Well this is both an Appreciation mail as well as a complaint mail.
I purchased a new Swift Vdi bearing number KA 41 N 2653 from Sagar Automobiles, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, on March 4th 2010 was parked outside my office on April 14, 2010. Due to heavy rain in Bangalore, a coconut fell on the windshield shattering it. After office when I returned to the car, I found it shattered.
I immediately called up my dealer - Sagar Automobiles, one Mr. Venkat Reddy. He asked me to speak to Mr. Kumaresh, who was the Insurance contact person. When I called him, he sounded like he had absolutely no time to speak. I told him about the situation and he said I need to drive the vehicle in that condition from Ulsoor (near my Office) to Bannerghatta Road where the showroom is. It was raining and water was starting to leak inside and due to the shattered glass, I was unable to even drive. I asked him about the towing facility. He flatly said their tow vehicle cannot come till there and this is after office hours (it was 6:30pm). He asked me to drive down till there.
Next, I asked him how many days it would take to fix it. He said it would take 4-5 days. I requested for a standby car as i have back disc problem resulting in severe pain. He flatly refused saying no such thing will be provided.
I was aghast at his behavior and tone and just kept the phone. I called up Mr. Venkat Reddy again because I had regular contact with him. Now even he said nothing can be done sounding very busy. The same person was very courteous and went out of his way before purchase. This time, he still was courteous, but not helpful.
I then called up my friend who knew a person in RNS Motors, Hosur Road. I spoke to the manager Mr. Chandrashekar, who asked if he could send his people to pick up (his showroom is in Hosur road, further away from Bannerghatta road!!). I declined and parked it in my friends place for the night. Next morning, he only called up and asked when I would be coming. I went there in the afternoon, and he welcomed me with refreshments and took me to his chamber. He asked Mr. Jagadish, the body repairs manager to do all the formalities. He arranged for a standby car - Swift and within ten minutes all the formalities were over. He handed me the keys of the standby car and assured me that it would be ready in by day after morning.
The very next day itself I got a call from Mr. Jagadish informing me about the status and the bill. And keeping up his word, the vehicle was ready on time. And when I went to collect the car, it was cleanly washed and even polished though I had not even requested for it.
Mr. Chandrashekar, Manager of RNS Hosur Road, Bangalore and also Mr. Jagadish, Body Works Manager have been extremely courteous and helpful during a difficult time and their behavior towards the customer in distress deserves a lavish praise.
On the other hand, Sagar Automobiles need to be reminded that sales isn’t the only important thing, After-Sales is more important. They would need to work on treating and understanding customer's problems better. Mr. Venkat Reddy was ok, but the same cant be said about Mr. Kumaresh. The True Value division of Sagar Automobiles though deserves praise. Mr. Vignesh was very helpful when I was selling my Wagon R and gave me a standby Maruti 800 for nearly 15 days understanding my back problems.