[Sheel]

Dealers do know of this fraud. I had called up a Calcutta 2 wheeler dealer and on saying that I will be carrying a Demand Draft, the person on phone, politely did tell me that, I would have to wait for delivery till the DD isn't remitted. RTGS wasn't an option then.

I would like to know as to where & how are the cars disposed at.

[VW2010]

He is like a catch me if you can hero for me. For some strange reason i look at him as a hero. Sorry about that but if he could do it multiple times he is a master of doing this and has the sales and marketing skill to convince the dealers.

To me a great consultant

Regarding dealers. They are just plainly stupid to not have any control over payment and delivery.

[hserus]

The easiest way especially if he buys innovas etc is to drive it away to the small towns or villages especially across a state border, put a fake number plate on it and ride it on the highways and within small towns where the police are not as coordinated / linked to computerized databases of vehicles stolen in some other state etc.

[swathyd]

First time in Indian automobile history a person has cheated a dealer. kudos to him as dealer stock might have learned a lesson that customers can also cheat, not just them. Cheating at least is not monopolised.

[CivicheadUAE]

Well, a classic case of a fraudster taking advantage of the lack of internal controls in a dealership. This must be a well thought of and well perpetrated fraud with someone from the "inside", else this is very tough to pull off. The dealer should definitely make an internal investigation on this as well.

Don't know about the rules in other states, but in Chennai, one cannot drive out an unregistered car from the dealership (my personal experience with dad's car purchase). And all this takes atleast 2 working days (even if you are paying full cash, card, DD etc.)

[ajitstreet]

Originally Posted by swathyd

First time in Indian automobile history a person has cheated a dealer. kudos to him as dealer stock might have learned a lesson that customers can also cheat, not just them. Cheating at least is not monopolised.

Well, on a lighter note, this is OK. But just think what harm the fraudster must be doing! If he has been doing it repeatedly ( as discussed earlier), he must be selling these cars in the black market, most probably in rural areas and by doing this, must be making many partners in his crime! Many other criminal use of such cars are also possible. Secondly, painting all dealers as cheats is plain stereotyping.

[tanuj_afc]

The mistake here is not done by the salesperson, it is done by the dealerships and there policies. Every dealership has the rule that they may not release the car, until the full payment is done. So why don't the dealerships encash the DD before and then let the delivery happen.

But, every dealership targets fast and quick processes when it comes to delivery. This is the reason of the dealerships keeping the DD and not encashing it until later

[WorkingGuru]

Dunno why, off-late I've grown to have a serious dislike for these Jhola-carrying people. (To me) Looks like a crook by his face only.

Face alone can be insufficient for many to recognize, if you've got CCTV footage, share so that people can make out by his body language. Somehow I feel that also is relevant.

With high value items & being exposed to all kinds of people / 'customers', I believe most dealers must start keeping a cop on standby at their premises. They're often intuitively able to make out who is a crook by the way they behave.

Also, once I saw a customer with a horrible attitude misbehaving simply. Then realized why sales representatives can't cater to us enthusiasts (they're worn out by the time they get to us after dealing with these people).

Originally Posted by hserus

The easiest way especially if he buys innovas etc is to drive it away to the small towns or villages especially across a state border, put a fake number plate on it and ride it on the highways and within small towns where the police are not as coordinated / linked to computerized databases of vehicles stolen in some other state etc.

Or, It can even possibly get dismantled at small garages & sold in parts to grey/taxi market.

Originally Posted by allien936

Exactly.This is the dealer's fault. Should encash the DD first.Now the dealer will blame it on the sales executive. Throw him/her out of the job.

What, dealer losing 9-10Lakhs because of sales mans' mistake is OK ? Whatever the 'specified' process, sales guys can't shrug responsibility & be imprudent.

IMO it's not very unreasonable if he actually lost the job.

[Ricky_63]

I read through this thread, and do not understand why a DD / banker's cheque is considered antiquated!

Maybe we all are not so tech savvy - and given the man's age, I would be suspicious if he talked to wire transfer!

All modes of payment are current - cheque / DD / Banker's cheque / RTGS / and what have you....

I bought a car this month against a cheque and got delivery the next day. The dealer knew me but yes he did give me the car.

Enough said - this swindler will be caught soon enough given the fact that his "pan india operation" is in the news as is his picture

[vivekgk]

This thief has cleverly used his age to his advantage. A person of his age will not be considered to be a typical fraud. If he expresses mistrust in sending money via internet, they won't doubt it. If he comes in after banking hours and says he was delayed waiting for DD to be issued, no one will suspect. If he insists that the delivery be made that day itself for it being an 'auspicious day' for his family, or something like that, no one will question it, especially when they have a DD in hand for the full amount. He can say that it is a surprise gift for his son/daughter for marriage, or a million other reasons. As long as credit history checking is not implemented by dealerships, and biometric ID verification is made mandatory, such frauds will continue somewhere else.

Car sales is a highly service oriented industry, and one is exposed to all kinds of people, and soon learns not to judge books by their cover. The clever ones learn to read the book by seeing through the covers, but that's another discussion. Point is, for every fraud like this, there will be a hundred legitimate cases with a similar lok and similar situation.

Institutions that deal in high value commodities must start investing in credit report verification facility (CIBIL) and banks must offer facility to authenticate instruments such as DDs and Cheques issued by them online.

[Leoshashi]

After reading this old man's misadventures, I am simply

On a funnier note, we got ourselves home a brand new i20 without any paperwork. . The dealer was known to my dad, and he gave us a new car, took our old Swift and there was absolutely no paperwork on the date of delivery. All the paperwork and pending amount formalities were done the next day.

Ours was a slightly different case, as the dealer was known to us. But I know of cases where dealer in his excitement to push another car has fallen victim to such thieves. Its high time people start delivering cars only after the entire amount gets reflected in their bank accounts.
Until then, cases like these will continue to happen.

Regards,
Shashi

[hserus]

Does he always strike at the end of a month / quarter / year when sales people are under pressure to boost sales and make their quotas, to get their incentive? That would explain why many sensible controls are bypassed with a "make the sale and do the paperwork later" type approach.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Coming to that conman, he looks too shabby to take a delivery of an Ecosport, and how can people do this at his age.

Dear Akshay

Let me relate a small actual story.
I visited the Ford showroom about 3 years back when I wanted to change my Ikon and wanted to check the Classic and Figo.

In comes a middle aged gentleman in very shabby clothes( Aligarhi Payjamas and a white Kurta, wearing a Gandhi cap).
Mind you, the clothing was pretty dirty and you could easily make out that the same had not been washed for a couple of wears!!

He was carrying a plastic bag(ones we normally use for shopping vegetables/meat).

As expected, the showroom did not really pay heed to his existence till the time he enquired about the Endeavour.

Everyone started now!!

He spoke to a Sales Exec. who immediately after speaking to him, ran inside(presumably to inform his boss) all excited.

The boss comes running and offers our "so called nondescript" gentleman coffee/cold drinks or for Heaven's Sake whatever he wished!!

The white bag opened and revealed Rs. 1000/- notes neatly stacked in 100s.

He was shopping an "Endy" with some Rs. 25 lac cash and wearing clothes that security guards may not allow in a mall.

The point here is "Clothes do make a man" but then its always money that counts!!

By the way, the entire Endy deal happened within a span of an hour while wifey and I sat and enjoyed the show.

Felt happy after seeing a good movie for free.

Lesson learnt: Humility and Respect(for so called people who may not afford good clothes for whatever reason!!)

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

Dude - I have seen farmers walking into premium car showrooms with bags of cash and wanting to drive out with cars. Farmers and land owners in areas such as Gurgaon, Panvel and Sanand have minted so much money that a lot of us can only dream of.

@ Avdesh
I agree to your views completely!!

[hserus]

This is going to change - I mean the shabbily dressed people walking into a dealership and going off with a 2.5 lakh home entertainment system, 25 lakh car or whatever all paid with cash taken from a jhola bag.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/UkF...s-revenue.html

In fact I think that PAN card rule already has to be there. Is any verification being done? For example registration only being made in the name of the person whose PAN and other ID is given as KYC?

That will speedily drive away all the people who get rich using black money txns but dare not take the amount anywhere near a bank.

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by hserus

This is going to change - I mean the shabbily dressed people walking into a dealership and going off with a 2.5 lakh home entertainment system, 25 lakh car or whatever all paid with cash taken from a jhola bag.

In fact I think that PAN card rule already has to be there. Is any verification being done? For example registration only being made in the name of the person whose PAN and other ID is given as KYC?

That will speedily drive away all the people who get rich using black money txns but dare not take the amount anywhere near a bank.

I can tell you that making PAN cards mandatory won't stop cash transactions. Some people like me prefer paying in cash even though the money is fully taxed and is white money.

There is a lot of unknown mental satisfaction and happiness when you pay for something in cash. I don't get the same happiness in purchasing something when I pay through cards or internet banking.

Also, when you pay by methods other than cash, the value of money becomes notional.

I have purchased a car carrying a bag full of cash only difference from the article is that I wear trendy clothes.