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Old 25th February 2011, 20:07   #1
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Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

This is my first thread on Team-Bhp and I am going to utilise it to share my recent interaction with the Service Manager at Mody Ford Hyderabad.

I bought a Ford Figo 1.4 Tdci - white - Titanium from Mody Ford Hyderabad

As soon as I purchased the car, I got the stock wheels changed to 15" alloys with 195/60R15 Uni-directional tyres.

Now within 3 days of purchase of the vehicle, the indicator on the fender had fogged up completely and had some water inside it.

So my Wife's brother and I took the car to the Mody Ford Service Centre.

We reached at about 12 O clock and were made to wait for almost an hour before someone came to greet us. (He said it was lunch time)

Then the service manager said the car needed a thorough inspection before he could change the indicator.

At this point I was thinking, its clear that the indicator is faulty and the car has no indications of being in an accident, what sort of an inspection was he going to undertake?

Nevertheless, we said do whatever is needed.

Finally after another 45 minutes, he got a new indicator from the parts and replaced the faulty one.

Now at this point I asked if I could go, he said I needed to sign on the bill.

Another 15 mins and I was presented with a bill which was fully reimbursed under warranty.

Along with this he presented the document I have attached.

Now I got furious and asked the service manager whether any work had been undertaken on the car's wheels/ tyres/ brakes/ drive-train. The guy said none.

Then we asked him the reason for this document.

He said 'it is standard practise sir'

I refused to sign this and took the original with me.

Has anyone else encountered this document?

I do agree I have changed the wheels to non-standard and they are not part of the standard car. But how relevant is this document when the work undertaken is just replacing an indicator?
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Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad-bill.jpg  


Last edited by aah78 : 25th February 2011 at 20:47. Reason: Moved to Dealership Reviews section.
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Old 26th February 2011, 01:19   #2
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

AFAIK, non-OEM alloys and wheel's do affect vehicles warranty. And warranty is a singular term for SA's. If anything is done to void warranty, then that's it. Even thought it may be not related in any way.

Only on rare cases does the SA's even notice the wheels. In your case, they did.
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Old 26th February 2011, 16:11   #3
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

Quote:
Originally Posted by dhanushs View Post
AFAIK, non-OEM alloys and wheel's do affect vehicles warranty. And warranty is a singular term for SA's. If anything is done to void warranty, then that's it. Even thought it may be not related in any way.

Only on rare cases does the SA's even notice the wheels. In your case, they did.

+1 to that.

I don't think you can blame the dealership as they are just trying to be covered. As a matter of fact since you have changed your tyres and alloys, god forbid if you meet with an accident related to the tyres/wheels, insurance will not honour your claim on the tyres and alloys.

Its preferred thats why to keep the size atleast same even while changing tyres.
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Old 26th February 2011, 16:42   #4
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

I agree. You cannot blame the service guys. Even though the indicator has nothing to do with the tyres and wheels, they just made an observation and recorded it for future reference. If you would have got the tyres and wheels changed from ford itself, then this would not have been needed, but since the tyres and wheels were aftermarket and changed to a different size they had to record it.
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Old 26th February 2011, 17:22   #5
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

besides, if you do happen to face suspension problems during the warranty period and decide to claim for it . The service manager now has proof that factory specification wheels were not used voiding your claim .

It would not be ethical to swap back to original before visiting ford when this happens , and i guess they have had such experiences and hence the precaution from their end .

Last edited by absynthguzzler : 26th February 2011 at 17:23.
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Old 26th February 2011, 17:39   #6
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

Caveat emptor. Changing the wheels or even tyres to non-standard size voids warranty of most cars- you need to check expressly with the dealer before you go ahead. The logic given is that the standard size is chosen by the auto maker after careful consideration and tests blah blah. Also, it's quite possible the wheel change affects part of the car that don't seem intuitively connected (though connecting them to a fogged up indicator is a bit much!) so the dealer is well within his rights to deny you free service.
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Old 26th February 2011, 19:27   #7
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

Quote:
Originally Posted by laxmanrk View Post

I do agree I have changed the wheels to non-standard and they are not part of the standard car. But how relevant is this document when the work undertaken is just replacing an indicator?
This is normal with Ford Service station. This observation was made repeatedly on my vehicle whenever i got there for service for that last 3 year. When you complain about steering related issues / road noise they without checking will site this as an issue.

I retained the same for alloy rim and tyre, but still they do it
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Old 11th December 2011, 14:08   #8
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Mody Ford Service, Hyderabad - Can't get any worse.

I've owned my diesel Figo for over 6 months now. It had been to the workshop 4 times (2 free services and 2 accidents). On the last service I pretty much had enough of Mody Ford Service. Here's the email I wrote to the DCRC Manager, Ford India (after they tried reaching me, after I filed feedback with Ford Customer Care):

Quote:

Dear Ms. Saritha Reddy,

I am currently out of Hyderabad and will not be available on my cellphone for the next few days. You can email me for further communication. With respect to my concerns, I will list them out for you here, in this email:

Firstly, here are some non-car related service issues/ suggestions:

1) Lack of proper communication from workshop
I give my car for repair on say Monday, I don't receive a call back till Thursday! So, I call you guys up on Thursday (I don't seem to understand why I have to follow up when you guys have my vehicle). I am told that the vehicle is almost ready! It seems the insurance approval process has already finished, the surveyor had visited my car and finished the formalities. I was kind of surprised to understand that so much happens and I am not even told a thing unless I call back. (For instance, I could have asked for a bumper replacement through insurance at my out of pocket expense - when you guys don't call back and tell me what is happening, that is nto a good thing).
On Friday, I am told that my car is ready. I am told that a drop would be arranged depending on driver availability. Till Friday evening, nobody from the workshop calls me up. I call them on Friday evening and I am told that no driver is available and they can send me my car on Saturday (the next day). On Saturday again, no call back! I have to call up the service personnel on Saturday evening, and no drivers again! Repeat show on Sunday. I don't get it - if you cannot drop my car (even though I stay 25kms away from your workshop and I am willing to pay for it), please don't tell me that you will try. You waste 2 days of time and I don't have my car. On Sunday, I take an auto from Gachibowli at 1PM, get to your work shop at 2PM and then I am handed over my car at 5PM. I could have probably done this on Friday itself had you guys categorically mentioned that you don't do drops post service. I don't expect you to drop my car - I expect you to be clear with your communication.

2) Ridiculous wait times
For my last repair, I was at your workshop on a Sunday afternoon at 2PM. First, the service person Mr.X (I don't want to take his name - coz I don't blame him for his lack of training), tells me that he is having lunch and it would take him 5 minutes, so I should wait in the customer lounge in the mean time - for a genuine reason, I didn't mind waiting 5 minutes which turned out to be 20minutes. So, Mr.X is at his customer station after 20 minutes at 2:20P and I am in the lounge - I can see him out there, and I give him another 5 minutes - neither does he come in and talk to me nor does he call me. He pretty much forgets the fact that I am waiting for my car. I get out of the lounge and I ask him about my car - he gives me no ETA, he says, "Please wait in the lounge sir, I'll get it done". Please note that for the next 2 hours Mr.X made no voluntary attempt to update me on what is happening, I had to approach him at least 5 times and spend rest of the time in the lounge reading a 200 page novel, which thanks to you guys, I finished in those 2 hours+.
  • 2:50PM : Sir, I am attending this other customer, next is your turn.
  • 3:20PM : Sir, I am done with this customer, I am getting your car.
  • 3:30PM : Mr.X leads me to the payment desk and I pay the outstanding amount post service.
  • 3:40PM : I get to see my car and it is all dusty.
  • 4:10PM : I can see my car being sent to wash.
  • 4:30PM : My car is delivered finally and without a vacuum clean.
Saritha, I find this behavior completely unacceptable - It only makes me feel that you guys don't care about my time. I would probably tolerate this from a street-side mechanic, but not a Ford workshop. Why do I have to go and beg Mr.X for updates? Why can't you guys have some sort of time-line for delivering a car to a customer? Why can't your service people walk in to the customer lounge and tell a customer that it will take a little longer and precisely how longer? What kind of attitude is this where you tell me that it will take me 5 minutes or 10 minutes and you take an hour for no apparent reason! Why don't you have a queue system?
Little things like these matter to me a lot - I believe these things set apart a great car company from a mediocre one - I am sorry to say that Mody Ford service has been dismal just because of this one reason.
It takes only a little focus on training in customer service for service people like Mr.X for you guys to service customers better. I don't blame Mr.X for this, I blame mody ford management and Ford India for not teaching them a thing or two about giving priority to customer's time. I am sure, I am not being very nit picky here, because I own a Hyundai and I have seen 10 times faster and better service - It's only natural that I compare - and in my opinion, you guys are not even close to the customer satisfaction that a Hyundai workshop offers.

3) Your escalation system
  • Somebody from Mody Ford calls me up a week later about service feedback, I tell them that I am completely disappointed with the service and that I have some feedback for them to escalate.
  • 5 minutes later, Mr.X calls me up! I don't get this. What is the point of Mr.X calling me? The idea was to escalate my feedback, which meant I'd expect a call from a service manager. If I were the kind of person who would argue or confront people, I would have done it right at the workshop with Mr.X. I did not want any sort of argument with him, so I did not take his call.
  • Few days go by, and I don't hear from anybody at Ford - it only seemed like my feedback went down the drain and no body care about it.
  • A few days later, I write a post on FordFigo wall on facebook about how I am dissatisfied with the whole experience, I am asked to write to custmail@ford.com and I write an email - now, this is when Ford Chennai calls me up after which you have tried to reach me. Why is it that my feedback which was shared with Mody Ford 2 weeks ago never reached you? Do you expect me to write to custmail@ford or go write rants on facebook everytime? Why do I have to take a longer route to get to you? Why don't you guys have a service complaint book at your workshop? Simple things that matter - you don't have them, it only makes me think you don't care.
I could go on about more things other than the above 3, but I chose not to at this point. Again, these are not things that you could correct right away or compensate by asking me to send my car back - these are non-car issues in my opinion. These issues are good enough for me stay away from Mody Ford service for the next time. Now, the car-related issues:
  • No vacuum clean : My car interiors were not cleaned - Mr.X tells me that there are too many cars for cleaning and it would delay things further and he promises a free vacuum wash the next time or anytime in the future on a weekend or something. This was 4:00P - I figured that I have had waited enough by then, so I chose not to wait any further. Firstly, I cannot understand why you guys can't pre-wash my car before I get there and secondly I don't see how Mr.X could think that I'd travel 25kms on a weekend and waste more time at the workshop, in the future, for a free vaccum clean of the interiors!
  • No rear lid screws: A new boot lid was installed on my car, but it had no factory fitted screws installed for number plate. The number plate guy had to do a make shift arrangement and my number plate makes a lot of noise now.

That is it for car-related issues. Please don't ask me to give you my car again for fixing these issues - I've decided not to go back to Mody Ford service again. My first time experience was no different and the last one was your second chance.

Thank you for writing in. I hope my email will help you correct a few things, which in my opinion are not helping your reputation, thereby, serve other Mody Ford customers, better.
After that detailed email - I got nothing - no acknowledgement, no call back and no reply! Way to go Ford!
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Old 11th December 2011, 20:08   #9
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Re: Mody Ford Service, Hyderabad - Can't get any worse.

That sure is bad service that has been meted out to you. I'm surprised at how patient you've been through the whole ordeal though. We faced similar issues with TATA-Fiat, but it wasn't this bad, and was issued to an extent after we made sure that the service advisor got a piece of our mind in the showroom. But yes, when you pay in lacs for a car, the least you expect is for the guys at the service station to do their job, if not serve you coffee and make you comfortable in a snazzy lounge.
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Old 11th December 2011, 20:39   #10
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Re: Mody Ford Service, Hyderabad - Can't get any worse.

Sorry to hear your ordeal. The worst part is that this is not something the company is giving for free. We as customers paying for each and everything . These morons are taking it for granted. In today's life the most valuable thing is time and it is one of the the least the a** centers consider. It's high time the consumer laws of our country be relooked. my life with mandovi motors is also becoming hard with the last. To visits. It is again not this bad.
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Old 12th December 2011, 03:13   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FanaticOnWheels View Post
That sure is bad service that has been meted out to you. I'm surprised at how patient you've been through the whole ordeal though. We faced similar issues with TATA-Fiat, but it wasn't this bad, and was issued to an extent after we made sure that the service advisor got a piece of our mind in the showroom. But yes, when you pay in lacs for a car, the least you expect is for the guys at the service station to do their job, if not serve you coffee and make you comfortable in a snazzy lounge.
Thank you for sympathizing. I am not the kind who confronts people. (I guess I am the kind who appears patient on the outside, but deep down, I am plotting a hate campaign on Facebook or twitter or incredibly long escalation email!)
I think confronting the service engineer would rarely help - they are just not trained to care about customer's time. This sort of change, (if it ever comes) should come from the top-level management - and that is why I escalated stuff and wrote an email to Ford - but well, it goes to show you, why companies like Ford and Fiat never succeed in the Indian market - they lack in the most important aspect of car industry - A.S.S

Quote:
Originally Posted by arun_sharon View Post
Sorry to hear your ordeal. The worst part is that this is not something the company is giving for free. We as customers paying for each and everything . These morons are taking it for granted. In today's life the most valuable thing is time and it is one of the the least the a** centers consider. It's high time the consumer laws of our country be relooked. my life with mandovi motors is also becoming hard with the last. To visits. It is again not this bad.
I forwarded my email to write2md@ford.com - A recent post on the forum indicated that this would go to big shots at Ford. I am gonna post an update once I hear from Ford.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the "edit" button if posting within 30 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

Also use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts.

Last edited by n_aditya : 12th December 2011 at 15:20. Reason: posts merged
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Old 12th December 2011, 08:00   #12
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Re: Mody Ford Service, Hyderabad - Can't get any worse.

@Fedexp,

Sad to see you going through the sufferings due to workshop people callousness. Did you by any chance demand the customer feedback form. What I had did once was after the car was handed over post service, I just clicked a few snaps of the shoddy cleaning of the car and along with the copy of the feedback form had mailed it to customer care Ford. Suprisingly the next day got a couple of calls from Chennai as well as from the workshop manager to whom I vented out my frustration. See if you could get a feedback form from Mody Ford.
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Old 12th December 2011, 11:06   #13
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Re: Mody Ford Service, Hyderabad - Can't get any worse.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fedexp View Post
After that detailed email - I got nothing - no acknowledgement, no call back and no reply! Way to go Ford!
I see you stay at Gachibowli. Where is this Mody Ford workshop located?
Most of your complaints are non-car related, which I feel could have been handled better by the Service manager.
Have you not built some sort of rapport with a mechanic or the service manager. That would help, though certainly you are not obliged to do it but those mechanic and SA's have a duty towards the customer.

Glad, that the car related issues are very minor and in no way hamper your car's reliability.
If you are so pissed off with Mody Ford workshop, then try and move to Fortune Ford workshop at Tolichowki. I am getting my Ikon serviced from them for 3 years and I have no grouse against them.
Probably this would be closer to you as well.
You can PM me for contact details of the driver and SA of the Tolichowki service centre.
Would be glad, if it helps you.
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Old 12th December 2011, 11:29   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fordmanchau View Post
I see you stay at Gachibowli. Where is this Mody Ford workshop located?
Most of your complaints are non-car related, which I feel could have been handled better by the Service manager.
Have you not built some sort of rapport with a mechanic or the service manager. That would help, though certainly you are not obliged to do it but those mechanic and SA's have a duty towards the customer.

Glad, that the car related issues are very minor and in no way hamper your car's reliability.
If you are so pissed off with Mody Ford workshop, then try and move to Fortune Ford workshop at Tolichowki. I am getting my Ikon serviced from them for 3 years and I have no grouse against them.
Probably this would be closer to you as well.
You can PM me for contact details of the driver and SA of the Tolichowki service centre.
Would be glad, if it helps you.
Mody Ford's workshop is a good 25kms from Gachibowli, in New Bowenpally.
No, I have not built any rapport with a mechanic or the service manager - I am not really that person - I'd rather go there, get my car in reasonable time and get out - I like to keep it simple. Now, the service manager was out there and he could see me waiting for 2 hours in that lounge and appearing frustrated - he would not approach me and ask me whats up! I expect the initiative to come from him.

I am going to try Fortune Ford from now on. Thanks for the tip and indeed it is closer to my place.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
@Fedexp,

Sad to see you going through the sufferings due to workshop people callousness. Did you by any chance demand the customer feedback form. What I had did once was after the car was handed over post service, I just clicked a few snaps of the shoddy cleaning of the car and along with the copy of the feedback form had mailed it to customer care Ford. Suprisingly the next day got a couple of calls from Chennai as well as from the workshop manager to whom I vented out my frustration. See if you could get a feedback form from Mody Ford.
ghodlur, if you were to go to a reputed restaurant, what would they do at the end of your meal? - All the reputed restaurants which I have been to in Hyderabad, give me a feedback form to fill. What do I spend there? max of 1-2k per head? But they care about customer feedback so much that they give you a feedback to fill out without you asking for one. How much do I spend on my car during repairs? About 20-30k (including insurance)? I still have to ask them for a feedback form after that? If they didn't gimme one already, do you think they care about customer feedback?

So, I did anyway call customer care and I lodged a complaint. I did receive a call from Chennai, and I vented out my frustration - so what now? How can they undo what they did? This lady, Saritha Reddy calls me up when I am not in the city - I send her an email in detail and I don't get a response - No assurance that they won't repeat their mistakes or are creating processes to minimize wait time - in short, it doesn't matter to them. They don't care if I don't visit their service center ever again. (also tells you a thing about why they don't give you a feedback form).

Last edited by bblost : 12th December 2011 at 11:53. Reason: back 2 back posts. Thanks.
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Old 30th March 2016, 17:01   #15
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Re: Service at Mody Ford Hyderabad

Revisiting this thread to describe my recent experience at Mody Ford's LB Nagar service station. I had sent my Ecosport for its 10,000 Km service and had mentioned that the handsfree control on the steering wheel worked erratically, asking them to check the connections / replace the switch if required. The advisor (Mohan) said it's working fine with them but they'll change it if the problem crops up again.

It's been a week since I got the car back and the erratic nature of the controls persists. I have been following up with him to get it changed but he says if it doesn't fail in front of him / service staff, he won't change it. I have tried making him understand that this is not a 10,000 km old tire, which if replaced with a new one, will give me additional benefit, but he's just unwilling to listen.

I escalated this issue to the service manager who asked me to leave the car with them for 3 days to observe this issue. Clearly not an option given that I travel >100 km / day. Waiting to hear back from him with a solution.

Very disappointed that I have to follow up so much for such a small issue. I am a Ford loyalist, this being my 3rd Ford car (after Ikon 1.6 & Fusion) but if this kind of 'service' persists, this will surely be my last ownership of the Blue Oval.
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