[bharatbits]

Your patience had paid off. You waited a lot till you got the cheque and now it bounced. Now the ball is in your court and game over for them.

Cheque bounce is a serious offence and the judicial outcome is usually in favour of the aggrieved party. All the other incidents were debatable as to who is right or wrong. But, cheque bounce is not.

It's simple now. Go legal with the cheque bounce case and they will be running after you to withdraw the case. Try saying the same things now - health issues, out of country, traveling, playing tennis - can you call tomorrow? etc.

No business man worth his salt would want to go to jail over 50lakhs which he clearly owes to you.

[sen2009]

Luxury car market in India has always been like this. Given the low sales, parent company does not care. One cannot expect that Toyota will really do anything to help the customer.

BTW, what happened to the insurance. It was due for renewal in Aug, 2019 as per OP. Did the dealer got the insurance renewed for you or is the car now sitting without cover?

[ruzbehxyz]

A clear case of fraud.

After all this mess, the best option is to take your money back, handover the car and exit from the troublesome deal. Off course getting the money back would be another ordeal but that looks best now.

[Dhruv29]

Originally Posted by sen2009

BTW, what happened to the insurance. It was due for renewal in Aug, 2019 as per OP. Did the dealer got the insurance renewed for you or is the car now sitting without cover?

As mentioned in original post, the dealer got it renewed. It would’ve been extremely terrible if the car was sitting without insurance.

[Dopamine]

Like other people have already told you, a bounced cheque is a serious criminal offence that one can even end up going to jail for, I believe. And now you are in the driver's seat.
Initiate legal procedures against them for the bounced cheque, breach of trust and fraud as soon as possible and they will almost certainly approach you to resolve it as soon as possible.

[//HB]

@Dhruv29 - pls do go through below suggestions :-

Originally Posted by AGwagon

I am sure that a bounced cheque is a serious offence and you can straight away put a criminal proceeding or even take them to NCLT, which I am sure if they have the money (in any other account as well), they will honour. Good luck!

initiating NCLT proceedings is a costly affair, and will be worthless if (as it already appears to be) they have no valuable assets on their books. OTOH criminal proceedings under sec138 can and probably will be more cost effective, as well as exert more pressure on them. The recent amendments in law require the accused to immediately deposit 20% of the complaint amount with the court, that is something positive in sec138.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Case of fraud, cheque bounce and clear evidence against stealership..

Yes exactly, which is why, in addition to sec138, you can file a criminal complaint of cheating, fraud etc. DO ENSURE to also name Toyota / TFS as RESPONDENTS in the cheating complaint, it should help to exert adequate pressure on the dealer.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

If that doesn't work out, get an agreement done with them asking for definite period for sorting out the hypothecation or failing to do so they would buy back the car for the same amount that you paid.

My suggestion - if you do go this route, let the agreement be FILED IN THE COURT as part of the proceeding under sec138 / cheating complaint, else nothing will stop such unscrupulous dealer from not honouring the terms even after signing such agreement.

Originally Posted by PraNeel

Please file a court case without delay and start exposing Lexus on social media.

YES - leverage every opportunity to NAME AND SHAME the dealership as well as Toyota & TFS for treating you this way.

Originally Posted by bmw_lover

File a complaint in consumer courts. Trust me they are not that bad. We need to trust our judicial system a bit more. Even if you want to settle, settle in court after filing the complaint. P.S. If you decide to file the case which you should, don't even call the dealer once. Don't warn him about the court case at all. He shouldn't have slightest of idea of what's going on in your mind. First mover's advantage you see.

Yes - the consumer court complaint should be the THIRD FRONT that you should open against this crooked player - and YES, all three can and should be done CONCURRENTLY - do take it up as you have paid a hell of a lot of money for the car.

Originally Posted by Dhruv29

Update:
I received a text from Abhimanyu Mehta. He also said that he has nothing to gain from this situation and to keep the dialogue going to procure NOC. Going legal way will make matters worse and delay it even further. He will update me on the matter tomorrow.

Humble opinion - this plain and simple BS, a standard ploy to soften you up and (maybe) seed a doubt in your mind to make you avoid initiating legal actions against them. Move FAST, move DECISIVELY and hit them with all the suggested legal actions at once.

Originally Posted by Dhruv29

It’s not a threat as far as i can understand. There are 1-2 messages in between from both side. Attaching Screenshot to clear things.

Disagree with your reading of the message - its plain and simple veiled threat - you will see this all the time when dealing with wilful defaulters who are used to squatting on other peoples rightful dues.

You've given them too much time already to set the situation right but clearly they're not playing straight. Think about it calmly, engage a lawyer to go after them in all the three mentioned ways (and any other if the lawyer can advise any). Good luck.

[hserus]

A cheque bounce case - even with the new amendments to section 138 - will take a very long time. You need to include offences like IPC 406 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and 423 (Dishonest or fraudulent execution of deed of transfer con*taining false statement of consideration). It will still take years to grind through the court system.

Keep up the social media initiative - it might deliver results faster than the court case will.

[deepfusion]

Originally Posted by aashishnb

Hi Dhruv,

Here's a little 'out of the box' / extreme solution to your problem. I presume you've paid them by cheque.
Suggest you file a winding up petition against the company with IBC saying that you are a 'creditor' (which can be argued that you are by a lawyer!!) and ask for your money back. Send a copy to Toyota / Lexus saying there is a winding up petition against the dealer. This would mean they stand to lose their dealership.
While the dealer may be quite thick skinned, this would get them rattled enough. Perhaps, if you have not yet got the invoice for your vehicle - you can ask for the money back only and give them some of their own medicine!!

Suggest you cheque with your chartered accountant / legal advisor about this course of action.



Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

This IS THE PERFECT SOLUTION to the problem at hand. Clear default under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Serve him a notice, and the dealer will be at your door the day he receives the notice. Not too expensive considering the pain you have been made to go through


Though it will not be a winding up application, it will bring the dealer (since the dealer is a company) to your door and he will do what you ask him to do. Since you are in Gurgaon, I will be happy to help you with the process if you so prefer.


I will not advise you to file under Section 138, since it is a very long drawn process, that will further put you through further ordeal.

[Jag4]

Originally Posted by bmw_lover

@Dhruv29

Go ahead with the legal route. Thats the only and best option you have. You can always take back your complaint once they honor their commitments and responsibilities.

And as it is if you still have to run and wait for this transfer of ownership, you better do that running for the legal process.

Fraud and criminal breach of trust are really big charges (criminal charges which attract jail time). They will beg you to settle later on which will be most satisfying.

Remember The Art of War (SunTzu)? You need to change the table sides before negotiating. Once you go legal, they will approach you for settlement. When they reach your office, you will be at the boss's side of the table. Make them wait every time. Settle some old scores!!

I second his opinion. In fact you'll be answerable for the delay in filing the FIR.

Get an FIR registered at the earliest. It isn't the easiest thing to do by yourself so get a lawyer involved. Once you do that I am sure you'll get a positive response by the first or the second hearing.

This is the only way this can be resolved. Don't think too much it's been a almost a year since you got entangled in this mess for buying a luxury product, for which companies go above and beyond to satisfy the customer.

I think the dealer has taken you for granted and its time they face the music for their deeds.

[Dhruv29]

Thank you everyone for the response and support. I really appreciate it.

I’ll update the thread if further development takes place.

[//HB]

Originally Posted by hserus

A cheque bounce case - even with the new amendments to section 138 - will take a very long time. You need to include offences like IPC 406 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and 423 (Dishonest or fraudulent execution of deed of transfer con*taining false statement of consideration). It will still take years to grind through the court system.

Keep up the social media initiative - it might deliver results faster than the court case will.

Agree on the timelines, but my opinion (also from seeing practical application of this) is that while it will take years to come to a judgement, the fact that the court will make the accused deposit 20% at the start of proceedings itself can be a good deterrent and put pressure on them to come forward and resolve the issue as out-of-court settlement.

And (hopefully) if this happens, @Dhruv29 should insist on filing the settlement deed with the court as well to ensure they stick to committed actions and timelines.

[porsche_guy]

Originally Posted by Dhruv29

Thank you everyone for the response and support. I really appreciate it.

I’ll update the thread if further development takes place.

Any updates on the topic?

[Dhruv29]

Originally Posted by porsche_guy

Any updates on the topic?

As of now an FIR has been lodged against the MD of Cosmic Motors and TFS.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by GTO

I have ONE QUESTION for Lexus = where the heck is your legendary customer service? Where is your exemplary support when a customer has been harassed like this? ..

And before you even think of pushing this onto your dealer, let me tell you this = you are RESPONSIBLE for your dealer. Your dealer is the face of your brand. When we buy a Lexus, we do so because of your brand, not the dealer.

No response by the company after more than a month of this issue being brought into the public domain. This is probably the only company to completely ignore such a major issue being faced by a customer for a year.

[sharktale]

Originally Posted by Dhruv29

Thank you everyone for the response and support. I really appreciate it.

I’ll update the thread if further development takes place.

Another out-of-the-box solution, which we too used to turn-around the animosity, was to get a journalist involved.

My father's friend is at a good post in a popular business newspaper agency. When we explained our ordeal to him, he asked one of his associates to call up the dealer and Skoda for their comments, as they were using our example to publish a story around improper after-sales experiences.
This hit them right on their nerves. They immediately called us back to withdraw such an article and that they'll take in the car immediately.

I hope earnestly this solution might prove helpful to you. Applying through IBC will involve legal costs. Why bear those costs when a simple phone call might do the trick.