[AkMar]

I posted this link on Twitter (not sure if rules allow to post it here). Tata motors replied with a template "we've taken up the customer's concern and our team is diligently working on it. Be rest assured, customer service and satisfaction are of utmost importance to us and we always aim at delivering the best of our services to make customer's experience with Tata Motors even better."

[SnS_12]

Just trying to understand better how the situation started off in the first place.

If the dealer is not authorized to take bookings of Safari as per TM, were there any test drive cars in the showroom in the first place or a display car at least?

In case not, then what made you place a booking with them? And if yes, then how are they not authorized to take bookings for the Safari?

[red herring]

Originally Posted by AkMar

I posted this link on Twitter (not sure if rules allow to post it here). Tata motors replied with a template "we've taken up the customer's concern and our team is diligently working on it. Be rest assured, customer service and satisfaction are of utmost importance to us and we always aim at delivering the best of our services to make customer's experience with Tata Motors even better."

Thanks AkMar. I have many such replies from TM.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Just trying to understand better how the situation started off in the first place.

If the dealer is not authorized to take bookings of Safari as per TM, were there any test drive cars in the showroom in the first place or a display car at least?

In case not, then what made you place a booking with them? And if yes, then how are they not authorized to take bookings for the Safari?

I took the TD at home - that too for a Tata Harrier and later upgraded the booking.

Update 3:

Received a call from the proprietor (for the first time in 4 months) who explained why the mess happened in the first place (Covid). He has assured to refund the booking and down payment in the next 5 days. He has also offered a loaner car for my personal use. What is the positive version of "when it rains, it pours!"? Maybe I'm counting my chicken well before they have hatched.

[mac187]

Dealership winding down and running away with customer money is sadly a regular practice in India. This scenario is really an odd one though. And trust TATA to spring a nasty surprise like this. I am a fan boy of TATA but even I know that TATA passenger car dealership leaves alot to be desired. In such cases, TATA also has to take up the blame in doing their part of confusing and misleading the customer. Its clear that TATA has invested and focused on getting their product line up right, its high time they focus on fixing the dealership and customer service aspects of their business. Not only did TATA lose OP as a customer but also lost their future business with people within OP's sphere of influence.

OP, Hope your issue is resolved soon. If you really like the product, I would suggest you to go ahead with a reputed dealer in your area. Do not let this issue rob you of all the happy miles you would have enjoyed with your Safari.

[lsjey]

To grow, TM needs more dealers. If you need more dealers, you cannot have quality dealers. Dealerships are capital intensive. The margins are very low. TM offers 3.74% margin on ex-showroom price of a car. Please see: https://www.91wheels.com/news/car-de...gins-explained

The trouble is, to increase profits, dealers will do anything. It's a question of surviving.

Given that there have been some price increases recently from most of the car manufacturers, things may improve.

Experts here can throw more light on how much is the per car commission in other countries. May be in India it is very low.

The biggest competitive advantage of Maruti is that they have cornered the market for dealerships. New carmakers like Kia are struggling may be because of this?

Regards,
lsjey

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by red herring

...

DSM as I had mentioned is not authorized to take bookings of Safari as per TM (Tata Motors) guidelines but they went ahead and took my booking.

...

What bothers me most is, if a certain dealer is not authorized to sell a subset of the portfolio, how can the customer know this? We trust the dealer as a representative of the brand to act in good faith.

There must be a valid reason for TM not extending this privilege to this dealer and if dealer explicitly overrides it, shouldn't there be any repercussion?

I hope you get your money back soon as they seem keen to move on with a refund.

But, more than we all should be concerned about
- Dealer being let go with bare minimum of refund
- TM appearing to push the whole thing under the carpet

[Ansys]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I will go against the tide and say that calling out Tata Motors as a complicit in this fraud is an exaggeration.

- Does Tata Motor’s response to your predicament seem pathetic - Yes
- Do you deserve a better treatment when you are buying their premium car in their stable - Yes
- Have you been defrauded - Absolutely Yes
- Did Tata Motors defraud you - Most probably NO. It was the dealer trying to pull a fast one on you

Despite this, Tata Motors could have handled this way better. I hope you get a resolution and a car (XUV700? ) soon.

I have to very strongly disagree. Tata Motors is responsible 100%> The fact that they reinstated the same dealer, albeit without a caveat is proof enough.

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I will go against the tide and say that calling out Tata Motors as a complicit in this fraud is an exaggeration.

- Does Tata Motor’s response to your predicament seem pathetic - Yes
- Do you deserve a better treatment when you are buying their premium car in their stable - Yes
- Have you been defrauded - Absolutely Yes
- Did Tata Motors defraud you - Most probably NO. It was the dealer trying to pull a fast one on you

Despite this, Tata Motors could have handled this way better. I hope you get a resolution and a car (XUV700? ) soon.

Originally Posted by red herring

Update 2:

Received a message from a TM employee informing me that the payment will happen by Monday. Honestly, I find it hard to believe as I have already got atleast 5 such commitments in the past which have not been honored. But I'm ever hopeful.

Also got a call from the dealer who wants me to visit his office to talk to him on the refund. What is there to talk here? Just wire the money mate! This is something I find hard to understand - he wants me to go to his office to talk to him to get my money back! Not happening sir.

Nonetheless, some movement ever since this thread has gone up - power of community!

With interest! That is something that must come even without asking!!!

[invidious]

Does Tata still own a company owned showroom in Worli? Perhaps that kind of insulates other buyers who really want a Tata. Just a suggestion.

Bizarre experience though. Tata shouldn't allow this.

[lsjey]

This is one area where the car manufacturers should go with the times and go digital with their showrooms. Covid-19 should mitigate all hesitancy in channel conflict.

But this needs to be thought through and implemented properly. Otherwise, it will lead to similar results like that of Mahindra online booking.

Extending this thought, may be the car manufacturers should move all payments and purchases online to ensure that there is transparency and clarity.

I do hope @red herring gets back the booking amount and gets back to a good car buying experience. Wishing you many happy miles of journey in your new car!

Regards,
lsjey

[Motormania]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your experience. However, I would say you should be relieved that TM has reinstated the said dealer. Reinstating a dealer requires quite a bit of written commitment from the dealer principle to the OEM, and the decision is taken after due diligence by the top management.

This will also mean that TM now has better control over the dealer and can pressurise them to clear all such customer claims.

Nonetheless I would suggest you to keep the entire incident recorded in writing with dates.
Also please keep the Mumbai Regional Office in the loop.

I am quite sure you will get your money back soon.

[charade]

Originally Posted by invidious

Does Tata still own a company owned showroom in Worli? Perhaps that kind of insulates other buyers who really want a Tata. Just a suggestion.

Bizarre experience though. Tata shouldn't allow this.

Nope. Tata Motors used to run their own dealerships under the Concorde brand as a wholly owned subsidiary. Tata Motors has exited the auto retail business in 2020 and Concorde operations have been transitioned to other dealers.

There was a Concorde showroom in Worli. At the moment, the showroom in Worli is run under the Puneet Automobiles brand.

[y2k]

Hate it when I come across how consumers are taken for granted. It is surprising to know that the dealer was reinstated and yet I think that might help your case practically because I imagine it would increase your chances of getting your refund. Hopefully you don't have to go down the legal chase as it time, energy and economically inefficient given the speed of enforcement in our country. I don't know about consumer courts specifically though.

Looking forward to soon hear that you have received your refund. Don't forget to update here.

[Aditya]

Thanks to Shashiraj Ram for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

I have booked a car through My DSM, Kurla West, who is the authorised dealer for Tata cars. I did the booking on June 2nd, 2021. The authorised person, Mr, Shailesh from My DSM contacted me on July 1st and told me that the car will arrive on July 10th and I can make the down payment and disburse the loan.

I made the payment of Rs. 20 lakhs to My DSM, Kurla by July 5th. The loan was disbursed on the same day. My EMI got debited on August 5th, 2021. Till date I don’t have my car. The dealership director, Manoj Poddar, is giving me dates on email with only fake promises every day.

My DSM has given everything on mail and even now, he is lying every day. I wrote to Tata Motors several times and one Mr. Karan Tiwari also promised me that the car would be delivered in a few days. But those few days haven't come till date. He has even stopped answering my calls. Tata customer support is useless. I wrote to Ratan Tata Sir, but even he did not reply. Tata makes good cars, but due to dealers like My DSM, we customers have to face such pain. I had booked a Tata Harrier AT top variant. Now, I am only imagining the car in pictures as the dealer has used the money and now, he is asking for ten more days. I have no options left other than filing a police complaint.

Even Tata Motors has stopped supporting its customers. My next EMI is due on September 5th, 2021. Please don’t book with My DSM as your money will be used for their personal payments.

Any advice from Team-BHP?

[red herring]

Update 4:

After 4 months of wait I finally got back 8.25 L wired back into my account. How do I feel? Relaxed. Instead, I should have been driving a, hopefully niggle free, Tata Safari. But then all's well that ends well.

Ever since this thread has gone up, the pace of movement on this issue, which was stuck and heading to courts has been amazing. So firstly a big thanks to each one you who chipped in or even viewed this thread. Power of community never ceases to amaze me.

For the first time in 4 months I heard back from the proprietor last week. He graciously admitted the mistake his employees made, owned up the responsibility and gave me the reason for what led to my money getting stuck. Covid has been hard on all of us and was hard on him and his employees impacting his multiple businesses' cash flow. Though I suffered a lot but I will give him the benefit of doubt as eventually the entire issue post this thread going up got resolved amicably and with no resistance. We shouldn't have come to this stage ever but I'm not going to hold a grudge - times are hard for business owners.

So what's next? I'm putting my decision to buy a Tata car on hold for now. Not as much out of this issue but the fact that I don't need a vehicle this badly immediately and because of the great vehicle XUV 700 seems to be.

Apart from this thread I tried out a few more things which I think helped as well -
1) replying to every single tweet of Tata Motors and Tata Group with a link of this thread.
2) sending out regular mails to the senior management. I didn't have their email IDs but used multiple permutations and combinations e.g. firstname.lastname, lastname.firstname etc to get it right.

But none of these could have helped as much as this space. So to celebrate me being a part of this community and as a small token of gratitude I just placed an order for a bunch of Team BHP key rings.

Moderators, I am fine if the thread can be closed.

[NirmalK]

Very glad that the booking amount has been returned by the Tata dealer. Whatever the explanation was, it would still have been better if the issue was resolved prior to you having to reaching out to the multiple people in TaMo and Team BHP.
You would have posted a positive feedback and may have booked the vehicle with some other Tata dealer.
Mistakes can be made by anyone, what counts is how it was handled by the erring party. Your account of the whole ordeal does not paint an encouraging picture.
I for sure would never dare to deal with TaMo.