[Chetan_Rao]

I won't suggest not buying the car you want because of one idiot salesman, but definitely consider taking your business to another NEXA outlet (if another exists) if having a Baleno is non-negotiable.

Don't forget to inform your current dealer of your decision and why you made it. A lost sale is a lost sale, best-seller or not, and it's bound to sting.

P.S. This is a business transaction so nobody's doing anyone a favor. If anyone holds the cards here, it's YOU being the paying customer. Worst case scenario, don't be averse to walking away. You're paying hard-earned money and are entitled to be treated respectfully.

[HillyThar]

Originally Posted by bullrun87

I think you should write a big email clearly mentioning how your FIL was mistreated for simply asking a test drive. Do post it on FB nexa page too. Why would a customer buy a car without a test drive? If Maruti as a policy have chosen not to offer test drives for automatics then they should clearly tell us. It does not matter whether the sales rep is the best they have, he has no right to be a smart alec and mistreat a senior citizen.

Agree, I have posted the same information on their Facebook page, and will wait to see if there is any official reaction to it in the next day or two, else will need to send some emails as well. I hope taking this public doesn't impact the booking as a kind of retribution from the dealer, thats what my wife is fearing.

[bullrun87]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Don't forget to inform your current dealer of your decision and why you made it. A lost sale is a lost sale, best-seller or not, and it's bound to sting.

Originally Posted by HillyThar

Agree, I have posted the same information on their Facebook page, and will wait to see if there is any official reaction to it in the next day or two, else will need to send some emails as well. I hope taking this public doesn't impact the booking as a kind of retribution from the dealer, thats what my wife is fearing.

Originally Posted by HillyThar

I hope taking this public doesn't impact the booking as a kind of retribution from the dealer, thats what my wife is fearing.

Is the waiting list for the car managed by the dealer or by Nexa at HQ? How far down the waiting list are you? If possible you could look at what Chetan rao suggests. I am sure Nexa / dealer would want to settle this amicably rather than further escalating it and risking to antagonize their customer further.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by HillyThar

My 70 yr old father in law had booked a Baleno Delta with Nexa Chandigarh, we were trying to convince him to shift to an automatic....Finally today, the customer rep had the galls to say this to my FIL - 'If you want to test drive an automatic why don't you buy a BMW or an Audi?, we don't do a test drive of the automatic.'
...
So, what is the recourse here? Any tips or pointers really appreciated.

Please send an email to Maruti customer care & CC the Nexa branch too. I insist that you take the name of the SA as well as the manager if they didn't extend an apology. Follow up with the Regional sales office too - the contact details are in Maruti's website. Don't let it die down, these guys have the balls to do it because no one has taken them to task.

Originally Posted by HillyThar

....I hope taking this public doesn't impact the booking as a kind of retribution from the dealer, thats what my wife is fearing.

Sorry, this is the most annoying part of the whole incident. Is the car & booking more important to you / wife than your FIL / Dad?! A car is just a means of transportation and you can buy another product or the same product from another dealer.

[HillyThar]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Sorry, this is the most annoying part of the whole incident. Is the car & booking more important to you / wife than your FIL / Dad?! A car is just a means of transportation and you can buy another product or the same product from another dealer.

It is annoying to me as well, but its a realistic fear. What if the regional office or the dealer decides to screw with your happiness and simply delay your delivery, and keep delaying it?

We are not people with 'approach' for whom things can be resolved with one phone call, and its not just a means of transport for someone who is upgrading from a 2001 model Zen. The car was shortlisted after research of a few months, and a lot of emotional investment has gone into it, besides the financial commitment. It will be a different situation from someone who changes their cars every 3-5 years or has multiple vehicles.

Yes, a similar product can be bought of course, and we have posted at a few places publicly, hopefully this can be resolved and the booking moves ahead.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by HillyThar

We are not people with 'approach' for whom things can be resolved with one phone call

Most of us are the same type, but we still are masters of our own dignity, aren't we?

its not just a means of transport for someone who is upgrading from a 2001 model Zen.....

...... and a lot of emotional investment has gone into it, besides the financial commitment.....

All the more reason you shouldn't take this lying down.

Consider this. Someone who treats a car as A-B transport probably won't care as much, but an emotionally invested owner will never forget what he was made to go through for his prized possession. Humans have long memories, and you'll probably remember this as long as you have the car.

Not buying what you want for reasons external to the product itself is never a good decision, but you really shouldn't buy it in the wrong frame of mind either.

Try to resolve the situation, insist on a formal apology to the old gentleman and worst case scenario, take your business elsewhere. Maruti can possibly move your booking to another dealer if you insist.

Love your posessions, but at the cost of your dignity? Your choice to make.

[HillyThar]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Most of us are the same type, but we still are masters of our own dignity, aren't we?

All the more reason you shouldn't take this lying down.

Try to resolve the situation, insist on a formal apology to the old gentleman and worst case scenario, take your business elsewhere. Maruti can possibly move your booking to another dealer if you insist.

Love your posessions, but at the cost of your dignity? Your choice to make.

Hi Chetan, we are not taking it lying down at all, my FIL got a grudging formal apology from the sales rep today, who still insists that he never mentioned BMW or Audi. They are also arranging for a test drive of the automatic.

In the meanwhile, Nexa Mohali does have an automatic available for a test drive, so my FIL is testing it out today and if their attitude is better will shift the booking to Nexa Mohali, might be doing that in any case.

There has been no response from Maruti on their Nexa Facebook page as yet though, and they certainly haven't heard the last of it.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by HillyThar

...We are not people with 'approach' for whom things can be resolved with one phone call, and its not just a means of transport for someone who is upgrading from a 2001 model Zen....

I am a very ordinary citizen without any connections to make something work for me. But I wouldn't tolerate something like this for the sake of a 'car'. My self esteem is more important for me than buying whatever products I am crazy about. But then, you are rightful to have a different approach.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Most of us are the same type, but we still are masters of our own dignity, aren't we?...
.
Love your posessions, but at the cost of your dignity? Your choice to make.

What a beautiful way to sum it up!

Originally Posted by HillyThar

....In the meanwhile, Nexa Mohali does have an automatic available for a test drive, so my FIL is testing it out today and if their attitude is better will shift the booking to Nexa Mohali, might be doing that in any case...

Happy to see something working out for you. I personally don't find any reason for you to stick to the old dealer now. Those who don't respect you don't get your money. Alternately, those who respect you gets the business. Hope you get the drift.

[King_pin09]

Originally Posted by arch_hornet

Absolutely agree with this. A premium car should be seen as one on the roads as well. With the same badging on a Baleno and on a Swift, I for one wouldn't feel anything premium if I owned the Baleno. A different badge/brand marketing the cars sold by NEXA would probably have helped.

Well I agree with your opinion to some extent, but not in entirety.

The cars marketed through NEXA are mildly distinguished from those marketed through regular M-S outlets, and it can be seen on the outside. A careful look at the rear end would reveal that the NEXA cars (S-Cross and the Baleno, so far) carry only the Suzuki logo and the model name whereas the regular M-S cars(including the Ciaz) carry the name “Maruti Suzuki” as well, on the boot lid.

I must admit that this difference is subtle and in most cases does go unnoticed for unsuspecting eyes.

[awini]

Hahaha the more things change, the more they remain the same. This is almost exactly what happened to me eight years ago when I wanted to buy a Vitara. Which at the time was their most expensive model. The guy at the dealer went one step further, after keeping me waiting for 20 minutes as he as attending to an earlier enquiry, he told me to come back the next day as it was almost closing time. In any case if I wanted a Vitara, I could only test the manual, that too by appointment since there was a huge demand for the car. Lol

Naturally I never entered a Maruti dealership again, and have influenced friends and family to steer the sales of at least 15 cars away from them.
I bought a CRV instead which I still have and is going strong. Absolutely no regrets on not buying the Vitara.

[RocketRaccoon]

Originally Posted by HillyThar

if their attitude is better will shift the booking to Nexa Mohali

I think you should definitely move your business to another dealer. Unless the dealership faces a quantifiable number as a repercussion of the executive's immoral actions, both will not learn a lesson. Some sales people view their sales lead like a statistic or next 'bakra' instead of a person and these people certainly seem to fall into that category.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Love your posessions, but at the cost of your dignity? Your choice to make.

Couldn't have been said better.

Originally Posted by HillyThar

There has been no response from Maruti on their Nexa Facebook page as yet though, and they certainly haven't heard the last of it.

Any specific reason to go for the Baleno? The Figo, Jazz and Brio also have petrol automatics. While the Jazz and Figo are more expensive, you will get a lot more kit in the Figo which makes a particularly strong case for itself with the DCT and 1.5l petrol, at an additional cost of about 33k ex-showroom. There will be discounts to consider as well.

To be honest I would just walk out, book/buy another car and continue to take Maruti and the Dealership to task. They must recognise the cost of arrogance.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by VeluM

To be honest I would just walk out, book/buy another car and continue to take Maruti and the Dealership to task. They must recognise the cost of arrogance.

Very well said. Too much success and too much patronising by us Indians have made some car companies greedy and arrogant. Similarly Hyundai and Toyota would never have my money for their Creta and Innova, two supremely over-priced cars. Ok, Innova, I wouldn't buy even for its complete bland looks. I should also add over-priced Duster to the list. Renault needs to do what Ford did with Ecosport prices, else their Duster would continue to slide on sales front. Today if I am in market for a compact SUV, I would close my eyes and buy Ecosport AT. Or Brezza, if it has AMT. Both these cars are priced very well. You do not at all feel over-charged. Coming to Baleno, it is priced decently and is a looker, too. Its side profile looks like a distant relative of Volvo v40.

[PrasannaDhana]

Nexa opens its first outlet in my city- Trichy!
The other two Maruti outlets sell 300 cars a month minimum. Now Nexa steps in. Glad that we can test drive the 1.6 DDIS.

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Nexa opens its first outlet in my city- Trichy!
The other two Maruti outlets sell 300 cars a month minimum. Now Nexa steps in. Glad that we can test drive the 1.6 DDIS.

If they had started one about 4 months ago, or even started with more than one in Chennai, I would have bought one. I wasted an entire weekend to get a test drive at Khivraj Nexa Chennai. They were acting so high and mighty that I just went ahead and booked the GT Tsi back here in Trichy.

What a car , the GT! The easiest way around town and a scream out in the highway!