell, one can still assume that the dog's tail which showed promises of straightening when this thread was HOT, has gone back to where it actually belongs. To expect it not to bend is just plain foolishness.

This is as expected. I was sure that nothing will change even after ROG_AK's thread. Dealer workshops of Indian Automotive brands have turned so greedy that they have lost all sense of morals & ethics. In Marathi there is an apt phrase for such guys - gendyachi katadi (skin as thick as a rhino). Their sole motto seems to be to loot & scam gullible customers. Manufacturers too are least bothered and continue to turn a blind eye to the stealerships' (again a perfect term coined by T-BHP) malpractices - may it be adding unnecessary stuff or skipping work that they are supposed to perform.

DailyDriver, can you please name the dealership? There should be no hesitation in naming them.