KUN United, Hyundai - Delayed i20 delivery

liquidmetal99 · 22nd July 2010, 13:46

Sharing my experience of booking a car with Hyudai, a company quite known for its better than average service.

I have made a booking of an i20 Era Petrol (Silver) on the 6th of June 2010 from a sales consultant at KUN United, authorized Hyundai dealer in Kondapur, Hyderabad. I was promised the delivery of the vehicle in 15-20 days and when the booking form came it was given 29th of June 2010 at the time.

After multiple conversations i reached KUN United a week after the promised delivery date for the downpayment as was told to me by the dealer. But it was only after i reached the showroom that i was informed by someone else in the dealership that the delivery of my car is delayed indefinitely and refused to give me any further dates for possible delivery. It should be understood that all this time, which is about 40days roughly i had to keep calling the dealer for a rough delivery date so many times and every single time the response was the exactly same. I would be told each time that he would call me back and give me the details but not once it happened. This happened at least 15-20 times. The only time i got a call from the dealer to my phone was soon after i called up for test drive.

That enthusiasm was completely non existant once they got me to do the booking which honestly is a big disappointment coming from a company like hyundai as one of the main reason i opted for hyundai itself was because of their services. Unfortunately its incidents and people like these that prevent them from growing better. I’ve seen a growing number of people who have been disappointed by their initially enthusiastic choice of hyundai because of dealers/agents like these. The least that i expected from a dealer was that he would keep me informed. But that never happened. I still think i had the right to know that my car was not available before i wasted time and energy from my work schedule to go take the money and reach the dealer to pay the downpayment. That was completely unprofessional and completely not expected. They shouldnt have kept me in the loop. There seems to be no value for the time, money and effort that the customer is putting in. Almost seemed like they expected me to make the downpayment and keep my mouth shut and not make an issue out of it.

After i was told my car was indefinitely delayed by someone in the dealership (not the sales consultant i booked the car with) i decided not to make the payment and thereon my calls were contnuously not being picked for a few days. But when i did manage to speak to my sales consultant next i was told hyundai is not providing them just this particular variant and all other variants are available and that he still doesnt have a clue when i would get the car.

I was disappointed enough by then and almost decided to cancel the booking and go to a different dealer or different car alltogether. But i still i thought i'd give him another chance and asked how much time would it take for a Magna variant now that i was told the issue was only with Era. I was given a 100% guarantee that it would maximum 10 days and that they would have Silver Magna car available. But here i am writing this letter and its the13th day after after i asked for a Magna variant and close to 2 months after my initial order for an Era and n number of false promises. My problem is not as much with the delay as I understand that a lot of people did buy their cars waiting a lot more than this probably, but more with the lack of communication and false promises being made to me. I’d be fine if he tells me it takes 2 or 3 months and gives me the car in 2 or 3 months but it really spoils it when they say 15 days and stop picking your calls for a month after that. The sadder part is that a lot of people silently put up with this and not say anything while the dealer takes them for a mini ride.

Since a company like hyundai who has tried to create a good name over the years here is represented by some dealers like this it makes it difficult to form a good image. Or as in my case, lose the good image that i had of the company in my mind since i have already been a hyundai customer since the past 5 years. Now i would never be able to recommend a hyundai or a KUN United dealership to anyone even though I love many of their cars for that matter and thats a shame. And im not trying to generalize on Hyundai here but incidents like these are what prevents them from growing the way they probably want to.

Any thoughts/ideas on what to do while they continue to BS?

PS: and I was surprised by how Fiat and some of the other companies are improving in terms of services when I recently visited them for multiple test drives of the punto and all after my existing booking turned out to be this way. May be Hyundai dealers are starting to get this in their mind that whatever happens they will keep getting customers because theyre a big company, theyre Hyundai. And I agree we being Indians do put up with a lot of stuff and becomes content with a freebie or two or some discounts here and there. But I say don’t. Lets not encourage mediocrity and if everyone starts doing that we’d have a lot of bigger better companies to deal with in future.

raghav.carfreak · 22nd July 2010, 19:37

Hey buddy
Really sorry to hear about your trauma, But I would like to point out two things here, Since you have been a Hyundai customer for the past 5 years and you do admit to the fact hyundai cars are lovely, So its a dealer problem, not a vehicle reliability problem.I would say cancel your booking with this dealer even if he assures you delivery within a week, and ask for your money back immediately, and book the car with another dealer which assures you better service, and if A.S.S is a problem, find a competent mechanic outside to service your car(something like a Bosch's car service, or a castrol car zone(i'm giving you bangalore's example, i'm sure you will find many equivalent places in your location) thats where the Team-BHP directory will come into use
And bad publicity like this will definitely affect their sales because reputation builds/destroys a business, and word of mouth is among the most affective ways of advertising i believe.
There is a hyundai dealership in bangalore that I'm truly satisfied in every which way possible, Sales, After sales, its been 5 years since I've had the Hyundai Getz, 50,000kms and counting and Ive totally loved the Hyundai experience. I sincerely hope you get to enjoy the i20 in the same way!

MutantX · 22nd July 2010, 19:58

Dude, please write to cr@hmil.net . You would get a reply within 48 hours. I am sure HMIL will help you to get the car you wanted ASAP. Also provide a reference to this post.

We have been Hyundai customers for the past 8 years. We are extremely satisfied. So much so that, we have got exchange bonus twice. Write to Hyundai CR, you will surely find light at the end of the path.

aargee · 22nd July 2010, 22:21

@LiquidMetal - This is another troublesome dealer, I don't think HMIL will do this on delivering the cars to their dealers. You know what? You should've walked to another Hyundai dealership & enquired.

I'm altogether getting a different idea; I think the minimum amount to book a car is about 10K right? Why not choose about 5-6 dealers in the town & pay 10K to each one of them & buy from the dealer who delivers first. Anyway, the booking amounts are refunded in full right?

liquidmetal99 · 22nd July 2010, 23:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by raghav.carfreak

Hey buddy
So its a dealer problem, not a vehicle reliability problem.I would say cancel your booking with this dealer even if he assures you delivery within a week, and ask for your money back immediately, and book the car with another dealer which assures you better service
its been 5 years since I've had the Hyundai Getz, 50,000kms and counting and Ive totally loved the Hyundai experience. I sincerely hope you get to enjoy the i20 in the same way!

Thanks raghav.carfreak. Thats exactly what im thinking of doing now. Even if it means to wait a bit longer for a new booking i really dont mind, at least im not being fooled and hopefully they'll value the time and money that the customer is putting into it rather than just being concerned about themselves. Ive been using a getz too since the past 5 years and ive had a fairly good experience with hyundai but this is kind of ruining it for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MutantX

Dude, please write to cr@hmil.net . You would get a reply within 48 hours. I am sure HMIL will help you to get the car you wanted ASAP. Also provide a reference to this post.

Thanks MutantX. I'm all set to do that. Was just waiting for the dealer to give me the order no. which he was very hesitant to give. But i just got it now after troubling him quite a few times. So now i'll be sending that mail right away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee

I'm altogether getting a different idea; I think the minimum amount to book a car is about 10K right? Why not choose about 5-6 dealers in the town & pay 10K to each one of them & buy from the dealer who delivers first. Anyway, the booking amounts are refunded in full right?

Well thats an idea right there.

Luckily in my case i only paid 5k for the booking so i can switch to another dealer easily. I'm only waiting to decide whether it should be a dealer change or a car change.

In any case i would suggest avoiding this dealer at any cost as the same thing is now happening with a few of my friends who have alltogether booked three i10s from there. Even theyre planning to change now. So i figured its not a one off case. They just tell you shorter waiting periods just to get your money and then take you for a ride.

raghav.carfreak · 23rd July 2010, 08:25

Like you've said, that you've been a getz user for the past 5 years, you should DEFINITELY change the dealer and not the car! because after all, the i20 is the replacement to the getz, so it can only get better i'm hoping(no association with hyundai whatsoever, just a loyal fan) because i drove my cousin's petrol swift, and even though it may give a little more mileage, i prefer the getz ANYDAY! and when i start working next year, if and when i change my car, i'm hoping to get a *pre owned 6 speed diesel i20* and with the deals to be seen on team-BHP and time on my hands, Watch this space is all i can say

MutantX · 23rd July 2010, 08:31

haha raghav, well that is an excellent idea. I just cannot afford a AHNC/i20 6 speed diesel/Accord/Civic or any other luxury sedan. So I am looking for a lateral upgrade in 3-4 years time. As of now I am happy with my 1 month old i10

aargee · 23rd July 2010, 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by liquidmetal99

Luckily in my case i only paid 5k for the booking so i can switch to another dealer easily. I'm only waiting to decide whether it should be a dealer change or a car change.

Well, my thought goes like this...
Dealer change - Nothing lost, except that the dealer has lost a valuable customer at the cost of bad name.

Car change - nothing wrong, but after buying the new model, you should never look back all those i20's on the road & drool. Should never regret later thinking, "Had I waited for sometime..., Had I been little patience..." so on. Its like lost first love & married to a irritable wife.

If I were you, I would simply change the dealer as it is momentary but owning the car is long term relationship.

malgudi · 23rd July 2010, 12:26

liquidmetal,
I truly understand your agony. I was dolled out the same treatment last month after i had booked my I20 Diesel Here in Mumbai. I had booked on 9th June and the delivery period commited was 25 days. Numerous followups later requesting for a firm date & car Details led to no response. I even went and complained to Hyundai and demanded them to let me know if they had atleast received my booking. but Hyundai itself did not commit or say anything. Dealer then came and told that I can only get the car around Aug 15 & that too is tentative. Hyundai too did nothing and never called me to find what has happened with the case. Needless to say I cancelled the booking & have gone for Swift VDI.

The main reason for I20 was that I have a Getz for the Past 4 years and had a good service experience. The whole episode has made me think that the success of I20 has gone into Hyundai head & neither they nor their dealers care for their repeat customers. The only silver lining was the dealership refunded my entire booking amount (Rs 50000).

liquidmetal99 · 6th August 2010, 01:31

So soon after i posted the thread here i sent an almost similar copy of it to hyundai customer care for some action along with the link to this thread on team-bhp and next day itself i was told i'll get the car in 3 days. Hyundai had been quick in responding or at least creating an illusion of hurrying to solve the issue cos the dealer still took more time than that. Did the ceremonial tbhp PDI once the car reached, decoded the VIN with all the information from Wildons thread and had to run after the SBI loan for a while before everything settled in and finally took delivery of the car today! Thanks again to everyone for their time and suggestions. I have to say im not too disappointed with hyundai but cant really say the same about the dealer though. Anyways the car feels great and im enjoying every bit of my dream that just came true.

@malgudi - too bad contacting hyundai didnt work for you. But hey swift is not a bad choice either. hmm. may be i just got lucky with it. i dont know. or may be it was the team-bhp link that made it work.

ph03n!x · 6th August 2010, 03:36

Good that the issue good resolved for @liquidmetal99. Kun India is one of the largest dealership chains for Hyundai in South India, and I felt they are the better ones here in Chennai (best being HMP, but they are perpetually overloaded and don't bother much about discounts or freebies).

And bad that @malgudi had to walk out. I am wondering if these problems are due to the recent strike by Hyundai workers which affected production a lot.

malgudi · 6th August 2010, 12:52

I still like I20 and would have retained by booking had Hyundai atleast responded to me. But they did not care to even call and check about what has happened to my booking. The dealers attitude was as if they were doing me a favor by promising tentative delivery by 15 Aug! Could not take the attitude of the dealer & cancelled my booking on the spot.
Just hope that Hyundai reads this thread and takes the feedback.
@liquidmetal99 good that Hyundai looked in your case and delivered the car in 3 days. Congratulations!

22nd July 2010, 13:46	#1
liquidmetal99 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: AP/KL Posts: 88 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	KUN United, Hyundai - Delayed i20 delivery Sharing my experience of booking a car with Hyudai, a company quite known for its better than average service. I have made a booking of an i20 Era Petrol (Silver) on the 6th of June 2010 from a sales consultant at KUN United, authorized Hyundai dealer in Kondapur, Hyderabad. I was promised the delivery of the vehicle in 15-20 days and when the booking form came it was given 29th of June 2010 at the time. After multiple conversations i reached KUN United a week after the promised delivery date for the downpayment as was told to me by the dealer. But it was only after i reached the showroom that i was informed by someone else in the dealership that the delivery of my car is delayed indefinitely and refused to give me any further dates for possible delivery. It should be understood that all this time, which is about 40days roughly i had to keep calling the dealer for a rough delivery date so many times and every single time the response was the exactly same. I would be told each time that he would call me back and give me the details but not once it happened. This happened at least 15-20 times. The only time i got a call from the dealer to my phone was soon after i called up for test drive. That enthusiasm was completely non existant once they got me to do the booking which honestly is a big disappointment coming from a company like hyundai as one of the main reason i opted for hyundai itself was because of their services. Unfortunately its incidents and people like these that prevent them from growing better. I’ve seen a growing number of people who have been disappointed by their initially enthusiastic choice of hyundai because of dealers/agents like these. The least that i expected from a dealer was that he would keep me informed. But that never happened. I still think i had the right to know that my car was not available before i wasted time and energy from my work schedule to go take the money and reach the dealer to pay the downpayment. That was completely unprofessional and completely not expected. They shouldnt have kept me in the loop. There seems to be no value for the time, money and effort that the customer is putting in. Almost seemed like they expected me to make the downpayment and keep my mouth shut and not make an issue out of it. After i was told my car was indefinitely delayed by someone in the dealership (not the sales consultant i booked the car with) i decided not to make the payment and thereon my calls were contnuously not being picked for a few days. But when i did manage to speak to my sales consultant next i was told hyundai is not providing them just this particular variant and all other variants are available and that he still doesnt have a clue when i would get the car. I was disappointed enough by then and almost decided to cancel the booking and go to a different dealer or different car alltogether. But i still i thought i'd give him another chance and asked how much time would it take for a Magna variant now that i was told the issue was only with Era. I was given a 100% guarantee that it would maximum 10 days and that they would have Silver Magna car available. But here i am writing this letter and its the13th day after after i asked for a Magna variant and close to 2 months after my initial order for an Era and n number of false promises. My problem is not as much with the delay as I understand that a lot of people did buy their cars waiting a lot more than this probably, but more with the lack of communication and false promises being made to me. I’d be fine if he tells me it takes 2 or 3 months and gives me the car in 2 or 3 months but it really spoils it when they say 15 days and stop picking your calls for a month after that. The sadder part is that a lot of people silently put up with this and not say anything while the dealer takes them for a mini ride. Since a company like hyundai who has tried to create a good name over the years here is represented by some dealers like this it makes it difficult to form a good image. Or as in my case, lose the good image that i had of the company in my mind since i have already been a hyundai customer since the past 5 years. Now i would never be able to recommend a hyundai or a KUN United dealership to anyone even though I love many of their cars for that matter and thats a shame. And im not trying to generalize on Hyundai here but incidents like these are what prevents them from growing the way they probably want to. Any thoughts/ideas on what to do while they continue to BS? PS: and I was surprised by how Fiat and some of the other companies are improving in terms of services when I recently visited them for multiple test drives of the punto and all after my existing booking turned out to be this way. May be Hyundai dealers are starting to get this in their mind that whatever happens they will keep getting customers because theyre a big company, theyre Hyundai. And I agree we being Indians do put up with a lot of stuff and becomes content with a freebie or two or some discounts here and there. But I say don’t. Lets not encourage mediocrity and if everyone starts doing that we’d have a lot of bigger better companies to deal with in future. Last edited by liquidmetal99 : 22nd July 2010 at 13:59.
	() Thanks

22nd July 2010, 19:37	#2
raghav.carfreak BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 276 Thanked: 76 Times	Hey buddy Really sorry to hear about your trauma, But I would like to point out two things here, Since you have been a Hyundai customer for the past 5 years and you do admit to the fact hyundai cars are lovely, So its a dealer problem, not a vehicle reliability problem.I would say cancel your booking with this dealer even if he assures you delivery within a week, and ask for your money back immediately, and book the car with another dealer which assures you better service, and if A.S.S is a problem, find a competent mechanic outside to service your car(something like a Bosch's car service, or a castrol car zone(i'm giving you bangalore's example, i'm sure you will find many equivalent places in your location) thats where the Team-BHP directory will come into use And bad publicity like this will definitely affect their sales because reputation builds/destroys a business, and word of mouth is among the most affective ways of advertising i believe. There is a hyundai dealership in bangalore that I'm truly satisfied in every which way possible, Sales, After sales, its been 5 years since I've had the Hyundai Getz, 50,000kms and counting and Ive totally loved the Hyundai experience. I sincerely hope you get to enjoy the i20 in the same way!
	() Thanks

22nd July 2010, 19:58	#3
MutantX BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Madras Posts: 868 Thanked: 93 Times View My Garage	Dude, please write to cr@hmil.net . You would get a reply within 48 hours. I am sure HMIL will help you to get the car you wanted ASAP. Also provide a reference to this post. We have been Hyundai customers for the past 8 years. We are extremely satisfied. So much so that, we have got exchange bonus twice. Write to Hyundai CR, you will surely find light at the end of the path. Last edited by MutantX : 22nd July 2010 at 20:03.
	() Thanks

22nd July 2010, 22:21	#4
aargee Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TSTN Posts: 6,233 Thanked: 9,616 Times	@LiquidMetal - This is another troublesome dealer, I don't think HMIL will do this on delivering the cars to their dealers. You know what? You should've walked to another Hyundai dealership & enquired. I'm altogether getting a different idea; I think the minimum amount to book a car is about 10K right? Why not choose about 5-6 dealers in the town & pay 10K to each one of them & buy from the dealer who delivers first. Anyway, the booking amounts are refunded in full right?
	() Thanks

23rd July 2010, 08:25	#6
raghav.carfreak BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 276 Thanked: 76 Times	Like you've said, that you've been a getz user for the past 5 years, you should DEFINITELY change the dealer and not the car! because after all, the i20 is the replacement to the getz, so it can only get better i'm hoping(no association with hyundai whatsoever, just a loyal fan) because i drove my cousin's petrol swift, and even though it may give a little more mileage, i prefer the getz ANYDAY! and when i start working next year, if and when i change my car, i'm hoping to get a pre owned 6 speed diesel i20 and with the deals to be seen on team-BHP and time on my hands, Watch this space is all i can say
	() Thanks

23rd July 2010, 08:31	#7
MutantX BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Madras Posts: 868 Thanked: 93 Times View My Garage	haha raghav, well that is an excellent idea. I just cannot afford a AHNC/i20 6 speed diesel/Accord/Civic or any other luxury sedan. So I am looking for a lateral upgrade in 3-4 years time. As of now I am happy with my 1 month old i10
	() Thanks

23rd July 2010, 12:26	#9
malgudi BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 355 Thanked: 183 Times View My Garage	liquidmetal, I truly understand your agony. I was dolled out the same treatment last month after i had booked my I20 Diesel Here in Mumbai. I had booked on 9th June and the delivery period commited was 25 days. Numerous followups later requesting for a firm date & car Details led to no response. I even went and complained to Hyundai and demanded them to let me know if they had atleast received my booking. but Hyundai itself did not commit or say anything. Dealer then came and told that I can only get the car around Aug 15 & that too is tentative. Hyundai too did nothing and never called me to find what has happened with the case. Needless to say I cancelled the booking & have gone for Swift VDI. The main reason for I20 was that I have a Getz for the Past 4 years and had a good service experience. The whole episode has made me think that the success of I20 has gone into Hyundai head & neither they nor their dealers care for their repeat customers. The only silver lining was the dealership refunded my entire booking amount (Rs 50000). Last edited by malgudi : 23rd July 2010 at 12:28.
	() Thanks

6th August 2010, 01:31	#10
liquidmetal99 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: AP/KL Posts: 88 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	So soon after i posted the thread here i sent an almost similar copy of it to hyundai customer care for some action along with the link to this thread on team-bhp and next day itself i was told i'll get the car in 3 days. Hyundai had been quick in responding or at least creating an illusion of hurrying to solve the issue cos the dealer still took more time than that. Did the ceremonial tbhp PDI once the car reached, decoded the VIN with all the information from Wildons thread and had to run after the SBI loan for a while before everything settled in and finally took delivery of the car today! Thanks again to everyone for their time and suggestions. I have to say im not too disappointed with hyundai but cant really say the same about the dealer though. Anyways the car feels great and im enjoying every bit of my dream that just came true. @malgudi - too bad contacting hyundai didnt work for you. But hey swift is not a bad choice either. hmm. may be i just got lucky with it. i dont know. or may be it was the team-bhp link that made it work.
	() Thanks

6th August 2010, 03:36	#11
ph03n!x Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 2,564 Thanked: 5,957 Times	Good that the issue good resolved for @liquidmetal99. Kun India is one of the largest dealership chains for Hyundai in South India, and I felt they are the better ones here in Chennai (best being HMP, but they are perpetually overloaded and don't bother much about discounts or freebies). And bad that @malgudi had to walk out. I am wondering if these problems are due to the recent strike by Hyundai workers which affected production a lot.
	() Thanks

6th August 2010, 12:52	#12
malgudi BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 355 Thanked: 183 Times View My Garage	I still like I20 and would have retained by booking had Hyundai atleast responded to me. But they did not care to even call and check about what has happened to my booking. The dealers attitude was as if they were doing me a favor by promising tentative delivery by 15 Aug! Could not take the attitude of the dealer & cancelled my booking on the spot. Just hope that Hyundai reads this thread and takes the feedback. @liquidmetal99 good that Hyundai looked in your case and delivered the car in 3 days. Congratulations!
	() Thanks