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Old 21st September 2011, 19:25   #16
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

This is plainly unacceptable! I can't believe the dealership is cheating a customer this blatantly and Skoda is playing second fiddle!

Eveb if had you just posted the pictures without the story, everyone on the forum would have pointed out that the bumper has been shabbily repainted.

What did the Skoda CRM have to say about the difference in dates on the windows and the old VIN date?

I really can't believe the dealer and Skoda think the consumer is THAT stupid.

I really hope you get justice man; Skoda is losing so much respect so fast I doubt they'll ever regain it in India.
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Old 21st September 2011, 19:36   #17
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Let me understand this correctly , you accepted the car and took delivery without doing PDI ? . If yes , BIG MISTAKE ! .Why dint you reject the car outright ? . Why dint you check out the car at the stockyard or at the godown ? .My god , I can only imagine the trouble and massive heartburn you are going through .

Last edited by black12rr : 21st September 2011 at 19:38.
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Old 21st September 2011, 21:46   #18
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Well Giriraj is earning quite a name for itself. A seperate thread on the dealership exists on the 'Delaership review' section of the forum.

On Jaipal (the MD of Giriraj) and Satbir (the Workshop Manager of Giriraj) - they are both close relatives and are 100% in sync with each other all the time. They belong to the nearby Jharsa village which is not exactly known for its good behaving residents. Given this background you should really expect the least from the duo.

Very honestly - I don't see this going anywhere. Skoda is completely with the dealers (surprise!) and they are not afraid of negative publicity. Add to it the speed of our judicial processes and you know you are pretty much staring at a dead end.
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Old 21st September 2011, 21:48   #19
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Sad, and I was just ready to believe that Skoda had mended their ways. I think replacement is the only decent thing that Skoda should do, however they (obviously) think differently. Don't leave the car with them, though. Else it will not be returned for another three years (minimum) as indicated in another thread on Skoda's wonderful service.

And to think I was seriously thinking of saving up for a Yeti.

If there is one thing I have learnt from TBHP - PDI is not a choice but an essential and un-skippable part of the buying process.

Last edited by VeluM : 21st September 2011 at 21:51.
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Old 21st September 2011, 22:31   #20
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

I would suggest you somehow manage to speak to someone more senior at Skoda. Legal route may not be the most convenient solution.

Yes you can check around for more indicators but you still may not be able to prove things conclusively though from the circumstances your points are most likely the case.

I don't blame you missing the PDI too much, it could very well have happened that you could have missed this in the PDI even in day time, and could end up seeing it the next day.
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Old 21st September 2011, 22:57   #21
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Giriraj takes the cake for BAD service. They tried to pass on a Dec 10 vehicle to me in June 11. Car interiors were clearly dirty and made me suspicious. Knowing VIN decoding saved the day. Gave a piece of mind to them but they are too thick skinned.

The car delivered has glue marks on the roof edges and boot lid from adhesive (bad pre delivery cleaning) and they refuse to go even after 3 months. Went to buy Engine oil refill before embarking on a long journey. The guy came with a plastic jar filled with loose oil and a dirty old lubricant can in which he wanted to sell oil. When I refused to take it, the mechanic felt offended (not that i care). Asked service advisor which oil is this so that i can buy a can outside. He only had two words - castrol synthetic - mo idea of grade VW standards.

A thought of having to make contact with them for anything at all is uncomfortable.
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Old 21st September 2011, 23:04   #22
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Why don't we treat Skoda like we treat Fiat. It's because we have a different rule book to judge Skoda and Fiat. Fiat is fighting for survival and Skoda is going from strength to strength, selling more cars, especially the high end ones like Laura and Superb. Despite the horror stories what do we do, we shun one company like Fiat but lap up Skoda. Fault lies with the public who are buying Skoda cars that makes it even more audacious. So much for the 'Euro' chic and "tank" like build, guess these tanks run best on European roads and not tropicalised enough for India and gulp oil like hell in the first few 1000 kms. Have you seen a Maruti/Hyundai gulp oil like a TSi in the run in period. The quip is its normal consumption for a TSi and you call this modern maintenance free tank like build. My foot. Have any of you guys with a Maruti/Hyundai ever kept oil in the car unless you are going to Leh or Ladakh? TSi owners are forced to store a can of oil in car for fear of the oil light coming up at the most inopportune moments, last time I kept oil stocked in my car was in the Sipani D-1.

Last edited by Durango Dude : 21st September 2011 at 23:09.
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Old 21st September 2011, 23:50   #23
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

I would like to add a bit of information about one of the parties involved:
Skoda GmBH has nothing to do with with Skoda India apart from their contractual agreements. They have no direct say of what Skoda India does with its business.

I have this in a mail directly from Skoda, as a reply to the one I sent them about their poor customer service in India. Perhaps you would like to contact the same helpline and see if it helps address your issue.

Mail chain starts here:
from*********@gmail.com toinfo@skoda-info.cz
dateSat, Jul 17, 2010 at 3:44 PMsubjectSkoda Auto in Indiamailed-bygmail.com
hide details 7/17/10

Dear Skoda,

Congratulations on your achievements and successes so far in the growing Indian car market. It is no small feat for an European company against well established Asian competitors. Your cars provide genuine quality of drive and comfort at reasonable purchase costs to Indian consumers. However there are some issues. Until a month ago I was a potential Skoda customer. But I have concluded that buying a Skoda at the moment is not in my best interests for the following reasons:
  1. India has a large population, majority of which is poor and uneducated about corporate ethics. As much as they are hard working they are also quite gullible. While Skoda Auto may have entered the Indian market with the best of intentions, the same, I regret to inform you, cannot be said with your business partners in India. Greed and malice is common place in a large population. Unfortunately your hard work and integrity is being tainted by certain dealerships and their alleged practices. You are losing hundreds of potential customers due to such bad publicity which is a very thin line between failure and success in the Indian market. Hence my immediate concern is with your dealerships, their integrity and most importantly your resolve and conviction to appraise them. I suggest you move quickly and transparently by conducting a comprehensive audit and inquiry into all your existing dealerships. In addition conduct a survey among all your existing and previous customers and Skoda vehicle owners. Integrity has no replacement in India.
  2. I live in Chennai where many brands have set up factories to produce or assemble their vehicles. I fail to understand why Skoda alone has created an image of high maintenance costs due to expensive spare parts and service costs. I can guess that it could be due to many factors like insincere dealerships, import costs, availability, incompatibility to Indian conditions and perhaps misplaced pricing strategy. I suggest you work to reduce the cost of spare parts by increasing localization, better pricing strategy and increasing the transparency on the costs.
I hope you find this email in good spirit and move to address the concerns I have raised for the benefit of your company and its stockholders. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
*************
Chennai
India

-Prompt reply from Skoda AD GmBH-
from sks.service@skoda-auto.cz
to ****************
date Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 1:51 PM
subject Skoda Auto in India

hide details 7/19/10

Dear Mr. *******,


Through our INFO-LINE we have received your below said e-mail.

We regret to learn that your matter did not come up to a satisfactory solution so far. We understand your disappointment and
dissatisfaction concerned.

We would like to inform you that there is our representative in your country - company Skoda Auto India Private Limited (SAIPL)
which is also fully independent Skoda cars manufacturer in India and is fully responsible for handling with customer claims and
requests of Indian customers. Therefore we would like to provide you with their contact details as follows:

SKODA AUTO India Pvt. Ltd.
Plot No. A-1/1, Shendra, Five Star Industrial Area, M.I.D.C., Tq. & Dist. Aurangabad, 431 201
Website: ?koda India ?koda Auto -
phone +91 240 6631 111 /222/333
customercare@skoda-auto.co.in


Nevertheless, as we are always interested in satisfaction of each Skoda brand customer, in order to improve the current
situation we have immediately forwarded your e-mail to SAIPL Customer Care colleagues and asked them to take an immediate action
to settle this issue.

We hope the situation will improve soon and you will become a happy customer of Skoda brand.

Thank you for your kind patience you have shown so far.


Regards,

Ing. Alexander Pelikán | PST - Péče o zákazníka, Customer Care
ŠKODA AUTO a.s. | V. Klementa 869 | 293 60 Mladá Boleslav | Czech Republic
sks.service@skoda-auto.cz | Úvodní stránka - ?KODA Auto ?eská republika | Homepage ?koda Auto -
Škoda - Simply clever.

Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Prosím, zvažte dopad na životní prostředí před tiskem tohoto mailu.

-My last reply to Skoda, after booking my Cruze-
from [Offline] ************
to sks.service@skoda-auto.cz
date Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 1:22 AM
subject Re: Skoda Auto in India
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 7/21/10

Dear Ing. Alexander Pelikán,

I have known Skoda to be a reputed manufacturer even before you setup shop in India when I learned how in WW2 the Germans, proud as they are about their engineering prowess, were extremely impressed with the Skoda made LT vz 38 tank and used it in place of their own machines as the Panzer 38[t]. And later on the same chassis was used to build an excellent tank destroyer, the Hetzer.

Please continue with your product line similar to the Octavia Rider 1.9 TDi model. It is an excellent made-for-India commuter. The only draw back as I stated in the previous mail is the bad publicity from dealership scandals, spare parts and service cost. Now in India the general word of mouth regarding Skoda is "High maintenance cost!". An example of where this will lead to is Fiat with their first attempt in India. I am sure you/your Indian representative company are aware and efforts are being made to fix this issue. I wish you all the best in that. I will follow up with SAIPL with my feedback if needed. Thank you for your prompt response.

Regards,
**********
Chennai
India
-End of mail chain-

Last edited by SedatedDrive : 21st September 2011 at 23:54.
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Old 22nd September 2011, 00:08   #24
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

A december 2010 car is enough reason to not take delivery of the car. Fender bender be damned.
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Old 22nd September 2011, 00:36   #25
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

The area you posted in the pics has severe orange peel! This is possible only if the fender was painted at the dealer's bodyshop!

The paintbooth guy who did the job realized that he forgot to wetsand it before compounding and polishing!

NO amount of polish or buffing or wax will solve it! Since its a new car, see that you get it replaced with another one! Seriously, if they're trying to wax and buff it with the hope of removing it, they know nothing about the paint!

Seems like dealership messed it up while moving it around!
And saying that,"it wont affect performance" is like a WTH statement!(at least for me it would be!)

You can buy a paint thickness gauge, but its quite expensive and can easily detect repainted areas! dealerships dont usually keep it as their 'paint' department's sole purpose is to spray and deliver! Perfection has long been trashed!

Just for info - Orange peel is term we use for that (rough)texture you are seeing on the paint surface, causing haziness and lack of reflection. On a repainted car, it has to be wetsanded to flatten out the texture and then compounded and polished to bring out perfect distinction of image!
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Old 22nd September 2011, 01:09   #26
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

These guys are just plain cheats. If I were you, I would straight away drag them to court for selling an accidental car. With the manufacturing dates of the doors different (wow - wonder how u found that), its an open and shut case in my limited understanding.

But this is seriously crazy. Just goes to show how you can trust no one in this business, and definitely not Skoda.
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Old 22nd September 2011, 01:31   #27
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Very sad to hear the story LBM

but i seriously dont know how can you guys do this when the whole community knows about Skoda horror stories.

Whats the use of VIN encoding threads, PDI checlist threads when you guys keep repeating the same mistakes.

And its a shame for Skoda india that they can tolerate such dealers.
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Old 22nd September 2011, 01:57   #28
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Great move with the legal notice LBM.. Skoda does deserve to be taught a lesson that we as customer are not gullible !
And this case proves or speculates that Skoda India itself is involved in passing on faulty cars and tarnishing their brand just for the sake of increasing sales and revenue !
Do keep us updated !
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Old 22nd September 2011, 08:18   #29
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Really sorry to hear about this, LBM. Best of luck with the legal notice. Its really pathetic that we have to double-guess the intentions of the dealer on every single interaction that we have with them. Takes you back to when adulteration was a concern with everything we used to buy at the kirana shop. Corporatization brought some benefits there, at least. Here, its always been corporatized.

Quote:
Originally Posted by simply_sunny001 View Post
Very sad to hear the story LBM

but i seriously dont know how can you guys do this when the whole community knows about Skoda horror stories.

Whats the use of VIN encoding threads, PDI checlist threads when you guys keep repeating the same mistakes.

And its a shame for Skoda india that they can tolerate such dealers.
Its stupid, I agree, but its continuing to happen. Am a recent member here, and to be honest, I wasn't aware of the importance of PDI until I saw this thread.

Unfortunately, my car is already in the registration process. The only checks I can do now are at the dealer before I actually accept the car. Of course, I will do that. Hope thats not too little, too late.
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Old 22nd September 2011, 08:51   #30
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Re: Another Laura TSi thread..But got an accidental car instead !!!

Dear LBM Sir, I am very sorry to hear about your experience. No one here can imagine the frustration and pain you must be going through. Also, kudos to your courage to fight it the legal way; not many take this route.

1. Why am I not surprised hearing this news about Skoda?
2. One reason to hate Skoda. Numerous horror stories to attest. One doesn't have to look beyond team-bhp.com for them.
3. I speak at length to my friends about how well built and engineered a car Skoda is. I only spend five minutes at the end telling horror tales. I quote the example of a forged signature and stealing genuine parts.
4. I have lauded and hailed the Yeti. The Yeti is one compact SUV which can change the game in the segment and very well become a market leader in the segment. But shame on you Skoda (Auto India Pvt. Ltd.), you're letting good engineering go down the drain.

Dear LBM Sir, I suggest you get your vehicle inspected by a qualified engineer from some other garage (Bosch?) for any mechanical "surprises" and "suspicious" parts.

I pray and wish you all the best on your legal battle.
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