[scopriobharath]

Hello all - I am hunting for a Nexon and as a normal customer, I visited all showrooms in Chennai and finally Tafe access pallikaranai gave the best deal. Being an informed customer and also being in IT industry, I know how much value verbal commitments hold.

I documented all the discussions we had and presented it to the sales person Mz. Julie and Accessories person Mz. Sunitha. Below are the mails I sent them and they assured to honor the deal. Once the mail was sent, I was denied anything and they failed to honor the commitment. I was adamant that I would book only after I get a written approval on the below points. I was pushed into booking the car as the booking amount was just 11,000 but I insisted that I will book on the day of getting approval on my mail.

Below are the points that I sent for approval and all the points were verbally agreed upon by sales person. I was also offered a counter discount of 12% on accessories, as my purchase value of accessories is 1.7 lacs. Also, please note that none of the below points are illegal or unethical.

Conditions for car booking:

1) Initial payment (Rs. 11,000/-) towards advance for Nexon XZ+ Diesel Dual Tone Moroccan Blue will be made through credit card (no additional charges apply).

2) Booking reference number (after logging into CRM) will be provided on the spot.

3) Insurance will be taken outside only, as per customer’s choice of insurance provider.

4) VIN Number should be shared as soon as transport-truck leaves the factory and the same VIN vehicle should be allotted to customer, assuming PDI doesn’t fail.

5) PDI will be done by customer at yard and only after successful confirmation from customer side, vehicle should proceed for registration.

6) There will be a pre-delivery PDI again, performed by customer.

7) If there is any kind of damage during transit, before delivery, including repainting / fixing the damage at workshop level, the vehicle wouldn’t be accepted by customer, irrespective of whether its registered or not. The vehicle should be in factory condition.

8) All accessories mentioned in the separate mail should be installed prior to delivery.

9) It might take up-to four business days to release the payment from bank financier’s side (HDFC Bank). There should be no pressure-tactics to threaten to allocate the booking to someone else. However, we will push the financier to disburse at the earliest.

10) Advance of booking amount paid should be adjusted against accessories, as bank-financier will pay full ex-showroom & road-tax registration cost directly to dealer.

11) Exchange price for 2007 Hyundai Santro TN 07 AL 7268 charming grey limited edition car, run about 60,000 kms is 1,10,000/- . Car will be handed over to Tafe by Feb 3rd week or delivery of new car, whichever is earlier. As discussed need the car due to my night shift at work.

Accessories Conditions:

1) All prices indicated below are all inclusive prices including installation and Tax.

2) All accessories listed are Tata Original genuine accessories.

3) Bill, with warranty and part number should be provided with all accessories.

4) Payment will be made only after seeing all accessories in person, physically (no photos).

5) Confirmation needed that all listed accessories below can be installed on the Nexon.

6) No advance payment will be made. Payment will be made only after inspecting the accessories in person.

The above points safeguard me from any malpractices and as a customer, since I am paying whatever money that tata / Tafe expects, I think I am perfectly justified to ask the above points. All I am asking is to honor the verbal commitment provided. I was told that the GM of Tafe told the sales person that "customer is having too many conditions" so we cannot give in writing. I even argued telling that these aren't illegal or unethical to ask for, but it fell in deaf ears. I thank god, I didn't sign on the dotted line before getting written approval.

I also escalated to customer care and some tata officials, but there was no response. I am just being asked to buy from another dealer.

I am posting this in the best interest of anyone trying to book a car, to get written approval and not go by verbal approval.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Dealership Section. Thanks for sharing!

I have a simple funda - If someone doesn't want my business, I'll gladly take it to someone else . In India, verbal commitments amount to nothing. If anything is agreed upon, put the damn thing on paper.

That said, I did find your list to be excessively long & some items are unnecessary - better to cover only the important points and leave the obvious ones out of it.

[narayan]

While most of your points, on the face of it, look ok, If I were in the position of the dealership - I would frankly not agree to sign off on paper due to the associated unlimited liability on my business in case of non-performance on many of your conditions.

Further, I would be thinking

1. Are you an advocate or someone with legal backing that you would drag my business into an uncessary legal wrangle if some condition is not met for no fault of mine
2. Are you someone very active in social media that all it takes would be for you to just publish this on various social media platforms on flimsy grounds and bring disrepute to my business.

While you have your right to get the best deal under the terms and conditions that you desire to, so does the dealer have the right to decline your business ( presumably politely ) and ask you to approach another dealer.

On a related note - I have bought 2 new cars from Tafe Reach ( Mount Road ) and sold 1 car to them. All my interactions have been based on trust + a reasonable amount of documenting commitments. And they have not failed in honoring their commitments.

[greenhorn]

When Tata was having a slow time with sales, their dealers and sales folks would go the extra mile to get sales. Now that Tata has launched a couple of hit products (tiago & Nexon) with good demand, the old ways are back, with dealers trying to make a quick buck. If tata sales does not step in to bring dealers in line, their recovery will be aborted even before these great new products even have a chance.

I also escalated to customer care and some tata officials, but there was no response. I am just being asked to buy from another dealer.

Reflects my past experience with tata customer service - they are by and large toothless against dealers, with resolution mostly being them advising you how to negotiate, or how to go to a different dealer - and no action on the errant dealers from their end.

Originally Posted by narayan

While most of your points, on the face of it, look ok, If I were in the position of the dealership - I would frankly not agree to sign off on paper due to the associated unlimited liability on my business in case of non-performance on many of your conditions.

Just thinking aloud here - what is the potential 'unlimited liability' we are talking about here? these seem to be things that anybody buying a new car can and should expect, apart from, perhaps the customer PDI (which may not be allowed as per company process)

[VW2010]

Just walk away. Do not really see a reason why you have to put up with the sales and go through this hassle.

You may not find one dealer giving any of those things in writing and you will be lucky to find one.

Most of the times the buying process is with lot of trust and usually that builds relationship. At this point, move out of that dealer and check with Velachery Tata.

The Mountround one is supposedly better on keeping up the promises and you should check with them as well. Pit one dealer against another and let them know why you would buy with them instead of the other. Always pit one against the other and you may get something in your favor.

[greenhorn]

Now, to play the devil's advocate, what do you aim to achieve through this watertight contract? How do you propose to use this if the dealer breaks this contract? We both know that the dealer has the upper hand here. The only thing a written agreement will give you is better leverage if things go wrong.

By taking such a formal approach, you've raised flags at the dealers end. Honestly, there are far better and more creative ways to get a dealer's commitments documented in a non verbal format without spooking them- I'm sure you'll get some good ideas by going through some of the existing dispute threads, and see how things were done there.

You work in IT - if a small new non strategic customer comes to you with some unexpected, but somewhat reasonable terms, and asks you to sign these terms before negotiating commercial terms, or ask for commitments or investments up front, you would be inclined to not qualify that deal, especially if you/your organization does not have sufficient bandwidth.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

7) If there is any kind of damage during transit, before delivery, including repainting / fixing the damage at workshop level, the vehicle wouldn’t be accepted by customer, irrespective of whether its registered or not. The vehicle should be in factory condition.

I am sorry, if I were running a dealership I simply would not accept to this condition. What would I do with a car that is registered to the customer who is unwilling to take delivery?

There are customers who are shrewd and try to milk the dealerships too - so what if one such customer blackmails me with this document citing a small scratch on a part that is not even visible?

I am not saying that a scratch should be accepted by the customer - we all know that the customer is the king, but there could be tough situations where either the customer or the dealer, or maybe both would have to agree on a small compromise - not taking delivery of a registered car is not going to be an option.

[Tapish]

As much as I agree with your point about being the customer and hence within your right to ask for these in writing, for a dealership your email has "Troublemaker" written right there.

Many of the points below may not be in the absolute control of the dealership and with your conditions "on the spot" "as soon as truck leaves the factory" the dealership is not going to take any responsibility in writing.

Damage during transit: again, there may be things that happen and can be taken care of at the dealer's end.

Also, your condition with regard to the delay in payment is unacceptable to any businessman. If he has another customer with ready payment, why should he go with you (using your same logic). It seems you want him to accept your delays and want to make this a really tight transaction for him.


The clauses I think are unnecessary

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

2) Booking reference number (after logging into CRM) will be provided on the spot. (Unnecessary)

4) VIN Number should be shared as soon as transport-truck leaves the factory and the same VIN vehicle should be allotted to customer, assuming PDI doesn’t fail. (ay not be possible always)

5) PDI will be done by customer at yard and only after successful confirmation from customer side, vehicle should proceed for registration.

6) There will be a pre-delivery PDI again, performed by customer.

7) If there is any kind of damage during transit, before delivery, including repainting / fixing the damage at workshop level, the vehicle wouldn’t be accepted by customer, irrespective of whether its registered or not. The vehicle should be in factory condition.

9) It might take up-to four business days to release the payment from bank financier’s side (HDFC Bank). There should be no pressure-tactics to threaten to allocate the booking to someone else. However, we will push the financier to disburse at the earliest.

2) All accessories listed are Tata Original genuine accessories. (There may be accessories that are not Tata original. 3d Kagu mats/ Kenwood systems/ so on)

3) Bill, with warranty and part number should be provided with all accessories.

4) Payment will be made only after seeing all accessories in person, physically (no photos). "What happens if you dont like it after installation?"

6) No advance payment will be made. Payment will be made only after inspecting the accessories in person.

[akshay380]

Wow. If I was running this dealership I'll rather ask you to walk away and focus my time on some mutually trustworthy customer. To me, your agreement looks like a ploy to somehow create legal trouble for the dealership and milk them using the document later. Just my 2p.

[dileepcm]

Very interesting conversation.
Being a consultant who works at client locations most of the times, I always stand for written documentations - There are absolutely no alternate ways.
However I personally think that the 'contract' you have copied above needs to be:
1. A trust building document in the first place. With out a mutual trust, business simply does not happen regardless of its size and shape.
2. Generating more positive energy than focusing on all possible wrongs.
3. Mutually realistic - meaning terms and their hardness or softness should be mutually distributed across both parties.

[Nissan1180]

You're right in trying to have a written contract before purchasing the car. But in business, trust matters more than a printed document. If I were employed by either Tata or the dealership, I'd not sign this clause. No company would. No dealer would. If there are very minor flaws in the car that is allotted to you ( minor scratch on a piece of plastic that can be replaced in 5 minutes etc.), that's no ground for rejecting a car. No company will tolerate that. I do not think you'll find a dealer anywhere in this country or in any other country from any brand who would sign your contract. I also feel that the dealership has been unexpectedly polite in refusing this request. This goes on to show that they're becoming professional.

If you're still interested in the Nexon, give them a chance and go for a good hard negotiation process. I do not think that the dealer has the authority to sign a legal document with the customer. Anything of this sort has to go through the company and honestly, if they are providing you a 4 year warranty that covers everything, I don't know why they'd accede to your demand for a more specific document. Thanks.

[Nonstop-driver]

Let me also highlight that even a written commitment is worth junk in India. When we purchased our Creta, my Dad wrote down the entire offer along with the resale value of the old car. The sales agents (two of them) agreed to it. Booking amount was paid.

The ordered vehicle arrived 30 days later and on the day of payment, the dealer refused to honour those discounts and resale value. The reasons were ridiculous, ranging from the commitment was made by juniours who aren't aware to the old car has done an additional 1500kms during this period.

The vehicle was standing right there in their showroom and we walked off. It was a matter of some rs. 35,000 on a 16 lacs car but the conduct was pathetic. Anyway, the dealer agreed and honoured it.

And then called up 3 days after taking delivery asking for rs. 11,000 as bank charges for making payment by card

[Hayek]

I think lots of folks have made the points before - I am not surprised that the dealer refused to agree to this is writing. I am somewhat surprised the salesperson agreed to this even verbally - some of your terms would not be economically viable for anyone (eg points 6 and 7). All you need while buying a car is the following:

1) Ability to pick your insurance vendor
2) Ability to carry out PDI before releasing final payment / registration
3) The right to know deal terms before releasing final payment - viz final price, any buy back terms, and accessories being bundled

Once you approve the PDI and release payment, the car is yours. Insurance / warranty will cover your for risks. And if you fail to pay in a reasonable time after PDI, the dealer is free to reallocate the car.

The Customer may be King - but no business can afford to provide every service every King demands.

[AMG Power]

If the dealership had to have agreements with every customer for such long lists, they might as well shut shop.

As it is, most dealerships run on wafer thin margins and responding to such customer requirements would be of least interest to them.

Such requirements would not be put as an agreement even by the German dealerships. Let alone the poor Tata dealer.

[ravib]

Most of the points are covered by our fellow members. I agree this is way too excessive list of conditions than what is reasonable and can be mutually honored. Moreover, the conditions are one sided and not neutral. For e.g. what if you don't make on time payment. What are you expecting Dealer to do at that point in your view? Sorry i am not hard at you or your intention, but i think the approach seems to be very rigid and hard and doesn't move things in positive direction and help the customer or the dealer.

BTW, i am in the process of buying new EcoSport and i can tell you with multiple discussions (few frequent and small discussions) and few lengthy important ones with the dealer/Sales Advisor, actually most of the things were done easily including discounts based on Trust. Dealers do want to sell their cars and do business to make profit. It will leave a bad face for the dealer if they don't honor committments (including verbal) or cheat you, they might have won ONE customer, but will lose many customers if the negative word spreads about their false promises. I think most dealers won't do that and won't take that chance.

Though it is important to document critical things for a large amount transaction, but be reasonable too and put yourself in dealer's shoes when you write down any conditions/contract that is mutually agreeable.

I don't know if you have runway to recover this proposed transaction with current dealer. But If not, find another dealer like Mount Road TAFe and then move on to the purchase in more positive and trust building way. You do a thorough PDI and once you confirm that the car is good, move forward and close the deal. Ultimately the car is going to be with you for several years, and not the dealer or the conditions you laid out. Rather have a pleasant memories of purchase experience with some compromises of course, instead of being an "ever disappointed customer" with too many conditions.

My 2 cents and a friendly advise! Hope you don't mind.

Good luck with your purchase as Tata Nexon is an excellent car
Drive Safe!

-Ravi