[setuniket]

Well after reading about Jagdish Khattar's muti-brand service centre in the Indian car scene section, I recently noticed banners in my area about Carnation's centre across the road in Sector-63, decided to check out the place and then get my car serviced.

I had already registered in the website CARNATION | A Jagdish Khattar Initiative, received a call from Sec-63 centre about car service and visited the place day before yesterday to check the place. The place and equipment was adequate and was almost satisfied with the charges, discussed in detail about the car and problems and finally decided to get the car serviced tommorrow.I wanted the car before lunch so the Customer Advisor suggested me to bring the car by 8:30 am.
The Job card was pepraed, I mentioned all the problems and was properly noted down by the CA, the car was lifted up to check the underbody and noticed that engine oil is leaking from the distributor case, the CA advised a simple gasket change and I asked them to do the needful, the front shocks also were almost in the last leg of their life so asked them to changed the shocks which was available in the store. Rear leaf and other gaskets were also mentioned and were available. All the brake shoes were in their last stage so also mentioned them to be replaced.

The mechanic was allotted, had a chat with him regarding the engine condition and all, to which he honestly replied. I was satisfied by the kind of treatment, because for me the car service is the primary concern which was begin taken care of. Although there was entry restricted sign in the service area no one stopped me from standing near my car and I did spend quite a lot of time near my car looking at the work being done.

While I was standing near my car, the mechanic working on Maruti 800 next to my car asked the floor Manager about whether to change a particular spare he replied “sab change karo, agar 1% bhi kuch kam dikhe change kar do saale ko” ”Jitna bill ho sake banao”(Change everything, even if its 1% fault still change it, prepare a bill as long as you can). I decided to stick to my car so that they don’t go ahead and randomly change parts. It seems the Floor manager was poached from Skoda A.S.S

The real drama began after lunch I asked them about the status of availability of ‘Distributor case gasket’ which wasn’t available in the store, below is the conversation.

Me: Is the gasket available now?
CA: Sir, it will be available in sometime sir
Me: Fine, by what time, I need the car by 3
CA: Half an hour sir, you will get the car by 3
Me: Okay

After this conversation, I went to the service area; the mechanic was setting up new set of brake shoes and adjusting the play. He asked me to test drive and check the brakes, the car felt tight in driving so I asked him about this he said “sir, new set of brake shoes will take some time to set”. After we are back in service bay I noticed white smoke from the rear left tyre, blasted on the CA and mechanic about the kind of job being done, the play was adjusted and but it was still running little jammed.
Almost everything was done only remained was the one simple gasket which wasn’t still available

Me: Where is the gasket, I asked you for this spare at 9 in the morning and its 4PM and you haven’t been able to procure a simple piece of gasket.
CA: Sir, I am getting it from our store in Sec-127 in 10 mins, the person is the on the way
Me: okay

I was amused on his reply as I knew about the company and that Sector-127 is merely their office in a business park…LOL never knew that they keep your spares in those huge glass offices.

The car was checked again trims adjusted, and was finally sent to wash at 6.30 and the simple gasket wasn’t still available!

Me: Where is the gasket???
CA: Sir, we couldn’t procure it, please give us some more time.
Me: How much more time, I have a very important work in Delhi, I need to leave asap
CA: Sir, we have sent your car for wash, and the gasket replacement will not take more than 10 mins
Me: What is the problem cant you procure a simple gasket, you have more the 10 authorized service centers in Noida??
CA: Sir, there lil problem here. The people there are having a meeting regarding spare problem. Pointing at a meeting going on in the other corner of the office.

I was very angry at this point of time, thought of blasting off at the senior people there, I remained calm just because I wanted to get the service completed asap and leave.
It was now 7 in the evening, it’s been more than 9 hrs since I asked them to change the gasket and still they haven’t been able to procure a simple 2 Rupee gasket!!

Finally at 7.30 the person lands up with the gasket and the work begins again and continues till 8.30 it’s been more than 11 hrs now. Made sure that the brake play problem was addressed to properly and left the car for final cleaning and polish job paid the bill and left the place by 9 in the night almost 12 hrs later.

The points which I observed:

-All the staff is poached from different service centers in NCR, they have the same problem as regular A.S.S.

-I had given a very stern warning in respect to grease monkeys as in Omni the engine is below the front and middle seat and I had got the seat covers dry cleaned last week. Thankfully that was taken care of.

-The whole setup is not sorted out and seems no different from a regular service center, same chaos same poor handling of car and same set of problems.

-I saw more crowds of CA’s and other executives than regular working staff and mechanics. It seems carnation is interested in developing army of CA’s and white collared executives rather than focusing on developing a strong bunch of highly skilled and trained mechanics and support staff.

-There is clear lack of communication in the setup, poor organization skills is clearly visible.

-They have surely lost focus before they have actually established themselves.

The important question is:-

#Am I going back for next service? NO I am not; I would rather look for a private garage.

#Will I recommend others to get their car serviced- NO, until they improve the service quality and ensure availability of spares (or can arrange critical spares 'in time')

#Are they any better than regular M.A.S.S? NO

Ratings:-
Service: ** 1/2
Spares availability: *
Customer Care: **
Overall: **1/2


All in all they had the potential to become successful but it seems they are not interested.
I have attached the final bill with this post for reference.Check the price of Gasket which took cool 12 hrs.

[Eddy]

Extremely disappointing.

I personally had high expectations from Carnation and this was not expected but will not make up my mind just yet. Let a few more experiences pour in.

[gowda79]

I guess this is one of a case which has gone wrong and with this we cannot come into a conclusion.

[Deeps]

Would have gone there for my 50K service if Setu's review was more positive.

@Setu: Get alignment done as the bushkit has been changed. Can recommend a good place in Sec 63 where I get it done.

[Sang]

Originally Posted by Deeps

. Can recommend a good place in Sec 63 where I get it done.

@Deeps
Can you please tell the name of the place with address and charges? I work in Sec-58 and get my baleno serviced at Manglam motors. Any good service station that you can recommend in the vicinity?

Thanks

[GTO]

Carnation better pull up their socks if they intend to carve a niche out for themselves! They are competing not only with authorised service centers, but also with the independents. The Indian car owner is an extremely discerning personality and unless he sees value in carnation, he will continue with authorised workshops when in warranty. And a good independent once the warranty expires.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by Sang

@Deeps
Can you please tell the name of the place with address and charges? I work in Sec-58 and get my baleno serviced at Manglam motors. Any good service station that you can recommend in the vicinity?

Thanks

I would strongly recommend Motorcraft Noida for Maruti. I get my SX 4 serviced from them . They do a good job. They have their service centres in Sec 8, Sec 63 and Sector 1.

[setuniket]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Extremely disappointing.

I personally had high expectations from Carnation and this was not expected but will not make up my mind just yet. Let a few more experiences pour in.

Yes and no, For a company like Carnation, First service is make or break, Despite the fact that I already met them the day before and they having the idea that an Omni is coming tomorrow I didnt find them ready for it . See every MASS is active to take care of cars(ideally), so if you want to be better, be proactive

Originally Posted by gowda79

I guess this is one of a case which has gone wrong and with this we cannot come into a conclusion.

I disagree, I just didnt land up one fine day to get an odd model serviced, I had registered with them 15 days ago mentioning my interest towards getting my car serviced, specifically mentioning the model and year and met them up a day before the 'actual' service and discussed the problems with the Customer Advisor and being assured that eveything will be taken care of.

Originally Posted by Deeps

Would have gone there for my 50K service if Setu's review was more positive.

@Setu: Get alignment done as the bushkit has been changed. Can recommend a good place in Sec 63 where I get it done.

I wish I could write a positive review, I wanted them to do good..

Yes I know about the alignment, buying new set of shoes for the car tomorrow, will also get balancing and alignment done. Anyways PM me the address, I need to get the alignment done regularly.

OTOH I would suggest you to go ahead and pay visit to these guys, talk to them about your car and see they might serve you in a better manner, you drive an Indica.
I saw loads of Maruti Suzuki's, a Qualis, two Indigo in the centre on that day.They claim to have done almost 9 engine jobs since last 3 months(yup they are 3 months old)

Originally Posted by GTO

Carnation better pull up their socks if they intend to carve a niche out for themselves! They are competing not only with authorised service centers, but also with the independents. The Indian car owner is an extremely discerning personality and unless he sees value in carnation, he will continue with authorised workshops when in warranty. And a good independent once the warranty expires.

Carnation guys are not touching warranty cars(CA told me this), they only handle out of warranty cars.

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

I would strongly recommend Motorcraft Noida for Maruti. I get my SX 4 serviced from them . They do a good job. They have their service centres in Sec 8, Sec 63 and Sector 1.

I had very bad experience at sec-8 centre, never ever went back to that place, and swear to never recommend this centre to anyone whom I know. Surprisingly all others have given very good ratings to this centre.

Before everyone decides to judge that it seems I am complaining about the every service centre I go, there is an exception, Vipul Motors, Noida served my car very very well.

Now I am wondering where to go 3 months later.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by setuniket

Yes and no, For a company like Carnation, First service is make or break, Despite the fact that I already met them the day before and they having the idea that an Omni is coming tomorrow I didnt find them ready for it . See every MASS is active to take care of cars(ideally), so if you want to be better, be proactive

Absolutely agree. As far as a first hand experience goes, first impression might be the last impression and they should have done better. Much better.

I was coming from the fact that I, not being an involved party, can afford to wait for some more second hand experiences before forming my opinion. Then I will decide whether to go there or not. And if I do, I would expect them to do it right the first time.

[setuniket]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I was coming from the fact that I, not being an involved party, can afford to wait for some more second hand experiences before forming my opinion. Then I will decide whether to go there or not. And if I do, I would expect them to do it right the first time.

In that case I would also like to see others go there and get their cars serviced and post their feedback here, if they improve or mine was one off case, I would be more than happy to go back to that centre to get my car serviced.

[breezydrive]

Originally Posted by setuniket

I saw loads of Maruti Suzuki's, a Qualis, two Indigo in the centre on that day.They claim to have done almost 9 engine jobs since last 3 months(yup they are 3 months old)

I think 'a Qualis' is there permanently to reveal the multibrand thingy.
They have specific SAs deputed for various brands. When I went there with a friend y'day, they called Mr. X (specialization in a particular brand)The person came & yup, I could recognize him ( last time he was working with another .... service station).He told us they have people well trained in all brands/ makes.

[Switch]

I think Motor Craft Sec 8 is best in the business. They are efficient,economical,punctual and most importantly not cheats. They have good equipment and trained staff.

I know quite a number of people who get their car done from Motor Craft and have heard all praises about them. I have been there in the past with friends and was impressed and now when it came to my car's first service i first visited Motor Craft Sec 63 but was not satisfied with the guys there and finally went to Motor Craft Sec 8. There was this particular brand of engine oil(Mobil Delvac) which i wanted in my car to which Sec 63 guys refused and told me that all the other Motor Craft Brances too using the same oil and they are all using Shell. Came back to my office and called Sec 8 Branch only to find out that Motor Craft Sec 8 is using Delvac "only".

[Deeps]

@ Setu, I'll give it a shot. Apart from the delay, how is the quality of work that they do? Do they wash the car properly too? i stopped going to TATA centres primarily because they always released my car not before 7pm even though I was among the first five to arrive in the mornings. But if the workmanship is fine then I';ll give it a shot. If its not much of a hassle for you then may be you can come along. Been a long time since we met anyway. PM me names of the people who you dealt with along with the exact address please.

As for the alignment place, these are the details for the benefit of other members too:

Sunny Motors
B-110, Sector 64, Noida

They charge me 100/- for alignment. 50/- per camber if adjustment is needed. 20/- per wheel for balancing. Can;t remember the rate for the weights. The above prices are for my Xeta. It would probably vary from car to car. They give guarantee for alignment for 2 months or 2000km whichever is earlier.

For the people going there, make sure that you personally test the car after the work is done before making payment. take one of the mechanics along. All working there are between 18-25 years of age. Choose a level road and be very demanding if there is even a hint of misalignment. They'll serve you better once they know how fussy you are. happened with me too the first time. Sometimes you may have to wait a bit as there is only one machine, limited workers and call-centre cabs come there too.


@Sang: take other Maruti owners' word for authorised service stations. A friend mentioned Motorcraft to be good in Noida. In delhi, Maruti Service Masters is recommended. As for independants, I am slo looking out for one in Noida. Will post here if I find a decent workshop.

[setuniket]

Originally Posted by Deeps

@ Setu, I'll give it a shot. Apart from the delay, how is the quality of work that they do? Do they wash the car properly too? i stopped going to TATA centres primarily because they always released my car not before 7pm even though I was among the first five to arrive in the mornings. But if the workmanship is fine then I';ll give it a shot. If its not much of a hassle for you then may be you can come along. Been a long time since we met anyway. PM me names of the people who you dealt with along with the exact address please.

The quality of work is nice, the mechanic is trained and has decent exprience, one thing I noticed was that you are generally allotted a particular mechanic who has already worked in the same A.S.S as of your car's company. Wash was nice and proper. If you land up early in the morning say 8-8.30 and there is no major work and IF they have the spares they will release the car before lunch(1-1.30) or else you have to wait till late in the evening. I will PM you the details and will call you up soon, please make sure you meet them before hand and tell them you requirements sepcifically, so that they prepare themselves

Originally Posted by Deeps

For the people going there, make sure that you personally test the car after the work is done before making payment. take one of the mechanics along. All working there are between 18-25 years of age. Choose a level road and be very demanding if there is even a hint of misalignment. They'll serve you better once they know how fussy you are. happened with me too the first time. Sometimes you may have to wait a bit as there is only one machine, limited workers and call-centre cabs come there too.

Whoa! thats scary, running behind them to align the car properly, I will stick to a tyre store Sec-16.

[ported_head]

For a multi brand workshop such as these, how do they manage the inventory of parts? How many parts could you possibly stock, for how many different cars? I guess they can only stock most popular parts of the most popular cars. And a few oddities. Must be a nightmare.

With small independent garages it's a lot easier, they can always extend a day citing unavailability of parts. But when customers avail the services of such a setup, I guess the expectation is to deliver on the same day, just like an authorised service center.