[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by abhisheksircar

The complete story. I noticed the front right headlight fused. I went to the showroom in the quick service area to get it fixed. I was assigned a service man to fix/replace it. He looked at it and confirmed that the bulb had to be replaced. I asked him to change it and he asked me if I need bill or anything and highlighted that it will take a longer time if I asked for a bill. I agreed to not take the bill and for a quick solution. He soon came with a working bulb and got it changed. I was outside checking the bulb and immediately took out the wallet to pay it. He asked me to come inside the car and pay him. That's what raised my suspicion that things were wrong in this deal. Did some other owner complain; no idea at all. But if it was a fair deal, he could have just taken the money outside only.

This one in itself sounds real fishy, and in itself is enough to convince me that there is something going on inside (Folks making a fast buck, on the expense of other car owners). Also on the post above, if someone else complained about bulb not working or not, there is no way to figure that out. For all you know sometimes folks take care delivery in day time and do not notice if the lights aren't working.

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

This one in itself sounds real fishy, and in itself is enough to convince me that there is something going on inside (Folks making a fast buck, on the expense of other car owners). Also on the post above, if someone else complained about bulb not working or not, there is no way to figure that out. For all you know sometimes folks take care delivery in day time and do not notice if the lights aren't working.

I have faced it myself. Took the delivery in the morning and then later realized that on of the bulb was not working. But it was just a bulb hence never thought that it could be changed and all. I could be a genuine fuse as well.

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by abhisheksircar

I have been finding Surakshaa as a wise decision for the next move based on the reviews on team-bhp.com. Will check them out soon. Although I would be visiting the Hosur branch.

Quick Update : Tried out Suraksha and I was glad that they recognize team-bhp.com and their members. He spoke about lots of members from the forum and also boasted of 11 years in a row best service center in Bangalore recognized by Maruti. Hope the quality remains as is now. Make sure you meet Mr. Lokesh before you give your car for servicing indicating that you are from team-bhp.com.

[princezahed]

Gave my alto to Pratham motors,queens road for regular service today since it had not been serviced for a long time. Told the guy who came to pick up the car that its just a regular service and not to do unnecessary things just to push the bill up. Got a call from the service advisor that all fluids need to be changed since it was over a year from the last service and also the suspension needed some tweaking for which i said ok. In the evening,the guy calls up saying the car is ready and the bill is 11175. That's a huge amount for a regular service for alto and beats even the service costs of the Hyundai elantra at home.

The car comes home and its dirty and dusty everywhere. I argue with the guy and he says car was washed and it hot dirty while he drove from the service centre to my house which is just 4km away. It looked as dirty as it was when the car was taken for service today morning.

I looked up the bill and they have done throttle body cleaning,engine decarbonization,ac vent cleaning without even bothering to inform me about it,this despite me telling the guy in the morning not to do anything apart from regular service. They also put in synthetic oil instead of the regular mineral oil without informing me. Am just too angry at them. I gave it to them for servicing since they are the closest to my place. Its the last time i will give it to Pratham motors. The roadside workshops would do a better job for less than half the cost.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by princezahed

Gave my alto to Pratham motors,queens road for regular service today since it had not been serviced for a long time. Told the guy who came to pick up the car that its just a regular service and not to do unnecessary things just to push the bill up. Got a call from the service advisor that all fluids need to be changed since it was over a year from the last service and also the suspension needed some tweaking for which i said ok. In the evening,the guy calls up saying the car is ready and the bill is 11175. That's a huge amount for a regular service for alto and beats even the service costs of the Hyundai elantra at home.

Why pay them? Sai Service once added some additives during oil change & I refused to pay them for it. I got it cut from the bill. Once they changed my tyres valve caps to some fancy caps. The charge was just 50-100 Rs, but I asked to remove the caps, put back the old ones and remove the item from the bill.

[princezahed]

Originally Posted by carboy

Why pay them? Sai Service once added some additives during oil change & I refused to pay them for it. I got it cut from the bill. Once they changed my tyres valve caps to some fancy caps. The charge was just 50-100 Rs, but I asked to remove the caps, put back the old ones and remove the item from the bill.

Will lodge a complaint on their website. No doubt that whatever they did may be for the good of the car, but they dint even bother to ask if they can perform those services. Compare this to hyundai who call up for every small thing and proceed only if given permission for it.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by princezahed

Will lodge a complaint on their website.

There is usually a Customer Relations Guy with each dealer. Call him up and speak to him. If he doesn't help, call up the Maruti Regional Manager & talk to him. But obviously the best thing to do in these cases is to get it taken off the bill before you pay. Ask him to point out where each of the things he did is in the owner's booklet service table.

Originally Posted by princezahed

No doubt that whatever they did may be for the good of the car,

I think they did it for their own good.

Originally Posted by princezahed

but they dint even bother to ask if they can perform those services. Compare this to hyundai who call up for every small thing and proceed only if given permission for it.

When giving it for service, ask them to put a note that each & every thing outside of the handbook should be authorized by you before they do it.

[princezahed]

Originally Posted by carboy

There is usually a Customer Relations Guy with each dealer. Call him up and speak to him. If he doesn't help, call up the Maruti Regional Manager & talk to him. But obviously the best thing to do in these cases is to get it taken off the bill before you pay. Ask him to point out where each of the things he did is in the owner's booklet service table.

I think they did it for their own good.

When giving it for service, ask them to put a note that each & every thing outside of the handbook should be authorized by you before they do it.

I will surely be talking to their customer care. They may have made a gain of about 4k rupees, but lost a customer forever. To think of it, we bought the car from them and had always been getting it serviced from them.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by ajmat

If you read my Swift report, the clutch failed and they accussed me of driving with the hand brake on. I dug my heels in and Maruti intervened.
Never went back even though I work opposite it

Funny that they still use the same reason for every customers clutch problem. Its either running with handbrake on or someone learned driving in the car.

Here is my horror story with Pratham.

I gave my Ritz for a simple body work. There was a dent ( probably 2 inch in dia) because of an irresponsible biker, and wanted to get it fixed. The vehicle was promised for delivery after repainting on Dec 1st 6 PM. What followed was a horrible experience

1. The bonnet was repainted 3 times because of very poor workmanship (once finger print marks, next dust inside painting and final one went correct).
2. I had to come to the service center 4 more times for such a simple work
3. The vehicle delivery commitment was not honored 3 times, out of that 2 times it was postponed to the next day.
4. They charged me for the work which I haven't asked and for their own mistakes. Reimbursement is not yet done even after 2 reminders.
5. In the last visit, I tried to get a paid service along with the paint polishing work, their servicing department and body shop department behaved as though they are two different companies and blamed each other to me. As a customer, I dont care how they internally work, but look at Pratham as one entity.
6.They swapped a broken antenna with a good antenna of some one else, which means somebody else got a broken antenna.
7. I was inside their body shop at 6:30 PM and the whole area is very poorly lit. mechanics work under the light of a torch
8. every time they gave false information on the vehicle repair status. Finally I had to raise my voice to get my car back
9. Broke the windshield washer hose and didn't realize it until I checked the washer myself. They charged cost of hose to me.

Escalated the whole incident to their AGM- works and Maruti. Their AGM called me back and said they will work on the feedback. Maruti hasnt responded yet.

[nirmaljusdoit]

Which service center of Pratham did you face such a horrible experience ? I've always found the ORR center to be excellent.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit

Which service center of Pratham did you face such a horrible experience ? I've always found the ORR center to be excellent.

The Bellandur (ORR) one. Their 'service' department seems to be doing a OK job, but body work department is a mess, right from front desk to the 2 SAs I interacted and including the manager. The manager was blaming their 'service' department for all the delays

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by abhisheksircar

Quick Update : Tried out Suraksha and I was glad that they recognize team-bhp.com and their members. Hope the quality remains as is now. Make sure you meet Mr. Lokesh before you give your car for servicing indicating that you are from team-bhp.com.

Same here. One of my colleague had a bad experience at pratham bellandur. They opened up his dashboard saying his AC needs cleaning and charged some 2.5k for that. I too opted for Suraksha after that though pratham is just walkable distance from my place. However with suraksha also be careful with what they put in job card. Though I never had any complain about their work as such couple of times I was billed for things which I didnt ask for, though amount was small.

[arjithin]

Another one about Pratham...

I made an enquiry about a Ritz model first week of Dec 2012, but afterwards immediately bought a used Ritz. I am getting constant follow up calls from Pratham since first week of Jan. Overall I got more than 8 calls and every time I told the calling person (different each time) that I bought a Ritz. finally escalated this to Pratham today..lets see if they respond.

[jusgetgoing]

Hi there,

I had painting work done on my Swift at Pratham Motors, Bangalore (Job Card No - JC13021671). The bill was around 14K and to my surprise the cashier said credit/debit card charges have 1.5% service charge above 10k.

In Bangalore I have swiped my card for 10K and above more than once and not even once I had to incur a service charge. In the past I had got my car serviced at CARS, Chennai and they did not apply a service charge even though my bill was somewhere near 19K. Is this service charge ethical?

I asked the cashier to split it among 2 credit cards and he refused! More surprise. There are many instances when I and my friends have split an amount of 2K among 3 credit cards. Was the cashier right in refusing? Eventually I had to fork out Rs 208/- extra.

If the above is not legal, what can be done to correct this?

Regards,
Brijesh.

[jusgetgoing]

Originally Posted by jusgetgoing

I had painting work done on my Swift at Pratham Motors, Bangalore (Job Card No - JC13021671). The bill was around 14K and to my surprise the cashier said credit/debit card charges have 1.5% service charge above 10k.
I asked the cashier to split it among 2 credit cards and he refused! More surprise. Eventually I had to fork out Rs 208/- extra.

An update - I emailed Pratham and the GM-Works replied to my email and followed up with a call offering to reimburse this extra amount. He has also asked the cashier to honor the customer request to split the final bill amount between multiple cards if required!