[richie4u]

The news about Salman's RR breakdown has shown up in almost all PG3,entertainment and other pages of the local newspapers here in Goa and I'd be sure to say the same in other states too, the damage has been done cause the last time I had a discussion with a good friend of mine who is an RR fan and was supposed to go for an Evoque is now thinking of checking other options as well. He says "If a celebrity is treated this way, what will happen to a regular person who will not be even looked at if such a problem arises with his vehicle after spending 50-60 big ones", so guess what Tata/JLR the more you make excuses, the deeper is the grave that you're digging for your own-self!

[samyboy]

For a common man like me the question is, if these JLR can not even take care of a high profile client like Mr. Khan.. I stand no chance if something goes wrong. This conclusion is very damaging for a company. They should have done far better to keep their image clean.

[GrammarNazi]

Cars, IMO are a very personal possession and people get quite upset if they're facing issues, thus being hurt personally, we often resort to social media.

I find it quite candid of Salman to post it as a layman / a regular customer would. Infact, there'd be nothing more shameful if he had to interact with them anymore beyond the regular channel coz it could very well be mistaken as him throwing his weight around.

Again, since the nature of product is such that people resort to social media, I believe, rather than simply referring people to CustomerCare@xyz.com, auto-companies should extend themselves further to interact & help solve issues. While some people are just incorrigible, most IMO would happily take to resolving the issues.

Also, if Salman was endorsing another luxury CAR, then I would've questioned his intentions, but as its not so, hence I believe he should get full benefit of doubt (if any).

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

These are not cars that you arrive on, these are cars which make you look that you have arrived in life.

P.S. An Audi Q7 customer isnt a Range Rover customer. They are world's apart.

Not sure if that is true, again it depends on one's point of view. I would agree that I would expect Range Rover customers to be very different from Audi Q7 customers.

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

That's what you & me know as informed netizens, but, do you think all others across the globe know & understand the same... why would there had been so many issues, riots, problems, lust driven holy men, etc everywhere. & this gullibility of common people is what is being exploited by these companies.

Apparently, I'm not that well informed because I had never heard of the word netizens> So I looked it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netizen

Sounds pretty nerdy to me!

Also, I wouldn't go as far as positioning buying a particular car in the same league as riots or lust driven holy men.

Even though I don't understand why someone would buy a particular car because a celebrity endorsed it, or because a certain car has an aura of "having arrived" (whatever that means) it doesn't mean they are bad choices, or bad criteria. Whatever you purchase should be "fit for purpose". If your purpose is to be seen as having arrived, you might want to buy a particular car. Its a perfectly valid criteria. I think it's stupid, but obviously its relevant for the person in question and therefor entirely appropriate.

My daughter wants a mini or a Fiat 500 because, they're cute. That's all. She couldn't care less on any other criteria. Cute is fine for her. Again, I don't get it, but that doesn't make her criteria less/worse then mine.

Originally Posted by MaserQ

Audi can land a coup of sorts if they can sign him on to endorse their cars, especially the big, bad Q7.

I agree, That Q7 is awful, it sets a new standard in bad taste!

Jeroen

[PPS]

Originally Posted by MaserQ

Audi can land a coup of sorts if they can sign him on to endorse their cars, especially the big, bad Q7.

He did promote Audi at an event. I think during the release of his movie 'Bodyguard' he was posing with the Q7, don't remember clearly if he was gifted one as well!

[TheARUN]

This is understandable, Salman grew up with Toyotas, any picture I have seen of him had him either in a Land Cruiser or Lexus 470, moving over to Land Rover, I think these are teething problems, whatever the problems, the Range Rover is clearly worth it from every angle. Only wish Tata start assembling them all here to improve their cars and also get the price of the Ranger Rover to VFM levels

[vij]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Apparently that is how it works. i just dont understand why it would give credibility. These celebrity are unlikely to do this for free. He must be getting paid for it, or gets a big fat discount. If anything he aint doing if for free! So what makes it special then. I call it naive, but then again it's probably just human nature at work here. People think its cool to own the same car as some celebrity. I'd say its lack of autonomous thought and behavior.

Jeroen

As someone who has spent lakhs on advertising(other forms though), let me tell you advertising on TV with celebrities isnt just about getting someone to buy immediately because a celebrity bought. Its the exposure... Brand building is about being everywhere and make an impression that lasts and that's what these celebrities provide. They get noticed, talked and written about. Immediate impact helps too ofcourse.

When you think about it, brand building is simple if you have the money. You can transform a new product into a brand in 6 months
1. You occupy the billboards(Being everywhere)
2. Have consistent ads on TV (its on TV, being everywhere)
3. Get a celebrity to talk about it (lasting impression)
4. Online advertising - adwords, forum ads etc
5. Release consistent Press releases
6. Get featured in magazines, newspaper, news. This could happen naturally if you have a celebrity endorsing you.


Basically, when you see something all the time, it becomes a brand. Pepsi was a bigger than Coke in India when it was everywhere and it dulled when it stopped being everywhere.

[KSH7777]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

Why the hype ??! Just because he is Salman Khan ? What about the cases of normal people getting lemons when they buy Audis and Mercs ?
Such incidents do happen with cars ranging from Audis,Mercs,Beemers although they may not be film stars but general public and we are quite aware of all of them.

Salman Khan fans I'm sorry, but I do not think that just by relying on an anger-driven tweet, one can abase a legendary product.
And it is never that, if a guy owns a fleet of exotics he has the technical knowledge of it too. (which applies to most of Bollywood actors).

Has anyone ever read Salman's tweets ? If you want the most irrelevant, jumbled and self-confused tweets then just read them. One can hardly understand the English which he writes, and the meaning of his tweets.

I don't know about others but I am the last person to rely on such tweets.

Moreover, I don't think RR would risk their name by treating the car of a celebrity of his stature in a careless manner.
There's much more to the story than meets the eye.

-Bhargav

LEGENDARY ? Jaguar and RR are legendary in terms of their breakdowns/niggles. I am not a Salman Khan die-hard fan but i do know that he owns a lot of fancy rides including Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc. According to you if such issues keep on happening with these class of cars, he would have been cribbing about the other auto makers as well on these social networking websites but have u seen Salman writing/saying against Audi/BMW/Mercedes ?

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by KSH7777

......., he would have been cribbing about the other auto makers as well on these social networking websites but have u seen Salman writing/saying against Audi/BMW/Mercedes ?

That doesn't exonerate German trio. Just because Salman has not written about the trio does not mean the trio is trouble free. Salman may not have written about the trio but several other have. Others word should matter eqaully.

There is a thread started about the same time about Hyundai Santa Fe problems but the posts there stopped at 5. And this one is into 6th page. Since the Santa Fe guy is no celebrity, people just seem to have ignored him.

[vij]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

That doesn't exonerate German trio. Just because Salman has not written about the trio does not mean the trio is trouble free. Salman may not have written about the trio but several other have. Others word should matter eqaully.

There is a thread started about the same time about Hyundai Santa Fe problems but the posts there stopped at 5. And this one is into 6th page. Since the Santa Fe guy is no celebrity, people just seem to have ignored him.

The reach is not the same but the selective impact is similar.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by KSH7777

LEGENDARY ? Jaguar and RR are legendary in terms of their breakdowns/niggles.?

Interestingly enough Jaguar and to some extent RR have been doing extremely well in the western JD Powell Surveys, Jaguar is consistenly in the very top. The survery measure overall satisfaction, ranging from handling, breakdown, how the dealer treats you, after sales service etc.

Seems to be a bit different in India though.

There are two things I am completely oblivous too because has no interest to me what so ever: One is sports the other one is celebrities. Although we do go to the movies, it is very limited to Western movies, not being able to understand Hindi is a somewhat limiting factor. Even so, I can't even tell you much about western celebrities. Went to a movie yesterday, no idea who was in it.

But I was surprised to see in today's issue of "the Economic Times" a so called Times Celebex. It is a monthly rating index, based on several measurable parameters including the star's box office performance, their ability to stay in the news, brand endorsement, popularity among fans on internet and social media

This Salman chap comes number two in the month male actor ranking. Question remains, what does he know about cars.

Jeroen

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Interestingly enough Jaguar and to some extent RR have been doing extremely well in the western JD Powell Surveys, Jaguar is consistenly in the very top. The survery measure overall satisfaction, ranging from handling, breakdown, how the dealer treats you, after sales service etc.

Seems to be a bit different in India though.

Jeroen

I think its also got to do with the way the service team handles the complaint. My cousin's XJ has been riddled with problems since the last two years having visited the garage at least 10 times. The guys at the service center have handled him very politely and nicely every time and sent a replacement XJ for him to use while his car is being looked into. Even though he is paying a huge amount for the repairs, he is a kind of customer who does not have time to take up the issue with JLR. Just pay up and move on and make a mental note to not buy a JLR product next time.

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

This Salman chap comes number two in the month male actor ranking. Question remains, what does he know about cars.

Jeroen

Good question, but apparently he seems to know sufficiently to be aware that 9 brake pads changes in a period of 18 months doesn't seem right.

What is appalling is the response JLR has given him (twice), that such wear and tear and/or replacement is expected for such a heavy vehicle and that it's a 3 year old vehicle.

That's a recipe for bad PR/disaster.

[Mpower]

On a related note, Mercedes works F1 driver & celeb, Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes also broke down causing a bit of embarrassment. But I don't think he will be tweeting about it though !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...uncovered.html

Originally Posted by Jeroen

This Salman chap comes number two in the month male actor ranking. Question remains, what does he know about cars.

When the SA told him that heavy vehicles suffer from high pad-wear, he was smart and analytical enough to see through the BS and questioned that if that being the case, then do buses/planes/trains need pad changes everyday?(sarcastically of course)

That tells me he knows a little bit about not just cars ....but trains, planes, buses, general knowledge, common sense & basic physics.

Forget laymen, even many tbhpians would've fallen for it given that its coming from a service executive of a prestigious international company

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Your response can be justified more in terms of an emotional outburst from a frustrated customer rather than accuracy of content or intrinsic logic.

That's your opinion.

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Emotional compulsions regardless, the effect of just stating "Changed pads 9 times" in the above situation is to distort reality by hiding more facts than it reveals. And just in case you didnt notice it happens to be a play with words, an area in which you seem to have articulated some pretty good advice.

Now all that remains is the relatively simple matter of following that advice.

You hardly added a single material fact there.

My point is simple. If a vehicle's one pad fails the ASS should check the rest as well and change them if required. Even if we go by your hypothesis of 4 pads make a set for the vehicle and 9 changes may just be equal to 2 sets the question arises why the vehicle had to go back to the service station 9 times for the 2 set of changes in the last 1.5 years?!! For the end customer all those unnecessary technicalities are immaterial.

So now, what do you see as hiding of facts etc by the customer here?