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-   -   I paid for green Duster, dealer delivered an orange one. EDIT: I won the court case! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-dealerships/195265-i-paid-green-duster-dealer-delivered-orange-one-edit-i-won-court-case.html)

Summary:

Booked a Green Renault Duster from Renault Whitefield, Bengaluru and got the confirmed delivery date. Few days later they told me that they sold the Duster I booked to someone else and I should select some other colour available with them or wait for additional 1 month. I took the delivery of the Orange Duster because I had sold my Chevrolet Beat after getting the confirmed delivery date of the Duster. I filed a case in the consumer court. Today, Renault submitted the written objection to the court stating that "It is the dealer alone who is responsible for all of its action. Renault cannot be held liable for the acts of the dealer".

Detailed story:

I planned to sell my Hatchback to buy a bigger vehicle. Me and my wife (she was 5 months pregnant then) visited the Whitefield Renault showroom on 23rd Sep 2017 to check the Renault Duster. We showed our interest in the Green colour Duster. Salesgirl told us that there is one Green Duster available in Companies Chennai yard and if we book it right away, we can get the delivery on 28th Sept 2017. We booked the car then and there itself.

Next day on 24th Sept 2017, I sold my hatchback. On 25th Sept, when I called the salesgirl to get the bank details for the final payment, she told me that the Green Duster was sold to someone else yesterday (24th Sept 2017) and if I want the car delivery to happen on 28th Sept 2017 as promised earlier, I should select any other colour available with them. And if I stick with the Green colour It will not be delivered before 30th October 2017. I told them that I sold my hatchback after booking/delivery date of Duster was confirmed and my wife is pregnant hence I cannot manage without a car.

I tried negotiating with them and also raised a complaint with the Renault India, but from top to bottom management no one even tried to solve my problem. I told them I'll go to consumer court for this, but it appeared they had no fear of the law. I couldn't sleep at night thinking about this issue. It was 26th Oct 2017 evening and everyone in Renault kept ignoring me. Then I realized even if I go to consumer court, I would not get the delivery of the Green Duster I booked on 28th Sept 2017 as promised by Renault. I was dropping and picking my wife daily to/from her office as she was pregnant and getting cab in my neighbourhood is near to impossible. I decided to take the delivery of Duster of any colour available with them on 28th Sept 2017 and file a case in consumer court asking for the replacement with a Green Duster. The case is still going on.

Today, Renault submitted the written objection in the court against the case I filed stating that “It is the dealer alone who is responsible for all of its action. Renault cannot be held liable for the acts of the dealer”.

Below is the photo of the document Renault submitted (I got a copy of the same)




I was feeling it might be an isolated incident that happened to me till I met a gentleman during my first service visit. His car was not delivered even after 45 days of the promised date, but luckily, he had not sold his old car. I also noticed that, in the estimate they gave me on the booking day, amount for insurance is Rs 43820, but the actual amount mentioned in the insurance paper is just Rs 26745.

Estimate given of Rs 43820(37598+6222) vs Actual premium paid Rs 26745




I feel, there is no difference between putting a gun on my head and asking me to buy an Orange colour car instead of the Green colour which I like, or deliberately putting me in a situation where my wife is pregnant, I am without a car and all I can buy is an Orange colour car.

Quite a complicated situation when it shouldn't have been.

Why did you not go to another dealer? Or another brand?

If someone doesn't value my business, I'll gladly take it elsewhere.

Not really. It's because you have absolutely no case. You have taken delivery of a car and would've signed a document stating that its fully to your satisfaction. No one held a gun to your head & forced you to take delivery.

Buying a new car is supposed to be a special experience. Not like this. If you weren't happy, you shouldn't have gone ahead with the deal.

Sure, it wasn't right of them to give the Green Duster off to someone else after you'd booked it, but such is life. You could have simply gotten a refund of your booking amount and taken your business elsewhere.

Anyhow, what's done is done. Make 'Orange' the new 'Green' for you, pull back the court case, go out on a driving holiday and enjoy your new Duster.

You should have simply cancelled the booking and walked out to get the car from another dealer.
At this point, the best thing would be to just enjoy the new car along with the celebrating the coming of your bundle of joy into the family. Treat this as a bad dream which came and went away. Take a break, spend time with family and go on a drive in your Duster.

I agree!

A toyota dealer did that with us when we booked a Classic Gray Etios after confirming they had one in stock. Interestingly that very same car was sold in the little while it took us to remit the money (less than a day), so we cancelled the booking and went to another dealer who offered us the same car.

The old-dealer tried to play smart by complaining to Toyota that we got a better deal (against Toyota policy I think - all dealers are on the same level playing field in terms of discounts but a little here and there can be wiggled), and I wrote a strongly worded email to Toyota and got my car delivered a couple of days late.

Honestly - customer is king, more so with products that are slow selling (Like the Duster, Etios, etc.) - if you aren't happy with the dealership's response - cancel it and go to another dealership. If there is no other dealership - you're probably better off with another vehicle - because if that's their attitude before a sale, it's probably only going to be worse after delivery during servicing.

Ain't that the fact?

Did you buy under 'free insurance' scheme? If so, this is a common practice these days just to convince customer that the 'total' benefit is xxxxx INR. Otherwise you can claim the differential amount.

I think the situation: selling off the old car, not knowing when you'll get the new car, all this while your wife was expecting tremendously overwhelmed you into succumbing to the pressure of just buying whatever you get first.

You'd have perhaps handled it much better (read: go to another dealer, hold on to your old car until you get the new car of your choice) had the personal situation been less stressful.

Neither the dealer, and definitely not Renault at any fault here. Yes, the dealer could have handled it better when they sold off the green Duster. But money drives decisions; so if they had someone with full payment, they wouldn't hesitate giving that person the car.

All said and done, congratulations on the new car!

I still don't get what the legal aspect of the consumer court case against Renault is.

On the records, you booked a green colour Duster, but when dealer offered the orange coloured one, you (accepted), took delivery of the car. So what is the case here against Renault ?

Yes, you did expect to get the green coloured vehicle which the dealership claimed they had in stock and will sell to you, was this even mentioned in writing with VIN number to corroborate ? If not, even the dealership cannot be booked for something they failed to honour. Agreed this a breach of trust but there is nothing in writing, so difficult to take up legally.

Sad to hear what happened. With car dealers, expecting reasonable level of integrity is too much. We had a similar case with even worse scenario. Selected Zest XMS, confirmed verbally, went for making payment and taking delivery only to watch the car being delivered to someone else. Since the whole family had ventured out in hope that we are bringing a new car home, returning back empty-handed was going to be painful. Bit the bullet and took delivery of Zest XT. In hindsight, it turned out to be better decision since additional features are the ones everyone loves.

You got the exact car albeit not your preferred colour. May be orange colour will grow on you and few years down the line you would be happy to have got the orange one. Anyways, it is the colour of season with every manufacturer painting their cars orange!!

And what about the extra money charged for insurance and maybe handling.

Typing this from a phone, hence can’t see the details.

There aren't any other dealer in Bangalore, Trident has a monopoly and bitter experience follows you wherever you go in Bangalore. The lack of response from the manufacturer before the car was sold shows the pathetic state of affairs with Renault. Trident may have harassed this buyer of deducting a big amount from the booking amount. I am surprised by the points 4, 6 and 9 in the objection statement, the dealer has taken the blame on himself instead of asking the court to close the case.

PetaWatt, is the insurance issued by Tata AIG? I suggest you record all your phone conversation. When is the next hearing?

The response is from Renault India and not from the dealer. Renault is saying that they cannot be blamed for something which the dealer promised and cannot be held liable for the acts of the dealer

Actually what is the case here?

Thread title needs a change for sure.

Thanks for correcting me, why did Renault hold the dealer responsible instead of requesting to close the case. Is Renault fed up with Trident?

PetaWatt, please share the VIN numbers if you were provided by the dealer.

They stepped back 3 days before the delivery. With all the other Renault showroom in Bengaluru being owned by Trident, going to other dealer was not an option. I don't believe I could have got refund, booked a Ecosport or Breeza and get it delivered within 4-5 days (Before our offices would have opened).

Actually at no point of time I signed a document stating I am happy and satisfied with the delivery. On top of this, just a day before the delivery I received an email from Renault that they resolved my issue, and I replied very clearly that they deliberately put me in a situation where I don't have any other option, and I'll appeal in court. I don't know much about having a gun on my head, but the situation I was put into, I was just thinking how to get a car on time as planned earlier.

It's not about happiness, I was worried about my wife and our baby that we saw live during the scan. In the case of any medical emergency there is least possibility of getting a cab in the area I live in. Yes, I should not have went ahead with the deal if I wouldn't have sold my car to get the money to invest in Duster or I would have got any other car delivered in 4-5 days.

I wish I knew, would have plan accordingly.

Yes, it was 'free insurance' scheme. I was not aware then that it is common practice, but is it legal?

Finally, someone understood the state of mind I was in. I wish and hope, none of us land in any similar situation involving their loved ones.

I might have handled it better if they would have told me that they don't know when car will be delivered or car will be delivered only after a month. Based on their commitment I sold my car to get the money so that I can do the full payment of the Duster before the time I committed to them. They wouldn't hesitate to sell the car I booked to someone else as we are still living in the jungle and the most cunning guy will survive.

Thanks for your wish for the car.

I am no legal expert, so just telling what I feel.
1. I open "Renault" website to find the showroom location.
2. I reached showroom and identified by their board "Renault"
3. I booked the car, got the booking receipt and delivery date commitment.
4. 3 days before the delivery, showroom refused the delivery, I filed a complaint with Renault within 30 mins through an email and received a complaint number.

Renault could have replied to my email saying "Renault is not responsible for Dealer's wrongdoings" instead of replying with a complaint number. Also, how a customer like me will know what is the agreement between the Renault and Dealer? Does Renault has guts to remove "Renault" from the showroom board, and put a notice board there stating "Renault is not responsible for this showroom's wrongdoing"?

No, they have given Reliance Insurance. Next hearing is on 12th March 2018 for showing Evidence.

Why don't you suggest one, we can request moderators to update it. I think "Renault shows its true colours: Booked Green Duster, but forced to take Orange Duster" will make more sense.

Actually, the sales girl told me that it will be written on the computer generated booking receipt which will be given after the booking amount payment only. After I swept my card, she told me that system is down and she cant get the VIN from the Renault's yard server. Gave me a manual receipt without a VIN.

This makes me think one of 2 things happened.

1. There was no Green Duster in the first place. The Sales Girl made it up since it was clear you would book immediately. The 'system down' excuse ensured that she need not have to give the VIN.
   
2. The system down was genuine and since the vehicle was in the Chennai yard, by the time the sales girl was able to block it for you, some other dealer had blocked it.

If this was already blocked by this dealer, I see no reason for them to sell to someone else (Unless someone influential wanted one urgently- Seems a little unlikely). I believe point 1 has more chances. It seems hard to believe that for a booking placed on 23rd, they would be able to get the car from the Chennai plant and deliver it to you on 28th. Especially considering 24th was a Sunday.

So it does look like they took you for a ride and had no intention of delivering a green duster, but it is all very circumstantial.

Based on your timeline, I assume your baby has arrived or the due date is any time soon, so personally I would not let this upset what should be a happy and enjoyable period in your life. But since you seem to have decided to fight it out- All the best for a positive resolution.

On a side note: Almost exact thing happened to me. I booked a blue Vento TSI and was promised delivery in max a month (in October 2013 at VW Whitefield). Based on that within 3 weeks I sold my SX4 as I needed the funds from the sale. Regular follow ups with the SA indicated that the car had been dispatched and will arrive as per plan. After my Sx4 is gone, close to the one month window, the SA is no longer picking the phone. I go to the showroom and am told the SA who dealt with me has left and he was lying, VW had stopped dispatches and I would get a car only in Feb. (This was in November). They offered to give me the display car at a 50k discount. I refused, took a refund and went to another dealer. Did not get my blue, but got black which I was ok with.

Also think that this is a very very common happening. Since the booking and allotment from the dealer side is not transparent at all, it is easy to get cheated with respect to delivery timelines. And this goes for payment also. There was a thread here where a buyer had made full payment and even started paying EMI's with no car being delivered.