[jkdas]

I was to take delivery of Safari from Koyenco Motors, Cochin early March. The Koyenco salesman, Mr.Sivan called me one day and said he will give me a good offer for my Xing. He drove down with a car dealer called Benny from Cochin on a Safari and reached my house at Trivandrum by 6pm.

As usual bargain went on and the deal was made for 2.57 lac. I had to pay 1.47 lac to clear the loan amount with Kotak Mahindra. So, I made the booking for Pearl White Safari 2.2 EX for rest of the amount, ie, 1.10lac. There was no real amount change between me or the broker or salesman, just in papers. They left for Cochin later that day with my car with the promise from the broker that he will clear the Kotak loan next day.

Next day the broker calls me up and confirms that he had closed the loan and have couriered the receipt. I get the receipt the next day which confirms his trustworthiness.

In between I got a bank loan from Kotak for 6lac with an interest rate of 13.5%. My co-brother’s agent quoted me an EMI of Rs.900 less than what my agent had quoted. Since I was getting two different quotes from the same bank, I felt cheated and cancelled the booking.

I call up Sivan at Koyenco and pass the news that I want to cancel the booking. He was ok with it but said I need to talk to Mr. Thajudeen, his TL or so. He too okays my cancellation and ensures me that I will be refunded the amount asap.

Days,weeks and months go by. I made numerous calls to Sivan and Thajudeen. They take me for couple of rides. Since I was too busy with work, my cousin, who works at Cochin followed up things for me. Both the salesman and TL,blames the MD for the delay in refunding the amount. I don’t know if the MD is to be blamed or the sales man/TL. I think MD also will be part of the game else wont one know that an amount of 1lac plus has to be refunded and sort?

Anyway, my cousin just called me up and said he got two cheques amounting to 98,000 Rs. ! I am to forget 12000Rs !

The reason: 12000 was booking offer! I talk to the sales man and he says the car value was 2.47 and not 2.57lac. I call up the broker and he confirms that its 2.57 (1.10lac for booking and 1.47lac for loan). Its written and signed by the sales man that I paid 1.10lac and hence I have to get 1.10lac back instead of 98,000Rs.

I don’t know what to do now, register a police case? Drive down and meet the MD (who is always busy! And out of office 24x7). Or, smash the $%^& face off.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Since I was getting two different quotes from the same bank, I felt cheated and cancelled the booking.

Why did you cancel the booking ? You could have taken the truck with the better loan option available.

And isn't there a penalty for canceling a booking ?

[prabuddhadg]

JKD, your feeling of being cheated is understandable, but the banks ususally do have a booking amount built in, which they do not refund if you cancel. It is basically the cost of their effort in processing your documents etc.

[amtak]

My advise would be to make atleast an attempt to meet the MD first. Give them a call and fix an appointment for youself well in advance. Tell the receptionst/TL/Salesman that if they cannot make arrangements for you to meet the MD then you would register a case of fraud and "theft" (day light!!!) against the dealer. Further, tell them that you have escalated this to TATA too

[kutlee]

I think best way is to use some 'influence' here to work out things smoothly. That should work. I think there is some booking amount taken if you cancel a booking. May be that's adjusted with the price on your old car. Is this true?
But i think i have seen an old thread where i saw your new Safaris pic. Is it the same one? or you haven't bought one? I am confused here!!!

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

JKD, this is not the license-permit raj era where manufacturers used to charge hefty amounts for cancelling bookings. You have written a value for your car in black (or was it blue?) and white on paper. You hae the right to the refund, unless you were told of a cancellation fee. Details of cancellation fee, if any, should be stated upfront, BEFORE you make the payment (here, handing over your car), and at least along with the receipt for the car.

They may claim that the amount is expenses, but they have no business charging you for expenses, since the sold car was purchased by a third party, not Koyenco.

@Others - I cannot figure how you arrive at the conclusion that the amount is charged by the bank - JKD has not availed a loan, at least that is what I gether from the narrative.

[Zappo]

Frankly I am not getting any head or tail of this!

JKD cancelled a booking. If he paid any booking amount he gets that back in full. Thats the least. In fact in certain cases he can (he=customer) even successfully sue for interest on the amount which was lying with those guys for the period.

Also, anyone has a right to cancel the booking at any stage. The transaction is not complete as yet and you can always retract unless there was some clause built into the agreement about the loses that may arise to one party from such cancellations. And even that will be justifiable if the company can prove that they actually did something extra vis-a-vis that booking and hence they suffered a loss on cancellation. e.g., The car was customized in such and such way for the customer and hence... or else, its a high priced car that is individually made only on order.

So you see? There is no reason why they should deduct anything on refund. And leave everything else aside, even if you had to accept that there is indeed some charges, Rs12000 guys? Are you all nuts? 12,000 is not some joke. You can not deduct such sum just because someone has decided to cancel.

JKD, you have a solid case buddy... unless there is some aspect that I overlooked or did not understand.

[Steeroid]

I had the same experience with Koyenco - I had initially made a booking through them but decided to go with RF instead as I felt more comfortable with RF (and besides, they gave me a better deal + faster delivery).

I had paid Rs.5,000 as a booking amount and it took me over 9 months to get the money back. I had made the payment by cash at Trichur and they insisted that a cheque will be issued from Cochin after 'approval', and they had no answer when I asked them if they had taken approval before accepting the amount in Cash.

Finally went down to their Cochin showroom and demanded a payment. The manager assured me that the cheque will be ready in Trichur (!!!!!) the next day. It took a week, though.

Koyenco should stick to making Coconut Oil.

[greenhorn]

I hope they don't insist on refunding you the 12k in accessories. A friend of mine had to suffer that fate at kulathunkal here :(

[kb100]

Good!!.. Koyenko ain't getting my booking!!

Sue them for all they are worth! This IS daylight robery!

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by amtak

My advise would be to make atleast an attempt to meet the MD first. Give them a call and fix an appointment for youself well in advance. Tell the receptionst/TL/Salesman that if they cannot make arrangements for you to meet the MD then you would register a case of fraud and "theft" (day light!!!) against the dealer. Further, tell them that you have escalated this to TATA too

Will be doing so.

Originally Posted by kutlee

I think best way is to use some 'influence' here to
But i think i have seen an old thread where i saw your new Safaris pic. ..Is it the same one? or you haven't bought one? I am confused here!!!

No, thats another one

No penalty for booking. And bank wasnt involved with booking amount.


Will update rest of story later.

[kutlee]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Koyenco should stick to making Coconut Oil.

i think have a " sticky " deal (rather than a smooth one) as far as car deals are concerned (may be due to coconut oil heritage).

[greenhorn]

I wonder how they treat their BMW customers

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I wonder how they treat their BMW customers

Well well. One story by the sales man was that the owner is busy with BMW deals and is 'tight' and hence running around for $$$ !


When I told the sales man that I wanted to cancel the booking, he said please wait a day or so to tell his TL or MD as they didnt order a new Pearl White EX model as they had on with the showroom and I was supposed to take it ! And also that he found a customer for the Pearl White. This happened on 3 days prior to the day I was to take delivery of my 'new' Pearl White. This PW was used by me for demo and by Prithvi Raj too 2 weeks back when I went there for a demo.

[jkdas]

Got two cheques , 50k and 48k one.
50k one is signed by the MD and 48k by the salesman. Cousin is to go to Koyenco with my booking slip tomorrow.

Sales gusy says, 12k was offer. 5k as expense of coming to Tvm and sort. I said it fine, but I want receipt, which he cant give. He says the company knows whats happened and I can do whatever I want.