Ritz ZXI - Bimal Bangalore Experience Hi All,
I am posting below my experience with the Maruti Ritz ZXI purchase. Rather than writing the whole story again, I would post the letter which I had sent to Bimal - Whitefield expressing my dissatisfaction and concerns.
Hope this would help other prospective buyers take better decisions in a new Maruti Car purchase....
The following is what I had penned on the feedback form they had provided: As you have asked for additional comments/suggestions, let me share my experience at Bimal associated with the Ritz Zxi purchase. Maybe you are able to address these issues, maybe not, but I believe as a customer I shall have the right to express my concerns. So here we go.... Although the sales person was very vocal about the PDI process performed before delivery, it was very unfortunate that I was handed over a car which did not have a working A/C. Surprisingly it seems that the A/C Gas was not filled before the vehicle was delivered to me and it was shocking to note that whoever did the PDI had not bothered to check it. I was made to understand that somewhere around 3-5 cars out of 300 which are received at Bimal come without A/C Gas filled. Given the fact that vehicles do come without A/C gas filled it should be a standard practice to ensure that this is completely checked before delivery. This naturally raises questions in my mind as to the level of quality you exercise on PDI. I mean how could you ever deliver a top end vehicle to a customer without something basic like the A/C gas being filled ???. Naturally I wonder if there are further surprises down the road in terms of the Airbags and ABS.....Maybe time will tell. During delivery process I wanted my car tyres to be filled with Nitrogen gas. This was not done to my satisfaction as the standard process which the staff followed was connecting the machine, deflate the tyre for 60 seconds or more and refill with Nitrogen. This process does not allow for tyre to be deflated completely, and you end up mixing air with Nitrogen, which defeats the key points of filling Nitrogen. This had to be redone after escalation. Surprisingly though Maruti recommends 29 PSI as the standard tyre pressure on all tyres, the staff in the workshop was filling 33 PSI for the front tyres and 29 PSI for the rear tyres. I would assume the manufacturer knows best on what should be the tyre pressure and would recommend figures on the basis of several factors, but apparently your workshop staff feels they know better!. Even more surprising is the fact that this was not the first instance this was being done, which means this is a standard practice for cars and I wonder how this has not been noticed by someone responsible like the manager. The day after I took delivery of the car I had returned for my number plates and while I was at Bimal requested for the steering grip to be redone as it was not fixed tightly. Though why it was not done right the first time is a separate discussion, I would like to highlight the fact that the vehicle upon return had a 3-4 inch blade lying on the driver seat. Fortunately I noticed the blade just as I was about to sit which probably saved me from a serious injury. I would rather not elaborate on the consequences, but would prefer to leave it to your imagination on what could possibly happen if you happen to sit on a razor sharp unprotected blade of 3-4 inches on a car seat. This is nothing but serious negligence on the part of your staff and I can only say - God help us all!. I stay somewhere close to the Mandovi outlet in Wheelers Road, and my decision to purchase my car at Bimal Whitefield was due to the reputation you had in the market and the reviews which I had read on several websites. It was with much expectation that I walked into Bimal and the whole purchase process was going smooth until the actual delivery without A/C. Maybe I am jinxed, but I would rather believe that there are several process gaps within your organization at different levels - delivery process, workshop, electrical section (A/c), accessories support etc.. Maybe, just maybe it is time you revisited the quality process to see if everything is functioning as it is supposed to be. You might have stickers and posters proclaiming on the quality standards, Kaizen, process improvements etc., but the ground reality seems to be different..at least to me. Remember, quality is not something you build and decide in board rooms, it should actually be practiced at ground level. God Bless!. P.S: I would also like to appreciate the fact that Hussain Basha was very supportive during these trying times and he took the right decisions in involving the customer care manager, accessories manager etc, giving me opportunity to raise my concerns to the right people. I would like to place on record that he is a great guy who understand customer pulse and that I have the highest regards for him among all I have met at Bimal. I wish him all the best!. I hope I am not expecting too much to think that you would indeed look to address these issues and save another customer from these harrowing experiences!.
I was made to understand by the Sales person that action has been taken against the people who were involved in these mishaps in terms of penalties. But I wonder why no one was interested to think of the customer who faced these issues?. I guess I am asking too much!. |