[cnaganathan]

I had always found the Customer service at Concorde Motors, Chennai better than other dealers that I have dealt with in my 8 years of owning a car. Here is the latest episode.

14 Nov: Concorde Cust Service calls me and wanted to know if all was well with my car and if I would like to have one of their guys inspect my car free of charge at my doorstep. After some discussions it was agreed that inspection will take place on 17 Nov at 1.00 PM

17 Nov: Technician appears at my doorstep at 1.10 PM and proceeds to check the car for about 45 mins. Here is the bad part of this whole episode. My driver pointed out the squeal from the Engine when it is started and is promptly told that most engines do that. For the hard clutch, he is advised to complain about it during the second service (which needs my car to run for another 3k kms). This guy then leaves without providing an inspection report. There are a few other issues that he blissfully ignores. The same evening while driving back from office I notice that at times the rpm does not return to idle even after I take my foot off the pedal. Further the tacho reads almost close to 1k at idle.

18 Nov: Driver updates me on the happenings of the previous day. I called up this technician and ask him for a report and he says that the car is perfect. I lost my head and gave him a nice lecture. I then called my Service advisor which is when their usual good service showed up again. He apologised for whatever had happened and promised to get it addressed. Within minutes I got a call from the Customer service desk who wanted to know the details of my complaint. After lending me a patient ear, the executive promises to discuss with her manager and get back to me. half an hour later the Customer Service Mgr calls to confirm the details - he summarizes whatever I had told the executive earlier and takes my confirmation on the facts. He assures me action and this is waht we have agreed to:

1. on 22 Nov I will take the car for a second inspection at their workshop.
2. After this inspection concorde will let me know the issues that are there and the effort that will be required.
3. If the car has to be sent for a few days (for the clutch replacement) then they will make an alternate arrangement for the duration that the car will be with them.
4. Any defect in the clutch or engine will be replaced under warranty.
5. Engine performance will also be checked and corrections made if necessary (btw, I get only 10 kpl in city conditions with 100% AC).

Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that they will keep up their promise.

[hrag]

Yes, they are among the best for Tata vehicles.
Which one, Injambakkam or Ambattur?

[indivic]

After the service center at Velachery dealership was closed, the Ambattur centre seems to do much better than Injambakkam, prolly because they got the better lot of technicians. Even though I am in S.Madras I make it a point to go to that centre.

[cnaganathan]

It is Ambattur. I met them on Saturday. The CRO was very cordial. I went early to beat the rush. He had a senior mechanic do the Road Test and he confirmed that the Clutch was indeed hard and might need a thorough inspection + a possible replacement. That means she has to be in the workshop for 2-3 days. Trying to get an alternate arrangement done - kids and I are dependant on the car for our daily movement. Will send her to Concorde most likely next week.

[indivic]

I think the CRO's name is Mr.Shivshankar, correct ?

[hrag]

Mr. Shivashankar was my first SA when I went in for the first service (5000 km) of my Indica in 2003. This was at Concorde Guindy. He then became the head of Concorde Injambakkam and then was shifted to Ambattur. A gem of a person.

[indivic]

Originally Posted by hrag

Mr. Shivashankar was my first SA when I went in for the first service (5000 km) of my Indica in 2003. This was at Concorde Guindy. He then became the head of Concorde Injambakkam and then was shifted to Ambattur. A gem of a person.

Can't agree with you more, I had a problem with the FIP on my DLS, which was "fixed" twice by the Lucas engineers. Each time I was charged for it because the FIP had to be removed and sent out, even though Lucas did not charge for their service , but Concorde levied a labour charge for removing it and putting it back.

The car was still under extended warranty, and gave a piece of my mind to the service advisor, when Mr.Shivashankar intervened.I initially thought that he would only try to appease me at that time when he asked for a couple of days to check it.

He promised to look into the issue, and a couple of days later I got a call from him, confirming that the entire FIP was replaced under the extended warranty. All this was when the service was still in Guindy, 2 years ago I guess. That was the only time I met him , but even now he still remembers me and makes sure that I get prompt attention and always asks how the car is running !

[jraj]

Just back from my visit to Concore motors at Injambakkam.

Water had entered my car during the recent rains in Chennai as there were was knee deep water level in our apartment complex.

I didnt take my car anywhere from Nov26th until Dec 6th.

On 2nd morning with prayer in my lips went to check my car.There was ankle deep water inside the car.My heart sank.Removed all the water from the car and checked the engine bay.It looked dry as the car was parked on scorching sun for the previous 3 days.

On 6th morning,again came to the car and by now only the carpets were wet and no more water inside the car.

Started the car.It started at first crank.No warning lights.It idled as usual at around 800-900RPM.Engine note sounded the same.Switched on the AC and even the cooling was as usual.In all no difference prior to the rains.Took the car to Concorde service at ECR.

I was told the car will be ready by 11th as they will remove the carpet,clean it and dry it then.Y'day morning called the service center to check the status.

Was told that the car failed during self start.They told me there was some short in the wiring and this could have affected the ECU and hence ECU has been sent to Lucas for further check.

Called again today afternoon and was told that the ECU has come and they are fitting it.They told me to come around 5 as the car would be ready by then.

Started from my office and reached the service station by 5:30.As I entered inside my car was being reveresed into the parking bay.With huge relief,I went to my car and asked the mechanic if all work was completed.

He dropped a bomb stating that self start is not working and the starter motor has to be replaced.I was shocked.Car starts immediately when pushed.Found the CSA who handled me and asked him whats going on.

He told me the ECU had no problem and only now they detected that the starter motor was not working.I had no words and felt dumb.They had the car with them for almost 8 days and on the last day they found the starter motor had failed - I am being told that it is due to the rains.I just couldnt believe it.

It was fine when I started the car and the mechanic too confirmed that they had started the car and everything was fine.It was only on wednesday when they started the car to take it for a trial did it fail to start.Will the starter motor give away just like that without showing symptoms - Can the guru's please comment.

To make matters worse,they dont have the part.They have to order it and it might take a week and it costs 11k.

[cnaganathan]

jraj: It appears that most T.A.S.S have a very bad reputation for servicing Fiat cars and Concorde don't seem to be an exception either. However, when it comes to TATA cars, Concorde is definitely the best I have met so far. They are not perfect but are willing to listen and are quick to respond. You have an escalation mechanism that really works and the CRM and CRO are always easily accessible.

I sent my Indigo XL on 10 Dec 08 for all the complaints I had mentioned earlier in this thread. I was promised delivery on 12th and the vehicle was ready as promised on 12th. Due to my personal constraints, I took it on 13th instead. They had completed all but one and made a note of it on a pending jobs sheet - a copy of this went into their folder for my car and handed a copy to me. This I was told will help them keep track of the required spares and arrange it on time if I book my next service a week in advance.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by jraj

JTo make matters worse,they dont have the part.They have to order it and it might take a week and it costs 11k.

What car do you use and how many kms its covered? Does this covered under insurance (Flood insurance)?

[jraj]

My car is a Fiat Petra 1.6
I was told even if its covered in insurance,I will get only around 50% and also depreciation would be factored in.

But my doubt is,can the starter motor give away just like that without any prior warning?

-Jey

[spindoc]

There are many posts here about awful experiences with Concorde Motors. Nevertheless, since I wanted to check out the Punto, I went with a friend to their showroom in Chennai (Velachery) on Saturday.

As we entered the showroom, we noticed that a "Tata Nano Customer Meet" was being held with about 15 customers seated and a couple of staff (Concorde / Tata) wielding the microphone.

There were about 15 salespeople in one half of the showroom and the Punto / Linea / Indigo CS were on display in the other. The Manza / Nano were bang in the centre.

Luckily for us, there were a couple of sales execs loitering around and one of them noticed us entering and came over. We told him we were interested in the Punto. He waved to a saleswoman who asked us "Petrol or Diesel?". We said we'd like to look at and TD both. She asked us to take a look at the display car, handed over the price list and promised to be back. We checked the levers, handles and tried bouncing around in the seats. All fine, but no signs of the lady.

In the meantime, a couple of customers came in, checked the Linea / Indigo and went away, without having to deal with the salespeople(!). After 20+ minutes of waiting, another executive, who was probably bored with seeing the Nano-wallahs, ventured into our half of the showroom. After a not-so-mild reminder that we were waiting to hear from the saleswoman, he said he'd send her and vanished.

We figured if they weren't interested in selling, there wasn't much we could do and hence, walked toward the door. Unfortunately for us, an executive asked us at the door if he could help. We narrated the events and said we were waiting for a TD. He managed to get the attention of the saleswoman who told us - "The drivers have left for the day. Please come tomorrow (Sunday) for the TD". We asked her if the showroom was open on Sunday and asked for a time and she said "Yes, we work on Sundays, Sir. Please come at any time after 10 AM."


So, we reach Concorde the next day at 3 PM. The scene - 4 salesguys in the showroom, all watching some tamil movie on the LCD TV. No one notices us entering the showroom this time. My friend calls out to them and one of them comes over. We tell him we are here for the TD.

He says "Sorry sir. No TD today. Both cars have gone to another branch.". We are shocked and tell him we had come the previous day and had been asked to come for a TD today.

He says "Sir, can you tell me who had asked you to come today?". I tell him the name of the saleswoman and he says "Oh. Must be a mistake. Sorry sir. Please leave your phone number and we will call you and send a demo car right to your home / office". Although I have no faith or interest in Concorde by now, I leave behind my phone number.

And, to top it all, as we drive out of the showroom, we find a red punto MJD parked on the road, with the big "DEMO CAR" stickers all over it, hardly 20m from the showroom gate! That settles it - indifference, absolute disregard for customer's time and damn lies to top it all!

Needless to say, they haven't called me yet. I guess they are simply TOO BUSY FOR CUSTOMERS! Which makes me wonder, what are they busy with? If they are busy processing orders, how'd they get those orders in the first place? They certainly didn't attend to us or to any other prospect who came into the showroom while we were there!

I guess it is pretty obvious why Fiats aren't selling in even moderate numbers, despite having some truly well-engineered cars. I was genuinely interested in the Punto and went there hoping to TD and if things went well, book it by April 30 (saw some "special" offers). I went to the showroom twice (40+ KM in all) and all I got was apathy and apologies.


This is in complete contrast to the experience we had in the Ford (MPL - Velachery), Maruti (Indus - Royapettah) and Hyundai (V3 - Thiruvanmiyur) showrooms. We were welcomed and promptly attended to everywhere.

Tata should definitely (and urgently) professionalise Concorde's salesforce and teach them the value of every single prospect that walks into their showrooms. The company owned showrooms should ideally serve as a benchmark for other dealerships. Concorde seems to be getting it all very wrong.

[Captain Slow]

Similar experience here with concorde motors Bangalore!!
Tata motors doesn't care period.

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

I guess its run by a buch of people who don't care about customers. Ford is much much better but still lagging behind maruti suzuki or Toyota!

[bnzjon]

Spindoc, you are right. These unprofessional (untrained ?) sales guys spoil the reputation of the brand and the product.

FIAT has 2 beauties in hand and unless these so called sales guys show some commitment, i am sure FIAT will struggle to survive in the Indian market.

I purchased my Linea from the Velachery showroom.

Prior to booking the car, i have faced the same situation more than 4 times with the ambattur showroom of Concorde. Everytime i went there for a test drive, i was told that the car is with the Velachery showroom, no petrol car available, no sales guy to accompany you for the TD etc.

Every time i had given them my contact no but none contacted me. This was during 2009 february which was hardly one month after Linea was launched !

Finally, i went to the Velachery showroom and booked the car. The sales guy (Karthik) was very helpful and infact he was a thorough professional.

I dint see the same commitment from this guy when i referred him couple of my friends who were hardcore FIAT fans. Despite repeated reminders and calls, no TD was offered to them.

Finally my friends went for Honda City and SX4 just because of the indifferent attitude of the sales guys.

[Amartya]

That is really shoddy service. I completely empathize with you and had I been in your place, I too would have struck off the car from my list.

However, as a person who has recommended the Punto to someone very close to me (my girlfriend and you would know that such a recommendation is dangerous unless one knows a lot about the product itself), I can share my dealership experience with you, and then ask you to reconsider your decision.

First of all, most dealerships do not offer test-drives on Sunday. Usually their test-vehicle drivers have a holiday on that day. The test-vehicle, however, is still kept outside the dealership. I say this from my own experience at two different Tata-Fiat dealerships, as well as a Hyundai dealership (went to try the i20). I too had gone on a Sunday, and had been turned back with a promise of a test-drive at my doorstep.

Where my experience differs from yours, is that the test-drive actually happened at my doorstep, that too within a couple of days. First there was a telephone call, where in the appointment was fixed. The cars (both the Punto and the i20, on different days though) were there on time. The caveat being, I had been to 2 Tata-Fiat dealerships on that day and only one of them got back to me.

You wouldn't be surprised if I said that the smaller dealership got back to me. Contrary to your experience, my sales person kept his word at most junctures.
So, do you have another dealership in your city? If yes, give them a try. Why am I trying to advocate and recommend the Punto, in spite of your bad experience? Well, purely because the product is among the best available in the market, and you have to try it out (on a test-drive) before you buy any car. Not many of us are lucky enough to think about buying cars every odd years, and it's the second most important purchase for an Indian household after a house, so it makes sense to give one of the better products in the market another chance.

P.S. Here's another thing, the Punto's spare parts are very competitively priced, I have the parts list if you want to take a look, PM me your e-mail.

P.P.S. I do not work for Tata-Fiat (not now, neither in the past), and I speak only through my experience of driving the Punto extensively.