[sole_rider]

This is my saga of how a service centre ruined a day of my life and the new car feeling.

Prelude
On December 18th while going to Manipal to meet my BHPian friend @AshtonCastelino a scooter came on the wrong side at high speed and hit my 4 months old, 5000km driven Ignis. I have shared that experience here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...ml#post5217811 (Need advice after Accident).

Since the person who hit me was a boy and also he had some personal tragedy happened recently in his life I decided to go ahead with my insurance.

At the Service Center
I visited Shruti motors Shimoga for repair job as well as insurance claim. I reached the SC at 9:30 sharp just like I was asked in the previous day. But I had to wait around 40 minutes more till their routine meetings are over. Then at around 10:15 someone came and attended me. I explained everything to him including my intentions to get the repair jobs to be done using my insurance claim. Then the formalities for submitting a claim started. The claim process was a rather smooth affair. I had to sign a couple of documents. Then I conveyed my intentions for the repair jobs to be completed within one week as I was planning to re-locate back to Kerala by December end. After completing all formalities i left the place. On my way back I received a few message from MSIL with the acknowledgement that they received my car and a link to the online job card. The expected date of completion of the job mentioned was 31st december. Service advisor's as well as works manager's phone numbers were also in another message received from Maruti. On December 22 I tried to contact the SA to get some updates on the progress of the work done on my car. But my calls were not attended. I even called the works manager which was also not attended. Another couple of days passed with no updates from the service center. Then on December 27th I contaceted Maruti's toll free number and narrated my issues. They shared the contact number of the GM of the service center. I called to his number and narrated my situation. Within 5 minutes I received a call from the SA and he told the repair job is already completed now they are waiting for the wheel rim to be arrived. I asked him to send me some photos of my car. For which he agreed he will send photos on whatsapp. I had also requested him to paint my steel wheels to black. Then on December 28th he shared some photos. I could see in the photos that the right side of my car which had dents and paint damages were repaired also the wheels were painted black like I requested. Seeing those images I was a little relieved. I thought I could take delivery of my car within two days. But it didn't happen. Then when I called him again on December 31st, I was asked to come to the SC next day and take delivery.

The D day and the misery
So January 1st came. My sister joined me as we were planning to go to the Tyavarekoppa zoo for the lion safari after taking the car from the SC and return back in our car.
I called the SA in the morning to let him know that I will reach the SC at around 11 and I expect my car to be ready by the time I reach there. Here comes the first shock: he said he is on leave that day. So he shared someone else's number. I called him also and told him the same that I expect my car to be ready by the time I reach there. He said 'Ok sir, you come car will be ready'.

This was the state of my car when I reached the place:

Covered in a layer of dust. It was clear that car was sitting there for the past couple of days unattended. The service supervisor said that the repairing jobs were completed 2 days before itself. Then the SA tried to start the car but he couldn't. So the battery was dead. A technician came with a spare battery on his hand and opened the bonnet, and touched the spare battery's terminals to my car's battery. I don't have any problem with this. But being a prominent dealer and a service center in a city like Shimoga is it too much expecting them to have at least a proper jump-start equipment like jump start cables and clips?

Technician trying to start my car by touching the spare battery's terminal to my car's battery:


Then the SA took my car to the washing area.


After the wash me and my sister walked around the car to inspect the quality of the job they carried out. Then she found this:


and this:

close up view:


Scratch marks on the left side of the bumper., paint was badly damaged at the faux skid plate on the bumper. It was clear that my car was badly handled at the service center. By this time I found so many such scratch marks and paint/primer overspray at several other places Including these:
Paint chipped away and bare metal was visible at the bottom side of the driver side door.:


Primer over spray at the rear quarter panel, inside rear door.:

In the abaove image, the overspray of the primer on the painted panel was so bad. This image does not do justice to the actual problem. The primer was sprayed throughout the crevices of the rear panel till the top of the car where the rear side of the door meets the panel.
Another photo showing the primer overspray. This image is taken moments before. ie on on 3rd January.


They also managed to paint on top of the protective sheet that comes from the factory.


I also spotted a dent on the front right side fender and asked them to correct it.

By this time all my hopes of taking my car from the SC after completion of the repairs and be on our way to the zoo with my sister was all shattered. Now the only options left were either I leave the car there for a few more days or take delivery and blame it on your stars. I asked the service advisor what is he going to do how is he going to correct these.
Then I went to the Bodyshop manager's cabin and asked for a resolution. He came with me to the workshop. When we reached the workshop the workers have started the re-repair jobs. They had sanded down the paint chip on the inside of the door and were working on correcting the dent I pointed out on the fender. The bodyshop manager who will be addressed 'BM' from now onwards asked the workers whether they can solve all these new issues and deliver the car to me by evening 5:30. Which they agreed. So the BM requested me to kindly wait till evening. He apologised for everything. He admitted that it was all their fault and he personally will oversee everything and make sure all my concerns are addressed. As me and my sister were planning to take our car and go to the Tyavarekoppa zoo for the lion safari, we asked to the BM would it be possible for him to give me a replacement car until the work is completed so that we can be on our way as we planned. To which he said not possible sir. We don't have a replacement car. So we went to the zoo by bus and by paying exorbitant charges to autos.

Chapter 2: Re-repair and the aftermath
We came back to the body shop at 5:30 in the evening. My car was in the paint booth/oven for drying the paint. Car was taken out for inspection/delivery. Things they have corrected:

*Re-painted the left side of the front bumper
*Re-painted the silver portion of the front bumper (faux-skid plate)

Things they botched up this time:

*Blue paint was spread over rubber beadings and paint had dust particles and the paint was badly spread near the edges where they applied masking tape.

*Masking tape residue on the roof.(I may be nitpicking here, but the way it seemed it was another big scratch mark) please see the photo below:


*A small dent was visible on the front right door.

Also paint was very rough to the touch at so many places. Even the door handle at the inside of the front left door, screen of my ICE were all rough.

When pointed out the improper paint masking and rough surfaces on the rear door, they quickly began to sort these out. One senior painter came with a 1500 grit sandpaper and sanded down the rough surfaces and paint flowing marks where the masking tape was applied. He applied rubbing compound on the rear door and wiped it with cotton waste. Then somebody else came with a DA polisher and started applying rubbing compound using it.




Time was 6'o clock in the evening. Me and my sister had to come back to Koppa which was around 75 kilometres away from here. Meanwhile I asked the SA and BM whether they had taken my car for a test ride to see everything was alright. They said yes, road test was already completed. After all these drama, it was very difficult to trust their words. So I demanded for another test ride with the SA in the car. At around 6:30 pm, we went for a test drive. Approximately 3 km into the test drive, the SA stopped the car on the side of the road. The air bag warning light was glowing. I don't want to blame them for this warning because it may have happened because of the steering upgrade I tried earlier. I had converted everything back to stock including the clockspring assembly as well as the steering. But they could have spotted the warning well before the delivery if they had taken my car for a test drive. So it was clear they lied to me when I enquired about the road test. The SA called the BM and asked him to stop any electrician at the gate. After reaching back at the service center the works manager came along with some other technicians, a laptop and an OBD scanner. They connected the laptop to the port and video called a technician so that the error can be solved.
Technicians trying to solve the error:


After trying for around 20 minutes, they said they are not able to solve it. They apologised to me for every misdoings also requested me to come back to the service center on Monday(03-Jan-2022) so that they can solve it for me. I asked them to give it in writing. To which they agreed. You can see it in the below photos. I somehow wanted to leave that place as quickly as possible since it was already dark and my sister was standing with me. Also some of the stretch on the way back are through forests. I agreed to come back on Monday and left with a heavy heart.



Positive notes:
*I was very anxious in the beginning about them failing to match the factory paint finish since this shade of blue would be very difficult to match and any imperfections in the colour could be easily spotted. But The paint matched alright.

*The service center personnels including the BM, WM as well as the Service supervisor all admitted all their wrongdoings and and they tried to solve those issues for me. Quickly admitting the scratches happened on my car at places like the front bumper as well as the paint chipping on the door and the re-painting done on these places are some of the examples. The work done at the body shop as well as the painting section is a lot to be desired though.

Closing thoughts:
*My car crossed 5000km when I had dropped it at the service center. So I requested the SA to do the second service along with the repairs. Unsurprisingly, they totally forgot it.

So this is the story of how an incompetent service center ruined a day of my life as well as how the feeling of owning my new car ended in all misery.

I convey my sincere gratitude to everyone who read through my rather bitter experience and made it to the end.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[nandrive]

We have bought 2 cars from them, I too had bitter experience and found them very unprofessional. Our Celerio (Bought from Shruti motors Thirthahalli, a branch of Shruti motors Shimoga) was damaged, repainted before it was delivered to us. Its not even unfair to say that they are exploiting the rural folks by being the only Maruti dealer in that region.

[GOTTI]

They have clearly taken your car out for a ride. This disgusting practice still exists, where garage workers/employees take customers cars out to take a ride/commute to home/show off to their better halves. Really pathetic attitude.

I am sorry you had to go through this torment. Having said that, you must escalate this to the highest echelon of the dealership and/or write to Maruti, pointing them towards this thread as well.

[steadfast]

Just curious - In this day also we use primer on cars ?

Because I believe using water paint is the norm across industry which does not require any primer.

[PrasannaDhana]

Sorry to hear about the issues on a rather brand new car.

I also want to highlight the fact that inspite of the mediocre/bad workmanship, they have been very polite and accommodating to all your requests. Trust me, if it were some other manufacturer, I don't think they would have honored all your requests so promptly.

From the GM to works manager, accepting their faults and even giving stuff in writing (doesn't happen these days) sound like they do have an ear for customer grievances.

I am not justifying their incompetence in bodyshop work. But they have been cordial otherwise. Not really sure if it was the high number of cars they attend to or just the New Year's eve/ New Year that made them do a lousy job.

Hope you get everything rectified to your satisfaction soon!

[Piyush Kanthak]

Maruti service has not been good now, from the past 13 years I have serviced my SX4 from Pratham Queens Road Bangalore and had the best quality of service, couldn't complain. Bill never used to cross 6K. Unfortunately this center closed.
But recently got her serviced from Pratham Rajajinagar and had the worst experience ever, no proper cleaning, adding unnecessary things, bill came upto 17K! Terrible experience.
They couldn't fix the airbag light which was on and told me that the sensor went bad and it would cost 18k.
Never thought I would get such services from Maruti

[sole_rider]

An update:
I had sent a mail to Maruti copying the RSM, Zonal Service head as well as the Shruti motors workshop. Things escalated very quickly thereafter. Received calls from the RSM, then body shop manager and he put me in a conferance call with the GM of the service center. Everybody apologised for what happened and assured me the issues will be taken care of.

Yesterday a team of 4 technicians came to my home by travelling 75 kms. The electrician among them solved the air bag warning light. The painters applied rubbing compound followed by a round of polishing and this removed the primer residue on the rear quarter panel and doors. The rubbing compound was applied by hand since i didn't have power since morning that day. They tried to power the DA polisher from their Celerio's battery. But they couldn't.
They completed the job in around 2 hours.

The team at work.:




They came on a diesel Celerio.

I didn't want them to stick longer since I was busy with packing. So I didnt point the roughness on the roof as I was anyway planning to get my car detailed later.

I offered them refreshments, signed the customer satisfaction and thanked them.

Later received calls from the GM and the BM and asked if I am satisfied with the job done. I said yes.

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Sorry to hear about the issues on a rather brand new car.

I also want to highlight the fact that inspite of the mediocre/bad workmanship, they have been very polite and accommodating to all your requests. Trust me, if it were some other manufacturer, I don't think they would have honored all your requests so promptly.

From the GM to works manager, accepting their faults and even giving stuff in writing (doesn't happen these days) sound like they do have an ear for customer grievances.

I am not justifying their incompetence in bodyshop work. But they have been cordial otherwise. Not really sure if it was the high number of cars they attend to or just the New Year's eve/ New Year that made them do a lousy job.

Hope you get everything rectified to your satisfaction soon!

Thank you for your comment Prasanna. Yes what you said is very true. They have been very apologetic for what happened and they agreed to get the damaged parts to be repainted without me asking for it. I also mentioned it in the positive note in my original post. I felt really sorry for the body shop manager when he apologised for every misdoings done on my car by somebody else. I have seen/heard on different occasions that Maruti is very strict about the customer satisfaction. This was one of the main reasons for me to choose Maruti when I was looking for my first car.

Originally Posted by steadfast

Just curious - In this day also we use primer on cars ?

Because I believe using water paint is the norm across industry which does not require any primer.

I have no clue about it. It was the SA who told me it was the primer overspray.

Originally Posted by GOTTI

They have clearly taken your car out for a ride. This disgusting practice still exists, where garage workers/employees take customers cars out to take a ride/commute to home/show off to their better halves. Really pathetic attitude.

I am sorry you had to go through this torment. Having said that, you must escalate this to the highest echelon of the dealership and/or write to Maruti, pointing them towards this thread as well.

Thank you for comments. The SA told me their stock yard is some 5 km away from the body shop and these damages might happened while on the move to that location or when my car was taken for washing.

[GOTTI]

Great to know they looked into it so promptly! You must've rung the right bells at the right places. More often then not, they would've just brushed it off saying these scratches were there from before you got the car in.

Originally Posted by sole_rider

They came on a diesel Celerio.

Another 'bakra' in the making. We must check if that belongs to a person or to the dealership itself. The numberplate must be verified from the RTO database.

[Piyush Kanthak]

The electrician among them solved the air bag warning light.

Sir can you please tell me that did they do to solve the issue?

[sole_rider]

Originally Posted by Piyush Kanthak

Sir can you please tell me that did they do to solve the issue?

They said the coupler on the airbag module came loose.

[subhro1988]

Sorry to read about your ordeal. The service quality of MASS has deteriorated significantly over the past few years. I have a feeling that they are unable to cope up with the sheer volume of cars that come up for servicing each day and that leads to deficiency in service.

The only silver lining I see is that Maruti still has a strong grip on its dealers and sevice centres. Even I have experienced, that escalations are taken very seriously. A score of less than 8 out of 10 in the customer satisfaction survey also is reported to Maruti and Maruti follows up with the customer and the service centre regarding the deficiency in service.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by subhro1988

The service quality of MASS has deteriorated significantly over the past few years. I have a feeling that they are unable to cope up with the sheer volume of cars that come up for servicing each day and that leads to deficiency in service.

The only silver lining I see is that Maruti still has a strong grip on its dealers and sevice centres. Even I have experienced, that escalations are taken very seriously.

Perfectly summed up. The lapse in service quality is due to the volumes they are managing and even I feel it's impossible for them to give their 100% to each car every time. As long as the people in charge are ready to own their mistake and fix it for you, it's fine. Also, thankfully the escalation mechanism of MSIL is still one of the best in industry, which is a relief.

[Ashtoncastelino]

Originally Posted by GOTTI

We must check if that belongs to a person or to the dealership itself. The numberplate must be verified from the RTO database.

Checked it in the RTO database and thankfully it belongs to the ASC..

[DheerajNK]

In smaller cities majority of their customers may not be knowledgeable enough to figure out the lapses you have found in their work. So they tend to wash off their hands by doing a shoddy job.

If someone aged or with limited knowledge on cars went through this, they wouldn't have noted these things and still be happy with "Maruti's cheap maintenance costs & polite service"

Good thing is they owned up to their mistakes and rectified them.