[MadTitan47]

TLDR: Rant about nightmarish experience of a failed Tata car purchase

Being an owner of Tiago 2019, I suggested the same for one of my friend. This turned out to be a colossal mistake.

We booked the car in first week of January at Wasan Motors Pvt Ltd Chembur. It was made clear to them that the car had to be delivered in first half of February, which was required by my friend's employer. The sales person Mr N and Ms S, promised to deliver the car in 4-5 weeks. However from more than a month, they are lying through their teeth. Every time we enquire about the car, they have the same reason that Tata is not allotting any Tiago due to shortage in some electronic chips. This is entirely incorrect because the shortage is their from last one year, not something new. They should have known the status in January itself.

Whenever we confront them, they innocently come up with same excuse that please wait till today evening, or tomorrow morning and we will allot you the first car given to us by the dealership. But if you believe them, not a single car has been allotted to them by Tata Motors. Once they gave the excuse that we have received one car but you have to pay the increased price for it. When we questioned it, that how can they ask more price, if TATA itself has declared that old prices would be valid for the bookings done before 22nd January, they cancelled the car and gave to someone else saying that the online system does not allow billing at old prices.

Till today they have the audacity to say wait for fifteen more minutes and we will get back to you.

After so many years, the memories of going to Government offices for certificates got revived. The treatment is so pathetic by the dealership. Their words carry zero weightage!!!

Finally understood why people want to avoid Tata dealerships like plague.

Sad thing is, strong and promising make in India products like Tiago has to suffer because of this buffoonery.

[Engine_Roars]

Unfortunate but I don't think it is fair to blame TATA for this one. There are rogue dealers across the brands. There are many happy TATA customers believe it or not. I don't own TATA, never have because I don't have the capacity to deal with niggles & quality issues however I do believe they are trying hard to prove themselves.

Have you tried escalating this higher ups? This looks like a dealer specific issue & TATA can not sort it for you unless they know about it.

[shibulijack]

I believe the title of this post is misleading. Have you tried shooting an email to Tata about this dealer behavior? If not, I'd highly recommend you to do that.

Also, I personally know a bunch of friends who purchased Tata cars from Gurudev, Chennai, and were super pleased with their dealer experience.

[udaikalra01]

Sorry, but the title is very misleading. I've heard that their online customer support is good. You should try sending e-mails and calling them out on their social media handles.

Also, I think this belongs to "Indian Car Dealerships" sub-forum.

[RJK]

That, my friend, is Wasan Motors. We had bought an Indica from them, way back in 2002. They were the best dealers for Tata at that time, imagine the others then
In 2014 as well, we bought a Innova from them, experience wasn't very great. But I don't expect any different from them either, I have a feeling Tata does not have much control over the dealers. That's one of the reasons why, as sexy as the Harrier looks, can't muster up courage to replace our Innova with it.

[SideView]

As others mentioned shoot an escalation mail. Might help get things resolved faster.

I would also blame the manufacturer here a bit, for not having penalties for such cases.If the dealers are aware of such penalties, i doubt dealers would try to pull a fast one.

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by MadTitan47

When we questioned it, that how can they ask more price, if TATA itself has declared that old prices would be valid for the bookings done before 22nd January, they cancelled the car and gave to someone else saying that the online system does not allow billing at old prices.

Surprised Tata has a price protection policy in place. Usually price at the time of delivery applies. With regards to chip shortage , production hasn't been at full throttle since the lockdown. I had to run behind the dealer to get my XUV300 and add in high demand dealers are playing hardball.

Originally Posted by shibulijack

Also, I personally know a bunch of friends who purchased Tata cars from Gurudev, Chennai, and were super pleased with their dealer experience.

Surprising. I felt Gurudev was the worst of the lot with poor attitude and insanely low exchange prices. I sold my car for 66% higher price than Gurudev quoted to cars24.

[rahulananda]

You can also call try calling Tata Motors regional office and if you're lucky they may provide you with the contact details of Tata Motors Sales CSM or Tata Motors Service CSM. I would also encourage you to shoot an email to Tata Motors customer care as well.

[MadTitan47]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Unfortunate but I don't think it is fair to blame TATA for this one.

Originally Posted by breezydrive

Yes, the issue is dealer specific, so it is unfair to blame the brand. You should send emails to higher officials in the company.

Originally Posted by shibulijack

I believe the title of this post is misleading. Have you tried shooting an email to Tata about this dealer behavior? If not, I'd highly recommend you to do that.

Also, I personally know a bunch of friends who purchased Tata cars from Gurudev, Chennai, and were super pleased with their dealer experience.

Originally Posted by udaikalra01

Sorry, but the title is very misleading. I've heard that their online customer support is good. You should try sending e-mails and calling them out on their social media handles.

Also, I think this belongs to "Indian Car Dealerships" sub-forum.

Originally Posted by SideView

As others mentioned shoot an escalation mail. Might help get things resolved faster.

I would also blame the manufacturer here a bit, for not having penalties for such cases.If the dealers are aware of such penalties, i doubt dealers would try to pull a fast one.

1. Complaint has been registered with TATA Motors for more than a week now, without any updates.

2. I think TATA Motors are equally responsible for maintaining their dealerships and service centers and ensuring a satisfactory, if not pleasant, experience. At the end of the day, it is their brand due to which people are getting attracted to or repelled from the products. Is it too much to ask for a 'decent' buying and service experience without having to carry out extensive research on ethics and integrity of specific dealership and service outlets? If Tata Motors are not to be held responsible for such issues, then I must insist, their products carry statutory warning saying 'Product under warranty but service and experience as per your fate".

3. Just because some other people had good experience does not invalidate the horrors undergone by others. I am also a Tata customer from last two years and on that basis itself I recommended it to my friends.

4. Thanks moderator for moving the thread to an appropriate forum.

Originally Posted by RJK

That, my friend, is Wasan Motors. We had bought an Indica from them, way back in 2002. They were the best dealers for Tata at that time, imagine the others then

As per my information, they are still the best dealer of Tata Motors in Mumbai

Originally Posted by Ragavsr

With regards to chip shortage , production hasn't been at full throttle since the lockdown.

Issue is two folds:
1. Tell the customer upfront about the delivery period. Don't make promises which you can't keep and then perpetually double down on the hoodwinking and drive customer crazy.

2. Again, don't pretend that the chip scarcity just popped up out of nowhere in last month. They must have this information at the time of booking itself.

I just want to be treated with some dignity. If you are gonna lie, put some efforts, and make it a bit believable.

[shibulijack]

Originally Posted by MadTitan47

3. Just because some other people had good experience does not invalidate the horrors undergone by others. I am also a Tata customer from last two years and on that basis itself I recommended it to my friends.

I completely understand your frustration here, and truth be told, I would have felt the same way. However, the same reasoning can be applied the other way too - just because some of us have bad experiences with the dealers, doesn't mean that the manufacturer is nightmarish.

The reason why I wanted to bring this up is that I'm tired of people pointing fingers at Tata when the same horror stories happen with pretty much all the manufacturers' dealerships. That being said, I sincerely hope you get a response from Tata motors and get this issue resolved asap.

[GTO]

Tata somehow has the worst pre-sales experiences. While bad dealers exist for other brands too, what is more concerning to me is this:

Originally Posted by MadTitan47

Complaint has been registered with TATA Motors for more than a week now, without any updates.

Why the hell has Tata not stepped in to resolve this? Am sure this thread will get the attention of higher-ups though. Do provide the booking name or receipt here, so they know which customer the complaint is for.

If you really like the car, I'd suggest still going ahead with it. Reasons outlined in this article of mine. (Had a bad sales experience at a dealer? Please do NOT eliminate the car model because of that!).

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by MadTitan47

Issue is two folds:
1. Tell the customer upfront about the delivery period. Don't make promises which you can't keep and then perpetually double down on the hoodwinking and drive customer crazy.

2. Again, don't pretend that the chip scarcity just popped up out of nowhere in last month. They must have this information at the time of booking itself.

I just want to be treated with some dignity. If you are gonna lie, put some efforts, and make it a bit believable.

While I understand what you must be going through, but chip scarcity is a genuine issue at the moment. The entire semiconductor supply chain has been badly affected because of the pandemic. (I work in the electronics domain, so I'm telling from my personal experience)

The car manufacturers and dealerships are aware of this, but no salesman would want to turn down a customer because of this reason. They would rather take the booking and make the customer wait. It may not be fair to the customer, but that's how businesses work.

Tata Motors not responding to customer's complaint just gives the indication that they are not customer centric or consider the dealership more important that the customer. No wonder the Japanese and Korean car manufacturers keep selling their tin-cans when there are other safer cars available (from these Indian car manufacturers who behave like we are living in the Jurassic era).

Rohan

[RJK]

Originally Posted by GTO

Why the hell has Tata not stepped in to resolve this? Am sure this thread will get the attention of higher-ups though. Do provide the booking name or receipt here, so they know which customer the complaint is for.

If you really like the car, I'd suggest still going ahead with it. Reasons outlined in this article of mine. (Had a bad sales experience at a dealer? Please do NOT eliminate the car model because of that!).

My approach to the situation is absolutely opposite. If Pre-sales is so poor, for a car that may not be setting the sales charts on fire & devil-care-a-damn attitude of the manufacturer in reprimanding the dealer, I can't imagine what would be the situation in after sales.

[MadTitan47]

Originally Posted by GTO

Do provide the booking name or receipt here, so they know which customer the complaint is for.

His name is Hrishikesh Kurangal. I will get the receipt details and post that too.

Originally Posted by GTO

If you really like the car, I'd suggest still going ahead with it.

He convinced his family two months back, with great difficulty, to go with a Tata. However, it appears that, finally he has made up his mind to cancel the booking and follow the family tradition of buying a Maruti car.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

The car manufacturers and dealerships are aware of this, but no salesman would want to turn down a customer because of this reason. They would rather take the booking and make the customer wait. It may not be fair to the customer, but that's how businesses work.

I had a completely opposite experience with Hyundai and Maruti when I was assisting another friend in his car purchase. Creta dealer straight forward told us that it would take up 6-8 months for delivery of the car. My friend then cancelled Creta after few days of booking, went for Brezza which was promised in 6 weeks and delivered few days back in 5 weeks itself.

[Theyota]

Chip shortage is the truth. It has been so for a few months and it is expected to go on for 3 more quarters. It is affecting multiple industries and there are back orders everywhere. Tata is not to blame here. But the dealer is unethical if he sells the car allotted to your booking to another customer to make a few extra bucks. There is not a single brand that does not have this kind of dealers. From the perspective of the dealer it may also be legal.