Arya Honda denies me a TD of New Accord V6 !! EDIT : Now Resolved So here's how it went.
Last weekend, I walked into the Arya Honda showroom at Prabhadevi in Mumbai and asked for a test drive of the Accord V6. I was told by the sales guy that the car isn't launched in Mumbai yet, and they have no info on pricing or specs whatsoever. He took my number and assured me that I would receive a call from him when the car arrived this week.
And so he did, promptly, which pleased me quite a bit. Called me up a couple of days back and said that the car is available for TD, I can go down to the showroom anytime for it. Since I was working during the week and had today i.e. Saturday off, I called up this chap and asked him whether the TD vehicle is available or not, to which he said he wasn't available at the showroom but I could walk in and take the TD anyway. I reached a couple of hours later, dressed quite "appropriately" (i.e. no torn jeans/shorts/chappal...but being sarcastic), travelling from Bandra to Prabhadevi just for the TD. When I got there, they asked me to wait for a bit as a customer had already arrived there before me and was just taking the car out. Meanwhile they took my licence for the TD form and returned it in a couple of minutes.
By then, the sales guy who had called me arrived at the showroom and was rather pleased to see me there. He disappeared into the office and after about ten minutes came up to me and asked for my business card. I replied saying that I don't have one, and the car will be for my father whose business card I don't have on my person (facts). I also told him rather clearly that he could have all the details he wanted. He mumbled "Sir actually we have been asked for the customers profile...mumble mumble..." and I replied saying I will speak to his manager if there is any problem, I don't see why there should be though. He nodded and disappeared back into his office, and emerged a few minutes later. After that he spent about 10-15 minutes - kept me waiting in the mean time, now I had waited almost half an hour in the showroom - with his colleagues from the sales team discussing something or the other (well I was about to find out what). He was probably trying to come up with a suitable excuse that I'd buy.
Following this, he walked up to me saying "Sir actually the TD will not be possible today, it's quite difficult as the car is not registered and it's caught by the cops on the road right now...."
(I had noticed the TD car was on red plates while it was leaving the showroom with the previous prospective customer...)
I realized what had happened and let a moment of silence go by. Then I turned to him and stated a couple of facts.
Fact 1 : I TD'd a BMW 320d last weekend and that was running on red plates as well, in this very same area where Arya Honda is located. The cops very well noticed, and didn't flag us off the road even with some aggressive driving.
Fact 2 : I also TD'd an Audi A4 last weekend where I was asked for a business card, and when I replied in the negative there, they politely smiled back and took my details instead.
After which I blasted him in a rather restrained manner. Restrained not in words, but in tone and loudness of voice. I asked him what the problem really was, whether it was the car or the fact that I wasn't carrying a business card and not deemed worthy of a TD of their flagship. Has Honda really become that big, bigger than Audi to deny a prospective customer a TD because of some bizarre criteria they deemed fit to apply to every customer who walks through the door? I made it clear to him that after traveling all the way from Bandra for this TD and being made to wait half an hour for this nonsense, he will most certainly get some bad press for himself and his dealership, and that he has lost a customer.
(All this while...he is completely clueless, slightly embarassed too I suspect, and speechless. Smart move, for if he had opened his mouth to refute anything I'd have drawn the attention of every single customer in the showroom to the incident...)
I said "I want to speak to your superior immediately..." after which, in a moment, I completely lost it and said something to the effect "You know what, never mind, you've lost a customer and I'm no longer interested in talking to you", handed over the V6 brochure and pricelist right back to him and stormed out of the showroom. That's how I ended it.
Honestly, I don't know how to react. Maybe a few years back I'd have bought his crap excuse like any average joe who walks into these showrooms and gets played around with by the sales team. But after reading incidents of TD denials on this forum and more recently sidindica's Porsche incident (sorry to bring that up again, I know it's resolved) I am completely amazed by the behaviour exhibited.
And I'm not just saying this cause I'm disillusioned by their behaviour today, but at 28.5 lakhs OTR Mumbai, they really can't afford to treat people like this if they want to sell any of that car at lofty prices, especially in the times of recession where car buyers are holding tight.
I honestly believe with full conviction, thanks to this forum, that car dealerships have no right to make preliminary assumptions of their customers' backgrounds and denying them TD's / behaving inappropriately with them on the basis of the same.
Wake up Honda, after the price hike if your dealers are going to flaunt this attitude, you're in for a rude shock.
If any of you guys honestly think what I've said here or how I handled the situation is wrong on my part, please feel free to say so, but I stand ground on my opinion that they may NOT continue with such practices if they know what's good for them. Since when has Honda become bigger than BMW/Audi anyway?
Your opinions please.
Last edited by FlyingSpur : 19th September 2010 at 02:59.
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