[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Ajit Mathew - you poor fellow, you actually typed out all the defect codes in your post! How many actually know that defect codes exist and what each one of them mean? Also, except for the reply that you got, what else did you expect? The concerned engineer must be having an office to attend to and a "Boss" to report to. Their internal conversation (if at all) would have gone like this.

Boss - what happened to that "Ajit customer"? (this language is normal).
Engineer - Sir, I have asked the dealer, Sir, he tells me that the part needs replacing.
Boss - Have you told the customer?
Engineer - Sir, I will send mail immediately.
Boss - Hmm, Hmm.

So dear Ajit, the company office becomes a postman and you become a statistic in a long line of others just like you because the "Boss" has to report to the "Big Boss" on the %age of customer complaints responded to and as far as the quality of response is concerned, it is the %age of "issues sorted out" in terms of red, yellow anf green that is evaluated and not necessarily the passion or the depth of understanding with which each issue is sorted out. Believe you me, I know all this. I have experienced it firsthand. I have also posted similar comments in the post started by Muneemm regarding his experience as a car sales person in a dealership. I think it is on page 4. You must read it.

Finally out of sheer frustration you will sell off the car which is also OK to them because somebody else will buy it and the cycle will start all over again.

Kisiko kuch farak nahin padta. At the end of the year some JDPower figures will be flaunted, some graphs will be shown. Guys will get promoted and they will jet around all over the country. That's all.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[SkyWalker]

@behram - i have to disagree. look at Skoda sales numbers over the last year and you will see that there are indeed things changing in the Indian buyers perception on this manufacturer. Too bad they aren't realizing it.

[Vid6639]

I e-mailed Toyota regarding the squeaky brakes and the rpm hold irritant in the Altis. I never told them that I planned on buying the car.

I got an e-mail from the customer support describing that the brake problem was fixed after a recall from the first batch. The jerks while upshifting were normal due to drive by wire. I replied back saying I was not satisfied with the response that it was due to the drive by wire. Next day I get a call from customer service who explains the technical details as much as he can. After an hour I get another e-mail confirming our telephone conversation and the details of the conversation.

I don't think I did anything special.

[NetfreakBombay]

I think Behram's reply was not specific to Skoda. Most Auto companies would have similar responses from customer care.

Things would be different you interact with a technical person, but you have to get though this maze first.

[anurag_p80]

Maybe these guys read only the subject line. This is absolutely callous on the part of Skoda A**, taking the easiest way out(replacement), while a more thorough diagnosis would have precluded the same AND gotten a big thumbs up from ajmat. Penny wise, pound foolish, I say.

[achopraa]

Originally Posted by vivekji05

What is wrong with these people? The only solution they know for any simple problem is replacement.

This reminds me of the good ol' days (which may still continue)when solution of any computer problem was "formatting of hard disk".

[iceman91]

LOL..it is a laugh riot sad but true!!
I have had numreous experiences with service engineers/ auto garages to right a book! One being I need ot change my radiator, this being confirmed by a mechanic,tuner etc etc and extensive tests done for 3-4 days then I walk out change the radiator cap and go home. Radiator Rs.5000 cap Rs. 300

[ACM]

Originally Posted by ajmat

My car is running absolutely fine, the mileage is fine.

My impression is that there is a reluctance to listen to customers and a lack of customer focus. The communication at the beginning of this thread was to inform you about what happened and how it got resolved so that customers need not be forced to replace parts and ensure more efficient diagnosis.

I live around gthe corner from your office so I invite you to drive my car anytime and let me know whether the throttle body needs to be replaced

Ajit

You could rename the thread - Skoda Jokes / Jokers Thread.

On a more serious note, I think the next email from your side should be addressed to the CEO / MD and should along with all the details of the case complain about the understanding/ comprehension levels of the guys who replied to you.

[GTO]

See Ajit, I always told you they don't understand us.

Originally Posted by vid6639

I got an e-mail from the customer support describing that the brake problem was fixed after a recall from the first batch. The jerks while upshifting were normal due to drive by wire. I replied back saying I was not satisfied with the response that it was due to the drive by wire. Next day I get a call from customer service who explains the technical details as much as he can. After an hour I get another e-mail confirming our telephone conversation and the details of the conversation.

Wow man. Toyota really sets the standards. Their after-sales gets amongst the best ratings, way ahead of the dudes from Honda & Skoda. I wouldn't be surprised if Toyotas customer loyalty exceeds that of its competitors.

[kapiljolly79]

Well, I can only say that the company is not interested in selling their cars but rather harressing their customers. Here is a link to my experience with Skoda. I am yet to collect my car. Yes, I am yet to collect my car and this is after telling them to service my car and replace the timing belt so that I can call it a day and forget that I ever owned a new car. I'll take the car and will learn from it to never ever buy a Skoda again.

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

[toiingg]

Ajit, next time you take your car to skoda ***, be careful. If you are running a little low on one of your tyre pressures, they might just ask you to replace the tyres!

[Jaggu]

I think Behram has given the most accurate observation.

You sent feedback email, which is questioned at dealer end. Dealer updates that needs replacement and customer did not agree.

The guys shoots the email back to you. He never understood the details you mentioned in the email nor the resolution you found for yourself

Same everywhere, everytime i approach a dealer for service, i land up explaining the error code and the ECU light functioning for swift d lol. For them as long as the light stays off when the engine is running, everything is fine.

[siddartha]

skodas are essentially VW cars, there are hundreds of thousands of VWs and skodas running all over the world, so what i think is that these guys are getting it wrong when it comes to "indianising" their products and services, esp in terms of training their so called techincal staff, service advisors etc.

for example , one sevice advisor at vinayaka cars blr, who i was generally talking to when my car was there for service, was previously in a maruti authorised service in small town in northern karnataka for abt a year and then he joined vinayaka cars, i dont think he has been trained at skoda , what ever he has learnt abt skodas is what he has learnt on the job.(so he and the mechanics might be just goin by"trial &error")

and with regards to the "mechanics", how many of them who work on your car are actually trained at skoda or where ever! are they trained for diagnosis or fault finding? or just to "remove and refix".


And when you send an email to skoda, they get back to you saying the service advisor from the authorised service center will get back to you at the earliest , who happens to be the same service advisor who you are dissatisfied with and why you sent the email in the first place!

so the point here is ,
the service advisors and mechanics dont know jack s**t abt what they are doin,
The authorised sevice center dont care a rat's a** abt who they are employing and
skoda continues to obsess abt quality!

and that finally leaves us , the customers, who continue to put up with all this crap coz we love our cars.

[travelwriter]

This is what happens when you outsource customer care. The level of automation is so high that the person sitting there starts behaving like a machine. They are always

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear all - now let me give you some more to mull over.

Dear Customer - YOUR CAR WILL BE REPAIRED BY THE DEALER. WE WILL TRAIN THE DEALER PEOPLE FOR WHICH WE WILL SPEND OUR BUDGET MAKING TRAINING HALLS AND MAKING SCHEDULES IN EXCEL FILES. WE WILL ALSO SPEND BUDGET IN HIRING TRAINING STAFF FROM OUTSIDE. THEY WILL THEN TRAIN WHOEVER THE DEALER SENDS TO US FOR TRAINING. IF AT ALL WE SEND MAILS TO CUSTOMERS, THEY WILL GO LIKE THIS - "WE ARE SURPRISED - BLAH BLAH, PLEASE TAKE YOUR CAR TO - BLAH BLAH, WE ARE SURE THEY WILL - BLAH BLAH, TO YOUR ENTIRE SATISFACTION - BLAH BLAH. CC DEALER - PLEASE - AND CONFIRM.

By the way, this reply was known as "SR1" (standard reply 1) in my past company. No wonder the company is no more.

You get the drift? I hope you got it. Please give your comments. And also please read my comments on page 4 of the thread started by Muneemm on his experience as a sales person at a dealership.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar