[GTO]

NOTE: I have read & verified emails sent by the customer to Tata Motors / dealer.

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

Jatin Ahuja shares his predicament via this Team-BHP page!

Short summary for the TLDR folks:

Hello,

I purchased a Tata Harrier XZ Dual Tone about 30 days back from a Tata Motors dealership in Nagpur. On the second day of the ownership, I realised that the driver side door had been repainted and also that the car had black spots all over the body. Immediately escalated to the dealership and Tata Motors. They have accepted the damage in writing, but are silent on the logical next step. They also haven't deposited the Road Tax / Registration fees even after 30+ days, which to our understanding is a criminal offence by itself. In protest, I have given the car back to the dealership and Tata Motors and am in the process of filing a court case against both these entities.

I will appreciate if you can help me in getting justice. All the documents are on available on record with each escalation right upto Mr. Guenter Butschek and Mr. Mayank Pareek themselves.

I do not have issues with Tata Harrier as a car, but am averse to be sold a damaged and re-painted car.

Thank you!

Longer summary:

My business partner and I were delivered 2 nos. Tata Harriers on 06-10-2019. On the evening of 07-10-2019, I visited a local car accessories shop for fitting floor mats and sunfilm on my Harrier. While checking if the sun film had been put properly with my phone's flash-torch, I happened to notice that the flash's light reflected differently on the driver door panel, i.e. hazy. I grew doubtful and consulted the car accessories shop owner/ technicians, who confirmed that this area had indeed been repainted. I spoke to the dealership on 07-10-2019 itself and seeing them feigning ignorance, I escalated to Tata Motors early morning of 08-10-2019. In subsequent e-mails, phone calls and visits to our home, they accepted that there had been transit damage and the same had been repainted at the dealer's end and also updated on the Tata Motors portal.

Dealer's language and tone are very poor and they have even told us verbatim that they have apparently done us a favor by giving us an "X" price for our old car as well as offering us certain discounts on the Tata Harrier. This has been told verbally as well as on email. We have assured them that we have no such superpowers to force someone to sell us cars and purchase our old cars as per our whims, fancies, and desires.

From the Tata Motors end, apart from 2 local service engineers in Nagpur, only a TSM (Mr. Simarpreet Singh) from Pune had called us once. When he couldn't answer my questions, he apparently disconnected the call and when I called him back assuming that the call had got disconnected because of a poor network, he definitely disconnected that call. I have the call record (I am not a fan of recording calls), and the language used by me was cordial. Emails have been marked right through the TML hierarchy to Mr. Guenter Butschek, Mr. Mayank Pareek, Mr. Subhahit Roy, Mr. Sandeepan Bhattacharjee. Software tells me that they have all received and read our emails multiple nos. of times.

PDI - The dealership has put on record that the cars were received on 01-10-2019 in Nagpur, but the first PDI was only offered on 03-10-2019 and on this date too only my business partner's car was made available for PDI. I was told that since this dealer does not have a workshop yet, my car has been sent for a PDI to a workshop in Mankapur (another end of Nagpur) and my partner's Harrier will be sent in a short while as well. I reviewed my car on 04-10-2019, but in a covered parking area. I am sure I wouldn't have been able to observe this damage even in bright sunlight. Both the paint and the black spots are only visible if one knows that they have to look for them.

My family, myself and friends privy to this incident all feel that TML and the Dealership should have been transparent about this incident. This white repaint has already developed flakes. Tata is adamant that they will repaint this door or send a new door. In my conversations with a few engineers who have or are working in the Automobile industry, I have been warned to not allow anyone to remove the OEM fitted door in any case and have also been advised by all that the dealership level paint cannot equal OEM paint.

We are in the process of meeting lawyers to file a case in the consumer court.

Please feel free to contact me in case you would require any further information.

Thank you once again for responding positively and even if this does not figure as a story on team-bhp.com, I am a bigger fan of your portal now after your lightning-quick response.

Related Thread 1 (BMW Gallops Autohaus (Ahmedabad) delivers a damaged & repainted 530i)

Related Thread 2 (Damaged Jeep Compass delivered by KHT Motors, Bangalore)

[GTO]

My take = The dealer is the moron here. He should have been transparent about the damage & thrown in a sweetener. Not to mention, we expect better paint jobs from authorised dealers .

Tata has been surprisingly silent by ignoring a customer of its flagship product . The company really needs to learn a thing or two about pampering + taking care of its clients.

Cars get damaged in transit all the time; it's how one handles it that makes all the difference. Tata & its dealer have both failed here.

IMHO, expecting a replacement or going to the Consumer Court for this will be overkill. Tata Motors & the dealer should step in ASAP and offer a sweetener to Jatin. It could be anything that they mutually agree upon. What matters most is that this customer - who has paid 20 lakh rupees - should walk away happy with whatever resolution.

[mercedised]

I fail to understand, Are'nt the cars getting damaged during transit covered under transit insurance? If they are then, why do the dealers do such malpractices. What is the role of Manufacturer in such cases where goods are damaged during transit? For e.g. if a truck full of car meets accident, who will bear the losses?

[KPR]

Immaterial if the damage is due to transit or accident or due to any force majeure, it's actually the shoddy workmanship by inexperienced painter deployed by dealership.
It happened with my exotica red punto. The dealer did a shoddy paint job. The gloss was missing and left side door paint was looking like a Red refrigerator's. I'm still living with it since May 2017. No workmanship whatsoever. Lesson learnt:
Never carry out body/paint works in dealer workshop even if they offer service for free. They are simply incompetent. Best painters are mostly running their own business in locality like a boss and are not working under dealer bosses. Period. When I was pouring my woes to my insurance surveyor he said me to take car to outside FNG. Insurance can be covered for body works carried out in outside garages too.

[AbhiJ]

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

Scratches and door repaints are common and not much of an issue if done properly.

Removing / Repairing an OEM door is not a major issue as long as the quality of work is good.

[NaXal]

A very simple issue, specially when dealing with a repeat buyer who already know how minor it would be if dealership stayed truthful about the repair work plus as GTO pointed, offered some additional benefits to compensate.

Shame on their way of handling this & just stunned to learn how TATA Motors accepted this fraudulent activity even after being aware of this.

How on earth these manufacturers expect to sell well when customers experience this type of fraudulent activity on their flagship product?

Last of all, as Team Bhp always say, do the PDI in daylight before releasing the full payment or purchase confirmation.

Thanks

[libranof1987]

Here's an example of how the situation should have been handled.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...d-compass.html (Sky Moto Jeep (Pune) sells me a Repainted Compass)

The dealer wasn't upfront but Jeep took matters seriously and took it to resolution.

Very sloppy work from the dealer, and worse, from Tata. Tata should know better than to stonewall a customer who has clearly been wronged. While (realistically) we can't expect stellar service from the dealer, this is terrible customer service from Tata.

[blackwasp]

This is the sloppy work by dealer. Be upfront and honest about it. There are incidences which are well beyond the dealers hand's - e.g. damage while coming back from RTO inspection. Now the dealer's insurance won't cover it since its registered but the customer wouldn't want to bear the loss. I had experienced this and being honest is the only way out. The dealership footed the repainting bill and delivered the car after a couple of days after doing a good job.

This is why some dealers / workshops have stellar reputation and people will go to them even if means taking a day off of their schedule. Everyone makes mistakes, its how you handle them that matters.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

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

Scratches and door repaints are common and not much of an issue if done properly.

Removing / Repairing an OEM door is not a major issue as long as the quality of work is good.

While I fully agree with your thoughts and generosity, the issue here is NOT the door or paint. In fact, around 10 to 15% of the newly delivered cars will have the dents on their body even before going to God's temple. (Percentage not verified )

The attitude and behavior of the dealer is what is to be condemned.

If the dealer had followed the process legally, by changing the door completely and painting it in right way, by informing Tata's and claiming the insurance BEFORE DELIVERY OF THE CAR, Probably, this would have been SOP for all the cars.

Or at least at a Slightly lower maturity level, after delivery of the car, and receiving complaint by the customer, if the dealer had accepted and mentioned that "Yes, it is a transit damage. We will change the door and give" Then, probably, this would have got settled and would not have come to TBHP and social media.

But what did he do? Cutting the call, not taking the call, escaping, avoiding and all unacceptable behavior. This is what is the issue to be condemned

[i74js]

A behemoth like Tata typically operates in a "Sarkari way" - please pardon my language; where the management believes that resolving an outstanding issue is not going to add a feather in their cap !

It stops there.

I have dealt with them for 10 good years and decided not to go back even when I see that the product quality has improved. Though there are several happy customers yet, the Tata behaviour is far from industry benchmarks. The present slippage in market cap reflects the same.

If they don't understand what the customer is going through, well god save them !

This was a simple issue which could have been resolved at the first opportunity. I fail to understand what Tata's have gained from this negative publicity !

TML - Please provide a factory painted door to the customer (original white body part)with an apology and add some more sweetener if needed. Don't sit on the protocols and procedures.

[scorpian]

Really pathetic way of dealing with the issue by TATA. For most of us buying a car is a joy in itself and when such shoddy practices take place it just ruins the entire buying experience.

Another problem is none of the customer service guys are trained to listen to the customer, i think its paramount to listen to the customer and let him vent out his feelings and then take the requisite call to make sure customer is satisfied and happy beyond his expectation.
Sadly cutting calls, not answering, not replying is a very crappy way of dealing with a situation.Hope tata does learn from this and takes a call in the right direction.

[Thilak29]

While I empathise with your situation, I really feel you should take a quick and reliable solution of factory painted door from Tata and move on. Focus your time on enjoying the car than fighting cases.

[DevendraG]

Sorry to hear about your predicament brother. I hope it all comes to a quick & logical conclusion that works best for you.

Like most of the people have suggested here, I too believe the Legal process will be an overkill as well as might not deliver in your best interests.

Also, in my opinion, leaving the car at the dealer is calling for more trouble looking at their attitude. Although, you & your lawyer are the best judge of this situation.

I read that the damage was reported on Tata Portal. I suggest to have that report to understand the damage(s) & it's extent.
Then have another thorough PDI (yourself or an expert Mechanic).
Try working out a deal that's works best for you.
Ensure the job done is of the best possible quality.
Ensure Tata is looped in all of this process.

Again, just my personal opinion, I feel Maruti & Hyundai are the best all round package for average buyers. Tata has a l-o-n-g way to go to even come to a playing field. Although I have friends who have bought Tata back-2-back but it's just that it's not my cup of tea.

Good luck!

[Quoter]

Originally Posted by gkveda

While I fully agree with your thoughts and generosity, the issue here is NOT the door or paint. In fact, around 10 to 15% of the newly delivered cars will have the dents on their body even before going to God's temple. (Percentage not verified )

The attitude and behavior of the dealer is what is to be condemned.

If the dealer had followed the process legally, by changing the door completely and painting it in right way, by informing Tata's and claiming the insurance BEFORE DELIVERY OF THE CAR, Probably, this would have been SOP for all the cars.

Or at least at a Slightly lower maturity level, after delivery of the car, and receiving complaint by the customer, if the dealer had accepted and mentioned that "Yes, it is a transit damage. We will change the door and give" Then, probably, this would have got settled and would not have come to TBHP and social media.

But what did he do? Cutting the call, not taking the call, escaping, avoiding and all unacceptable behavior. This is what is the issue to be condemned

Couldn't agree more. Damages during transit, at least minor ones are fairly common. My own vehicle had a very minor dent on one of the doors which I saw only when I went for final delivery and that too because the light was falling from a certain angle. The dealer was more than happy to acknowledge it. He asked me to give him a day since he would want to do a proper repair which would mean taking it to his workshop.
With time, I have realised that given the competition between products that exists, the dealer is probably the final deciding factor in a purchase decision, more so for 20 L + vehicles.
Also, given that dealers and OEM's make more money in servicing than the initial sale of a vehicle, either the dealer does not have good business sense or Tata has not aligned the incentives appropriately between sales and service.

[roy_libran]

Just the preceding Saturday, a friend picked up a Harrier Dark Edition, here in Noida. We (a group of 5 friends) went to the dealer's yard to do a PDI. The dealer had 6 Dark Editions in the yard (5 XZ and 1 XT). All 5 XZ specimens had one or the other flaw, though none can be attributed to the dealer. The way the cars were arranged in the yard (shared with Accidental Vehicles too!) didn't inspire much confidence though. In contrast the Harpreet Ford yard near Dwarka is a treat to watch with neatly arranged cars at proper gaps. The cars were caked in Dust, and the cleaner simply used a dirty rag to wipe the dust off (Dark Edition)!!! We stopped him after the first car, got a Jopasu from one of our cars and used that to wipe all subsequent cars!

Here's a quick low down of the minor defects -
Specimen 1 - RHS Rear Door operation not smooth, Tailgate inside panel weld lines not finished properly
Specimen 2 - Tailgate inside panel weld lines not finished properly, Seat belt fixture issue
Specimen 3 - LHS Front Door operation not smooth
Specimen 4 - Tailgate inside panel weld lines not finished properly
Specimen 5 - RHS Rear Door inside panel paint chip and Bonnet paint chip

There were a few other bits that I don't recall, but we eventually ended up picking the Specimen 5. Tata still has some way to go to get their QC spot on, and improve the way their dealers operate.