[COMMUTER]

I would suggest continuing with FNGs irrespective of the brand.

I have had both pleasant and unpleasant experiences with the ASCs. Once when I had a genuine rat bite, Ford ASC at Davangere, Karnataka arranged a connector toa sensor from a written off car for free. It was a heartening gesture saving me huge time, money, et al.
Another Ford ASC at my native in TN stole my good ac condensor and swapped it with another one damaged by a power drill(and hastily patched up with M seal).

That ASC also poured 1L of oil without changing it instead of doing the Happy Pocket Service Ford(oil and filter change for 2.2k) had launched at that time and charged me 2.2k.

That was during my 50k service. I have been service at FNGs for the past 70k kms(odo ctossed 1.2L km) with no issues till date.

I got the AC condensor orderd through Boodmo and changed it at FNG.

My 1L km service involving changing clutch, suspension parts, timing belt were done at FNG too to the fullest satisfaction.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

I'm now considering approaching the consumer court against both, Kingsford Verna & Ford India. In this connection I would greatly appreciate advice & suggestions from the community on the following:

Unless you can lay your hands on the CCTV footage or have the comments in the job cards updated. Or you have e-mails exchanged where the service center & Ford agree that the attached images are from this incident, and agree no rats involved in this foul play. You'd be hard pressed to prove it legally.

From a public service p.o.v would be good if you take this service center to the courts, but, do reflect if you will have the patience to go through a long haul.

[Raghu M]

That is unfortunate. If you have proof (call recordings/emails/bills), I would suggest you file an FIR instead of going to the Consumer Court. Even if there is a hassle, if I were you, I would pursue it till they apologize in writing and repair everything free of cost. It's simple to notify the media these days. Reach out to someone in the media and it will make Ford understand the importance of trust and doing business ethically.

On a side note, I think all Ford owners should be very wary of giving their vehicles for service at authorized Ford service centers. They will all be out of jobs soon and their future is uncertain. Who knows what kind of ploys they can come up with. The example here is proof enough that they have tricks right down their sleeves to fleece customers to the tune of thousands so easily. I would suggest caution!

[IamNikhil]

I think Ford guys are now least bothered about attending to complaints and are desperately busy with job searches!

Surprised that you had such an unsavoury experience with Kings. More than half the guys there have been with Caculo earlier. My family in Goa have an Ecosport and Figo and both cars have been serviced there without any hassles as yet.

You should definitely approach the consumer court. The National Consumer Helpline is useless; they will end up sending your complaint to the dealer itself and the loop will continue unabated. A police complaint about cheating wouldn't do any harm; you should definitely name and shame the higher authorities of Kings Ford.

P.s. I personally never prefer the brand service centres once the free service period is over. Have a trusted local garage that we have opted for since almost 15 years+ now.

[Clayton Crasto]

It's really unfortunate that you had to face such crooks at Kings. Atleast you were shrewd enough to smell the rat that they claim did this. I wonder how many other customers they may have cheated, claiming even more expensive repairs.

I hope you get to a resolution soon enough.

Meanwhile, regarding your request for an FNG that services Ford cars, please check out Manic Mechanic, a multi-brand workshop based in St. Inez, Panaji. The contact number is 9422900097. They have a page on Instagram where they post about all their work.
I don't know anyone who has been to them so you'll just have to check out how credible they are.

Good luck!

[Electromotive]

The scams never stop. This is so outrageous, I am livid .

Can BHPians explain to me why every middle-man/entity (in this case - the ASC) feels entitled to fleece customers on fake pretenses? Has it now become a cultural thing due to non-existent consumer protection letting bad actors get away with these kind of shenanigans? Or is it something people do out of financial hardship - in this case the dealership trying to recoup investments?

Has scamming become our national identity? The world at large seems to think so, thanks to call centers dedicated to scamming citizens of developed nations and youtube channels dedicated to exposing them.

To me it seems like every aspect of our life is in some way influenced by scams perpetuated by public and private agents and agencies or even the citizens themselves. Here are some examples:

- Schools charge hefty fees but are staffed with incompetent, underpaid teachers making it necessary to provide child with additional coaching.

- Universities/Colleges where plagiarism is the norm and no original work or research is done.

- Middle-men and traders who will swindle you at the drop of a hat if you are not vigilant in your business dealings.

- Govt. agencies that can't even properly design a form or create a rational SOP, but will be a stickler for paperwork where requirements are circular/co-dependent.

- Insurance agents and financial advisors who will mis-sell you financial products that can't even beat inflation, let alone beat the index. And there will of course be the quintessential clerical error in the paperwork, just to make you get some exercise running from one office to another.

- Then there are e-commerce frauds perpetuated by both customers and third party sellers. Even Amazon India had to change their refund policies due to the frequency of false claims by customers.

Anything and anybody that can be exploited, is being exploited. So, I ask again - Have we become a nation of scammers?

[Salnv]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

On 24 July 2021, following a diversion to an unpaved & bumpy stretch of road due to the ongoing construction work on the NH17 highway between Agassim and Cortalim, resulted in my EcoSport displaying an "ABS Malfunction Error - Service Now" message with the ABS LED remaining continuously lit.

I understand your point and it seems very much valid. However going by the exit plan of Ford and lots of uncertainties remain with Ford and its Dealers , I am not sure if you get any immediate benefit/resolution in following up further with Dealer or Ford. They must be busy with their plans/uncertainties otherwise I am sure they would have settled this matter amicably especially since it is being published on Team-BHP. Should you want to go ahead with your escalation, I think the only way is consumer forum given the current scenario.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

Kingsford Verna has cut-off further communication, and Ford India has exhibited apathy in straightening out their errant dealership.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal, daylight deceit and robbery going on. Seems like Ford India has just cut and run away from everyone associated with them, especially customers. Sad state of affairs.
Make sure to not buy from the dealer again, whatever brand they sell next.

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

What hurt me most is that I know most of the staff by name, including the service advisor who was assigned to my vehicle. Also, I have always generously tipped and purchased snacks & tea from nearby eateries for the technicians servicing my vehicle. Yet, this treatment.

Its these kind of experiences which make the maintenance/workshop relationship very transactional. Just can't trust them, have to be with the vehicle, strictly follow the manual and cross check everything. Painful but I've tried all other options and learnt the hard way.
Since you own a Ford, like we owned a Daewoo earlier, one of my "trusted" mechanics did sell me some "important spares" saying you won't get them later and they're needed(my car and worldly knowledge was non-existent). Turned out I never needed them. Waste of money and the "trusted" mechanic didn't show up when I needed.
So beware of those chaps, there are exceptions but very rare.

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

On the other hand, Ford India announces

That's just rubbing salt in the wounds.
Pathetic response from Ford.

Hope you get some resolution soon.

[kedar_GT]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

What hurt me most is that I know most of the staff by name, including the service advisor who was assigned to my vehicle. Also, I have always generously tipped and purchased snacks & tea from nearby eateries for the technicians servicing my vehicle. Yet, this treatment.
[/i]

I can understand how you would have felt - but this could be just a dealership ploy to move out slow-moving spares and hence these techs are under instructions to manufacture such issues.

Either that or it could be that this one technician was the black sheep in the family and the dealership is now forced to cover up this whole happening rather then coming out in the open and admitting to it. (very unlikely though) Problem is that this has happened disturbingly close to the news of Ford's exit from India. No surprise that Ford clammed up after the video evidence as the general consensus on the forum was that Ford will just wash their hands off future issues.

If this is how things are going to be in the future, then it's tough times indeed for Ford owners. Better start looking for FNGs to take care of your prized possessions.

Over to Ford now that this thread is out in the public domain.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

I'm grateful to this community for the proffered support & advice!

Hey Hemant, I have always serviced both my fords at Caculo for last ten years and was generally happy with them knowing everyone by name. This kind of behaviour hurts. If you need cctv footage, ply file a complaint so they are forced to preserve it or later on they will say it's overwritten. Pl PM if you need any help. I'm from Madgao.

[lordtottuu]

Oh wow, this is a new low, even for us. That cut is as surgical as it gets! Them thinking that they can get away with it just makes my blood boil -- it likely means they've gotten away with incidents like these in the past.

Unfortunately, I think this is one of those cases where Team BHP's spotlight on this obvious case of fraud will light a fire under their collective rears and hopefully get it rectified. Makes you wonder whether hoping your complaint post goes viral is the only realistic way to get a resolution these days.

[ashwinprakas]

This is exactly why I'm willing to forgo my warranty and DIY, I might mess up a few times but at least I learn from my mistakes and do it better the next time rather than get fleeced by such lowlifes.

If Ford India has a strand of dignity left they wouldn't let this pass and make an example out of this situation to prove to the Indian customer that they stand by their slogans.

I also believe this is why people stick with MS, they come down so hard on their ASC's if something's amiss to the point that just a whisper of sending an escalation is enough to set them straight. They're strict to the point that in spite of being an automotive enthusiast you almost feel pity for the same people who messed up your car.

Anyways I hope this post would have a significant influence as I've first hand experience of getting issues sorted post sharing the same on Tbhp.

Regards,
A.P.

[SN88]

I had to get a general service done for my VW Jetta which is a 2014 model. I could not remember if 1 particular work was done before or not. I must have called VW Downtown in Mumbai 5 times to ask for my service history and they absolutely refused and pressured to handover the car and said their technician would check if it was done or not.

I had no intention to let them start with their " this also and that also" drama and have no trust in most of these ASC's after hearing many such stories of non existent issues cropping up right after a service.

Got a contact through a friend and he confirmed the work was done in 2017 and not needed to be done. Downtown surely could see it in their system but were hell bent on getting the car picked up.

Never going to an ASC if not required.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

I am also going through a complaint with Ford India regarding a warranty for a premature clutch assembly failure. The service center has denied and on a conference call with Ford, they have escalated the issue. Awaiting their response which should come by tomorrow EOD.
I had made multiple complaints regarding my clutch being hard and difficulty in gear slotting since last 1 year. They always came up saying, Ford clutches are hard and old Gearbox was notchy. Now all of a sudden they have realised that the clutch assembly has to be replaced. The car has done only 18K KMs and both me & my Father do not drive the clutch.

Update

So finally Ford has started showing true colours. They have stopped responding to my emails.
Since the car is at the service center, I have gone ahead and agreed to pay for the clutch assembly replacement. I hope now the replaced part works for a minimum 50K KMs with obvious care been taken by us while driving.
Disappointing to see how Ford has managed my complaints and responses have been really slow, lame and not assertive. Earlier, I had an excellent engagement with customer care where they helped me replace the tie rod under warranty within a week during the lockdown.

Family walli feeling this Ford family has many broken ties. Wish to keep my Figo for a decade more and this experience will remain worrisome.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by Clayton Crasto

Meanwhile, regarding your request for an FNG that services Ford cars, please check out Manic Mechanic, a multi-brand workshop based in St. Inez, Panaji. The contact number is 9422900097. They have a page on Instagram where they post about all their work.
I don't know anyone who has been to them so you'll just have to check out how credible they are.

The owner is a BHPian. He does service and repairs of all brands including premium brands. Fords should be no problem. The Instagram page has pics of quite of few Fords being serviced.