[Cresterk]

Mr. Suresh was implying remove the dashcam and get your car serviced or take your car and leave as it's Chandra Hyundai's private property.

Should have called their bluff and left right then and there. If enough people start leaving, they will suddenly turn this policy around once again. It's not like the official service centers are any better for mass market cars anyway, especially once it is out of warranty. I have found FNGs to be way better in actually solving issues with my i20 than the hyundai service centers who will charge you extra to fix the problem and still return the car without rectifying anything and lie straight through their teeth.

[jinojohnt]

I have a very simple question. If a service center has nothing to hide, and work is done as expected, and also if the car is not used for personal shopping by the mechanics, why should they be scared of a dashcam? Why don't they make the customers sign an undertaking while buying the car (that customer cannot use the dash cam in the service center)?

[Hbh]

I got my car serviced in March from Hyundai service center. The service advisor and the service floor manager both drove the car to check something before the service and no one mentioned the camera. My camera is not placed on the windscreen. It is mounted on the end of the dashboard and cannot be missed at all. Even a car cleaner noticed it and asked me "is that a camera?". No one ever asked me to remove or disconnect it. They could have just pulled the usb connector out themselves as well.

For those saying there are CCTVs installed in case something happens, do you really think a dealership that is strongly disallowing dashcams will just hand over their CCTV footage? Who in their right minds hands over evidence against them?

I believe this message is circulating within dealer circles. If it is from Hyundai, it is probably not to promote unethical practices but when something does happen, they can avoid it being plastered all over social media.

[ph03n!x]

On one hand, a dashcam does not record with the ignition off and key removed. Also, most of the work in the service center is going to be under the hood, so the only thing it may record is the hood.

On the other hand, Hyundai is transparent to the extent they share live video feeds of cars being serviced with their customers.

Then why this my-way-or-highway attitude, why a written mandate to dealerships to not allow dashcams? What do they want to hide - how the vehicles are driven rashly with the service center, or during test drives after service?

I fully respect the dealer's and Hyundai's privacy - but why make it selective, partial - CCTV live link on one hand but no dashcam on the other? If they are so confident and transparent about their service, shouldn't they say dashcam welcome?

Last, but not the least - talking about morphing their lady employees captured in the dashcam and misusing such videos? In front of a customer's wife, on dashcam mounted in her car? How crass and low can one get?

There could have been million ways to communicate their message to the OP. But making him feel cheap is just a new low in customer service.

[Neil Roy]

Unless Nitin Gadkare Sir makes dashcams mandatory for all cars, these kind of gray areas are bound to be exploited by unscrupulous ASS. My experience is the consequence of the dashcam power removal by the service center.
After my recent service, I noticed that the power cable to the dashcam had been removed by the dealer. I plugged it back on without giving it much thought. As my luck would have it, within 3 days a suicidal two wheeler barged in front of my car and luckily escaped with no injuries even though his bike was damaged mildly. I took out the memory card and checked the contents to find that after the service and power up, nothing was recorded and the system started showing error on reading stored file. I took the SD card and reformatted it and reset my dashcam. Only after that the dashcam started recording. This, to me is more important than a pompous arrogant service manager as the main purpose of dashcam is to give me proof in case something untoward goes wrong on the roads. Please remember that Dashcams have to be powered down and powered up as per sequence or your recordings will go for a toss. Don't know much about the advanced dashcams but most basic dashcams have SD cards only and they are very sensitive to abrupt power down. I would recommend that we ourselves power down and remove the SD card before service to ensure our peace of mind.

[Captain Slow]

Wait a second here, If the stealership I mean dealership is running a clean operation why would they be afraid of a dashcam/recording? If they are citing some b.s security reasons then sorry - Servicing or repairing a car is no secret or some sacred ritual which should be a closely guarded secret, anyone with basic know how can fix up a car.

Secondly the car is only being serviced by them (YOU OWN THAT CAR) they have no right or no to ask you or tell you what to connect or disconnect. What next the perfume inside the car is against company policy ?

Similar Incident reported here -
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...wice-1.4973924

I can see people supporting the dealership !

Lets turn this around - You have CCTV system in your house - During a repair of the house the people working at your place ask you or tell you to disconnect the CCTV ? Would you be okay with that?

My Side of the story -
With PPS FORD Bangalore- They were very professional - They were very okay with the car having both the front and rear camera's on, They never asked me to disconnect it, Yes they did inform the technician and SA that the car has both front and rear camera's.

[smrtdvl]

UPDATE: Got a conference call from Mr.vasudevan Customer Relations Regional Head from HMIL via Mr. Suresh Kumar AGM of Chandra Hyundai. Mr.Vasudevan said that this is a new rule and hence it was brought to my notice. I asked if he had 2 mins so that I can narrate what has happened and that'll help him understand the issue. I explained the whole saga and said if its a new rule so be it but you can't disrespect a customer or deny service for just asking why this new rule has been implemented. Mr. Vasudevan felt really sorry and apologized on behalf of Hyundai as well as Mr.Suresh (was on the same line) who was still arguing that he was right.

Just as fellow bhpian Neil Roy said I told Chandra Hyundai team that very soon there will be a new rule making dash cams mandatory or cars will come with factory fitted dash cams and what will be HMIL's stand then. The car is right now under extended warranty and hence this ASC visit else I have my trusted FNG who services my Vista & XUV regularly without taking off the dash cam. Sad part is Chandra Hyundai has lost at least a dozen service customers and couple from sales as well. Got our santro today after 20k service and bumper replacement and the joy on my wifey's face made me forget all this harakiri

[am1m]

First off, there is no excuse for a dealership and a senior manager from a dealership not knowing how to handle a customer concern, and worse, in this case, acting arrogant and turning the accusation back on the customer. If these guys can't handle situations like this, what is the point of being in the customer service business.

But about having a dashcam on during a service, am ambivalent. I don't have anything to hide while I do my work, but would I want a webcam recording me all the time? I don't think so - I scratch, I hum, I adjust my jockey shorts, I make strange noises (usually when pinged by teammates asking stupid questions), I probably pick my nose The argument that "if there is nothing to hide/nothing illegal going on, why not have a camera" is a flawed one. I have nothing to hide and neither am I doing anything illegal at work either- but at the same time I don't want to be filmed. Nothing contradictory about that. Is there anyone who would be ok with that? So that aspect I think requires some understanding on the part of the customer.

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

I can see people supporting the dealership !

Lets turn this around - You have CCTV system in your house - During a repair of the house the people working at your place ask you or tell you to disconnect the CCTV ? Would you be okay with that?

I don't want to be pedantic but the analogy is incorrect. If someone comes to your house, your rules apply. Nobody can ask you to turn your CCTV off.

Let's say you go to a shop to have a device repaired. Would you be justified in demanding that they allow you to record the process? Not really. It's not your premise, it's theirs. Their rules apply. Similarly if you go to a service center and they have a policy (defined by the OEM) that dashcams are not allowed then you have to abide by that or take your business elsewhere. It's that simple.

I see nothing wrong in a service center disallowing a dashcam or denying service if the customer refuses to accept.

The center should have been polite while putting forth their view. Arrogance in a service industry is unjustified. They need to apologise for that with sincerity.

[Yieldway17]

I have been using dashcams in my cars for 9 years now.

Whenever I go to service centers and if they request to disconnect the dashcam, I just disconnect without any argument.

As the SA said, service centers and garages are private properties and they have every right to enforce a no video recording policy.

I don’t support the way this message was delivered by the ASM but I don’t see any issues with the point he put across.

Also, many of us will simply refuse to work if our employers or clients enforces an always on webcam policy during the work time at workplace or home for example. Let alone recording which can be kept infinitely. Meanwhile we expect people we perceive as blue collar workers to be tracked and watched all the time. Pretty hypocritical stance.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

I don’t support the way this message was delivered by the ASM but I don’t see any issues with the point he put across.

I almost agree with you. I would rephrase and say that the basis for disallowing a dashcam is valid, but one of the points the service manager had put across to the OP is atrocious ("what if you misuse dashcam footage of our female employees?").

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

Let alone recording which can be kept infinitely. Meanwhile we expect people we perceive as blue collar workers to be tracked and watched all the time. Pretty hypocritical stance.

I never said anywhere that I am using the dash cam to track the work carried over if so I would have gladly agreed to be there personally. The ASC agreed to provide me live feed of my car getting serviced and later denied stating some technical issue but I was ok with it and did not get the car out of the ASC. The dashcam footage normally comes into play when there is some foul play or mishap just like all offices and establishments having cctv's nowadays.

Let me make myself clear here the way the AGM spoke was not acceptable to me at any cost. There was a better way of communicating but just that he wanted to prove his superiority before his subordinates as I asked for a reason for the new rule I repeat new rule in that particular ASC.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I think you are giving it more importance than it deserves - especially for something that is happening across dealerships across automobile brands (my experience was for MASS outlets). Some of it are taking it as a stringent rule (like the one you experienced), other are much more relaxed. Yes, it's a pity they aren't allowing the dashcams to be on - but it is their property and they can refuse service if they feel so.

Quoting your post since it was the first to mention this idea vs the many others that do.

Sadly, it violates the Golden Rule of decent human interactions.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
You should treat others as you'd like to be treated.

The dealer's CCTV records my images from the very moment I approach their boundary wall. Ditto for any apartment complex today.

In any place, we are under constant CCTV surveillance. Offices, roads, shopping malls - the list is endless.

Its an abuse of their monopoly (to deny warranty) that dealers somehow treat customer dashcams as intrusive / violation of their staff's privacy but their own dozens of CCTVs aren't?!

When all of us have no issue being under CCTVs in office every single second - when their staff happily works under CCTVs, why does the customer's dashcam somehow invade privacy?

Maybe I'm the confrontational libertarian but it does not stand to any solid reason in my eyes.

We need not agree on this - to each their personal sense of fairness.

Frankly, what do they have to hide? From my point of view, it is pretty much the same view that I can get from the customer lounge.

For me, the real issue is that their staff is less than careful in TDs or in moving the car within the typical overcrowded dealership. It is merely a rule put in place to reduce their headache because they know the average customer can only grumble but not haul them up in a court of law and its a pain being answerable for every minor transgression.

[RMN]

Interesting development. Its quite evident that the rise is cases where owners find out that the SVC's weren't doing their job from the footage is the reason for this push back.

[JithinR]

I agree with the sentiment that a dealership can refuse service if they have a customer on-hand violating their policies (like no sound or video recording).

At the same time, if a manager who has a customer facing role is incapable of handling a customer's genuine concerns (and on top of that is incapable of being polite in his day to day conduct especially in front of his subordinates) then he/she is simply a liability to that organization.

It's better that Mr Suresh Kumar is shifted to some backend role where his arrogance won't cost that dealership sales and service appointments.

Also, I really salute the OP's tolerance against this kind of attitude. I would have simply walked out of the dealership if uncultured remarks of this sort were made while I was alone (being in company of people we care about would have made the whole situation a lot more unpalatable).