[para_7k]

Hi All,

Sorry about not updating this thread. I wrote a mail to the HMP CR manager about this issue and he insisted me to bring the car.

I decided to give them one last chance and took my car. This time, a Senior technician (not an SA) accompanied me for a test drive. I had met him before and he was the only person who accepted my gearbox problem back in November 2009.

We went for a 15 km test drive and he clearly understood the problem with the clutch and also the rattles.

I left my car on Thursday morning and got it back on Saturday Morning. The Clutch plate (or disc as they call it) was replaced. They did not charge me anything.

The SA, CR Manager and the Technician were waving me good bye together from the time I stepped in to my car and drove away. Somehow, I did not like this. They probably read this thread.

The clutch is now as good as it can be. The rattles were gone for a few days but they are back now. I'm as of now going to live with them for some time.

@aargee, This time, the problem was clearly with the SA. I did find a technician who attended me very well. I even took his phone number so that I could call him for problems. But it required escalations. You cannot meet him at your first attempt.

Hari, Good to see that your experience was satisfactory. You got a proper SA and that has helped.

I will try out Kun Hyundai on the ECR next time as suggested by Pras.Oct25 and ph03n!x.

There are also two new Hyundai outlets on the OMR. Express Hyundai in Sholinganallur and V3 Hyundai near Perungudi. Have to check how good they are.

[RSR]

Hi folks!

Let me warn all Hyundai users in Chennai about the bad booking system/employee carelessness at Hyundai Motor Plaza (owned and operated by HMIL), Chennai, so you would not have the bad experience that I did today.

Our i10 (TN 02 AJ 3492) was due for a routine service/oil change, having completed just over 3 years and 25k km of faithful service with us. Having heard good things about the company owned outlet, I wanted to get the car serviced at HMP Guindy for the first time. Of course, I learnt the hard way that I should have stayed with DSC Saligramam.

I tried booking through Hyundai's new customer care website and it would not allow me to register as it throws up errors. So I looked up the number of HMP Guindy from the HMIL website and called them. The lady who answered said the she could not forward the call to the service department due to some issue, but instead would have some one call me immediately. Sure enough, within 5 minutes I got a call from another lady (I forgot her name) in the service centre who accepted my booking for Thursday morning ~ 9:30 a.m. after noting down the car number, my number etc. She did not give me any confirmation number/booking number and I didn't ask for one either, as DSC always accepted service bookings without providing any number. All this happened on Monday afternoon and Thursday was the earliest when I could get a slot. I was satisfied thus far.

Today morning, I drove down to HMP Guindy which is a good 9 km away from my place. The uniformed attendant asked me whether I had made a booking as he could not find it in his list. I said I did so on Monday. He asked me to check with the receptionist's computer.

The lady at the reception could not find the car number either in her list (same as the attendant's) or on her networked computer. I was surprised and told her how I had booked with her colleague on Monday. She kept asking me for the booking number. How could I provide a booking number when I was never given one in the first place? This was frustrating. Then she said there was a possibility that the booking could have been done at their Alandur branch. I told her I had no idea as it was someone from HMP who called me. As luck would have it, the call record on my mobile was removed/overwritten by later calls (it was Monday when I booked and Thursday now). She called up the Alandur branch. Same story - no trace of a booking there either.

To add to my frustration, she kept insisting that I would have been given a booking number. This was testing my patience. Was she suggesting that it was my fault that the lady on Monday did not provide me with a number? How on Earth could I possibly know to demand a booking number from them when this was the first time I'm coming here and the other service centre (and the ones of other brands, in my experience) never needed a number, but only a call to book the service.

Was it my mistake that either their system bungled up the booking or the person who called on Monday failed to register it? Were they making a fool of me by making me waste my time (I had to reschedule other things), effort and money (a drive of 18 km in total) and go to them to get bluntly turned down in this manner?

The lady couldn't care less. They wouldn't take a car without booking was her standard line. Fine, but the fact remains that I made the booking on Monday!

I was losing my cool and didn't want to create a scene there or get into a verbal fight with the lady. I left the place in a huff telling her I made a huge mistake in not going to DSC this time as well. She couldn't care less about it either. It was as if they were doing me a huge favour by servicing the car and were happy to see me leave like that.

It's good that HMP manage their service slots only by previous booking to avoid overcrowding. But why can they just not do it properly? What could one do in my situation where either the system or the lady who called on Monday goofed up big time and one gets unceremoniously turned out for no fault of one's own?

Shame on you for treating a customer in this way, HMP Guindy!

I hope other Hyundai users in Chennai learn from my unpleasant experience with the so-called company-owned outlet and demand a booking number from HMP, so that you also do not end up getting treated badly as I was

Note: I'm not complaining about the quality of car service provided by HMP as I've never got the car serviced there. I'm only narrating the frustration I suffered today because of either their booking system or the carelessness of an employee.

P.S.: I'm sorry for boring you all with this, but I had to put this down somewhere. Thank you for reading!

[vinair]

Happened with me too buddy. Not the online booking though. I called up and fixed an appointment over phone with Advaith Hyundai, and when I drive up to the service bay, I find my name totally missing from the service schedule board they have there. Though I was pretty early and was the first customer, I didn't kick up any scene and continued with the service process.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by RSR

Hi folks!

Let me warn all Hyundai users in Chennai about the bad booking system/employee carelessness at Hyundai Motor Plaza (owned and operated by HMIL), Chennai, so you would not have the bad experience that I did today.

Originally Posted by vinair

I was pretty early and was the first customer, I didn't kick up any scene and continued with the service process.

HMP Chennai is one of the most friendliest in service, so this demand. Demand automatically gives rise to "over-confidence" and "ego" so these mistakes are prone to happen.

I have a habit of recording the calls on my android, so that if someone denies the conversation, I can playback and prove the same. Madam - you told me i can come. Sorry sir, i did not say so. <play the recording> The look on the face would be priceless.

I agree to vinair - Early bird gets the worm. They always have 4 slots vacant for servicing minister, police vehicles etc so if there are such things, you might sneak in your vehicle.

[Tamarind]

I recently found that my Santro GLS is leaking radiator coolant drop by drop after mid-long drives. Luckily the day I found this and opened the bonnet to check the level of radiator coolant it was at the bottom most level

So immediately called up the HMPL where I purchased my car 5 years back and they ran few diagnostics with me over the phone and informed me that it should not be a major problem and asked me to fill water in the coolant box and drive it to the service station (HMPL) next day morning
I did the same, and upon reaching HMPL, Ekkaduthangal a technician was assigned to my car and he informed that the radiator’s “bottom flange” has corroded and has a leak and it safe to replace it along with the connecting hose as well since it has gave away its grip !

I asked him how much it will cost and he said the figures would be around 3 - 4K for the spare alone (And he approximated maximum 4 hours of labor whose cost is added on top of the spare cost)
I was shocked and was not ready to believe what he said about the bottom flange (For all you know my car is very intimate to me and I maintain it so carefully. It has a closed shelter to sleep, once a week takes an exterior bath and once a month an interior wipe, meet’s service dues on time, always consume genuine spares, and even earns a pat on it’s a pillars by HMPL service advisers for its top form)

I asked him to put it in a ramp and show it to me the cause of the leak and I was appalled to see that the spare has corroded! I would be OK if it has gone lose from its factory fitment or something but corroded for such properly maintained vehicle







Intrigued by its sight and then its size I asked him why does it cost 4K and the answer given was yet another blow. He said because the bottom flange is not supplied separately and always it comes as a set. Since I argued with him, he took me to the inventory area and the supplier there corroborated with the words of the technician. But when I spoke to their manager I got to know that the flange is presently available only as a set and if I need bottom flange alone then it has to be ordered and the shipment takes minimum 4 working days (This is the time when I asked myself the question whether am in Chennai or in some forest reserve like Bandipur ! )

I agreed to wait for the spare (otherwise I had to face a cost difference of 3K), however I wanted to drive my car back to home as I was not comfortable leaving my vehicle in their yard for 5 days (because of the history where for another such repair where I left my vehicle for 5 days and they broke my rear bumper and argued that it was already like that. And I had to take a firm stance that I will not take my vehicle without replacement after which it was done for free of cost)

But they informed me that only if I leave the vehicle they will place the order for the parts. I hesitated highlighting the previous bad experience I had with them on leaving the car for such periods of time, but the service adviser assured me he will personally take care of it

So I left the vehicle and waited for the service adviser's call. After 4 days I received the call and when I went for pickup praying that there shouldn’t be any other damages, my o my was did they keep up their reputation !
The left side front fender has a big arc shaped scratch (deep one to a level which I understood that it would require body shop works) which has been made by some rusty tool (residue was visible on the scratch. Right side rear wheel arch has multiple vertical scratches (not that deep though)

As soon as I asked him about it, he called up some guy who came with the 3M rubbing paint and started to buff.



But still the scratch is visible



I conveyed my dissatisfaction for which the service adviser took personal responsibility and made a note on his service sheet assuring that he will do something about it next time and cannot help this time and said “Sorry”. With wound on my heart and convincing myself that the scratch is visible only looked closely, I left the place. And after approximately a month, yesterday I notice another bummer at the interior of the driver side door.



It was my mistake to have not checked the inside of my car when I took it from them. And I am sure that if I call and inform them now they are going to put the blame on me. So here I am informing my personal experience @HMPL, Ekkaduthangal, Chennai - conveying to as much people as I can to stay away from these people.

When you drop by for one problem they fix that and as bonus give you another problem to worry about for free !

Questions that cling on to my mind even now

1. What are the measures available for novice vehicle owners like me against such practices by the service center owners on such occurrences?
2. Why did they first give me an estimate for replacing the entire unit when they can replace the individual part?
3. How can a Hyundai genuine spare which is positioned in the mid of the car, corrode like that in just 5 years of such good maintenance?

[harikrishna.te]

It has been quite some time since the last post on this thread. Plenty of time for HMP to improve itself.
Before I booked my 2018 Elite i20, I went through many dealer reviews and almost all of them (even some on this forum) recommended Hyundai Motor Plaza.

This review is divided into two parts - sales and service.

Sales Experience

I went to HMP Ekkatuthangal on 26 March 2018 for a test drive and I was assigned a sales trainee (it said so on his card) who goes by the name of Sankaranarayanan.

They say first impressions are crucial. If that's true, then he hit it out of the park!
This guy was extremely polite, soft-spoken, had a genuine smile on his face and seemed to be in the know of things. He took me and my wife for a test drive and explained everything. I was impressed.

When I started to haggle over the price, he said that it was a new model and discounts were hard to come by. I insisted, using my 'logic' of end-of-year business, first-time buyer etc. He relented and offered Rs. 20000 discount, in addition to the standard accessories - car cover, mats, seat covers and under-body paint.

He delivered it on April 5, exactly on time and the delivery experience was also great.

Rating: 10/10.

Service Experience


If there is ever a case for a dealership with multiple personality disorder, it is this. They called me a month before the first check-up service was due. I booked an appointment with them a week in advance and went at 8.30 AM on the designated day.

The car was taken in and a service advisor (Mr. Sathish Kumar) accompanied me to the car. I told him about issues with reverse gear engagement and noise. He told me to first shift to first gear and then immediately shift to reverse. A weird solution, but it seems to work.

However, he didn't seem to be able to explain with conviction on why it happens. He said it was an issue with 'synchronizing'. Trucks and buses have syncromesh gearboxes and these issues don't occur frequently for them either.

Moving on, I asked him about the possibility of fixing glove box and luggage room lamps in my Asta version car (they are available only in Asta (O) edition). I read about it on a few threads and I went with the part numbers as well. He seemed to freak out when I mentioned it and he said Hyundai doesn't do any wiring that is not part of OE fitment.

I told him that if my information is correct, there is no additional wiring required and they only have to get the part and fix it. He seemed unsure of this possibility but kept insisting that no wiring change would be done.
He took me to the spares team and they told me that the part was available. Even after their confirmation, he didn't seem to understand my request.

There was another service guy there and he finally answered my question. He said that the basic electric circuit itself is different between Asta and Asta (O) because of the involvement of 6 airbags. He took me to the car with an electrician (along with the SA) and showed the trim to me. I didn't insist further.

They told me that the vehicle would be ready and that he would call me. After five hours, he called me and said it was ready. I asked him if the door visors were fixed. He seemed to have forgotten completely about them and said they would be ready in another hour's time.

I finally went there by about 3.30 PM and the SA warmly received me and said the vehicle was ready. When I reached my car, I was horrified to find it dirty and smeared with hand-prints. After I told him about this, he said it would be cleaned immediately and it had been parked for a long time under a tree (or under the sun, I don't recollect his exact words).

The friendly neighborhood guy with one rag for 10 cars would have done a better job. The rag used by this HMP cleaning guy was apparently used by Henry Ford's coal company to polish coal in the 1890's, and was later passed on to BP to clean up their oil spill.

The result? A foggy windshield and a semi-dirty car. Maybe I was expecting a extremely clean car (in line with BHPian standards) and maybe that's why I was disappointed.

I finally signed the receipt and took the car out of the workshop. I should have driven it for some time before accepting the car. I had specifically asked them to not use dashboard or any interior polish (after some BHPian accounts of bad experiences).

But they went ahead and used them anyway, on my steering wheel and door interiors. I realized this only on the way back.

It is not enough if the guy is polite and soft-spoken. He/She should also respond to technical questions and at least call another guy if he/she doesn't know the answer.

Rating: 6/10.

Would I go back? Well, the next scheduled service isn't for a year, but if something crops up, I would go back and expect them to do it better. Maybe with another SA or a senior member. I decided against escalating this but mentioned my angst during their feedback call.

They offered their customary 'Can you bring you car in so that we can make you happy' but I declined. I honestly can't see how Aberforth Dumbledore's bar-glass cleaning rag would do a better job.

TL DR - Sales - Good; Service - So-So. Deserves another chance.