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Originally Posted by V.Narayan I always build a friendship with the service executive and that I think takes care of a lot of distrust. |
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Originally Posted by Vid6639 You can build a rappo with service executive and the shop floor manager... |
I am fedup with all this building friendship and rappo with them. It becomes difficult to refuse addons all the time when you build friendships with them. Even the SAs are trying to befriend the customers all the time so the customer finds it difficult to say no to some add ons or not create a scene when something goes wrong.
End of the day they are working for the dealership which is a business and not a charity. SAs will be loyal to the dealership which pays them their monthly salary to run their house and feed their families. I have walked into employee areas in service centres which otherwise are not for customers - i had seen white board with names of SAs, their targets, who achieved their targets and who did not, employee of the week who brought most billing for them, congratulations etc. This usually happens on Monday early mornings and also serves as a motivation to them for the rest of the week. Their conversations will be like
SA: Sir, i billed this i20 Rs 7500 for the 30000km service.
TeamLead: What's the big deal? In that Rs 7100 is the fixed component which anyway the customer has to pay. What amount have you billed over and above that matters to me. You have to hone your upselling skills.
Which SA do you think will get promoted and get salary hikes? Someone who gets x revenue month on month, or someone who gets 2x revenue month on month. Their salaries have a fixed base pay and a variable component which is a function of the additional, addons, extras business they get for the service center.
When a over enthusiastic SA tries selling me some silly AC disinfectant, engine cleansing, regular wash or premium wash etc i look into his eyes, pause a moment and simply tell This is my 12th car. Most nonsense usually ends there.
I am usually curt with what i want and i am upfront in telling i wont tolerate bullshit. They are not doing me a favor by servicing my car.
Usually people befriend them to sometimes get certain odd jobs for free like replacing a fused bulb without the service charge,replacing the wiper blade without the service charge, swapping the stepney and the front right tire without charge, warranty replacement after the warranty period is over etc.
I don't want their favors. I will pay for what i have to pay. I can afford to because i buy my cars below my means.
One SA once tells me that "Sir, you called in the morning for service. We were nice to you and asked you to get the car by noon for evening delivery. Now you are refusing these addons. It was our mistake to give you such a early slot for service." It was a routine 45k service for my Fiat Linea MJD with no complaints. Only filters, oils and wiper blades change was required. They are no Tata or Maruti to have volumes of cars to service. I was in no rush. I just called them when i could get my car to service. They asked if i had any complaints. I said no. Just routine service. They asked me to get by noon. Even a day or 2 later also would have been fine with me.
Once, i faced a billing discrepancy for the 60k service of my Ford Classic. What i see on the Ford website Ford Service Price Promise and what they billed me showed a variation of nearly 10%. They tell me things have not been updated from Ford's end on their website but we have got the updated prices. I was in no mood to budge. I tell them the ones you see on the Ford website are the latest prices and your systems have not been updated yet to reflect those prices. Basically, certain part prices have increased and some have decreased. I asked them to give it to me in writing that what is shown on the Ford website is incorrect. They said they cannot. They said i don't have any option but to pay in full to take the car. I told them, i won't mind paying you double the bill and not just that 10% extra that you had billed. But, you will be running to my office with a cheque for the extra amount once i take it up with Ford. I took it up with Ford. They resolved the issue in my favor. I didn't bother calling them up to tell them my office address to deliver the cheque. I was no way going there to collect it. When they didn't respond even after 24 hours i talked to the same person at Ford again that i had not received the cheque from the dealer yet. In less than 2 hours, they called me and coordinated with me to deliver the cheque.
Also, i am no way going to a service center thats far away from home because i had a unpleasant experience with the one close to home. I will still go there. And they are bound to service my car. Service centers cannot selectively choose whose cars they want to service and whose they won't.
I have experience getting my cars serviced at Maruti, Tata, Chevrolet, Ford and Fiat.