Team-BHP
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I had a very strange experience with MAS yesterday. My Swift's battery died and, since a routine interval service was due anyway, put a request via JustDial for Maruti authorised service stations in my vicinity. Incredibly, 4 different MAS representatives called me within the hour and I zeroed in on what I thought was the best of the lot, at least from what was discussed on the phone.
This is a new MAS called Sumankirti that has opened along the NH4 bypass. I asked their rates and they gave me a very reasonable quote on the phone. I also requested the on-road service to jump-start my battery. They promptly sent their Omni and revived my Swift (VXi 2006).
So I land up at the workshop and am greeted by a very smart service advisor. I told him I only wanted a routine service (last one was done over a year and 5000 km ago), plus some small things to replace: broken latch for the bonnet, check the engine tuning, etc. He says OK and takes inventory. Then he presents me the estimate.
9000 bucks.
I thought at first he wrote it wrong. The lady on the phone had told me it would come to around 900/- for a regular service. I asked him what exactly he planned to do that would cost me this small fortune.
He started rattling off a list of replacements, wheel balancing/alignment, supplements, decarbonisations and what not. I stopped him and told him firmly, I just want a regular service. Do NOT touch the wheels. Check that everything is working, all fluids are topped up, etc. His face fell but he scribbled around a bit more and then announced 3200/-
I snatched the sheet from him and asked him why he needed to change my oil and oil filter, which was replaced at 68,000 km. The estimate for that alone was 1500/- He hemmed and hawed and finally agreed to check the oil and call me and tell me if it was needed. I said fine and left the car at the workshop.
Later he called and told me there was no need to change the oil or oil filter. The estimate was now down to 900.
I asked him if the engine tuning was OK- he said yes. I asked if my latch had been replaced- yes to that as well. Touched the wheels? No.
Then he hesitantly says they need to add some washer powder to my windshield spray. I say Huh? He says it costs only 15/- I snigger and say OK.
How much for the service, I ask. 550/- sir, he says. With VAt etc. the total bill is 639/- He told me my brakes need to be changed. I snorted. He persisted, saying he is duty-bound to enter it into the closure comments. I said, be my guest!
I took delivery half-expecting "KANJOOS" to be scratched into the bodywork lol:.
But it feels fine now- the little niggles taken care of, my windshield washer working again, interiors cleaned nicely.
MAS seems to be training its service staff to upsell aggressively. I told my wife this story and she admitted that she would have accepted the 9000/- figure without demur if she'd taken the car in (it's her car now, I drive the Vento).
It's amazing that you can still get a basic service done for 600-odd bucks, though. And this is where I still think Maruti is king!
I have been regularly giving my car at only one service station
It is Wonder Cars Service Center, MIDC, PCMC,
So far i have done 4 servicings for my Swift Lxi and i am very satisfied with the attention to the car and the owner as well, the feedback is well accepted and they make u feel that u are part of a good brand though not as coveted as the big badges
But i agree that they do try to oversell, in fact this time my service costs were a bit higher and 50% of the work was something i could have got it done from outside at lesser costs and hence next time i am going to be very cautious, as Noopster said if we put the foot down, they do cut the unnecessary items but then we need to be aware of them as well
Example: i had a dent in my car, when i said i want to do it under insurance, the estimate went upto 11K and some items were such which did not need any replacement, once i said i will do it at cost, the same thing fell down to 6k
Guys I have shifted to Ghaziabad in U.P recently and looking for a maruti service center could you recommend me one...
Should say that Maruti ASS has been very kind enough to me and my car. Many occasions I would not even have told about complaints/overlooked at the time of delivery but they are handled well.
Only grouse is sometimes they get too proactive and replace parts without your consent for which I have made them shift back to originals
Ex: Gear Knob and likewise such minor cosmetic stuff.
But would say on many occasions they have exceeded my expectations on it.
Dear BHPians,
This is my first experience with Maruti A.S.S after the recent purchase of Swift VDi,
My car was due for the 40k service. Spoke to the SA and the estimate given was similar to feedback from other Swift DDIS owners
What went well
A. Handed in the car for 40k service. SA listed all things to be done quickly, clearly
B. Didn't try to throw in any unnecessary charges (like Engine Decarb, glass cleaner etc.)
C. Asked if there was anything other than listed to be done and I didn't opt for anything
Hence met expectation of serving a customer well without any hassle
Why didn't they exceed expectations
A. Reluctant to use Synthetic though I wanted to opt for it
B. When I went to pick the car up the water in fuel sign was on after the crank. SA turns the engine off and starts again and the issue is gone. I suspected a loose connection and suggested he checks it but he insisted it will go away as they changed the filter now. He didn't want to even check it
The issue didn't go away even after 2 days of usage.
SA recommended the car to be brought in. A quick diagnosis and SA comes back and says sensor failed and needs replacement. I asked him how can it work on the second start if it has failed.
Finally confirmed that it was indeed a loose connection. :Frustrati
My other ride is an Accent CRDi and the H.A.S.S on a busy day probably handles 50 cars (max) but the folks at M.A.S.S (Mandovi VijayaNagar) handles an average of 350 cars (as per SA). But they should never be reluctant to diagnose an issue when reported
If the analysis was done on the day of service it would have saved me a lot of trouble that week.
These small things will take them to the next level.
But overall a decent experience and didn't come out unsatisfied
BTW : They were fine if I provide the Mobil Delvac 1 5w-40 as the oil of choice.
Let us see if they can exceed my expectation the next time around
Can I post a question here? (I cannot find any other proper thread/forum to post this query)
I have sent my Wagon-R Vxi ABS for second free service today. There are two minor scratches that I had asked them to touch-up. The service representative calls me now and tells me that if they do the touch ups as per my request, then I will have problems in claiming insurance in future. I find this a bit dubious. Why should my future insurance claims be jeopardized just because I am doing a touch up now? Can anybody in the know confirm this please?
I just completed the 2nd service for my WagonR Lxi at Spectra motors Borivali.
Following are my observations
1. Aggressive marketing is leading to fleecing of customers, these guys insisted on changing the air filter at only approx 3400 kms.
2. I too have a scratch on my driver side door and asked the guy the estimated cost, and the quote was 2500 to 3000 INR. then I tell him, that ok for such small amount I will not use my insurance and will get it done upfront from my pocket and this SA immediately changes his stance and says "to fir aapka kharcha 10-12 hazar hoga" (then it will cost you 10-12 thousand).
I wanted to understand why this increase in estimate and he had no response.
3. On service these guys had not even bothered to clean the front glass, it had all water stains all over it.
4. selling wind screen washer is like a fraud, in both my 1st and 2nd services, they quitely passed on 2 packets of this washer and charged 30 bucks extra. no reasoning accepted as the bill was already prepared.
sorry spectra, I am not coming to you again
Gave my car for bodywork repair to level and paint few dents on the roof which resulted from a tree branch that fell on my running car driving on an NH inside city limits.
I know its not good to take delivery of a body work repaired car late in the evening or when there is not enough light but yesterday evening I got the car late in the evening at around 7:15pm. I'm not happy with the service. Here's why?
1) I was told that car will be delivered yesterday morning, but by 1130 i get a call from the SA he tells me that when they were cleaning the car the pressure wash ruined the painted surface :Shockked: and the delivery time was set to evening 6pm. I'm not sure if the pressure wash story is true or if they wanted to buy some time, if it was the latter i would've given them another day and made arrangements for my travel for one more day.
2) I went to A.S.S at 6pm but the car wasn't ready. The car was delivered at around 7:15pm. (PS: The time on the computer generated bill read as 16:30 instead of 19:15, the bill was kept ready when i went to make the payment). Time wasted waiting at the service centre is 1hour.
3) I told the SA that i will call him the next morning (today) if i didn't find the finsih ok.
4) Parked the car in the garage under not very bright CFL and the finish looked poor. The roof lining inside had grease marks, the touch screen of the HU was messy and the interior was unclean in general. On the outside there were remnants of putty dust on the body of the car and the windows were unclean and smudgy.
5) This morning in the bright light i could see that there are some flaws in the leveling too. The paint doesn't look level at a few places. I called the SA and he tells me to bring the car once again tomorrow or day after.
PS: I got the 3rd service of my car done at the same service center last week and that went pretty uneventful, no surprises and was about as expected. After i got this service done i received a mail from Maruti with a Link asking for feedback and a few days after my car got this knock on the roof, so i waited till this too was done to give the feedback. But meanwhile the service center ppl called me and asked if i had received a feedback questionnaire from Maruti and how i should inform them as soon as i get it! They called me 4 - 5 times in this period and from two different numbers.
6) Today i filled in that form, gave my feedback for this body work repair done included the job card number for this repair work and submitted it. I believe that in a week's time i should probably hear from Maruti and this a.s.s. center I will give the car for further finishing work, here or anywhere else, only after i hear from them.
The way i see it the problem with the service is not with the service center staff the SA or the mechanics they are capable of doing a better job, but the problem is with Maruti/Dealership Management.
The volume of vehicles coming in for service and repairs everyday is so huge that they can't maintain the quality of service on each vehicle they service. Anybody can take their vehicle in for service at any day any time without appointment. While it is a good thing for the customer that they can drop in their vehicle at any time it will affect the quality of work done on each car since the attention each vehicle should be getting will be divided. Only way to ensure quality in service is to limit the intake of vehicles for each day and only with prior appointment, the only exception hsould be for accident vehicles and VOR repairs. Maruti has to make this a rule for all a.s.s. centers and then only i think there will be an improvement in the quality especially for non routine service jobs.
Swift is a great car, and i like the car so much, but taking it for servicing and for repairs is an experience that i hate the most.
Perhaps, if you drop a complaint to Maruti directly, you might have the body repair chaps at your feet. The paintwork is nowhere close to satisfactory and you could make them redo the job, to your satisfaction. Just my two cents. Given their equipment and infrastructure, they can do hundred times better.
I just sent them a complaint mail, lets see what happens. This i have not much hope with this particular service center doing a good job though.
Mostly they will swing into action only on Thursday. Thursday morning you will receive a load of calls :D Speaking of complaint, I too lodged a general complaint regarding non availability of rear wiper arm for my wagonR. A monkey tried to get onto the roof using the wiper as support and in the process broke the arm. Went to the local MGP dealer who is just a couple of lanes away and ordered the part a month back. Till date i have only got false assurances. Hence lodged the complaint today. Lets see what the outcome is.
Around an year back, I had complained about a delay in getting a set of spare keys for our Omni, which was addressed very soon and I received the keys in two days flat even though the dealer made me to wait for a month.
Quote:
Originally Posted by audioholic
(Post 3109626)
Mostly they will swing into action only on Thursday.
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I don't know how you knew it, but as you predicted they contacted me today :)
The customer care manager from Popular Motors, Mr. Sandeep, came and saw the car and acknowledged the fact that the job done wasn't upto their/expected standards and said the car shouldn't have been delivered to the customer in this condition. He has agreed to get the work redone, so i'm giving the car on May 6th Monday for the refinishing. I hope they do a good job and restore my faith in Maruti and Popular.
Maruti, thanks for listening!
Good to hear that! They do it at a very fast pace, as long as they are working. In my last complaint, the complaint was made at roughly 4 PM and registered by their Call center chap. At around 5:30 I got a call from the regional manager acknowledging me of the same and he promised to look at this issue ASAP. At almost 6PM, the TSM calls up and verifies what all happened between us and the dealer. As he was leaving for the day, he promised to look into the matter as soon as he comes to work the next day.
The next day evening, he called up and reported that the dealer had not even ordered the keys and there was a mess up. Also he had placed the order that morning and it would arrive via priority courier the very next day. In spite of being asked to deliver to Kolar, which is a town, we got the keys the second day afternoon. The dealer was at his apologetic best and admitted it was his fault. They programmed the Immobiliser and the car was back with a complementary wash by that evening. Gave a complement to the TSM and some advice to the SA there. They had made us wait for nearly a month giving all sorts of reasons, and had not ordered the keys too.
Now that your case is escalated, they will take good care of the car and also they will not mess with you the next time.
On Monday, as planned, Popular Maruti's representative came and took my car for the roof refinishing work and left a dzire zdi for my use as a standby car which is very helpful. I got a call from them yesterday and hopefully my car should be ready by today or tomorrow.
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