[bullboy]

Ford India asked to pay Rs 75,000 to consumer for faulty car : ClubAuto.in

I got this as a post in FB page.
The consumer was given a meagre compensation considering the sufferings he went through.
Any ways its a good sign for the customers

[souravc]

Great move ! Power to the consumer
The other day there was another article of the courts stopping VW dealers from charging handling charges ( and I guess the courts also issued a summons against VW officials) and then this . All the manufacturers need to learn to respect the Indian consumers and honour warranties committed .
I find it extremely annoying when folks have to look under new cars and check hinges, rims for rusts , etc - there have been threads by owners of new fiesta, linea, optra have been delivered new cars with rust, worn out stuff . Sometimes i feel that we have debased lakhs so much that even the dealer thinks that its small change so why make the effort of satisfying a customer - my personal experience with VW dealers was a case in point where the consumer was in complete mercy of those morons .
Its great that we are now having quite a few precedents of consumer rights being upheld - hope such activism would be on the rise going forward.

[tsk1979]

Great move for Ford I will say. If Ford uses "Pinto Analysis" here, the learnings are that instead of fixing stuff, its better to go to court.

[DevilsCry]

Yeah, this is actually a better news for Ford than for consumers. Six years of mental agony while fighting for the case resulting in meager 75k compensate. No idea what happened to the customer's 5 lac car. This discourages public to approach courts. This will hardly impact Ford's sale. I, for example, myself went and bought a Ford Figo even with all those Ford horror stories.

This outcome of the case is also the reason, when I had problem with my F.A.S.S., instead of running to consumer court, I simply chose to use a different F.A.S.S. next time. Sorry if I sounded demotivating but I really don't see how we can fight a company in case of a fault from their side.

[mayankjha1806]

75K for a defective car and no replacement is not good. Ford should have been asked to refund the cost of the car or replace the car plus 75K for mental agony. That would have been a just judgement.

Indian express clearly states that the forum rejected the customers demand to either refund or replace the car.

[samarjitdhar]

The truth about all consumer courts and our judiciary system is it has been severely understaffed for years by deliberate design. If one crunched the nos. every year in the budget presented by successive FMs it wouldn't take a lot of brains to understand that the money allocated for the judiciary is a pittance. One of the topmost reasons India is in shambles, one of the root cause of corruption. Consumer courts are even worse, I sometimes wonder how the lawyers even get paid there. The case in point about the sorry tale of the Skoda owner on TBHP where hearings dont happen properly because of shortage of staff. Its silly for this nation to claim that we are doing so well economically where we cannot guarantee the fundamental rights of our own citizens.

[Durango Dude]

75K=chicken feed/peanuts/what ever one decides to call it. Just as TSK has said the auto co's will be more than happy to go to court than set the problem right.

[arun_josie]

This is not a good sign at all for the customers. Now even other manufacturers will be encouraged to go to court when there is a faulty product. For a faulty product, No replacement! No refund! this is not the way to go. Not sure how this customer managed to live with this car for 6 long years.

On a other note it was good to see Maruti replacing a faulty Swift ZDI. Issues might be different but still Maruti decided to close the issue outside court.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-replaced.html

[mac187]

This is just not right 75k after 5 years! With past few example, I was thinking that consumer courts are getting better but this has just undone all the good work done by previous courts.

[carwatcher]

IMHO we shouldn't blame court, Ford and Customer for the current law and order situation of our country. They are just following whatever they are told to do. The politicians are to blame for that and any voice doing the same is silenced (read Anna Hazare) in a systematic manner by media, administration and politicians. Can anyone tell how much rules have been changed regarding driving related offences (not amount of fines) and consumer protection in past few years and are likely to change if the current govt. is brought back to power. Aren't these rules are hugely in the favour of the rich who ultimately control the govt, its as simple as that.
At the same time consumers also are no saints, they want the best products at lowest possible prices, want replacement of the whole car for any smallest niggle and wouldn't like to adhere to guidances by manufacturer's or governments. As the law has to handle all kind of consumers equally, its bound to inconvenience some and benefit some. As I have posted somewhere else and I would repeat again it here that in India the business is done in this manner, "Either we will screw you or you screw us, we both can't be happy at the same time, and in case of dispute the gov't will screw both." Be it banks, mobile cos, car dealers, airlines and what not.

[arin_12]

I think Court should have given more punishment order to Ford not just only 75 K. May be a full replacement of the car. Court need to set some example to the Manudfacturer so that they should not take customer as a ride !!!
In our country politician,law maker Industrilist all are in same boat. Only Aam Admi is in trouble and getting all the blow.

[download2live]

Another "India shining" example.
Fight a case in court for years on and get 75k.
Well done.

Shashi Tharoor was not very much off the mark when he used "Cattle Class" word.
We "common people" are the cattle. Getting milked.

[GTO]

Guys,

Most people know that going to Indian courts is not so much about getting compensation, as it is about setting a precedent....an example. Whether he is happy with the 75K or not, he did win the case & its appeal; that is a big blow to Ford. No manufacturer will be happy with the outcome, primarily due to the negative publicity.

BTW, I do think 75K is a good amount for the "troubles* his car suffered from.

- Central locking system

- Brake issue (seemed minor)

- Car broke down once (reason unknown)

- Rear side glass broke (hardly a problem)

I agree with the court judgement. These certainly aren't grounds for a full refund or replacement of the car. 75K is a very reasonable amount for these issues.

My congratulations to the car owner!

[ghodlur]

Happy for the Ford owner after the landmark judgment. Feel sorry for the guy to have borne the issues for a long time but appreciate his patience which was finally rewarded.

BTW any idea which Ford car was that which could have been bought for 4.95L in 2004?

[DevilsCry]

I still don't agree fully with GTO. "Negative publicity"? I didn't see this news on newspapers. I might have missed it but common man would hardly care. Ford will still thrive to sell like this never happened, just like Skoda whose Rapid is outselling Vento (am I correct?) and Hyundai i20 keeps selling even after the steering and AC problem. But yeah, I've to accept that one should praise the court and the owner since the result is morally correct. Even the amount of money is correct.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

BTW any idea which Ford car was that which could have been bought for 4.95L in 2004?

How can you, a Ford owner, forget Ikon Flair?