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Old 13th October 2020, 11:20   #91
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

So untill now my dad used to take our 2011 vento tdi (125k kms) for servicing here are few things which the SA is able to convince my dad to buy (almost everytime)
1) Wax polishing- costs 3-4k (vanishes in a week)
2) Interior exterior cleaning/polishing 2-3k
3) AC disinfectant

In 2018 the car had a dent on the driver side door and had minor scratches on most of the body parts the SA convinced my dad to repaint the whole car + sell a set of Pirelli p6 . The earlier Michelin xm2's were much better than Pirelli

This takes the servicing cost from 10-12k to 18k.
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Old 13th October 2020, 11:44   #92
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

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Originally Posted by busydrive View Post
I have to admit that I have been fleeced "n" number of times with my Dzire at Maruti authorized workshops.
Anyways this is little off topic but felt can quote this experience.
I'm here to give you company as I also fall into the same category of being "fleeced" so many times. Now when I think of my Ford Ikon days, I used to cough up a lot for each service, I think like 30-40k per year and finally sold it for good. With Toyota, I'm quite surprised to see the really low bills for our
Altis, even less than what we spend for our Maruti
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Old 13th October 2020, 11:57   #93
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

I took my TUV 300 for scheduled 60k service, I am aware of stealership tactics, so first thing I did was went to "With you Hamesha" app by Mahindra and checked 60k estimate. It came to 6,633 bucks including taxes.

Then I went to Mahindra stealership and told SA not to include any extras and no water wash as well. He gave me a quotation of 6,650 bucks. I was happy and left. Soon after I received updated quote SMS and it is now 7,600 bucks. I immediately called SA and enquired why additional 1000 bucks, his response below

SA: Sir we need to add 7L of coolant, but we get 8L pack. So additional 1L you can keep in your vehicle and top-up when required.
Me: What is per litre cost?
SA: 275 sir.
Me: Then what about remaining amount?
SA: Sir wiper liquid shampoo.
Me: It hardly costs 40 bucks for 1 bottle, what about remaining amount?
SA: Sir we will use 4 bottles.
Me: Are you mad? 1 bottle is enough for 2.5 litres of water.
SA: Sir battery distilled water.
Me: This battery is hardly 3 months old. I don't want.
SA: We will check and only fill if required.
Me: Cost of bottle?
SA: 22 bucks.
Me: I still don't understand why my bill is 1000 bucks more than quotation and what your WYH app says.
SA: Sir 18% tax.
Me: The WYH app says inclusive of all taxes. Don't add any extras, I am not approving the quotation.
SA: ok sir.
After 1 hour I get call from SA.
SA: Sir wipers are gone, shall we change for front and back?
Me: No. I am not using my vehicle at all. I hardly drove 1000 kms from lockdown. I am getting serviced because last service was done 1 year back and hardly 6k kms on odo since then.
SA: Sir back wiper is making sounds. We will change it.
Me: No, it is making sounds even after wiper change last time.
SA: It will improve after we change wiper.
Me: If it doesn't improve, will you give it for free?
SA: If not improved we will install old one.
Me: Ok.

Finally paid 7,000 bucks. They gave 2 shampoo bottles for wiper liquid, 1 distilled water bottle for battery and 1L extra coolant bottle.

Me: Why did you charge me for 4 shampoo bottles when I clearly mentioned only 1 is required.
SA: Sir it comes in 4 pack and distilled water comes in 2 pack, that is why we gave you extra bottles.
Me:
SA: Are you satisfied with complete work sir?
Me: Sarcastically "Yes". Please disinfect my vehicle in common touch points.
SA: Ok sir, we did not change rear wiper as the wiper blade was fine, only adjusted settings. We did not charge anything for it.
Me: wow great. Sarcastically ofcourse.

No matter how well prepared you are, these stealerships will milk you. Please refer to your manual before handing over to ASS. Always decline optional services, no matter how beautifully they sound to your ears.
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Old 13th October 2020, 12:27   #94
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Quote:
Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000 View Post
SA: Sir battery distilled water.
Me: This battery is hardly 3 months old. I don't want.
SA: We will check and only fill if required.
Me: Cost of bottle?
SA: 22 bucks.
Aren't car batteries maintenance free nowadays? At least, I assumed they were, please correct me if I am wrong.
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Old 13th October 2020, 13:12   #95
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Quote:
Originally Posted by karanbir.sandha View Post
Its the system that has forced them to hard sell Extra Add-ons.

Their only chance to earn a decent living is to hard sell the add-ons & maximize the ticket size. This system is in my understanding due to the lack of work ethics in India.

I advise everyone to always accompany your vehicle for service, if you can't take out 1-2 days a year for regular service, then you are yourself giving them the opportunity to milk you. Ever Wondered why almost all dealerships offer Complimentary pick-up & drop of your vehicle.

Also most of the Dealerships are running a tight line these days & very few are there who are decently profitable and its all in their right to maximize the profits from you.

P.S: I work for a Automobile major in India & My Job role involves maximizing the Dealer Profitability, Especially the Workshop business & most of the time I help dealers make the incentive model for SA & other staff.
1)By whom was the system created, was it not by these auto majors who could have envisioned and created a more robust system if they so wished? Blaming the system has become a fad for most people and companies who do not have the spine to take responsibility for the wrongdoings and start the change to a better model.

2)Genaralising the whole Indian population by stating that the whole country has a lack of ethics at work is not right. There are many of us who make a decent respectable earning while not indulging in any misdeeds. Hard selling is not a crime but mis-seeling is and that is what most dealerships indulge in.

3)Working with Hero Motocorp yourself, if you are telling that by not being present we are expected to be milked, then there is no difference with an established and a run of the mill con artist. The reason we leave our vehicles with a authorized service center even after the warranty is because of the trust we have over the competence of the service skills and a belief that they will assist us in keeping our vehicles in top shape. If they skip required work in a service to favor add ons then its the fault of the company for not drilling down the importance of necessary upkeep and are infact putting our lives at risk.

4)Dear sir, it is not in the right of a dealership to fleece me, yes they are entitled to profit from providing service to me but it is not a right to fleece anyone by mis selling. It can be considered fraudulent to profit from such scenarios but living in a capitalistic society much cannot be expected from dealerships.

5)This might come as a personal attack but it is not, out of genuine concern I would have to realize that with company personnel justifying such fraudulent act and behavior its no wonder that companies like Hero are heading to their own demise.

If the whole system is corrupt to such a extent then I believe it's prudent for newer forms of mobility like subscription models for vehicles to become the new norm. No one would want to deal with such corrupt and incompetent companies and their authorized service centers.
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Old 13th October 2020, 16:54   #96
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

I have been a victim too of SAs. The best one can do is to recommend you to change the hydraulic clutch. I used to own an Elantra CRDI and within 40K kms I had changed the hydraulic clutch twice...thanks to the SA advice and the fear what they put into you. After this post, I can remember all the things that I have been fleeced for - Decarbonization at every alternate service, AC anti bacterial and what not. Not to forget, the anti rust and PU coating . About 4 years back, one day my car stopped suddenly and on investigation the timing chain had broken. I had the car towed to the service center and the first thing the SA does is give me an estimate of 2 lakhs. I was shocked and i had asked him not to open the car till i arrive at the service center. When i had reached the service center the SA tells me that the crankshaft would have been damaged and hence they are giving me the estimate. I insisted that they open it in my presence and all that was damaged was the timing chain and the rest were intact. I understand that the damages could have been a lot more. But i believe had I not been there in person, they would have surely given me a 2 Lakhs or more invoice.
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Old 13th October 2020, 17:29   #97
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atharva4545 View Post
In 2018 the car had a dent on the driver side door and had minor scratches on most of the body parts the SA convinced my dad to repaint the whole car + sell a set of Pirelli p6 . The earlier Michelin xm2's were much better than Pirelli

This takes the servicing cost from 10-12k to 18k.
I don't understand that. If I could get my entire car painted within 18k, let alone other work, I'd jump at it! Maybe I didn't read properly.

According to my experience, repainting one panel can be 4k, and, some time ago, somebody here mentioned (comparing to the cost of special ceramic finishes) that a full dealer-service respray for a Polo was 50k
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Old 13th October 2020, 17:50   #98
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

I pretty much know what is necessary and what is placebo. I sometimes resist, and sometimes allow them to do a thing or two - such as Ac vent cleaning, throttle body cleaning etc depending upon how much the bill is and my mood at the time. I have a personal rapport with one or two service advisors and will call only them for booking a service. I would like to humor them along from time to time by winking at a thing or two. After all it is their bread and butter and if we are too stingy, we may lose that personal touch from them.

I am at at an age where I know most of the tricks these kids will try to pull, and I let go of a thing or two from time to time, provided the overall bill does not exceed a figure I already have in mind.
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Old 13th October 2020, 18:37   #99
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
I don't understand that. If I could get my entire car painted within 18k, let alone other work, I'd jump at it! Maybe I didn't read properly.

According to my experience, repainting one panel can be 4k, and, some time ago, somebody here mentioned (comparing to the cost of special ceramic finishes) that a full dealer-service respray for a Polo was 50k
What I meant was 16-18k for a regular basic service which should cost for 10-12k. The extra 6k was what the SA was able to sell (and earn some incentives).

In 2018 the car was repainted. The complete repaint cost 40k and on top of that the SA sold 4tyres + Servicing cost, So what I meant here was that he must have earned a much better incentive from just 1 car as compared to other cars.
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Old 13th October 2020, 20:18   #100
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Loot, brainwash, make money on every nut and bolt you can. I mean, threads like these are real eye-openers. What miffs me is the way they make it count, tricks that even the best of us could lose track on. Wonderful read.

Cheers!
VJ
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Old 13th October 2020, 21:22   #101
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Quote:
Originally Posted by karanbir.sandha View Post
Ever Wondered why almost all dealerships offer Complimentary pick-up & drop of your vehicle.
I agree with this. People now a days consider pick-up & drop service as a luxury facility. Majority of them opt for this even when they have plenty of time for a day visit.
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Old 13th October 2020, 22:28   #102
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atharva4545 View Post
What I meant was 16-18k for a regular basic service which should cost for 10-12k. ... ... ...

In 2018 the car was repainted. The complete repaint cost 40k and on top of that the SA sold 4tyres + Servicing cost ... ... ...
OK, thanks for the clarification.

I often want extras. If cash is not too tight when service time comes around, I will catch up with tinkering and painting of the scars. As I mentioned, I like to have wheel alignment checked. However, from the dealer's point of view, these are ordinary service-centre items, not items which might have been designed to be high margin. Like the one we all love to hate: the AC squirt!
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Old 14th October 2020, 00:19   #103
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

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Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000 View Post

SA: Sir we need to add 7L of coolant, but we get 8L pack. So additional 1L you can keep in your vehicle and top-up when required....
.....
Me: Why did you charge me for 4 shampoo bottles when I clearly mentioned only 1 is required........
SA: Sir it comes in 4 pack and distilled water comes in 2 pack, that is why we gave you extra bottles.
This is just absolute horse manure.

For most cars, these service stations negotiate and get all fluids/oils in bulk. Engine oil, coolant, shampoo etc are stored in large barrels. No way they'll use 8 * 1L cans of coolant.
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Old 14th October 2020, 00:54   #104
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

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Originally Posted by landcruiser123 View Post
This is just absolute horse manure.

For most cars, these service stations negotiate and get all fluids/oils in bulk. Engine oil, coolant, shampoo etc are stored in large barrels. No way they'll use 8 * 1L cans of coolant.
The workshop in which I worked as Service Advisor only engine oil came in barrels. Every other fluid came in 1 litre cans or lesser.

Last edited by fazayal : 14th October 2020 at 01:21. Reason: Typo
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Old 14th October 2020, 01:19   #105
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Re: Incentives that service advisors receive for upselling you unnecessary add-ons

Let me share some of my experiences.

It was sometime in 2007/08 I dropped my dad's Indica at the TASS. It was the 25K Kms schedule. The SA sold me engine decarbonising saying that it will improve the engine performance and also increase the life and is recommended to do it every 25K Kms (I assumed that recommended by Tata). I agreed.

After about 6 months, it was time for the 30K Kms schedule. Went to the same ASS, but a new SA. He suggested the engine decarbonising again during this service! I was like
Told him that this was just done in the previous service at 25K. He was like "Sir, this should be done at 30K and not 25K". I just gave him a look and told him to just take care of the regular service and not to do anything extra. This was my first lesson to be vigilant.

AC cleaning is another stuff which I mostly fall for (in alternative services) assuming that they will clean the entire AC duct and remove any dirt/dust that might clog the vents. By going through this thread, I realise it to be a waste

Free Monsoon camps is another one. This time there was a pre-monsoon check-up for our new car. Since the car was not used for quite a few months in the lockdown, I asked my dad to take it there so that it just gets driven. The SA was successful in convincing my dad for disinfecting the car and billed about 1K!
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