[Vid6639]

Yesterday moderator Manson sent me his Skoda Laura service bill to do a once over to see if anything was unnecessary and whether prices looked in line.

I noticed one very amusing entry:


The service centre was charging Rs.79 for the tissue box they place in the car after service. This has always been complimentary and it's just hilarious that a premium Skoda brand for a service that costed him 60K still charged him Rs.79 for the tissue box.

Then came the bigger shock. Another member shared that this was nothing and better than what MAruti does. Take a look:



The dealer has charged Rs.5 for 3 paper floor mats i.e. Rs. 1.69 per paper mat in the bill.

We already know that some brands are now charging for steering, gear and seat cover they place when giving the car in name of COVID safety. These are usually around Rs.20-30.



What is some of the silly charges you have seen on your service bills?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I'Il see your Skoda and raise you a Hyundai -

Two weeks back I was charged Rs 16.95/- for dashboard polish and Rs 18.64/- for tyre dresser. Thought it was silly of them to charge these, but let it go thinking they might have used it to prep up the car post service (and most places are struggling with margin in these Covid times anyway)!

Doesn't end there, while cleaning the car over the weekend - I found these thrown in the glove box. To be frank, makes me laugh rather than be angry on this! This was a new low from Hyundai service.





Yes, 58.48/- for the perfume and 16.93/- for the windshield washer was added without asking too - but at least the washer was genuinely added and the perfume card smells nice.

[adisan]

Slightly OT, but this reminds me of the time when a hospital visit was mandated after a dog bite. After the initial examination, the staff quoted Rs 2000 as the treatment charges, and asked whether to proceed.

After the treatment, on going through the detailed invoice, I thought about it but was not sure whether all the items invoiced were actually consumed during the procedure. It was probably a "treatment package".

[anjan_c2007]

Becoming difficult to make both ends meet for the ASC's, they are doing a commercial research on all freebies that they could have been offering for free to their valued customers. The coffee and coffee service charges for serving coffee, pure drinking water charges, entertainment charges (WiFi/ TV as applicable), comfort charges for using their lounge, sofa and AC could all be the next in line. The fleecing will be perhaps complete by the ASC's then.

Luckily the tissue paper box as in image # 1 is not shown as meant for automobiles and hence is charged @12% GST is but not 18% .

And the battery petroleum jelly is charged GST @ 28% as in the second image. Vaseline is a petroleum jelly that can be liberally used for application on battery terminals. I am using it since two plus decades but if the taxman comes to know that this fella uses it on his automobiles, I could be in for a GST shock !

In the third image, a consumable has been charged GST @ 5 %. That's an unbelievable discount by the taxman !

And if all these items were meant for an automobile viz. Skoda Laura that attracts 28% GST, the taxman would be much richer. Luckily, these have escaped the Finance Ministry's notice !

[Storm2.0]

What a shame. Did not expect this from a brand that is revered for providing so called premium cars in our country. Happy to report that when I had my BRV serviced a few months back, I was not charged for small things like cover on steering, gear knob etc. I was given a free tissue box as well and that to 2 of them.

[gkveda]

I am still very happy that they are generous enough not to charge for these items and give them free to customers

Invoice paper charge
Printing charges
Ink for cartridge
Credit card machine electricity charges
Credit card machine maintenance charges
Job card stationary charges
Pen for SA to notedown the complaints
Air charges to fill the tires
Customer lounge seat rentals on a per minute basis

I am not surprised if dealers go through this post and get inspired to implement from next week.

Seriously, it is high time for us to clearly disapprove all these unwanted "Services" or business and get bare minimum required services. Customers do not have a legal right to say, I will not pay for these items. But he has full rights to reject the services or products that dealer tries to sell.

Honestly, I have asked myself, 100 times that the tire polish that they apply and charge around 40-50 rs, is it really required? It will not stay on tires for more than 5 mins. The moment car is out of dealership, on the road, the polish is gone.


There are 100 such waste "Value added services" that dealer offers and we customers go for it in the name of diplomacy. I think we should be ruthless and reject all nonsense from the dealership and be very harsh with SAs for offering these nonsense. It is not a question of money spent. But, it is business ethics or principles that I am questioning here

Absolutely not tolerable.

[vishy76]

Wait until you hear what I was charged for at the VW stealership.

Measuring Charges

Total amount: 1K

I was

The rest of the useless stuff includes:

- AC disinfectant: Amounts to 1.2K and includes spraying a bottle of AC foaming agent into the ac vents

- Lock cylinder lubrication: Around 400 bucks IIRC. Again, spraying a can of lubricant into the door handles. God alone knows if they even performed this

- Suspension Lubrication: No difference to the suspension whatsoever. I highly doubt this was ever performed. And I don't think modern suspensions need any external greasing either. Used to cost around 1K

VW has gotten rid of the last two items these days (atleast the ASC here). The rest remains the same. I still don't understand what vehicle measurement (front+rear) means. If some VW owner could please shed light on this and put me out of my misery.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Dealers need an opportunity to charge people for the smallest of things and inflate the bill with unnecessary value add-ons.

My experience with VW has been something similar. When I'd gone to the workshop for the 6-monthly checkup (second free service) with my GT TSI soon after lockdown (this was in June 2020). From the get go, I knew my car had no work primarily because of zero running plus I had no complaints. Guys take in the car, inspect it, wash it and return it back. Wash was complementary. So the end bill should have been ₹0/-. But no, the final invoice had gone upto ₹4000/-.

When asked, the SA started saying the engine bay was degreased and detailed and AC disinfection was done. When I'd asked them if they'd seeked approval from me for these services, the SA started saying it's mandatory and had to be done. Well, I put my foot down and let her knew that I wasn't falling for this BS. Long story short, walked out of the ASC with ₹0/- bill and those "value added services" were already done. I didn't pay up because they didn't seek my approval and these couldn't be reversed

Second visit was four months after this for the first annual service (third free service). Labour was waived off and I had to pay for service parts and consumables. I'd anticipated a bill of close to 6-grand. But the SA hands me an estimate of ₹14,643/-

Went through the estimate and gave my approval for the oil and filters. That bought the estimate down to a figure slightly higher than ₹5000/-. Since the SA by this time was fairly good with me and he had helped me a couple of times getting a few rare parts for my other cars, I decided to opt in for the cheapest value added service and call it a day. That incl GST ended up to ₹6200/-.

So long story short, go through the estimate and final bills in detail prior to paying up for the services. These value added services take up the final bill by a fair bit.

[richie4u]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The service centre was charging Rs.79 for the tissue box they place in the car after service. This has always been complimentary and it's just hilarious that a premium Skoda brand for a service that costed him 60K still charged him Rs.79 for the tissue box

So considering this "tissue box" must be having the Skoda logo or some form of dealership branding on it, similar to the court order for paper bags which cannot be charged for by shopping outlets if they advertise on it, can the same apply in this case? Or is it considered as a genuine accessory

[Raghu M]

This is a surprise from Skoda but they never cease to surprise us, don't they? My experience with M&M has been fantastic. No hidden charges, no pushing around for an additional package or service. They have charged me around 2800 for my first service which is pretty good. In fact, the first estimate was for 3500, but they changed it after 5 minutes mentioning it was their fault. So, Mahindra has given me peace of mind I can say.

[2000rpm]

Guys, if you are finding this high. I will tell you about an experience with an FNG.

There is a popular "German Car specialist" in Kurla-Sakinaka area.

When my polo was facing issues with the instrument cluster. I had gotten a quotation for 60k!! I smiled, paid them 2k which they were asking as diagnosis charges to release my car. Towed the car to my trusted FNG 40 kms away. Paid additional 3k. And finally repaired the car for about 6K!

If you have a workshop which does good diagnosis, dont stop going to them for 100-200 rupees. Cars are getting more complex and good diagnosticians are rare.

Particularly true for German brands. Poor diagnosis can result in lakhs of rupees even with cars available for 4-5 lakhs in the used car market.

[surfatwork]

The stealerships must be taking inspiration from the budget airline industry.

[AKSarkar1]

Sharing my story/rant with you guys

VW and Skoda dealers are the absolute worst of the lot when it comes to these things. It was no surprise that given the lineup of VW prior to the new launches the company was highly dependent on workshops as a revenue stream.

I remember my Vento had some squeaking problem from the right suspension side from day 1 when I took delivery. After a week or so of driving, the noise became almost intolerable as the suspension would screech even over the smallest of road imperfections.

Took the car to the VW service centre and they had the audacity to had me a repair bill and a diagnosis bill of close to Rs. 12K for a car that has done 400kms and is barely a week old. The car bill had additions such as 'Front-wheel remove- Rs. 250' and 'Front-Wheel Reinstall- Rs. 250'. Long story short, I gave them a good ol' yelling and they fixed the car out of 'goodwill'. Always funny how the 'goodwill' of these dealers come out after you show your bad side to them.

Skoda and VW India can come with all the 2.0,3.0, 4.0 India strategies but car buying is one-time activity, maintaining it is the part when customers will interact with you more often. Unless and until they stop literally scamming customers such strategies have zero long-term use. Integrity and honesty go a really long way...

[Ulysses]

Skoda charged Rs 79.00 Tissue box, but what Renault does is much above and beyond. Renault Service Active Motors at Sector 63, Noida charges Rs 15.00 for spraying disinfectant liquid car door handles/your hands (3 small dabs from a dirty bottle = Rs 15.00) and if you happen to go in and out multiple times, you simply multiple that.

[Sidban85]

I got my new Astor last week and Rs 79 was charged for a tissue box.
So, this is becoming common.