[sandeep.mishra]

In my view, you may take cues and inputs from Mr. Behram Dhabar who is an Ex PAL official. May PM him for help

[GTO]

Originally Posted by hollywoodhogan

the company itself does not exist anymore, so how can you make such a statement of "ethics"? Fiat India need not carry any accountability or liabilities of PAL.

Allow me to clarify:

1. Didn't Fiat choose PAL as its business partner? I was taught in Management 101 that you are responsible not only for your own actions, but also for that of the co-owner of your business.

2. WHAT brand were the customers paying for? A Fiat.

3. Sure, Fiat India doesn't have to pay the deposit back nor is it legally bound to.

Butttttttttttttttttttttttt what really separates the great companys from the regular ones is foresight : When someones deposit is not refunded, it creates a bad reputation. To the guy on the street, the responsibility lies as much with PAL as it does with Fiat.

Refunding all those Fiat Uno deposits will be chump change compared to the goodwill such an exercise will garner. Simply put, it could be the best marketing & PR exercise that Fiat ever undertook in India. Paying up when you didn't have a gun to your head = That's TRUST.

this is business, not charity.

There's another saying which goes "Penny wise, pound foolish".

[ajmat]

If I was Fiat, I would at least exchange the allotment letter for an equivalent credit on a new Fiat. It won't cost them too much!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ajmat

If I was Fiat, I would at least exchange the allotment letter for an equivalent credit on a new Fiat. It won't cost them too much!

Here's another valid suggestion . Such a move will help the customer's cause as much as it does Fiats (if not more). The Punto is too nice to suffer of old nightmares.

[prnvaa]

Hi,

I've managed to get in touch with the people at Fiat who can tell you the way forward with respect to the refund.

They are legally liable to give that refund so there is no question of ethics, goodwill, etc. Its just that you need to be persistent to get through to the right people. When Fiat re-entered India (after Uno which was under PAL), Fiat India bought over PAL, and this included buying all their liabilities (which includes booking money they've taken but not refunded). Of course you need to have the paperwork in order - you'll need to have the receipt of booking etc with you otherwise not sure how long or how possible refund will be.

PM me if you need details.

~Pranav

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by GTO

1. Didn't Fiat choose PAL as its business partner? I was taught in Management 101 that you are responsible not only for your own actions, but also for that of the co-owner of your business.

2. WHAT brand were the customers paying for? A Fiat.

3. Sure, Fiat India doesn't have to pay the deposit back nor is it legally bound to.

Butttttttttttttttttttttttt what really separates the great companys from the regular ones is foresight : When someones deposit is not refunded, it creates a bad reputation. To the guy on the street, the responsibility lies as much with PAL as it does with Fiat.

Refunding all those Fiat Uno deposits will be chump change compared to the goodwill such an exercise will garner. Simply put, it could be the best marketing & PR exercise that Fiat ever undertook in India. Paying up when you didn't have a gun to your head = That's TRUST.

some further rules in management and Administration.

1. After bankruptcy, the new company may or may not honour old Liabilities. Both PAL and Fiat India are present in business but the entity PAL-FIAT is dead. But, if the receipt says something else, there is still hope. A man cannot be asked to give back the money his divorced parents borrowed especially when he has been adopted by another parent.

2. How many years ago? 15. The company didn't go bankrupt right after taking the money. A personal responsibility comes into effect here. why was the money not claimed right away? 21K is no small amount considering that time frame.

3. Looking from the management's perspective, paying up is good when the company is making profits, otherwise its not business but charity in the situation mentioned.

It will be good even if they give a response to our fellow member's emails. But after 15 years, we should not expect Miracles (read intrest with principal).

But there goes an old religious saying 'ask and thou shall receive' or something like that.

[MileCruncher]

Having read through the entire thread and read various good comments, here are a few thing that I would like to state what an Automobile would do when faced with a request like that of Aditya's

1. Total quantum of such default over their last 15 years of business operation in India.
2. If it is a small amount compared to their TopLine (2-5%) then they may either decide to refund the amount to concerned by taking an undertaking or decide to convert that to special discount on the present gen cars.
3. If the amount is higher than the above % , there is a good chance that the presnt business entity might decide to wash its hand-off of this mess after doing a trade-off on Cost vs Benefit

Having said the above, I still think a qualified lawyer would be able to best summarise the options available to Aditya and people like him.

[pedrolourenco]

I would suggest that to go to a Fiat Dealer and check out the Punto or Linea. Then just tell the dealer that if he could help in some way to get the money back, you'll put it in as a booking amount for the new car. They may just pull a few strings and help you out. After all they want your business. No guarantee it will work, but you won't loose anything by trying.