Unprofessional service by Magnum Honda, Bangalore

ImmortalZ · 23rd January 2010, 20:08

Heh. Join the club.

A couple months ago, I had to repaint the front bumper and replace the front left fender due to a minor accident. The bumper didn't need repainting, just some spit and polish as the incident happened at place where the fender meets the bumper. The fender had been hit in the same exact position a week after I bought the car, so I agreed with the replacement.

But they painted the front bumper as well. I had asked them to touch up a slight scratch on the rear bumper. But they repainted that too, squeezing it into the insurance. I was really happy with that gesture. The shocker came when I was waxing the car the next weekend.

The paint shades were wrong. This looked like a flat finish. The sparkles were missing. The clear coat was so bad that it looked like matte finish in several places. I was livid. I called up the dude and gave him a sound verbal thrashing.

Him and the entire service and bodyshop personnel resigned from Peninsular a few days later.

Two days back, I got my car back after the 20k service. They repainted the three panels without any issue. Guess what? It looks worse than before. Same mismatched shade. Same lack of finish. Now the new bodyshop dude says this is the best they can achieve and the paint they used for my redo job was mixed by someone from Honda itself. I pointed him to a rear quarter panel they painted which had perfect finish and perfect shade match.

He had no answer.

He still has no answer.

Oh yeah, I'm waiting for my engine mount too. The first one they ordered was given to some other car when the entire staff quit. The second one is backordered (Globally. I checked. Known issue, nearly every sold car requires replacement).

I'm near the end of my rope. I still haven't written to Honda SIEL because the person I'm interacting with is being very polite and accommodating. There is a new paint mixer dude coming to join the company. When the engine mount arrives, I'll let them paint the panels once again. If they mess up again, it'll be time to unleash the hounds.

mkc15 · 13th February 2010, 13:58

Finally, I received a new warranty booklet from Honda today. Took little more than a month to get it. Meanwhile I had sent 1 reminder to Honda/Magnum folks and had received a couple of calls from both Sales and service folks on this. Sales manager asked me to keep him informed during the next service and he would make sure it gets extra care, etc.

wildsdi5530 · 27th February 2010, 00:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by lachmankotak

HI,
I have a friend who owns a Honda City and this is what I heard from his driver.
==============
My friend knew some people at Honda and got their work done correctly, but
what about others.

How sure are you about this?? I had an issue with Capital Honda Chennai when I felt that they had exchanged my tires for an old set (tire noise after the service which was never there before). I ran from pillar to post but to no avail.

krish3 · 1st March 2010, 21:30

Its sad to hear Honda owners facing trouble with dealers. You pay 10+ lakhs and end up with the dealers messing up with the superb cars. Even with a 5.5 lakhs car, I get livid when something bad is done on it.

Doesn't Honda respond and take action against these dealers. Maybe an action like imposing a fine may go a long way in ensuring dealers give a fair deal to customers.

Seems like Toyota is the only manufacturer who's service is good.

ImmortalZ · 8th March 2010, 14:22

Here the Toyota dealership is just as average.

kutlee · 8th March 2010, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

When will Honda learn? Why can't they offer a dealership experience that matches the quality of their cars?

i think they spend time enjoying the quality of their cars!! thanks to the quality, after market workshops are good enough to rectify the smaller issues.
One of my friend's Civic was having a brake judder and the mechanic says that it is a factory fit problem and skimmed the disks. total cost < 1000rs. i don't know how much Honda would have charged and how many days lost.
i am tending to dis believe the "enjoy quality thing" now. not upto the old hondas. engines are still bulletproof though..

lachmankotak · 8th March 2010, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

How sure are you about this?? I had an issue with Capital Honda Chennai when I felt that they had exchanged my tires for an old set (tire noise after the service which was never there before). I ran from pillar to post but to no avail.

Oh, very sure. And this is not the only episode with this particular dealer of Honda. Also note that the stories that we hear like service station owners going off with a customer's car to run their personal errands too is quite true.

I have experienced this with my car too.

nitinbose · 15th March 2010, 20:33

Hi,

I had a test drive session from Magnum Honda. The sales person had come chewing pan with red-yellow and white colored teeth. He could not even speak properly because of the pan. The car (Honda City) was messed-up with severe rattling!

This clearly shows how much they respect customers - always looking out for easy hanging fruits.

Nitin.

raghu230506 · 15th March 2010, 21:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitinbose

Hi,

I had a test drive session from Magnum Honda. The sales person had come chewing pan with red-yellow and white colored teeth. He could not even speak properly because of the pan. The car (Honda City) was messed-up with severe rattling!

This clearly shows how much they respect customers - always looking out for easy hanging fruits.

Nitin.

Hi Nitin,

It's unfortunate that you got a wrong guy.

My case was handled by Srinivas and he was very helpful through out. Check with him in case you would give it a shot again at Magnum.

So far I didn't had a bad experience with Magnum.

Nikhilb2008 · 15th March 2010, 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by raghu230506

Hi Nitin,

It's unfortunate that you got a wrong guy.

My case was handled by Srinivas and he was very helpful through out. Check with him in case you would give it a shot again at Magnum.

So far I didn't had a bad experience with Magnum.

Even I dealt with Srinivas. Srinivas K B to be precise.

Pretty decent knowledge.

nandans2005 · 18th March 2010, 15:39

mkc,

i was infact very happy with magnum honda till i left my ANHC for 15k service.I left it in the first week of this month.

During the job card filling, i reminded the service advisor to check out the underbelly for the filling up the scrapes of the antirust coating and also check out all the minor scratches on the car. This guy promised very high quality of service and what not.

i visited in the evening to pick up the car. I took the service advisor by surprise and asked him to put the car up to check if they have done or filled up the scrapes of the coating. Yes, they had filled up the scrapes which was only one, but had the whole body of the car fully sprayed with the coating, i mean the silver paint of the car which are exposed to the bottom were fully sprayed with coating.

The bottom side of the bumper was fully coated. The washing was minimal in the bottom. It may not be out of place if i mentioned that the washing was not at all done to the bottom. The car was full of dirt.

I turned to talk to the service advisor & he is nowhere to be seen.I called him on his cell phone, he says he is busy with some other customer. I went to manager and showed him the job done. He got few guys to clean up the coating sprayed on the paint. It got cleaned but left little dullness on the paint. They also used diesel to clean the entire car's bottom.

Would you guys believe that i drove the car myself from inside the service floor without anybody asking who i was , and how i can drive the car. There was one security guy too at the door of the service floor. He didnt bother to ask me at all.

This the safety levels of our cars in service centers. When one can drive the car out of the service bay without being stopped by anybody, i think driving out of the service center should not be a major problem once you have the throttle under your feet.

The service advisor's name is Praveen. I would advise all the guys here to avoid this SA. I have sent a written complaint to the service manager.

i am thinking of an alternate service place to get the car serviced, can anybody advise please ?

mkc15 · 18th March 2010, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by nandans2005

i am thinking of an alternate service place to get the car serviced, can anybody advise please ?

mmm. sad thing. But I think, the other 2 dealers are no different in terms of service (on an average). What we can do at best, is to keep reporting such incidents to Honda without fail, and see if Honda does anything. Never leave the car during weekends/holiday; mid-week is best I guess, with less load. While leaving the car for service, have a word with Mr.Joseph, the manager, if it helps at all!

I wish I were a mechanic myself and have access to the tools and service my car myself

wildsdi5530 · 19th March 2010, 08:20

Kudos to that mkc. Remember the time spent with ambys and padminis. I used to do all the work myself. Only once I had to call a mechanic for overhauling the suspension as it was a 2 man job. In my NHC, I cant even clean the spark plugs.

nandans2005 · 3rd April 2010, 13:56

Mkc,

These honda dealers , i think like to give blows and scratches to the car. I visited Dakshin honda since the rear wheel was giving a noise.

The guys did rectify the issue, but the car came with a huge scratch on the door.

when asked, the guys simpy refused to accept. It was clear from the scratch that it was a fresh one though.

I just took the car since i had to rush to electronic city for a business meeting.

God should mend this guys for sure.

sushrutha · 6th April 2010, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by nandans2005

The guys did rectify the issue, but the car came with a huge scratch on the door.

when asked, the guys simpy refused to accept. It was clear from the scratch that it was a fresh one though.

I just took the car since i had to rush to electronic city for a business meeting.

God should mend this guys for sure.

You should have shown him the job card.
Usually job card will have any dents / scratch details of the car, before giving it to service.

23rd January 2010, 20:08	#16
ImmortalZ Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 2,179 Thanked: 488 Times View My Garage	Heh. Join the club. A couple months ago, I had to repaint the front bumper and replace the front left fender due to a minor accident. The bumper didn't need repainting, just some spit and polish as the incident happened at place where the fender meets the bumper. The fender had been hit in the same exact position a week after I bought the car, so I agreed with the replacement. But they painted the front bumper as well. I had asked them to touch up a slight scratch on the rear bumper. But they repainted that too, squeezing it into the insurance. I was really happy with that gesture. The shocker came when I was waxing the car the next weekend. The paint shades were wrong. This looked like a flat finish. The sparkles were missing. The clear coat was so bad that it looked like matte finish in several places. I was livid. I called up the dude and gave him a sound verbal thrashing. Him and the entire service and bodyshop personnel resigned from Peninsular a few days later. Two days back, I got my car back after the 20k service. They repainted the three panels without any issue. Guess what? It looks worse than before. Same mismatched shade. Same lack of finish. Now the new bodyshop dude says this is the best they can achieve and the paint they used for my redo job was mixed by someone from Honda itself. I pointed him to a rear quarter panel they painted which had perfect finish and perfect shade match. He had no answer. He still has no answer. Oh yeah, I'm waiting for my engine mount too. The first one they ordered was given to some other car when the entire staff quit. The second one is backordered (Globally. I checked. Known issue, nearly every sold car requires replacement). I'm near the end of my rope. I still haven't written to Honda SIEL because the person I'm interacting with is being very polite and accommodating. There is a new paint mixer dude coming to join the company. When the engine mount arrives, I'll let them paint the panels once again. If they mess up again, it'll be time to unleash the hounds.
	() Thanks

13th February 2010, 13:58	#17
mkc15 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 315 Thanked: 89 Times	Finally, I received a new warranty booklet from Honda today. Took little more than a month to get it. Meanwhile I had sent 1 reminder to Honda/Magnum folks and had received a couple of calls from both Sales and service folks on this. Sales manager asked me to keep him informed during the next service and he would make sure it gets extra care, etc.
	() Thanks

1st March 2010, 21:30	#19
krish3 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cochin/Bangalore Posts: 758 Thanked: 191 Times	Its sad to hear Honda owners facing trouble with dealers. You pay 10+ lakhs and end up with the dealers messing up with the superb cars. Even with a 5.5 lakhs car, I get livid when something bad is done on it. Doesn't Honda respond and take action against these dealers. Maybe an action like imposing a fine may go a long way in ensuring dealers give a fair deal to customers. Seems like Toyota is the only manufacturer who's service is good.
	() Thanks

8th March 2010, 14:22	#20
ImmortalZ Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 2,179 Thanked: 488 Times View My Garage	Here the Toyota dealership is just as average.
	() Thanks

15th March 2010, 20:33	#23
nitinbose Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Goa Posts: 1,011 Thanked: 718 Times	Magnum Honda - Presales and Test Drive Hi, I had a test drive session from Magnum Honda. The sales person had come chewing pan with red-yellow and white colored teeth. He could not even speak properly because of the pan. The car (Honda City) was messed-up with severe rattling! This clearly shows how much they respect customers - always looking out for easy hanging fruits. Nitin.
	() Thanks

18th March 2010, 15:39	#26
nandans2005 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore. Posts: 640 Thanked: 42 Times	mkc, i was infact very happy with magnum honda till i left my ANHC for 15k service.I left it in the first week of this month. During the job card filling, i reminded the service advisor to check out the underbelly for the filling up the scrapes of the antirust coating and also check out all the minor scratches on the car. This guy promised very high quality of service and what not. i visited in the evening to pick up the car. I took the service advisor by surprise and asked him to put the car up to check if they have done or filled up the scrapes of the coating. Yes, they had filled up the scrapes which was only one, but had the whole body of the car fully sprayed with the coating, i mean the silver paint of the car which are exposed to the bottom were fully sprayed with coating. The bottom side of the bumper was fully coated. The washing was minimal in the bottom. It may not be out of place if i mentioned that the washing was not at all done to the bottom. The car was full of dirt. I turned to talk to the service advisor & he is nowhere to be seen.I called him on his cell phone, he says he is busy with some other customer. I went to manager and showed him the job done. He got few guys to clean up the coating sprayed on the paint. It got cleaned but left little dullness on the paint. They also used diesel to clean the entire car's bottom. Would you guys believe that i drove the car myself from inside the service floor without anybody asking who i was , and how i can drive the car. There was one security guy too at the door of the service floor. He didnt bother to ask me at all. This the safety levels of our cars in service centers. When one can drive the car out of the service bay without being stopped by anybody, i think driving out of the service center should not be a major problem once you have the throttle under your feet. The service advisor's name is Praveen. I would advise all the guys here to avoid this SA. I have sent a written complaint to the service manager. i am thinking of an alternate service place to get the car serviced, can anybody advise please ? Last edited by nandans2005 : 18th March 2010 at 15:40.
	() Thanks

19th March 2010, 08:20	#28
wildsdi5530 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,434 Thanked: 2,046 Times	Kudos to that mkc. Remember the time spent with ambys and padminis. I used to do all the work myself. Only once I had to call a mechanic for overhauling the suspension as it was a 2 man job. In my NHC, I cant even clean the spark plugs.
	() Thanks

3rd April 2010, 13:56	#29
nandans2005 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore. Posts: 640 Thanked: 42 Times	Mkc, These honda dealers , i think like to give blows and scratches to the car. I visited Dakshin honda since the rear wheel was giving a noise. The guys did rectify the issue, but the car came with a huge scratch on the door. when asked, the guys simpy refused to accept. It was clear from the scratch that it was a fresh one though. I just took the car since i had to rush to electronic city for a business meeting. God should mend this guys for sure.
	() Thanks