[Evyas]

This will be a bit of a long read about my strange and demotivating and ultimately horrible experience at MG Motors Malad (Krishiv Motors). A writeup of what led me to finally cancel my booking for the Facelift (New Generation) Hector Sharp Pro MT 5 seater.

I and my wife really liked the car. It was staggeringly the most 'VFM' at this price point, the space inside was outstanding, the gadgets quite interesting, the ride-quality (90% city) exactly what we were looking for.

But there is one and only one reason for this change of heart - the absolutely lacklustre dealership/showroom and SA experience.

From the first time that I stepped into the dealership, till today, that is the one big flaw in the dealings with customers is what I have felt: lack of transparency and a very 'hands off' attitude. I know most people here highly recommended the car and the company - in fact I did a TD and even considered the Hector only because of the TBHP reviews and conversations on the forum that I read. About how the service centre is so thoughtful and how the showroom experience is so good.

Sadly, I encountered none of it.

But then I wasn't buying the showroom experience, I was buying a car. I didn't consider the sub-par experience as a drawback - I liked the car and put down a 50K deposit on it, cancelling my Skoda Kushaq 1.5 MT booking for this as it was 'more car' for almost the same amount of money. It's not like I was going to spend time in the showroom/dealership once I bought the car. So that was that. But I should have listened to my instinct.

The day we booked the car I was given an assurance that the model we wanted would be available in a couple of weeks, as it was an MT and those are very few so it's easy to get one allotted. I was also told that there are certain days of the month on which the allotment comes in so I will be informed in the next 10-odd days. Max to max, within first week of the next month I’ll get it.

Very promptly I was put into the 'MG Hector' group by the SA.

And then, everyone just disappeared.

From Jan to today, I was the one constantly calling up, asking about updates. There are a few conversations of mine here too, where I was learning about most dealerships not giving deliveries but in most cases except mine, the SA was updating customers. If I would call the SA, he would tell me 'tomorrow' and then 'next week for sure'. A while later when I asked him why he can't give me a timeline, he said 'the company isn't giving me one so I can't give you one'.

That bothered me.

I was going to buy a 24L car and when they wanted the 50K booking amount, everyone was calling up. Now they didn't even have the basic courtesy to call me and tell me about the delay and an alternate timeline.

My experience at the Mahindra showroom was the direct opposite where the SA was wonderfully forthright and gave me an exact time frame, which put it out of consideration for us since we wanted a car quickly. (And the bizarre thing is if I had booked it then, I would probably have been getting an allotment by mid this year!)

My wife and I even gave up on the '2-3 week' and the 'one month delivery' promises and resigned ourselves to getting the car as and when it is allotted. We know every car has a waiting period, so we resigned ourselves to that wait. The car was worth it we felt.

Then I read the wonderful 'how to get a fancy number' thread and decided to look up the numbers I wanted at the Parivahan website. Happy to see that the numbers we wanted were available, I contacted the SA to ask if it would be possible to get them via the registration team at MG, as someone on that thread had suggested. The SA got back a while later and said there will be a 5K 'service charge' on getting that number.

Again, that irked me a bit. I'm buying a 24L car, and you're going to charge me a '5000 service charge' for something I can just spend a day and get it done myself, something you will have to do in some form for the car's registration to begin with? But that’s OK, I felt it's not a service they are offering, I've read the TBHP thread, I'll get it done myself at the RTO. Not an issue. But it rankled. Not because of the ‘service charge’ but because it was a message just forwarded to me. It’s not like the SA called me and had a chat. It was all very ‘hands off’.

Again I messaged a week after the SA said he would give me an update and didn't. He called back the next day saying there are 2 colours available for ready delivery. I gently reminded him that there was a certain colour and variant preference for which we had given the booking. Why will we change that? He said he'll try and get back with a timeline.

And then again, radio silence. I know I was being a bit impatient, but it was almost a month now, the delivery was a bit time sensitive due to our travel plans. But the SA NEVER called me with an update, never informed me about why there was a delay. The ONLY time he messaged me was when the new generation Hector had come for a TD in the showroom. I told him I've done the TD 4 times and decided, why again?!

I am the son of a salesman. I know how hard my father had to work to keep customers happy, always made them feel they are important and that he has their best interests at heart. He had to call people and visit at odd hours to talk to them if they were feeling upset. That’s the job of a salesman, his duty towards every customer. Here it was very weird that in this case it was almost as if once they got the 50K, the dealership didn't care. Guess that is what this market has done to most car makers - there are too many people waiting for cars, so no one is important.

Elsewhere on this forum I had asked a couple of things regarding getting my booking amount refunded on the Skoda Kushaq. That too took more than 6 weeks of constant calling, emails, Whatsapp messages and had to finally escalate it to the dealership manager and then I got my refund.

But I realised these things had started to add up in my mind and making me question the car buying itself. So I thought I'll go down to the Malad showroom and have a chat and try and figure out what is going on and tell him what is bothering me. I go to the showroom, sadly the SA is not there so I leave my name and number and tell the other SA there to ask him to call me and give me an update.

Nothing.

So today, my wife and I decide to review the booking. We had a few work travel commitments because of which the delivery timeline was important (and we were told it will happen in that time) and there is no point in getting a new car and then it stands outside for 2-3 weeks collecting dust and rodent nests and bites. There is still no update from the SA on anything. So what should we do? Given my horrible experience with the Kushaq refund, till yesterday we were out 75K in just booking amounts with no car in sight! It is hard earned money and I genuinely didn't like the way the MG SA has taken this approach with me. Is it really worth it?

The thing with me is, I go with my gut feeling in life, I usually trust my instincts. And by now, something had soured in my mind about buying the Hector. Nothing wrong with the car. Just the way it was playing out didn't feel right to me. It was a big stretch for our budget since we started with 15L and nothing felt good in that slot till the Kushaq pushed us to 20 and then first the Alcazar, and then the Hector to 24. So it is a big leap we’re taking financially, and it is scary, and the MG SA has kept us hanging.

My wife told me it's primarily going to be driven by you, so you decide, think about it and what your gut says and then we take a call.

And then suddenly, as I'm at a work commitment in the afternoon, the SA calls me. I ask him where he's disappeared - he says I wasn't being given an update, what could I update you about? I said but you could at least tell me there is delay.. he says, forget that sir, now your car has been allotted, let me know when you can make the final payment as it is month end, and I need to invoice it. And there is a slight price increase I'll tell you in detail about 48K...

I tell him I'll call him once I get home in a couple of hours, I’m at work, but in those 2 hours, every 20 minutes someone from MG is calling, saying take finance, how are you paying, we need to invoice - months end etc. And this is with me saying please, I'm in meetings, let me call you back!

So for 6-odd weeks no one even bothers to say hello, sorry sir, there's been a delay. And today, they want me to pay and invoice it literally today!

And that was when my instinct took over and just said 'no'. If this is how the dealership is treating you now, think what will happen in case something goes wrong with it later.

Some of us are sensitive people, some of us are thick skinned, some of us deal with attitude and behaviour in a different way. I know people who can wait for 8 months to a year for a car and not complain. But here I felt if only I had been told what was in store, I wouldn’t have had a problem even with the delay. I would have told them to then allot one for me in May. But I was being forced to figure all these things out on my own.

I’m not saying I'm the ideal customer, but I'm a customer. And no one in my entire family has ever owned a car worth 24L! So it is a big decision for me even financially. And I felt the dealings with me were not commiserate with what I was expecting. My fault entirely, but what I am feeling cannot be denied or dictated. So this is what I felt, and I cancelled the booking.

And the best part?

When I called back and said I want to cancel it, the SA said oh, OK, I'll let you know the process.

And cut the call.

He didn't even ask me once why, what happened, please reconsider. It was a 32 second phone conversation! I'm sure there are many in line waiting for a car, so they don't care if anyone cancels. Guess I'm not worthy of the MG badge.

Until then, I felt I probably was being a bit impatient, that's on me, but I was given false promises. But that last call just made me realise : good I cancelled. That was purely disrespectful.

And again, I'm not saying the company is bad or the dealership. This is my experience. I'm sure everyone else will have a different experience, maybe with the same SA too! I know I did because I read a lot of good reviews of the same place here! But sadly it was not to be for me.

So today we bid adieu to the dream of owning a car in this financial year. We haven’t had a car since lockdown 2021. So for us buying a new car is a deeply emotional topic, as it might be for a lot of BHPians. But this experience has really put us off MG for life.

Which reminds me - there is a Red Sharp Pro MT available due to cancelled booking in Malad, if anyone is looking. Heh.

Hopefully the next FY will bring the car that was meant for us


Take care everyone and drive safe.
Enjoy the journey, because every destination is but a pit stop..to better things.

Peace be with you.

[mayankk]

Honestly, in your place, I'd do the same. In fact, I did do the same with one dealership, but went with another for the same car, and that was with a delay of only about a couple of weeks, and mostly due to the pushy nature for making full payments.

I even discarded Tata and Kia because of the shoddy showroom experience even before a TD.

Here's hoping you find a silver lining somewhere, and a car, more importantly. The price the Hector is at the moment, it's very nearly out of the vfm space, and that price point brings a lot of other manufacturers to the table. Happy hunting!

[AtheK]

Sad stuff mate and the right decision. The car is good no doubt, but if the initial experience is not great, it hardly matters, hopefully your search ends soon and you get the car you want soon. That said a friend of mine who had booked thar with Mahindra has been having a horrible experience, it’s a seller market, but tide will turn soon.

On the other side, we now know that price hikes will be steep, I am guessing the savvy pro that I have booked will see even steeper hike. I might have to reconsider my decision as well soon.

[shancz]

Good decision, I would've done the same.
Although I would've checked at other dealers, if available at my location once the radio silence phase started.

Second your thoughts about sales but I always wonder what is the sales manager doing if not checking up on every booking made by his team ?

Now that you have some time before starting your next hunt, I suggest a read of this exhaustive but valueable thread by Poitive (Choosing an SUV up to 22L | Seltos, Harrier / Safari, Hector Plus, Compass, XUV700, Kicks, Scorpio N).

Good Luck for your next purchase.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Evyas

When I called back and said I want to cancel it, the SA said oh, OK, I'll let you know the process.

And cut the call.

He didn't even ask me once why, what happened, please reconsider. It was a 32 second phone conversation! I'm sure there are many in line waiting for a car, so they don't care if anyone cancels. Guess I'm not worthy of the MG badge.

Until then, I felt I probably was being a bit impatient, that's on me, but I was given false promises. But that last call just made me realise : good I cancelled. That was purely disrespectful.

.

Car buying process has changed quite a bit over the last few years , it's now simplified to just pay a token advance and patiently wait , you can remind the SA once in a while that you can be contacted if there are any cancellations of a model that may interest you however not the same as your booking.

That is pretty much about it, MG is in the business of selling cars and they will make sure you get yours.

My personal experience was that their dealers were premium brand equivalent when it comes to customer engagement. If you like the vehicle , I would advise you to find an alternate dealer.

[Evyas]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Here's hoping you find a silver lining somewhere, and a car, more importantly. The price the hector is at the moment, it's very nearly out of the vfm space, and that price point brings a lot of other manufacturers to the table. Happy hunting!

Thank you so much for your kind words. It's so cool yours was the first response as your Hector ownership thread was one of the main factors in my giving it a TD and when I was looking into the MT/ownership experience!

Yes, you're right the VFM tag is slowly fading and a lot of other manufacturers are now hustling to the table! My wife rightly said if we're waiting, maybe save up a little more and go for something in the next price range. For me the silver lining is : this is such a privilege, to have this dilemma, when a decade ago we could barely afford a bike..

As you rightly said, the happy hunt continues..

Originally Posted by AtheK

Sad stuff mate and the right decision. The car is good no doubt, but if the initial experience is not great, it hardly matters, hopefully your search ends soon and you get the car you want soon. That said a friend of mine who had booked thar with Mahindra has been having a horrible experience, it’s a seller market, but tide will turn soon.

On the other side, we now know that price hikes will be steep, I am guessing the savvy pro that I have booked will see even steeper hike. I might have to reconsider my decision as well soon.

Please don't let my weird experience put you off the car. It is a really nice car but like I mentioned, this cancellation was more of a gut instinct sort of a reaction.

The Savvy Pro is a great trim and I absolutely loved the central console and almost airplane-like gear lever! If not for my love for MT, I had almost booked that one - it was a hard decision. Hoping you get yours soon and without a price hike!

Originally Posted by shancz

Good decision, I would've done the same.
Although I would've checked at other dealers, if available at my location once the radio silence phase started.

Second your thoughts about sales but I always wonder what is the sales manager doing if not checking up on every booking made by his team ?

Now that you have some time before starting your next hunt, I suggest a read of this exhaustive but valueable thread by Poitive (Choosing an SUV up to 22L | Seltos, Harrier / Safari, Hector Plus, Compass, XUV700, Kicks, Scorpio N).

Good Luck for your next purchase.

Thank you so much for your kind words. Funnily, one of the people who called me yesterday was 'team leader' of my SA - had never heard from him in this entire while, so your guess is as good as mine about what the sales manager was doing!

Another dealer option I had explored during my Skoda Kushaq time and I realised the one that is closest geographically to my residence is the most convenient. Plus I had heard such great things about the Malad outlet, I overlooked this shopping around bit, my bad..but everything happens for a reason is my outlook!

And I have exhaustively read the Poitive thread, and still do! It answered so many of my queries, thanks for referring to it again.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Car buying process has changed quite a bit over the last few years , it's now simplified to just pay a token advance and patiently wait , you can remind the SA once in a while that you can be contacted if there are any cancellations of a model that may interest you however not the same as your booking.

That is pretty much about it, MG is in the business of selling cars and they will make sure you get yours.

My personal experience was that their dealers were premium brand equivalent when it comes to customer engagement. If you like the vehicle , I would advise you to find an alternate dealer.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, like I had mentioned, it was more of a personal and instinctive reaction to cancel.

But I still maintain in my experience - not everyone else, and like you mentioned not yours as well - the premium brand equivalency was absolutely not there. In fact when I visited the showroom for the first time, it looked like a workshop floor, full of chaos and took a while to even assign an SA to me.

And for context: I had emailed, called, put my name on the MG site for a call back 6 months ago! Finally had to just go and do a walk-in. Contrasted with Mahindra, Tata, Skoda, Hyundai - who all called back within hours of my putting my TD request on the site. So, like I said in the post, maybe it was just me - MG and my family were not meant to be..

Thank you all once again for responding.
Peace be with all of you.

[Evyas]

A small update. The sales manager/team leader from MG at the Malad showroom called once I emailed him about my refund.

Asked why I had cancelled the booking and what was the issue. When I explained it to him in detail, he agreed with the pre-sales and post booking experience not being very good in my case and that it would cloud my judgement. Asked me to reconsider but I explained about my travel plans and the reason why the timeline for delivery was critical. Asked me to not cancel the booking and that he would get someone senior involved once I'm back for the same booking. I told him would take a call once we are back, if we change our minds, but it seems unlikely as of now. He said he would action the refund within 7 working days.

Was very professional and polite and I saw hints of the much vaunted customer service experience of MG that people had been talking about. But for me it's too little too late.

Just thought I'd let everyone know.

Peace be with you.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by Evyas

A small update. The sales manager/team leader from MG at the Malad showroom called once I emailed him about my refund.

Asked why I had cancelled the booking and what was the issue. When I explained it to him in detail, he agreed with the pre-sales and post booking experience not being very good in my case and that it would cloud my judgement. Asked me to reconsider but I explained about my travel plans and the reason why the timeline for delivery was critical. Asked me to not cancel the booking and that he would get someone senior involved once I'm back for the same booking. I told him would take a call once we are back, if we change our minds, but it seems unlikely as of now. He said he would action the refund within 7 working days.

Was very professional and polite and I saw hints of the much vaunted customer service experience of MG that people had been talking about. But for me it's too little too late.

Just thought I'd let everyone know.

Peace be with you.

My suggestion give it a second thought, if you really think that this is the car you want. You can wait for 7 days and see if they do actually follow up and stay true to their words. Ultimately it is your choice and you are absolutely right in walking away too, but if you think that this is the car you want and any other will be a compromise here or there, maybe try again.

[rendezvous3850]

Fully understand your state of mind. Hopefully you get another car that you love and have many wonderful moments with it.

[Evyas]

Originally Posted by AtheK

My suggestion give it a second thought, if you really think that this is the car you want. You can wait for 7 days and see if they do actually follow up and stay true to their words. Ultimately it is your choice and you are absolutely right in walking away too, but if you think that this is the car you want and any other will be a compromise here or there, maybe try again.

Thank you for the kind advice. Yes for now I think it most prudent to see if the 7 day refund happens. And then once we’re back we’ll take a call on if the car still is the one we absolutely want even after all this that has passed.

Time and distance give a lot of perspective so hoping on that to help us decide

[Raghu M]

I liked the way you put things in the right way. You also agree that you are not an ideal customer, but why should you be? You pay money and pick up goods. You have the right to be informed at every stage of the purchase. It's not a few thousand but close to quarter of a crore. You have every right in the world to be kept warm, engaged and felt special for choosing MG. When they chose not to consider a customer special, then it's their fault and not yours.

You did the right thing. I would do the exact same thing if I were you. If you think the M&M showroom experience was good, then why not give it a chance? I own the 3OO and trust me, the SA was pretty clear with all the updates right from day 1. They are not greatly professional but I don't consider that as a huge point, after you buy the car, you hardly interact with them. I had a decent experience at M&M. No nonsense, no fancy stuff. They did not even argue or discuss when I said I would not be taking insurance from them. They politely said, we are fine with it. No one put pressure to take accessories as well. It was a simple affair, they handed over the keys and a sapling too (to denote their Green initiative). The car performs great and I am happy I chose it.

[Evyas]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I liked the way you put things in the right way. You also agree that you are not an ideal customer, but why should you be? You pay money and pick up goods. You have the right to be informed at every stage of the purchase. It's not a few thousand but close to quarter of a crore. You have every right in the world to be kept warm, engaged and felt special for choosing MG. When they chose not to consider a customer special, then it's their fault and not yours.

You did the right thing. I would do the exact same thing if I were you. If you think the M&M showroom experience was good, then why not give it a chance? I own the 3OO and trust me, the SA was pretty clear with all the updates right from day 1. They are not greatly professional but I don't consider that as a huge point, after you buy the car, you hardly interact with them. I had a decent experience at M&M. No nonsense, no fancy stuff. They did not even argue or discuss when I said I would not be taking insurance from them. They politely said, we are fine with it. No one put pressure to take accessories as well. It was a simple affair, they handed over the keys and a sapling too (to denote their Green initiative). The car performs great and I am happy I chose it.

The way you have put it in perspective is amazing - it's close to a quarter of a crore! Didn't think of it this way.

Ah, the XUV300. You have no idea how many videos I saw of this beauty during lockdown. It was the first car my wife and I saw once things opened up. And it pretty much took almost all other cars out of contention thanks to the heft and the 'door thud' which we had never experienced before, not even in our Duster to be honest!

It was right in our budget and I even took it on a Revv rental and drove the manual petrol on a small road trip to Pavna and Malshej for a few days and really liked it, but sadly the lack of boot space went against it..on that trip itself we had to put our big suitcase on the rear seat, so that was unfortunate. But it is a lovely car and I hope you have many miles and millions of smiles per mile in it!

I do love what M&M is doing and even pre-booked the Scorpio-N but it was too high for ingress-egress for my parents and in-laws so while I loved it, it wasn't very practical for the family. Now I might circle back to the XUV700 - I hear the wait times are not as crazy anymore, and even if they are, as long as they inform me honestly, I think I've learnt a lesson from this booking gone wrong to deal with it better!

As others on this thread have mentioned, the happy hunt continues so let's see where things leads us and to which car!

Thanks so much for the kind words.
Peace be with you.

[Aviator_guy]

I feel for you and it is frustrating to wait in the dark. But let me tell you that it is not unique to MG. I had same experience with Hyundai dealer for my Creta booking which lasted for 8 months. No response and couldn't care less attitude from the SA and dealership during all this while, same as what you have experienced but for an extended time!

In my case, I decided not to cancel the booking but wait it out. My family had done lot of research for months to zero down on Creta which fit our requirements perfectly. Given the time and effort we had put in during research, endless discussions etc we decided to continue to wait. Now that I own it, I have forgotten all the pain and anxiety we went through.

In fact, my extended family had booked Seltos and they had to wait out 4 months without any communication from the SA.

The experience you have gone through is not isolated so don't feel so frustrated. If Hector fits your requirements and your and family's heart is set on it then I'd suggest you to be patient and the wait would be worth.

[NiInJa]

I would suggest to chill out and get the car that you like so much, you will forget everything else later. I guess given the long waiting times due to this supply chain disruption and post pandemic demand, the situation is going to be the same with other brands, more or less. A Maruti dealer told one of my acquaintance to wait for 6 months for the Ertiga, since then there has been no communication after booking, except the Sales person is an extremely sweet talker.

You can give them your peace of mind by not getting your car serviced there, they will beg you to bring the car to their dealership for servicing, offer you free home pick up and drop and discounts, simply refuse to budge. They earn a lot of money from servicing and a customer lost on that front is a big loss in the long term for them.

[Lord-Lannister]

Originally Posted by Evyas

MG Motors Malad (Krishiv Motors). A writeup of what led me to finally cancel my booking for the Facelift (New Generation) Hector Sharp Pro MT 5 seater.

As someone who has a booking with Krishiv Motors as well, however from their Worli branch. I do fully sympathise with you, that the sales and backend team does indeed have a bit of a lacklustre or more or less of a lethargic attitude. Something not expected for folks buying quarter of a crore vehicle.

Albeit, I would more or less take a day or two to seek more clarity from a calm mind. If you really like the vehicle, think of these as minor speed bumps in an otherwise long way. Considering that you're stretching your budget, is it really worth waiting more by getting in another line where booking doesn't guarantee safety from price hikes whilst we wait? Thanks inflation and/or corporate greed.

If you're able to get the management to get better attention, and an expedited delivery, I would hold on and try to get it. Believe me, on paper I had 3-4 months deliver date, but with a good SA was able to get the proper timeline info hence was confident in a 1 month waitlist. Yet, I still had troubles here and there where I was the one chasing updates or even a certain accessories that I wanted to buy and yet the delay in communication was indeed bothersome.

In person showroom visits got things done faster than the "WhatsApp group" where both SA and Sr. SA take their sweet time. However I partially don't blame them, as they do seem hands full with more Hector bookings than anticipated.

I wish you happy motoring, and I hope your next ride brings you joy.