[arjunsatheesh]

I've been behind Maruti for ages regarding this steering issue on my Ignis. I took it to 3 service centers in Bangalore but none of them acknowledged it. All of them kept telling me this is how it is. Finally, the service center near my house in Kerala told me that this issue is now fixed in the latest models but can't do anything for older models. Guess we have to live with this now. It irritates the heck out of you when going up and down multi-level car parks.

[Kumaran93R]

I certainly hope that they don't make the service app mandatory. I usually take my 20 year old M800 5 Speed and Alto 1.1 to Swamy Automobiles, Chennai and they do a stellar job.

If they make the app mandatory, I'll switch to my FNG who is closer to my house.

P.S.: I'm a cloud tech consultant and after a long day of dealing with wonky tech of client's, I certainly won't have the bandwidth to deal with one more crappy piece of software.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by shancz

The process seems to be dependent on customer action(putting in the values in the link).

Just got our wagonR serviced today through a service on wheels facility provided by another dealer, smooth enough I would say.

- I booked over phone.
- I did get an SMS with OTP which I had to provide to the SA to process the bill.
- I also got the SMS with the link where the items were listed along with estimates and approve/reject buttons but I was neither asked to do anything nor did I. Just browsed it since I had been reading about it in this thread.
- I didn't get the DIY screen.
- Checked the MG Rewards app and could see the status being updated but no item details are available in it, just the summary and id.

I guess everything was done by the SA like some other members have also mentioned and remember this was MS Arena not NEXA.
Although I could note that the SAs too aren't well versed with the system since the amount mentioned in the link was much higher than what I paid. I could see that they've tried to revise it but ended up with incorrect values. But didn't matter to me as the bill I received was correct.
Also it took them quite some time to generate the bill I am guessing they tried to fix it in the system, didn't work out and probably used some override to generate the bill.

OT : Thanks to Leoshashi for recommending the Service On Wheels facility

[neil.jericho]

Thanks for all your inputs guys. Im not quoting everyone individually, but summarising my thoughts here.

- Aargee, I have always felt from the beginning that Nexa is as good, or bad, as any other service center experience. My expectations are aligned accordingly but the problem comes because the SVCs believe their own hype. Everytime there is a not so great experience, they promise me that they have the processes and people in place to improve. And that I will never have a bad experience with them again. But when I share the list of bad experiences with them over 4 years, they have nothing to say. I have given feedback to them at all levels. They still live in a bubble of delusion.

- Agarwal_Aayush, Im not sure if Maruti has changed the process between August and now. In fact, earlier, I could open the page twice, to enter the details from my side. But yesterday (I will post about this separately), I could open it only once. Maruti has blocked the ability to open it twice. So someone is tweaking their processes.

- ike, I had asked the service advisor the same thing. IIRC he mentioned that he hasnt encountered this issue so far.

- sole_rider, I asked the service advisor whether he has noticed any change in the steering of the newer Ignis vehicles. He said that they return to center exactly the same as the BS4 ones! So, I dont know what they have checked, when they dont know that Maruti has improved the steering feel of their new cars.

- Rocketscience, will try and borrow the car for a day or two and drive it around myself before deciding whether to pursue Maruti for a replacement. As mentioned above, they cant differentiate between the improved Ignis cars and the older ones with wonky steering.

- Ritz2010, even I felt it is high but the items were all as per Maruti's recommended service.

- Researcher, I drive a Jazz CVT and I hate switching cars and driving my Mom's Ignis AMT. They are just so different, sigh!

- shancz, these were the exact questions that I asked the service advisor. He was helpless as this is the Maruti mandated process.

- Kumaran93R, the service app is not mandatory. But you have to go through all the page entering issues process, bill approval process etc, even for complimentary car washes! I went through that painful experience yesterday. Ill post about it with some pictures in a day or two.

[sole_rider]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

- sole_rider, I asked the service advisor whether he has noticed any change in the steering of the newer Ignis vehicles. He said that they return to center exactly the same as the BS4 ones! So, I dont know what they have checked, when they dont know that Maruti has improved the steering feel of their new cars.
two.

Hi Neil, the only Ignis I have ever driven is mine. But I have read/heard a lot about this steering not returning to center issue in the Ignis a lot. In my car the steering auto returns to center without any drama even in speeds as low as 10-15kmph. Maybe you can go for a test drive in a newer Ignis and try it out.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

- I drive a Jazz CVT and I hate switching cars and driving my Mom's Ignis AMT. They are just so different, sigh!

- these were the exact questions that I asked the service advisor. He was helpless as this is the Maruti mandated process.

- Wow, that would be a change, I drove a friend's Jazz CVT once through residential roads(read tight turns and U turns) and I was just short of tearing up That steering is on a different plane, that's how it should be for all but alas!

- Sorry to hear it but it honestly doesn't make sense to pile it on the customer. I have a strong feeling the SC/SA has done it from their end to avoid overheads. But after the steering issue I guess logic isn't a guiding principle there.

[neil.jericho]

Here are the final updates on the service experience. Im pretty sure that this is the last time that our Ignis is going to a Maruti Suzuki SVC.

- I got a call from the Popular Motors customer care desk asking if the service advisor had called me 3 days after the service. It is the mandated process but the SA hadnt done so.
- The customer relationship manager called me asking about the pending car wash. I asked her about the mandated call from the SA after 3 days. She was surprised that he hadnt called. We agreed to get the car picked up on Sunday (26th).
- The SA must have got a good dose from the CRM because he called to ask how things were, post service. He promised that all the issues would be rectified in the complimentary wash.


Here is the timeline from the 26th September
- 11:30 AM : The car was picked up. Popular Motors was to just do the complimentary wash and check for a very slight sound from the driver seat. I asked that they return the car in the afternoon.
- 12:30 PM : The SA asks me to go to the Maruti website and fill in the details to trigger the process from their end

- Around 2 PM : The SA asks me to go to the Maruti website and approve the in flight work.

- Around 4 PM : No sign of the car. The SA says that their senior team is doing a double check of the wash and that my car will be delivered to me in perfect condition. The SA asks me to give a good rating.

- 4:20 PM : Some chap from the service advisor team asks me to give a good rating. I ask how can I do this when they have goofed up. They are worried about Maruti coming down on them for doing a shoddy job.

- 4:30 PM : The car is delivered. The team has applied copious polish and wax on the insides. The doors are not cleaned properly and sides are full of dust. The plastic around the gearbox has not been wiped. The glass in front of the odometer is still full of smudge marks. The front windscreen has water marks on it.

The driver is apologetic and calls up the higher ups. They send the cleaning staff to my home to clean it properly for a third time! I dont know what quality check was done that delayed the return of my car.

- 5 PM : Two guys from the cleaning team come armed with a grand total of two microfiber cloths to undo the damage. They do the best they can. As per the process, each car is supposed to have one micro fiber cloth to dry it after service. Im sure that if anyone goes to their garage and requests to see the count of micro fiber cloths, it will not match the number of vehicles serviced each day.

The smudge marks on the glass in front of the odometer are a mystery to them. They say that it is on the inside of the glass. How is that possible unless someone at Popular Motors has removed it and put it back with thorough smudge marks?They say that the front windshield spots wont go. We dont have a hard water so these are not hard water spots. I will have to do it myself. They too ask me to give them a good rating when Maruti calls.

- 29th September : I get a SMS from Maruti asking for my feedback. Finally. I give them the lowest rating.

From the garage service manager, to the service advisor, to the guy from the service advisor team, to the cleaning staff who came to my house, I have told them how the car was not cleaned earlier and what was the cause. They had used wet and dirty cloths to wipe it dry. Not one person has communicated to the other what I have told them. Everyone heard it for the first time when I communicated the actual issue to them. Not one guy is talking to the other to improve what is happening on the ground.

What an awful waste of time, petrol and mental peace on a Sunday. Popular Motors and Maruti Nexa have 100s of processes but their jokers dont follow anything. So what is the point of all this without fixing the laziness and rot in the system? All the staff care about is somehow getting the customer to give them a good rating.

As for Maruti's terrible new digital process, its a complete nuisance. God knows how much money they have pumped into it and a text analytics system, to deep dive into the problems on the ground and improve customer experience. It is a nuisance for customers, it is a nuisance for their service advisors. As someone who has sold analytics and digital systems for a living, I can say that this is an utter waste of an IT project.

After all this, I dont even want to go back to the SVC to get the inside of the smudged glass gifted by them, cleaned. Goodbye Popular Motors. Goodbye Maruti authorized service centers.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

1. They say that it is on the inside of the glass.

2. I get a SMS from Maruti asking for my feedback. Finally. I give them the lowest rating.

3. Not one guy is talking to the other to improve what is happening on the ground.

4. What an awful waste of time, petrol and mental peace on a Sunday.

5. All the staff care about is somehow getting the customer to give them a good rating.

6. I dont even want to go back to the SVC to get the inside of the smudged glass gifted by them, cleaned. Goodbye Popular Motors. Goodbye Maruti authorized service centers.

Man what an ordeal if I can put it mildly, I can feel, brings back memories.

1. Surprisingly I had a similar experience when the guy who came to drop the car said something similar, it was just some weird stuff difficult to clean. I just sprayed it with Colin and some pressure from a clean cloth cleaned it. If not then that could explain the delay in your car's delivery.

2. Well done, they've worked hard to earn it. Perseverance pays.

3. This is a common trait across their SVCs. Have experienced it. That rare case where it works is if your stars line up to get a proficient SA.

4. You've summed it up perfectly. My reason to move away from their SVCs.

5. Also true, really weird that they just seem to understand the stick. Not sure if they get any carrots for doing a good job though.

6. Understandable, I have done the same but check if the glass is actually dirty on the inside. Either DIY or get it cleaned from them or somewhere else.

Find a good MASS in your area or an FNG. For washes I would say a third party location is better off and convenient.

PS : Your glass marks look like some polish which has hard dried so probably difficult to clean. Try cleaning with IPA/sanitizer on a small patch to see how it works.
Has telltale signs of dashboard polish gone wrong. Note its very similar to that on your gear console.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The smudge marks on the glass in front of the odometer are a mystery to them. They say that it is on the inside of the glass. How is that possible unless someone at Popular Motors has removed it and put it back with thorough smudge marks?They say that the front windshield spots wont go. We dont have a hard water so these are not hard water spots. I will have to do it myself. They too ask me to give them a good rating when Maruti calls.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

From the garage service manager, to the service advisor, to the guy from the service advisor team, to the cleaning staff who came to my house, I have told them how the car was not cleaned earlier and what was the cause. They had used wet and dirty cloths to wipe it dry. Not one person has communicated to the other what I have told them. Everyone heard it for the first time when I communicated the actual issue to them. Not one guy is talking to the other to improve what is happening on the ground.

What an awful waste of time, petrol and mental peace on a Sunday. Popular Motors and Maruti Nexa have 100s of processes but their jokers dont follow anything. So what is the point of all this without fixing the laziness and rot in the system? All the staff care about is somehow getting the customer to give them a good rating.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

After all this, I dont even want to go back to the SVC to get the inside of the smudged glass gifted by them, cleaned.

There was a surprising final part to this whole unpleasant service experience. One day I got a deputy regional manager at Popular Vehicles, after he had seen my written feedback on the delivery slip regarding the cleaning. As expected, he did not know any of the details of my experiences, and this goes back to my belief that not one person communicates to the next, what is happening. Anyways, after I brought him up to speed, he was most apologetic and wanted to come to check the smudged glass and he requested that I allow them to take it to another of their SVCs for a final resolution. I asked that they do what they had to do at my home, it was pointless to send the car and waste my time and petrol, to correct their mistakes again.

To his credit, the deputy regional manager kept following up with me to fix up a convenient time and finally he came with another manager and two staff members. The smudged glass was actually smudged from the outside and not the inside They used some Ecstar liquid to clean the glass and after 5 - 10 minutes, it was resolved. I didnt take a picture of the bottle but I do recall that it didnt say what liquid it contained. Even the front windshield spots were quickly accepted and scrubbed off with some elbow grease and this Ecstar liquid.

Overall, I was very impressed by the promptness and dedication shown by the deputy regional manager at Popular Vehicles. He and his team has promised that the next time onwards, they will take the car to the other SVC in town and provide a service experience that will give me nothing to complain about.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

As for Maruti's terrible new digital process, its a complete nuisance. God knows how much money they have pumped into it and a text analytics system, to deep dive into the problems on the ground and improve customer experience. It is a nuisance for customers, it is a nuisance for their service advisors. As someone who has sold analytics and digital systems for a living, I can say that this is an utter waste of an IT project.

However, they cannot bypass about this company mandated process but have said that they will manage the digital process without inconveniencing me at the next service. I dont think that I will be taking the Ignis back to Popular but lets see.

Overall, I will applaud the deputy regional manager at Popular Vehicles for stepping up to resolve the issues and committing that they will ensure a hassle free experience the next time. In fact, I had actually told him that I will manage the smudged glass and windscreen spots myself and that I would be more than happy if he corrected the root cause of the problem at the SVC and ensured that the staff followed the processes in the first place. That way no other customer would be similarly inconvenienced. I doubt any other company would have followed up this much with me to get the issue rectified to my satisfaction. So I applaud Maruti Suzuki for that.

P.S - I am 100% certain that not a single person that I dealt with is aware of this thread and so whatever corrective action was done, was with the intention of resolving things and not to get me to write a positive post on this or any other thread.

[shancz]

That's surprising, someone looks at the feedback !

But MSIL has to be credited for this. All the "feedback calls" finally result in some action.

Also the process was mandated for the SC not the customer so the ridiculous claim of customer dependency is laid to rest.

Nice that you have the issues sorted, finally.
Maybe try pushing for the weird steering as well ?
At least a root cause diagnosis itself would go a long way but at your convenience.