[CLIX]

Well, Looks like the videos have been taken down... as of 12:49:30 noon IST 25 Jan 2021.
A "settlement" hopefully.

[GTO]

What I am keen on seeing now is how Kia responds to this complaint. Ignoring the customer when he earlier complained to Kia was so sad and totally not done. If you turn a blind eye to your dealer's malpractices, you are indirectly encouraging it. Without disciplining, the dealer won't think twice before doing it again. Next time, the felony might be even worse.

I sure hope that Kia reaches out to this customer ASAP. That's the FIRST thing that should be done, above all else on a Monday to-do list.

Post, corrective action should be taken and heavy penalties imposed on the dealer.

Systems must be incorporated for monitoring and attending to all incoming complaints via the website, toll-free number etc. After all, as customers, we pay lakhs of rupees for the "brand" and not the "dealer". Such things usually make it to social media only after the initial complaint wasn't handled properly.

Kia also needs to put in strict audits & surprise checks (like Maruti). Unmonitored, even a good dealer becomes a crook & a thug. Just ask Skoda. If this was a Maruti dealer, I'm telling you that his house & office would be on fire right now. I've heard of grown dealer principals cry in front of Maruti, if they had the guts to cheat a customer like this.

[AkMar]

Shameful behaviour by Kia. Lot has already been said by others & I will only be repeating if I add anything. Just wanted to comment on the videos down aspect.

When I go to Youtube page by clicking on the links it says "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Mohammad Tariq Umar." So it is highly unlikely that the OP has taken down the videos. I am unsure what copyright claim this video could have. Is it Kia PR machinery at work to bury this case on social media?

[shashankrt]

Reading the barrage of negative reviews on Kia / Hyundai, I am glad that I chose Harrier over Seltos / Creta. Atleast tata responds to consumer complaints.
Even in above case Kia has not officially responded and now that videos have disappeared, seems to be backdoor settlement rather than any formal acceptance and action. Basically the dealer will continue and their thefts will continue with other customers!!

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by DeathPig

The below content was sent to me by Tariq Umar.

Dear Deathpig

Is there any update on the issue? Additionally, the videos have been taken down with a note that "there is a copyright complaint from Mohd. Tariq Umar". Did he file the copyright complaint, or Kia guys have got it done? There was an excatly similar case in past too, where Kia guys got one video removed from YT like this only.

Originally Posted by Naetik30

EDIT: WOW!! The videos are down. Whats happening?

They are down due to some copyright complaint. Maybe the owner has happily settled with the Kia guys, and we are here wasting our time, yet again. If the same story is repeated again, even this platform will also stop coming up to help people like all other auto sites.

BTW Kia PR is quite efficient too, these guys got the entire Autocar scene of Crysta 2.8 Vs Seltos GTX drag race also removed from over the web, with not a single sign of it left behind. I won't be surprised if these guys have gone into some dirty games too.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Last time around, when I dropped my vehicle at the VW Service, the SA scavenged all the nooks & storage cubicles in the Vehicle, and transferred them into a small bag.

Same has been my experience, I guess this is an SOP in VW, in fact while I was shifting to another city. I had my wallet in glovebox, ipad, laptop etc all in laptop bag under front passenger seat and luggage all around, got the car inspected and brake pads replaced mid way - they did the job, cleaned the car, but nothing was touched at all.

Originally Posted by GTO

I've heard of grown dealer principals cry in front of Maruti, if they had the guts to cheat a customer like this.

What you have heard is absolutely true. If this happens in Maruti, right from the dealership people to the Maruti service guys heading the area, all land in a soup.
Just now I was talking about this case with a friend over Whatsapp and was telling him of an incident, in which a regional manager from MSIL visited the house of a customer around 10 pm in the night with entire service center and his own staff, after traveling over 80 kms, just to apologize and assure that the issue will be resolved (Issue was again of the part replacement fraudulently) for sure right by the next morning.

Similar was the case of the Baleno owner whose car was returned after just a wash, every second day Maruti guys were either visiting him, or were taking the toll of situation. But in this case, the most disappointing aspect is the silence of Kia, had they spoken at the right moment, nobody else needed to speak at all.

[vigneshkumar31]

I'm sure this is one of many instances that goes on in the dark underbelly of service centers and car dealerships.
This one, thankfully we have been able to catch because of the dashcam. Mr.Umar should use this opportunity to force Kia to make it right not only for himself but for the sake of many other future victims who probably wouldn't be lucky enough to produce proof.

The free run that Kia has been enjoying in our market makes it thick skinned against such pin pricks.
We all praised Kia for their blockbuster launch which skyrocketed them to third position with a single product.

We and our market are also responsible for manufacturer apathy. Brands which are perceived as 'budget' in other countries can come here and thrive as 'premium' offerings fleecing us to make merry because they exactly understand what we want.

A 4*ANCAP rated Magnite makes an honest attempt with all basic safety features and not much bling, and prices it right under 5 lacs, even throws in a proper CVT under 10 lacs , we go poking around, quite literally, seeing if it flexes, befuddled - if it's cheap in price it must be cheap in built.

We make a beeline outside a GNCAP certified unstable Kia at three times the cost just because it has enough bling to boot.

All we seem to need is a sunroof to stick our children out of and a tv stuck to the dashboard.

[adithya.kp]

Did you guys notice that google review rating is 4.9 with 425 reviews.
That's very high. You dont see a lot of google reviews with 4.9 rating (With a decent number of reviews). But, most of the reviewers have only one google review, which is for this dealer itself. One has to be very careful with this ratings.

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

It is Frontier KIA, Okhla Phase-1, New Delhi. It can be seen at 2:09 in the second video.

[VVN]

Sad state of affairs. Infuriating as well as scary. Mind you, not all service centres allow dashcams to run while the car goes in for servicing. I have had my dashcam disconnected all the time. My jack and puncture kit was stolen by Dakshin Honda Singasandra in Bangalore. Hardwiring the cam is the only way forward I guess for people who cannot stand by the car during service.

[MoTo_meister]

It seems like the link provided to the YouTube video in the opening post of the thread isn't working anymore. For the people who are curious to see the dashcam recording of the said incident, I am attaching an IGTV link of the same, as posted by an automotive page on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKaxqUa...d=usahhydzbqld

Ps. You can watch the video even if you do not have an Instagram account.

[kamilharis]

Cars should now come with CCTVs in India.

That's all I could say about this as the rest has been said already.

Kia should also think of adding a connected car feature to their system which says " Hey serviceman, don't steal!"

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by SahilS

person 2: "are wo camera nikalwa lega, teri aisi taisi karwa dega" -->> he will get the camera footage, he will mess you up
person 1: "are pata nahi chalega" -->> he won't get to know

and then they drive on where he admits what he has done with this car

Oh, the Irony of their comments.

[Ansys]

The below content was sent to me by Tariq Umar.

I strongly suggest that you write to Autocar India drawing the attention of Hormazd Sorabjee. They take these things seriously. Also lodge a complaint in your Police Station.

[Leoshashi]

While I feel sad for the owner, this is a rampant practice at most dealerships/workshops, not only Kia. Swapping parts from cars/bikes when they are parked for extended period of time for major repairs. Even if the dealer is unaware, mechanics do this if say someone's car who is well known to them have some fault and an expensive/rare part is needed. They quietly swap from another car provided it has that part in good shape.

Extensive monitoring is the only way of avoiding this. I know some dealers who have separate team monitoring only CCTVs. Also the owners should be vigilant about their cars and not trust anyone blindly.

Originally Posted by GTO

I've heard of grown dealer principals cry in front of Maruti, if they had the guts to cheat a customer like this.

Lol, so true! The fear which MSIL has put in them, is simply unbelievable. Even Toyota. I had once complained to MSIL regarding unavailability of parts for my M800. The parts dealer was at fault. Next I hear is that dealer gets a mail starting with, "Explain why we shouldn't cancel your license and forfeit your security money.........". I later came to know that parts were available from MSIL's end, but the dealer was not interested in ordering them due to low margins.

Originally Posted by CLIX

Well, Looks like the videos have been taken down... as of 12:49:30 noon IST 25 Jan 2021.
A "settlement" hopefully.

I may have the videos, if mods say, I can upload.

Regards,
Shashi

[KPR]

This part replacement from demo car is being done by many dealers. How about bike dealers who sell off demo bikes with zero KM ODO? My service center guys are clever enough to switch off my dashcam after I had come out of center. While taking delivery in the evening I saw it was in switch off condition.

[gopa99]

Any chances that with this post, these unscrupulous dealers will take additional care to disengage battery power or stop such recordings by any means? Why cant service departments of AOEMs ideate this and make the service transparent, like providing video grab of the car service, akin to a Kids daycare where we can see our kids any time we want by logging in their CCTV.
And what a timely post, I was sulking from inside over the last 10 days after giving my KUV 100 for its 40K service at Pothens Mahindra (Kochi), the car took 7 days to come back home; it lost 5 points of fuel (approx 20 liters), and got an unexplained bill of 11K+ where 4K was for a heater coil replacement which was not explained or nor the worn out replacement part kept in the car. I thought of complaining on their service thread, but then held back as I was thinking there is no alternate Mahindra service center near by home and I shouldn't spoil my relationship with the SA and staff there by taking it online; I am still confused at what I should have done!