I searched but could not find any related thread so created a new one. Should there be an existing appropriate thread, I request the moderators to be please merge.
One of the most talked about topics, probably on every car forum, would be the experiences at the service centers. An endless discussion on how good or bad the service centers are and the owners experiences, running into pages and pages of multiple threads. And this is just from people on the forums. Even more are discussing it, though by word of mouth and not on any forums.
Many people during their car buying stage, put varying degrees of emphasis on their experience at the showroom. There are stories written on why a car was completely ruled out only because of how they were treated at the showroom. This is fair enough, but only up to a certain point. Because one has to deal with the showroom personnel only up to the point of delivery of the car. From that point on, one is not going to set foot again in the showroom for the same car, nor does one have to deal with the staff there. In short, we bid adieu to showroom.
The Auto manufacturers feel that the showroom is the face of the company and hence there are numerous checks put in place to ensure customers are well handled.
It is the Service Centres and its attitude that one has to cope with, once the car has been delivered. And it is even more relevant these days because a lot many of us opt for the extended warranties going up to 5 years. So one is stuck to the Service centres till the warranty coverage expires. The customer’s experiences in here are what makes or breaks the brand image.
Example? walk into a Skoda showroom or a VW showroom and you will most likely be treated like a king as compared to say a Maruti showroom, but a trip to their service centres can have a vice-versa experience. Not vice-versa experience of exact proportions, but MSIL service experience would fare better. We all know what kind of reputation the Skoda’s/VW now have and what the sales numbers are for the MSIL/Hyundai’s.
Not many Auto manufacturers have fully realized this, but they are slowly getting there. Raise a complain to them about bad your showroom experience was and see how seriously it is taken by them (people seldom spend time on raising a complain though), as compared to your bad experience at the service centre (yeah, we all know how bad an experience it can prove to be). Different manufacturers are at different levels on the A.S.S. satisfaction scale, but I feel no one is “there” yet. We benchmark Maruti & Hyundai and compare the rest to them but they aren't benchmarks. We just use the percentile method for comparison and I would like to say - we start quite low.
So in their process of “slowly getting there” and “emphasis on increased customer satisfaction”, what amazes and confuses me is why hasn’t even a single manufacturer come up with the idea of a Company Owned and Company Operated (COCO) service center? They are in a better position to afford a preferred location, train staff, stock parts and resolve complex situations arising every now and then. In short they can afford a customer centric approach. We have seen COCO showrooms though, but I haven’t heard COCO A.S.S . If there are, then I have not heard of it ever.
Ok. I get it that then the private parties operating their showrooms will suffer in the service centre business and may opt out. But look at the apathy of the Skoda’s, Fiat’s & Nissan’s to quote a few. Dwindling sales + Service centers closing down. They aren’t getting anything from their Private operators. Take the example of
Mumbai & the Nissan service centers shutting down and new one’s popping up every now and then. You are not sure where to take your car by the time next service is due. Why should someone buy a car when the service centre is 2-3 hours away, and also when there exists no certainty of the capability of the service centre? Same applies to Fiat’s in Pune (and maybe Mumbai, but this I am not sure). And these are Tier-I & II cities.
Also not everyone will be opting for the COCO service centers. This in turn necessitates the private operators to increase their standards.
Most sales would be generated from Tier-I & II cities and if the Manufacturers decide to have a COCO service centers in the Metros plus the Tier II cities, would it not do wonders for them?
So I put out my question again. Why do we not have any Company Owned & Operated service centers. I am sure the idea must have popped up with the companies. What stops them from doing so?