[salvation]

hi all!! this is my first post in this forum. I have been a regular visitor on this site since last 5 months. And i am really impressed by the knowledge , passion of the members of this esteem forum.Indirectly you guys helped me out in choosing Hyundai Santro. I read all the posts regarding the car on this thread including long term reviews and it really helped me alot. Thanks!!

Well the only mistake i did was not to join 5 months back and enquire about the exchange bonus to fellow members. I just read about the car and decided. Now it is haunting me.I really did not want to start on this exceptional forum by speaking negatives about particular dealership or car make but last weeks incident has left me with bitter taste and now i really need sound advice from you guys.

I purchased Santro from Charsima Hyundai Chandigarh in March 2008 after selling my beloved daewoo cielo. As most of you must be aware that they have a scheme that once we sell our old car and deposit required documents confirming the sale of car and idenitity of new buyer and purchase new hyundai car they offer exchange bonus of Rs 10,000. Ok we did all the paper work and submitted it to the dealer who after cross checking the documents says OK. You money will come with in 2-3 months. Fine time passes by and i enquire after two months no response , after three months and i am told i will recieve money in first week of july. Fine July comes i wait, first week passes no calls from dealership. I send mail to Hyundai copy of which they effieciently pass onto the dealer to get in touch with me which they dont. Now in third week of July i call up at dealership and they say to my horror your exchange bonus claim has been rejected Reason Given: You have submitted affidavit which Hyundai does not accept. Then when i ask them why did you say the papers are ok when we were submitting it to you they say unofficially after much of persuation that we have been wrongly advised as the person who said ok was not comptent authority.They advice me to call to hyundai directly. I call up at Chandigarh office they say its been looked after in Delhi. I call up at Delhi and Some Ms. Gupta says we have already closed all the issues of march. You ask your dealership to get special request from Regional Office Chandigarh and forward it to us.

Suggest me guys what to do now?

[maxj2005]

Originally Posted by salvation

hi all!! this is my first post in this forum. I have been a regular visitor on this site since last 5 months. And i am really impressed by the knowledge , passion of the members of this esteem forum.Indirectly you guys helped me out in choosing Hyundai Santro. I read all the posts regarding the car on this thread including long term reviews and it really helped me alot. Thanks!!Well the only mistake i did was not to join 5 months back and enquire about the exchange bonus to fellow members. I just read about the car and decided. Now it is haunting me.I really did not want to start on this exceptional forum by speaking negatives about particular dealership or car make but last weeks incident has left me with bitter taste and now i really need sound advice from you guys. I purchased Santro from Charsima Hyundai Chandigarh in March 2008 after selling my beloved daewoo cielo. As most of you must be aware that they have a scheme that once we sell our old car and deposit required documents confirming the sale of car and idenitity of new buyer and purchase new hyundai car they offer exchange bonus of Rs 10,000. Ok we did all the paper work and submitted it to the dealer who after cross checking the documents says OK. You money will come with in 2-3 months. Fine time passes by and i enquire after two months no response , after three months and i am told i will recieve money in first week of july. Fine July comes i wait, first week passes no calls from dealership. I send mail to Hyundai copy ofwhich they effieciently pass onto the dealer to get in touch with me which they dont. Now in third week of July i call up at dealership and they say to my horror your exchange bonus claim has been rejected Reason Given: You have submitted affidavit which Hyundai doesnot accept. Then when i ask them why did you say the papers are ok when we were submitting it to you they say unofficially after much of persuation that we have been wrongly advised as the person who said ok was not comptent authority.They advice me to call to hyundai directly. I call up at Chandigarh office they say its been looked after in Delhi. I call up at Delhi and Some Ms. Gupta says we have already closed all the issues of march. You ask your dealership to get special request from Regional Office Chandigarh and forward it to us.Suggest me guys what to do now?

Welcome to Team-BHP,

I had a similar problem with Baltic Faridabad two years back.
You should have asked for this rebate upfront while you were doing negotiations with the dealer.
All I can suggest is to bug your dealer to resubmit the claims with correct papers.

[naveenmani]

Two weeks ago, I exchanged my 2003 Santro Xing (which i bought at Hyundai Motor Plaza, Chennai) for an i10 Kappa (also from the same dealership). The exchange bonus was offered upfront, by deducting from the money I had to pay for the purchase of the new car. The sales girl (who had handled the purchase of the Santro, five years ago, and who took care of my i10 purchase now) said that normally the exchange bonus is paid after RC transfer certificates are submitted, albeit within two months deadline! I guess, you missed the fine print of the this deadline. Why was I treated preferentially? B'cos (according to the sales girl), I had bought and sold my old car thru HMP (the old car was actually sold thru FirstSource, which was referred by HMP, when I approached HMP to get my old car sold - thus FirstSource is a sort of an inhouse used car dealer for HMP in Chennai!) I believe, the sales guy, in the excitment to get your business, had misrepresented (or omitted) the fine print. Such things happen, b'cos, like insurance agents, these sales guys have monthly targets and incentives.

naveen

[salvation]

well you are a lucky man naveen!

unfortunatelly Charisma Hyundai, Chandigarh from where i purchased the car did not provide me with this fecilitation (of exchanging old car).So we had to sell it out to dealer.

i tell you man this dealership is notorious and i will call them nothing less than cheaters. whatever there sales people promised never fulfilled. and can you believe its been 5 months since we bought the car, no followup, no nothing regarding car care ( compare this to maruti service when i gave 1/5 in the feed back form for rattles, the dealership guy stood two days in front of my office to take my esteem to rectify the fault).

my blood boils when i visit them. They show no concern at all. And why should they, i didnot bought it on loan from them, i did not get it iced from them,it was my bad luck i went there and they coaxed me into central locking which other dealer was not offering.

last week i asked for all the documents which i had submitted for exchange bonus and they dont have my file.

i wrote on this forum as i know there are quite a few learned person i thought will guide me out of this but unfortunately that also didnot happen.

its not matter of mere 10,000 rupees.its the trust , genuinity , loyalty of the company towards its consumers which reflects in these actions and that is hurting. i have lost all hope and have stopped following up.

[.anshuman]

OT but Ive had bad experiences with charisma hyundai chandigarh, a funny instance when i gave my elantra for service they offered me a free service(just labour=1200bucks)if i made someone buy a hyundai car from their dealership.

[arun_josie]

One of my Uncles (60 years old) owned a Hyundai Santro for 2,15,000 Kms. When he decided to replace his Santro, he decided to stick with Hyundai because he was very happy with the reliability and comfort level of this car. Also, he was happy with the Hyundai services during this ownership of 2,15,000 Kms.

As an exchange bonus, he was informed about a discount of Rs. 20,000 during the initial negotiations. Based on this negotiation, he went ahead and booked his new car @ Derik Hyundai, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu.

Now during the final payment, he was informed that since this exchange bonus is paid out by Hyundai, it will be refunded within 3 months from date of delivery. Being a loyal customer and due to the trust he had on Hyundai over the past years, he didn't have any second thoughts to this condition. He paid the full amount and agreed to get the refund in 3 months time.

• After 3 months, once in a while he was following up with the dealer for this 20K. However the dealer was delaying the refund by giving various reasons.

• At around 6 months time from the delivery date, he was told that there was some issue with the documentation of his new car and hence the delay. So, they had resend the correct details again to Hyundai for the 20K refund.

• Again the follow-ups started but with no signs of the discount amount coming his way.

Sometime during this Feb/March, 2015 (after more than a year from the purchase date), he discussed with me regarding this issue. As he isn't internet-savvy(doesn't have email/Facebook accounts), on behalf of him, I sent an email to Hyundai. I received a standard response saying, someone from dealer side or the area in-charge will get back to me in 3 days, but that didn't happen. After 2-3 follow-ups and a call to the customer care. I got the below shocking response from the dealer,

Dear Sir,

Good Afternoon.

We regret the inconvenience caused to you.

This is with reference to your mail regarding Exchange Bonus, we have
enclosed the non availing confirmation letter received from you.

So, we are very sorry to inform you that we are not in a position to
accede your request.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours Faithfully
Latha
GM, Derik Hyundai

As per this letter, my uncle has agreed not to avail the Exchange bonus. But, who in this day and age will say NO to a discount of 20K INR?! Probably they took his signature on this document during the delivery time by diverting his attention.

Also, my uncle confirmed that he has not received any benefits during this purchase.

How the dealer tricked to get the signature?

• If you note the header of the letter, it says "Annexure 4: Not Availing Confirmation Letter". Very vague and ambiguous.

• So, may be based on the vague and ambiguous header, the sales executive could have diverted my uncle's attention by explaining something else and prompting him to sign the letter. This could have happened during the delivery time.

In the one and a half year that my Uncle has been following up with the Hyundai dealer, this letter never came up as an issue. The letter was brought up only after I sent an email to Hyundai Customer Care and after my uncle went to the dealer and threatened to take them to the Consumer Court.

After receiving this response from the dealer, we tried to contact Hyundai again but as usual we received the standard email and when called they informed that we will have to work with dealer on this and they can't do anything.

And the dealer says that the sales executive who was involved during this transaction has moved out and they can't do any thing.

Now, my Uncle (a senior citizen) is being made to run from pillar to post for this exchange bonus of 20K rupees, all because he trusted the brand enough to stick to them. Being the No2: Manufacturer, why would they stoop to this level to get in to this kind of scam?

Now, is this a one-off issue on Hyundai exchange bonus?

Not exactly, Our team-bhp itself is having two threads on this issue with Hyundai,

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...s-hyundai.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...nus-trick.html

I did a quick google search and I was able to see several customers who have faced this issue,

http://www.grahakseva.com/complaints...hyundai-dealer
http://www.consumercomplaints.in/com...i-c165694.html
http://www.consumercomplaints.in/com...i-c332328.html
http://www.grahakseva.com/complaints...f-hyundai-cars

Lessons learned from this incident:

• Make sure you are reading each and every document you are signing when buying a car.

• Don't blindly believe any dealers/manufacturers even if you are a loyal customer to them or if they are known to you already during your earlier experience.

• Ask questions if any deal sounds too good to be true or sounds fishy. Also, get a email or paper confirmation from them.

• Get the discounts deducted from the total amount and then do the payment. Most the manufacturers/dealers does this.

• Be extra cautious while dealing with Hyundai as they have a history of scamming on Exchange bonus.

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Dealerships section. Thanks for sharing!

[hserus]

Very common scam - higher margins and higher commission for the dealer. Your uncle learned a valuable lesson not to sign any papers without reading through them.

He can probably take the dealer to consumer court but settlement is doubtful - if you sign a document w/o reading it, you are still responsible for whatever you have put your signature to. Note - at least one person has had success taking them to consumer court. http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandi...1-1169649.aspx so you may want to consult a lawyer.

Of course, just posting here on tbhp (maybe also on fb / twitter) will make others avoid that particular scam being practiced on them, and/or step away from any dealer that tries it.

[sourabhzen]

That is very interesting bit of information for new car buyers. Even petty real estate agents might not stoop so low. The existing of such letter itself is proof of dubious intentions of the company.
Having said that, one must not sign a letter without reading it even if you are just taking a normal pre-paid phone connection.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by hserus

He can probably take the dealer to consumer court but settlement is doubtful - if you sign a document w/o reading it, you are still responsible for whatever you have put your signature to. Note - at least one person has had success taking them to consumer court. http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandi...1-1169649.aspx so you may want to consult a lawyer.

Yes, he has discussed this with lawyers and is planning to file a case in consumer court. They have already send a notice to this dealer. Thanks for sharing that successful case.

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

That is very interesting bit of information for new car buyers. Even petty real estate agents might not stoop so low. The existing of such letter itself is proof of dubious intentions of the company.
Having said that, one must not sign a letter without reading it even if you are just taking a normal pre-paid phone connection.

Surprising part is, Hyundai itself is supporting this scam by not responding to the complaint and asking the customer to deal with the dealer.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by hserus

Very common scam - higher margins and higher commission for the dealer. Your uncle learned a valuable lesson not to sign any papers without reading through them.

He can probably take the dealer to consumer court but settlement is doubtful - if you sign a document w/o reading it, you are still responsible for whatever you have put your signature to. Note - at least one person has had success taking them to consumer court. http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandi...1-1169649.aspx so you may want to consult a lawyer.

While it is important to read documents carefully before signing, this is a case of fraud. Obtaining someone's signatures by fraud is a punishable offence. As long as the customer is able to prove that there was fraud committed (perhaps by enclosing the correspondence wherein he has asked for the exchange bonus and the confirmation from the dealer regarding the delay in disbursing the same) I think that there is a definite case for fraud here.

Please consult a lawyer and file a case against the dealer.

[honeybee]

Hmmm. I guess for exchange bonus, we must insist that it is adjusted in the new car price itself, instead of being paid out in cash at a later date.

When I bought a Nano by exchanging my Santro of nine years, the dealer not only did that, but was also gracious enough to have told me a week ago that the exchange bonus had been doubled from 10k to 20k.

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

How the dealer tricked to get the signature?

• If you note the header of the letter, it says "Annexure 4: Not Availing Confirmation Letter". Very vague and ambiguous.

• So, may be based on the vague and ambiguous header, the sales executive could have diverted my uncle's attention by explaining something else and prompting him to sign the letter. This could have happened during the delivery time.

In the one and a half year that my Uncle has been following up with the Hyundai dealer, this letter never came up as an issue. The letter was brought up only after I sent an email to Hyundai Customer Care and after my uncle went to the dealer and threatened to take them to the Consumer Court.

"Not Availing Confirmation Letter"?? Gosh, it is unbelievable that a dealer will resort to such a shameful trick by taking advantage of a trusting customer. Equally appalling that the manufacturer does not take any notice of this. I feel so sorry that such a letter can be held against a buyer who had no idea what it was, especially if, like you say, he signed it in the euphoria of the delivery moment.

Have you seen what is the principal document to which the annexure relates? Perhaps, like Lavaz has commented, there may be correspondence that evidences intention to avail the discount.

Anyway, irrespective of whether you decide to pursue the matter in consumer forum, please do send a strong legal notice to the dealer expressing your intention to file both civil and criminal (cheating, fraud, breach of trust cases) against the dealer and the managers individually.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Please consult a lawyer and file a case against the dealer.

Yes, we have already consulted and a notice has been sent.

Originally Posted by honeybee

Hmmm. I guess for exchange bonus, we must insist that it is adjusted in the new car price itself, instead of being paid out in cash at a later date.

This is the best way to handle exchange bonus.

When I bought a Nano by exchanging my Santro of nine years, the dealer not only did that, but was also gracious enough to have told me a week ago that the exchange bonus had been doubled from 10k to 20k.

Originally Posted by Kumar R

Have you seen what is the principal document to which the annexure relates? Perhaps, like Lavaz has commented, there may be correspondence that evidences intention to avail the discount.

Anyway, irrespective of whether you decide to pursue the matter in consumer forum, please do send a strong legal notice to the dealer expressing your intention to file both civil and criminal (cheating, fraud, breach of trust cases) against the dealer and the managers individually.

I feel Hyundai encourages this practice and hence the dealers are having the guts to cheat the customers this way. There could be many cases where customer would have been fed up and dropped their claim.

I will check with my uncle regarding the principal document.

Legal notice has been already sent.