[RaviK]

Originally Posted by GTO

..Please be sure to read the PDI article before taking delivery!..

Sticking to fundamentals helps in these scenarios. Using the PDI checklist, my nephew & I spent a good amount of time checking our baleno(even the underbelly several times, to spot any damages/repair signs), before taking delivery this Diwali. Had made it clear to SA that before PDI is done, I'll not issue any payments which he agreed to without any issues.

However what I noted that most of the customers were just happy about the ocassion(sitting in the car, using the features/functions), I didn't see anyone else doing the extensive PDI (we were stuck at the dealership for 5 hours and hence saw multiple cars being delivered) !! Buying a new vehicle is still a big achievement for many indian families and at times, the excitement takes over the need to adhere to fundamentals.

[naveen.raju]

To receive a car in such a state can be disheartening for any customer. But, I would recommend to get the entire door repainted again to match OEM quality. Yes, it will be hard to replicate OEM quality (I have never been able to see that with Hyundai. All my repaints have some minor color difference and the surface feels rough).

The dealer and Tata should act promptly here. It's their premium product and such incidents can dent their image.

Talking about cars getting damaged during transit - here's one I spotted many years back. Wonder what they did their most premium SUV.

[Karthik Chandra]

IMO these are situations where the dealer and company can get some nice PR by going all out and sorting the issue. The customer will only be happy and understand that there are uncertainties but both the dealer and OEM went all out to get things sorted. He/She will share the positive experience and word of mouth will spread. Needless to say, our hungry media will make a nice article out of it.

Things they could have done.

1. Dealer could have informed customer upfront that the incident occurred and that the damages will be reversed of cost. Ensure top quality workmanship.
2. Give extended warranty free of cost.
3. Throw in some accessories, gift vouchers and sweeten the deal.
4. OEM could have stepped in and sent a gift with a welcome letter - This would give confidence in the brand.

Brushing under the carpet will only make such situations worse. I wonder why is it difficult to understand. Everyone of us face such situations in our work place. Best way out is to own up the issue and find amicable solutions.

[2000rpm]

I love the Harrier, but will never buy one or recommend one.

Imagine the irony, a completely Drool-worthy car even in current competitive landscape but suffering due to quality issues (production and dealer, both)

[swaroopsankar]

This reminded me my first car buying experience in India. I took the delivery of MS Celerio Vxi(O) from a distinguished dealer from Kerala. During the PDI check I saw couple of dents in the roof, at the driver side.. Later I came to know from the head office of the dealership that a batch full of Celerios had this issue during the transit to local dealerships. I refused to take the delivery but somehow they managed to change my mind. The promised to fix this during the first service and they did the same. But still I remember this bitter experience and made me realise how important is the PDI checks before taking the car out of the showroom after delivery.

[arjab]

Transit damage is a perennial issue in India. I still remember, way back in 1986, when we took delivery of our Maruti "Flat Roof" Van, in powder blue colour in Calcutta, the right rear sliding door was anything but powder blue! The only Maruti dealer in Calcutta, Machino Techno Sales, told us directly that it was an "in-transit" damage and the door was repainted. Those were the heydays of Maruti and the customer was reduced to a mere meek spectator. Hence we had no choice but to take delivery of the vehicle in that condition and have the entire door repainted at our friendly neighborhood garage.

Vehicle transportation business in India is still not mature enough. The car transportation business still does not have quality trucks, effective loading and retaining mechanisms & trained loading-drivers. Some of the fleet operators in South india are very good , a la TVS logistics and to a large extent V-Trans, but the majority of operators in our country, are independent truck owners renting their trucks out - hence it is difficult for them to cover all the nuances of vehicle transportation.

Add to that our terrible road conditions. You never know when the truck driver has to do a bit of off-roading to avoid that Highway bottleneck, jiggling all the vehicles in its belly!
Most susceptible are the tall vehicles, the SUV's, who merrily go on prancing on their suspensions with the roof hitting more often than not on the inside wall of the transportation truck.
Very few OEM'S in our country use "spring blocks" to transport vehicles in "transportation mode" hence the damage due to rocking motion are more than what you would find elsewhere.

As for the Harrier concerned: a full door change by the TML dealer or another good and proper paint job by the dealer should be enough to bring the vehicle back to a shiny state.
Of course, this does not innoculate the TML dealer of its callous attitude. Hope the dealer learns the hard way and does not repeat his fallacy in future.

[LEOMAN]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

My 2 cents. Get the door repainted again, from Tata, properly. Then enjoy your new car.

+1 .
In my opinion though I would go a step further, order a freshly painted new door from the factory itself so there would be no color mismatch. These dealers screw the paint jobs to meet their monthly targets.
I would never trust the same dealer for any job. Shows the work ethics followed by that particular dealer. They should additionally throw in some goodies to make the customer happy.


Note from Support: Quote trimmed, spacing fixed.

[invidious]

Similar thing happened when the wife took delivery of her Honda City from Solitaire Honda in Bombay. There were dents and oil marks on the driver side of the door including on the interior upholstery. It was quite by chance that I had gone to pick it up from the dealer. Initially they tried to brush it off as some factory issue so I asked them to write down that it is a factory issue and I will take it up with Honda directly. Finally some manager acknowledged that there was an incident in the workshop but they quickly removed the stains and took care of the admittedly minor dents.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I love the Harrier, but will never buy one or recommend one.

Absolutely my take too. Not only the harrier, but any Tata car for that matter, specially the well designed and specced latest offerings. Good products basically, but the A.S.S and Q.C are the worst.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Talking about cars getting damaged during transit - here's one I spotted many years back. Wonder what they did their most premium SUV.

Attachment 1931936

Attachment 1931937

I doubt too much would have happened. Would require a side panel respray and maybe glass replacement assuming it was lowered down carefully

[EvilZombie]

Originally Posted by RaviK

However what I noted that most of the customers were just happy about the ocassion(sitting in the car, using the features/functions), I didn't see anyone else doing the extensive PDI (we were stuck at the dealership for 5 hours and hence saw multiple cars being delivered) !! Buying a new vehicle is still a big achievement for many indian families and at times, the excitement takes over the need to adhere to fundamentals.

When I bought my first car, I didn't do a PDI. Reason? I had no idea such a thing existed. I simply expected the dealer & more importantly, the manufacturer, to do a good job and ensure I get a good product.

Most of the 1st time buyers in India fall in that category, a bunch of uninformed folks, vulnerable and unaware.

[Nithesh_M]

My uncle purchased a Santro from a Trident Hyundai dealership 2 weeks ago. I insisted we will only take delivery after a thorough PDI but the dealer said its not possible to do that because the warehouse is far from the city.

Uncle was impatient so he bought the car registered to his name and upon taking delivery he noticed the front and rear bumper had scratches/paint chip marks. The dealer tried to play it down at first by saying he'll buff it out during 1st service. Apparently he later told my uncle that he'll try to get the front and rear bumpers replaced at first service.

Apparently car was damaged during transit. I had asked uncle to check for tyre pressure during delivery. He was told they're running recommended pressure so he didn't bother verifying. He ended up riding 500 kms to Mangalore from Bangalore through the worst potholed roads imaginable on earth and only checked tyre pressure when he arrived here. All 4 tyres were 46psi!!

[fast_n_curious]

My 2 cents,
Make the dealer order the door from factory. Take your business away from the dealer. Wisely use TATA motors and the dealer twitter handle to highlight the issue. This will ensure everyone gets to see how innocent customer are taken for a ride by TATA motors and its dealers

[Sheel]

And few of my friends wonder, why doesn't Tata sell despite having wonderful products, well, this thread is one of the reason and there are a couple more threads.

Forget Toyota etc, at least learn from Mahindra, [an indigenous player], a thing or two about customer service and satisfaction [they aren't best, but better than Tata] and maybe, teach M&M a thing or two about your good suspension and brakes.

[GTO]

Jatin shares this pleasant update with us

Hi!

Dealership invited us again today and offered to take back the Harrier and return our old Duster 110 that has been lying with them for the past 40 days.

Best regards,
Jatin.