Are most Indian Car Dealerships bad?

hollywoodhogan · 29th July 2007, 22:43

is it true that most indian car dealerships are bad? are they cheats? are they crooks? they dont care about customers? the manufacturers dont care either, all workshop supervisors are cheats? complaints go unanswered, even ones sent directly sent to the manufacturers does not get a response, does maruti care? does ford care? tata cheats its customers, fiat service sucks, authorized service centers are bad, mandovi is bad, rns is bad, pratham is bad, bimal is bad, sagar is bad, ravindu toyota is bad, whitefield honda is bad, dakshin honda is bad, metro ford is bad, sundaram is bad, tafe access is bad, supervisors are bad, sales execs are bad, managers are morons, gms' are arrogant, mechanics are terrible etc etc etc.
what is going on?

because, thats the impression this forum gives. it appears that this is a grievance cell only!

have we become so demanding that anything less than perfection is a crime? anything less that groveling at a customers feet become a punishable offence? have we in all honesty set ourselves such high & noble standards in our own lives that we expect the same from car dealerships?

i am curious to know because 90% of the threads seem to be to shoot a dealership down, bring some individuals/organizations to disrepute, bring a brand to its knees.

only threads that complain about a dealership or brand seems to elicit generous responses and replies in the affirmative, whilst the appreciative ones are mostly ignored. our favorite pastime appears to be bitching.

as indians, are we afraid to appreciate anything or anyone? i think that its in our psyche that appreciation will bring about complaisance and arrogance. and this applies at work and home.

just honestly think back at how often have we genuinely expressed appreciation to others? i don’t mean that we need to appreciate anything and everything but just things that we could have had a word or two positive to say about. think!

Are we today a cynical, unforgiving & merciless bunch of car owners?

esteem_lover · 29th July 2007, 23:27

If you care to look around, there are threads about good service too.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ers-noida.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ce-centre.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ce-centre.html

For one thing, the service is not free, so if something is wrong, what is wrong in bitching about it. the person that has suffered has every right to bitch. Bitching starts only when the A.S.S takes you for a ride with smooth talk & no work. If there was less talk & more work, there would be less bitching. Personally, i have had more bad experiences than good ones with A.S.S. So i feel i have the right to bitch too.

I think we should enact a right to bitch act, 2007.

Zappo · 29th July 2007, 23:39

Obviously you have not yet used the search feature on this forum. There are multitudes of threads that talk of fantastic dealership experiences. In fact if I am not mistaken there is a thread somewhere that lists out the best delaerships in India for various cars.

About your queries on most dealerships, remember one thing. In india most establishments are such that they do not give a dime about customer confidence and satisfaction till they are dragged to the courts. In US and elsewhere they are better behaved because customer there is much more evolved and know their rights well. Any step out of the line and the dealership (or any service provider for that matter) gets dragged to the court and sued for millions. It will take time here but the signs are already visible. And it is better if people complain. Remember something. When you pay for a service it is a contract between you and the service provider. You paid for a service and in return you expect to get the service to your satisfaction. If you are not satisfied to the fullest you have every right to claim that the contract was not honoured to the fullest.

So yes, as far as the rights as a consumer are concerned we need to be aware and knwoledgeable and to that extent even ruthless. Else you will always get taken for a ride.

humyum · 30th July 2007, 00:07

hollywoodhogan
I guess you have not gone through the pain of being taken for a ride.Car servicing and maintaining these days is not cheap.If you are paying your hard earned money for a particular thing u expect it to be perfect right??There must be many customers who are not car savvy and get taken for a ride.Here people know about cars and when they go through a bad experience they are obviously bound to post and warn other members to be careful.The posts u read about a particular service station is only what a particular member of this forum has gone through and there might be hundreds of cases which are not posted here as not the entire india is a member of team-bhp.

There have been threads where people have applauded a particular service station/company for their work.

RJK · 30th July 2007, 02:10

Interesting point of view. If you look at eveyrone's experience, its backed by evidence not just random talk. So, I don't know about you but if I'm paying top dollar, I do expect top service and not mediocrity.

Rehaan · 30th July 2007, 03:20

Hollywoodhogan,

I see your point, and i have thought about this a lot (mostly when looking at reviews of electronics/hardware that i am consindering purchasing online).
People pay X amount of money, and in return they expect X amount of quality, service and value from their purchase.

If they do get X value for X Rupees. Its what they expect. Nothing special to talk about.
If they get MORE than they expect, they are happy, and will talk about it.
If they get LESS than they expect, they are unhappy and will talk about that too.

Now in reality, its RARE to get MORE value than you expect when dealing with indian car dealerships.
For example, have you ever ever ever heard of anyone who got their car delivered on exactly the day the dealership first said it would be delivered ? Its really rare. In my experience, even when i beg the dealership to tell me WORST case scenario, and they mention a date, the car still doesnt show up on time.

Im not saying that only bad things happen at dealerships. I have had good expereiences too, great communication, and met some very well versed salespeople.

However, the sad reality is that overall there is a LOT of room for improvement, and hopefully, the views and expressed opinions on TBHP will have some sort of effect of the situation in some way or another.

There are lots of dealerships that do read Team-BHP, and hopefully if they see a complaint or a problem, they will try to fix it. It will do good for all.

That said, i do see your point, and i would hope that when people have really good experiences, they write about them too.

cya
R

v1p3r · 30th July 2007, 04:22

Looks like someone works for a dealership, or somewhere there. All the posts I've noticed so far have something to do with dealers and service stations.

LLL · 30th July 2007, 07:29

Well, same is said about car dealerships in states. There are reams of pages on games that salesman play in US on customers and not surprisingly, car dealerships are looked down upon.

In india, to add to the salesman, the service network adds to customers misery and they have themselves to blame. You take your car to 3 different service centers to troubleshoot a problem and they all will give you different reasons. You wont know then whom to trust.

e.g. a few years back there was a problem in my 800 and i took the car to a local garage. They told me gearbox needed overhauling. I didnt believe him and took my car to a maruti *** and they told me alternator needed to be replaced. Finally i took my car to another garage recommended by my uncle and they replaced the clutch and all was fine. So dont know who to trust in service network...

benbsb29 · 30th July 2007, 11:14

Zappo along with the others have put forward the points already. Its not that all we do is bitch about what we have gone through. There are threads where people also mention the satisfaction they have thanks to some dealer who actually stuck to his job, and delivered with quality, and care.

You mentioned the case of the Metro Ford thread. Since they care a zilch for a customer, they deserve the brickbats. That their other competitor in Bangalore is doing brisk business is their own loss, and no one else's.

Sagar & Pratahm (Maruti) have also had bad reports about them. Let the word get around, and let them suffer. Had the thread initiator been the person who faced such treatment, wouldnt he have cried hoarse?

Its not that we dont have any threads which mention good customer service, just that these are the basics that one expects when he shells out his hard earned money for the service.

tsk1979 · 30th July 2007, 11:20

Well not all are bad, but bad or average ones outnumber the good ones.
That said, people who are hurt will write reviews, those who get what they expect won't.
I guess if more and more people write about their experiences, even if they have good ones, it will change the feel of the dealership section!

vkochar · 30th July 2007, 11:31

Car Dealerships are good at times but yes many times they are just Plain Rude & persuasive - Boy, When you find out about a car or worse - take a TD, these guys will call you day / night / 24*7, asking you when are you going to buy their car. They'll call you in yr most intimate moments also !! :(

BUT once you do buy the car, you are in for a surprise, they will treat you like Dirt !!

BUT having said that there are also times, when some car dealers would go out of their way to please you. Me having brought 2 of my cars from A Hyundai dealer ( would not name anyone bcoz then people will think I am being Biased ) , also recommended 3 more friends who bought from him.

I get a First Class treatment from this guy now - he gives me a spare car ( one time a Sonata !! ) to go to the mall and have lunch - car waited outside for 2 hrs !! - this had me bowled over.

So there are all sorts, but yes I have had more Bad experiences than good ones. Cheers !!!

CrAzY dRiVeR · 30th July 2007, 12:17

8 years with Maruti service (Popular vehicles and services, trivandrum) and no bad experiences as such to talk about.

In fact, had some very pleasant experiences as described in this thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...opular+service

devarshi84 · 30th July 2007, 12:32

Just remember that dealerships are also businesses and are operating for a profit. Sometimes what seems to be their loss might actually be a profit to them.I dont see anything wrong in that.

there are some dealerships though which are pretty lousy. Such as landmark Honda in Ahmedabad. THey have grown in size and now they dont give a damn about customer service. (they never really did.)

but then there is Gallops GM dealership. They are so prompt, my friend got a spare Aveo to run while his astra was getting serviced.

Secondly, dont expect too much as a customer. Too much expectations may ruin your customer service. If you get a better response its really great.

And finally to asnwer your questions as to why there are so many threads on bad dealership response. Usually people who are dissatisfied shout loud while those who get better service usually stay quiet.

hollywoodhogan · 30th July 2007, 13:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zappo

Obviously you have not yet used the search feature on this forum. There are multitudes of threads that talk of fantastic dealership experiences. In fact if I am not mistaken there is a thread somewhere that lists out the best delaerships in India for various cars.

& i stand corrected with regards to the issue that there is not much threads of appreciation because i did search and did find many. but my point in saying that there is a distinct lack of appreciation here was, the heading of this whole sections is "Indian Car Dealerships" and its within this that i found a lack of appreciative threads. and thats why i titled my thread as i did. thanks.

esteem_lover · 30th July 2007, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollywoodhogan

but my point in saying that there is a distinct lack of appreciation here was, the heading of this whole sections is "Indian Car Dealerships" and its within this that i found a lack of appreciative threads. and thats why i titled my thread as i did. thanks.

Why don't you start by sharing one of your own good experiences with a dealership ?

29th July 2007, 22:43	#1
hollywoodhogan BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 423 Thanked: 14 Times	Are most Indian Car Dealerships bad? is it true that most indian car dealerships are bad? are they cheats? are they crooks? they dont care about customers? the manufacturers dont care either, all workshop supervisors are cheats? complaints go unanswered, even ones sent directly sent to the manufacturers does not get a response, does maruti care? does ford care? tata cheats its customers, fiat service sucks, authorized service centers are bad, mandovi is bad, rns is bad, pratham is bad, bimal is bad, sagar is bad, ravindu toyota is bad, whitefield honda is bad, dakshin honda is bad, metro ford is bad, sundaram is bad, tafe access is bad, supervisors are bad, sales execs are bad, managers are morons, gms' are arrogant, mechanics are terrible etc etc etc. what is going on? because, thats the impression this forum gives. it appears that this is a grievance cell only! have we become so demanding that anything less than perfection is a crime? anything less that groveling at a customers feet become a punishable offence? have we in all honesty set ourselves such high & noble standards in our own lives that we expect the same from car dealerships? i am curious to know because 90% of the threads seem to be to shoot a dealership down, bring some individuals/organizations to disrepute, bring a brand to its knees. only threads that complain about a dealership or brand seems to elicit generous responses and replies in the affirmative, whilst the appreciative ones are mostly ignored. our favorite pastime appears to be bitching. as indians, are we afraid to appreciate anything or anyone? i think that its in our psyche that appreciation will bring about complaisance and arrogance. and this applies at work and home. just honestly think back at how often have we genuinely expressed appreciation to others? i don’t mean that we need to appreciate anything and everything but just things that we could have had a word or two positive to say about. think! Are we today a cynical, unforgiving & merciless bunch of car owners? Last edited by hollywoodhogan : 29th July 2007 at 23:02.
	() Thanks

29th July 2007, 23:27	#2
esteem_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Madras/Py Posts: 7,556 Thanked: 502 Times View My Garage	If you care to look around, there are threads about good service too. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ers-noida.html http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ce-centre.html http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ce-centre.html For one thing, the service is not free, so if something is wrong, what is wrong in bitching about it. the person that has suffered has every right to bitch. Bitching starts only when the A.S.S takes you for a ride with smooth talk & no work. If there was less talk & more work, there would be less bitching. Personally, i have had more bad experiences than good ones with A.S.S. So i feel i have the right to bitch too. I think we should enact a right to bitch act, 2007.
	() Thanks

29th July 2007, 23:39	#3
Zappo Team-BHP Support Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 5,922 Thanked: 2,690 Times	Obviously you have not yet used the search feature on this forum. There are multitudes of threads that talk of fantastic dealership experiences. In fact if I am not mistaken there is a thread somewhere that lists out the best delaerships in India for various cars. About your queries on most dealerships, remember one thing. In india most establishments are such that they do not give a dime about customer confidence and satisfaction till they are dragged to the courts. In US and elsewhere they are better behaved because customer there is much more evolved and know their rights well. Any step out of the line and the dealership (or any service provider for that matter) gets dragged to the court and sued for millions. It will take time here but the signs are already visible. And it is better if people complain. Remember something. When you pay for a service it is a contract between you and the service provider. You paid for a service and in return you expect to get the service to your satisfaction. If you are not satisfied to the fullest you have every right to claim that the contract was not honoured to the fullest. So yes, as far as the rights as a consumer are concerned we need to be aware and knwoledgeable and to that extent even ruthless. Else you will always get taken for a ride.
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 00:07	#4
humyum Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 2,751 Thanked: 5,424 Times	hollywoodhogan I guess you have not gone through the pain of being taken for a ride.Car servicing and maintaining these days is not cheap.If you are paying your hard earned money for a particular thing u expect it to be perfect right??There must be many customers who are not car savvy and get taken for a ride.Here people know about cars and when they go through a bad experience they are obviously bound to post and warn other members to be careful.The posts u read about a particular service station is only what a particular member of this forum has gone through and there might be hundreds of cases which are not posted here as not the entire india is a member of team-bhp. There have been threads where people have applauded a particular service station/company for their work.
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 02:10	#5
RJK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,140 Thanked: 701 Times	Interesting point of view. If you look at eveyrone's experience, its backed by evidence not just random talk. So, I don't know about you but if I'm paying top dollar, I do expect top service and not mediocrity.
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 03:20	#6
Rehaan Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 24,042 Thanked: 34,074 Times	Hollywoodhogan, I see your point, and i have thought about this a lot (mostly when looking at reviews of electronics/hardware that i am consindering purchasing online). People pay X amount of money, and in return they expect X amount of quality, service and value from their purchase. If they do get X value for X Rupees. Its what they expect. Nothing special to talk about. If they get MORE than they expect, they are happy, and will talk about it. If they get LESS than they expect, they are unhappy and will talk about that too. Now in reality, its RARE to get MORE value than you expect when dealing with indian car dealerships. For example, have you ever ever ever heard of anyone who got their car delivered on exactly the day the dealership first said it would be delivered ? Its really rare. In my experience, even when i beg the dealership to tell me WORST case scenario, and they mention a date, the car still doesnt show up on time. Im not saying that only bad things happen at dealerships. I have had good expereiences too, great communication, and met some very well versed salespeople. However, the sad reality is that overall there is a LOT of room for improvement, and hopefully, the views and expressed opinions on TBHP will have some sort of effect of the situation in some way or another. There are lots of dealerships that do read Team-BHP, and hopefully if they see a complaint or a problem, they will try to fix it. It will do good for all. That said, i do see your point, and i would hope that when people have really good experiences, they write about them too. cya R
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 04:22	#7
v1p3r Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: BLR / DXB / LON Posts: 5,334 Thanked: 6,896 Times View My Garage	Looks like someone works for a dealership, or somewhere there. All the posts I've noticed so far have something to do with dealers and service stations.
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 07:29	#8
LLL BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Delhi Posts: 635 Thanked: 2 Times	Well, same is said about car dealerships in states. There are reams of pages on games that salesman play in US on customers and not surprisingly, car dealerships are looked down upon. In india, to add to the salesman, the service network adds to customers misery and they have themselves to blame. You take your car to 3 different service centers to troubleshoot a problem and they all will give you different reasons. You wont know then whom to trust. e.g. a few years back there was a problem in my 800 and i took the car to a local garage. They told me gearbox needed overhauling. I didnt believe him and took my car to a maruti *** and they told me alternator needed to be replaced. Finally i took my car to another garage recommended by my uncle and they replaced the clutch and all was fine. So dont know who to trust in service network...
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 11:14	#9
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,968 Thanked: 13,209 Times View My Garage	Zappo along with the others have put forward the points already. Its not that all we do is bitch about what we have gone through. There are threads where people also mention the satisfaction they have thanks to some dealer who actually stuck to his job, and delivered with quality, and care. You mentioned the case of the Metro Ford thread. Since they care a zilch for a customer, they deserve the brickbats. That their other competitor in Bangalore is doing brisk business is their own loss, and no one else's. Sagar & Pratahm (Maruti) have also had bad reports about them. Let the word get around, and let them suffer. Had the thread initiator been the person who faced such treatment, wouldnt he have cried hoarse? Its not that we dont have any threads which mention good customer service, just that these are the basics that one expects when he shells out his hard earned money for the service.
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 11:20	#10
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	Well not all are bad, but bad or average ones outnumber the good ones. That said, people who are hurt will write reviews, those who get what they expect won't. I guess if more and more people write about their experiences, even if they have good ones, it will change the feel of the dealership section!
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 11:31	#11
vkochar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Delhi / Agra / London Posts: 2,146 Thanked: 819 Times View My Garage	Car Dealerships are good at times but yes many times they are just Plain Rude & persuasive - Boy, When you find out about a car or worse - take a TD, these guys will call you day / night / 24*7, asking you when are you going to buy their car. They'll call you in yr most intimate moments also !! :( BUT once you do buy the car, you are in for a surprise, they will treat you like Dirt !! BUT having said that there are also times, when some car dealers would go out of their way to please you. Me having brought 2 of my cars from A Hyundai dealer ( would not name anyone bcoz then people will think I am being Biased ) , also recommended 3 more friends who bought from him. I get a First Class treatment from this guy now - he gives me a spare car ( one time a Sonata !! ) to go to the mall and have lunch - car waited outside for 2 hrs !! - this had me bowled over. So there are all sorts, but yes I have had more Bad experiences than good ones. Cheers !!!
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 12:17	#12
CrAzY dRiVeR Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore / TVM Posts: 17,176 Thanked: 73,485 Times View My Garage	8 years with Maruti service (Popular vehicles and services, trivandrum) and no bad experiences as such to talk about. In fact, had some very pleasant experiences as described in this thread. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...opular+service
	() Thanks

30th July 2007, 12:32	#13
devarshi84 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Ahmedabad - Tor Posts: 4,024 Thanked: 211 Times View My Garage	Just remember that dealerships are also businesses and are operating for a profit. Sometimes what seems to be their loss might actually be a profit to them.I dont see anything wrong in that. there are some dealerships though which are pretty lousy. Such as landmark Honda in Ahmedabad. THey have grown in size and now they dont give a damn about customer service. (they never really did.) but then there is Gallops GM dealership. They are so prompt, my friend got a spare Aveo to run while his astra was getting serviced. Secondly, dont expect too much as a customer. Too much expectations may ruin your customer service. If you get a better response its really great. And finally to asnwer your questions as to why there are so many threads on bad dealership response. Usually people who are dissatisfied shout loud while those who get better service usually stay quiet.
	() Thanks