[sameer sultan]

Thankfully the Skoda dealer dealt with the customer issue in a civil manner unlike the Hyundai dealer in Haryana who beat up the customer when he went to the dealership with a problem in his newly delivered Creta.

[Raghu M]

That was quite an experience. Happy that you got a refund. And to all those who think the OP used his/her contacts to make the dealer pay a compensation, please understand that only getting a refund is not enough in these cases. You need to be compensated for the agony and pain that a customer goes through. Losing sleep over something like this has to be compensated. Even courts order compensation. Agree in this case it's a little high but just understand why the dealer chose to pay it outright. I think the car deal had more foul play than just a panel being repainted.

I am actually happy the dealer was arm twisted to pay out a compensation of 150,000 INR. Once in a while the dealer needs to be shown his/her place and made to understand that not every customer will be your innocent chap who will let go everything and move on. May not be legal but how many of you have taken insurance from the dealer just because they have a tie up? Isn't that illegal? How many of us have paid handling charges while the courts have declared it illegal? If that is a pass, then this needs to be taken with the same thought. Just because all dealers are following a procedure, it need not be correct. Just look at how many Skoda horror stories are on this forum. A global brand intentionally lets sub standard dealers operate in the country and scam people out of their hard earned money and when one customer uses his/her contacts to put them to place, some people are finding it illegal. The OP also threatened the dealer that he will go to the consumer court, if the dealer was right he should have stood his ground. Why did he choose to make a refund which is almost the first instance that I have read. I am sure the dealer would have realized that there could be more that the OP can unearth through this one purchase.

[kpkeerthi]

Glad you got the refund. But how many of us would have contacts to give Skoda a push from GOI level? I could imagine the ordeal having to deal with such rogue dealers. The dealer would simply toss the car off to another unsuspecting customer. Sad.

[MarkivSkoda]

Thank you, each one of you for your replies. Everyone has their opinion & I respect them all!

Would like to state few things here:

2200km run: We had notified the travel plans to the dealer even before and on the day of delivery. Also, we offered to keep the new car with the dealer in the meetings held on Sept 29 & Oct 1. He was absolutely reluctant to take the car in his custody. As my father retired on Sept 30, we had planned to go to our hometown which is 600km away, where my mom had taken voluntary retirement. We had many programs lined up for which we needed to travel. We told the GM of the dealership that we can take our Skoda Fabia to our hometown if they wanted to keep the Slavia with them for testing or any other reason. My father pleaded at least 10 times in the meeting held on Oct 1 to keep the car at the dealership but the GM was like, "Sir, it's your car, you must use it. We will sort out the issue once you are back."We went to our hometown on Oct 2 and returned to Pune on Oct 18. Once we were back, we washed the vehicle, covered it with the dust cover & kept it in parking till the last day.

We loved the Slavia 1.5 dsg. That was the reason we chose an option of replacement from the options decided in the meeting with the dealer on 28 Oct 2022. At the end of the meeting, it was mutually decided that the dealer will convey any of the two options and no changes in the terms of these options will be sought by any of the parties. The GM of the dealership sought 1 day's time to decide. The next day after waiting till evening I had to ping him to get a kind reply, "Skoda India & the dealership wants you to choose the option! Also we want to retain you." After choosing the option of replacement with registration & 50,000 compensation there was dead silence for 3 more days. Then they came up with another 3 options, this time Skoda India was playing their advocate. This was the time when we decided that we don't want to do anything with Skoda anymore and decided that we will go for a full refund option, i.e. Option 2 of 28 Oct 2022.

People who are talking about using contacts, arm twisting & extortion , if you read the complete post you will see we were reasonable enough in the start. For the first 8 days we didn't even escalate to Skoda India. Even after escalating to Skoda India we got a lukewarm response. Nobody was coming up with the facts. That's when we decided to use the contacts. First we lodged a formal complaint with VW AG, still no acceptance from the dealership. That's when we contacted the Govt. So what happened by this so-called arm twisting? They came straight and accepted the repaint which should have been accepted on day 1. This intervensioner did only one thing. He asked them why they are not accepting their fault & why the delay in giving the resolution even after so many meetings? He neither dictated the terms, options nor compelled anyone to do anything particular.

I strongly believe, if there is an issue (related to anything in life) which can't be solved using the methods available in the system, we go for anything & everything that works, even if it is out of the system.

If you ask me, I still would not have gone ahead with the dealer & other details in the post had the last bit where the cheque almost bounced due to low balance had not happened. I lost it all at that moment!

You give your customer a cheque dated Nov 7 on Nov 10 & still you don't keep enough balance in your account to get it cleared, it's purely unacceptable. Just imagine if I had given that cheque for clearing to some other bank than HDFC (cheque was also of HDFC), they would have sent it back as bounced. Because it was the home branch they didn't stamp it bounced.

Anyway, finally its over and I am done with Skoda for this lifetime, at least!

[reppy]

Originally Posted by MarkivSkoda

Anyway, finally its over and I am done with Skoda for this lifetime, at least!

The entire Skoda ownership experience is very dealer dependent, which to me is their achille's heel.

What I wonder is, had you done the initial PDI, payment and delivery on the same day, perhaps things would have been far more positive.

On the plus side though, I guess you were saved from any service related horror stories of Akoya Skoda.

Normally, I ask the dealer to bring the car to the showroom rather than reviewing it in the stockyard, which in my most recent purchase also the dealer did oblige - I had an excellent experience in purchasing my Tucson with Dee Emm Hyundai, Gurugram - they took great care of the car until delivery.

[abhishek_hch]

Originally Posted by MarkivSkoda

People who are talking about using contacts, arm twisting & extortion

Till replacement etc was fine but Rs. 1.5 lac compensation!! - that falls into this category.

Still non-plussed that a high ranking government official got into this via unofficial channels. Also surprised that the dealer hasn't fought back - a few leaks to the media with names & a few stories published here & there would put the concerned person in quite neck deep controversy & in the backfoot! Anyways, justice for all hopefully!

[AntPaul]

I have no sympathies for the dealer. If it was me in similar position, I would have had no other option but to accept whatever the dealer offers, ie, no acceptance of mistake and a complementary 3M polishing out of dealer's 'good will'. The bird poop story stays.

For my last cars PDI, I followed bhpian Leoshashi's advice. I specifically asked the dealer for PDI of un washed car. All Maruti's comes with different marks in all panels for check for alignment. I guess its added as part of the their QC process. Any repainted panel will not have them. It easier to hold a dealer accountable to a scratched panel than a repainted panel. Also get the car home as soon as possible after PDI. In fact the marks remained were present in the car even at the time of delivery.

[VinsWagen]

Mixed emotions on this one. Yes, the buyer deserves the money back. Yes, deserves the compensation too. But I'm really awed by how quickly the refund was done. Come on, a pre-booking cancellation from a Toyota dealer has taken me way longer. Ok, that's also due to my laidback follow-up. Now, calling out the dealer on the resale on OLX is not really justified. Without any mechanical damages, they sure need not write down all the details and the price is also something that will be negotiable. Repainting is very much acceptable on any resale. Again, I do not know the nuances of it, but I think BH-registered cars can command some premium because most of the population cannot get it directly and it has got its own set of advantages. I hope there were no further mechanical damages that were covered up.

I only wish the dealer had not kept the customer in dark about the repaint and just offered a discount for that. If not this customer, someone else would have taken it, for a few good thousands off. There are many customers who really do not bother much about repainting or cosmetic issues and rather focus on the mechanical and functional areas alone. It was a typical case of lying initially and then getting into a loop of trying to cover it up.

Finally, there are so many anti-Skoda comments for this post that seem to be just venting out their frustrations against the company. It's something that is understandable and acceptable - past experiences may have contributed to that and the feelings could be legitimate. But frankly, can't find much fault on Skoda, as a manufacturer, in this particular case. In fact, the response from the Skoda Sales manager and the manner in which it was sorted out with a refund and compensation is among the best closures I have seen on a customer complaint. So, I think the bitterness should be left behind now, as it has been compensated.

[HighRevving]

Originally Posted by abhishek_hch

Till replacement etc was fine but Rs. 1.5 lac compensation!! - that falls into this category.

I agree with your earlier post to some extent that an unrelated government officer getting involved in this episode was overkill. May be borderline misuse of power.

However, I see nothing wrong in asking for compensation. Let me tell you why.

The first thing the dealer could have done is called the customer the moment the car got damaged. The car already belonged to the customer, pending payments and procedures, so in fairness they were toying with customer property. A simple "Sir, we have some bad news for you, we are sorry but your car has been accidentally damaged a bit because..... How do we work around this?" would have been nice. But no. They instead went ahead and registered the car!

If I was made to go through the registration of a car after a cover-up act, I would've asked for a compensation. Not because I needed the money, but because there is no penalty here or deterrent in future if they do it again. In fact, they could have taken back the car and found a replacement if OP had accepted it after an honest phone call. That way they could have fixed this car with a proper paint job and sold it later at a discount with honest disclosure, instead of selling this second-hand car now.

[iron.head]

The 1.5 lakh compensation was totally unwarranted IMHO. PS I have no affiliation with any dealers, or anybody in the automotive industry.

Only 1 friend from my school who I have known from a very long time. His family runs a Bosch Diesel workshop. They rebuild injectors, pumps, etc. Again I share no business interest and my friend has nothing to do with automotive sales. They have been running a very honest business with fixed service charges for over 25 years now.

As an impact of the covid, they are now in huge debts. 90% of the business is shut down and most of the staff has been laid off. Most of the services that they used to offer have been indefinitely discontinued and relationships with suppliers have been cut off.

My friend has resigned from the family business and is searching for a job. Bankruptcy is filed and there is no sign of a business/financial recovery. Out of the 13 shops they owned, most are indefinitely closed. The expensive machines they have are finding no buyers.

Maybe the dealer was so petrified that he could not afford to disclose the panel repaint. Maybe the cheque bounced because the dealership actually doesn’t have funds in their accounts. Maybe we can act with some sensitivity and humility and not act out of rage when ultimately it’s a minor issue. Sorry for the philosophy/spirituality discourse but having seen people around go down due to covid I personally find such events disturbing. Mods can delete this reply if it breaches some rules. Just my 2 cents. Thanks.

Edit: The EV transition has also affected the industry. Chip shortage and the works have also created a stress for the dealers.

[VinsWagen]

Originally Posted by iron.head

The 1.5 lakh compensation was totally unwarranted IMHO. PS I have no affiliation with any dealers, or anybody in the automotive industry.

I do relate with this view but I do think the compensation had to be taken too as a deterrent. If a bad situation can be a reason for wrong deeds, then there will always be similar reasoning for most robberies, crimes, and even acts of terrorism. So, some kind of reprimanding was needed.

I wish that the compensation was taken for the records and to serve as a deterrent, but then given back to the dealer once things are settled amicably between both parties, as goodwill. Of course, it is entirely the call of the customer as he was the victim here. It would have been better if this was routed via a proper legal system, but then again there is no fast redressal system here for that. I do think the social position of the customer did affect the end result but will not be judging them since the mistake was clearly committed from the dealer side and the customer should not be blamed for that.

[abhishek_hch]

Originally Posted by HighRevving

However, I see nothing wrong in asking for compensation. Let me tell you why.

I am not saying that asking for compensation was wrong. However, there are only two ways to agree to a compensation amount - mutually between the concerned parties without any external influence or by any authority with legal powers to do so. Here, neither of these conditions are satisfied.

Also, external influences can be many - imagine it not being a high ranking govt official but a local strongman! Results would have been the same, process is also the same!!

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by MarkivSkoda

Anyway, finally it’s over and I am done with Skoda for this lifetime, at least!

Very, very, very well done MarkivSloda

What you have done to a crooked, liar of a dealer is exactly what needs to be done! Imagine trying to cheat/fool a customer. I feel this must not be the first time they have done something like this, but surely hope it’s the last. I would have loved to see the dealers/owners face when he realised who/what he was dealing with.

For those who say “why” these tactics must understand, cheaters and liars deserve no mercy! If you feel any pity for the dealer, put yourself in this place and think of the pain and agony you would suffer if this was done to you and your hard earned money.

I don’t think our forum rules permit a name/handle change but under these special circumstances perhaps it could be allowed as a one time exception, if you want to of course.

MarkivSkoda as your handle just doesn’t cut it anymore

Wish your parents a happy retired life.

Cheers

[Voodooblaster]

Mental agony faced by OP and family is distressing

Who will foot the compensation bill is the 1.50 lac ruppees question ?

While the initial amount may have come out of the dealer account, the Owners / Proprietors may have taken steps to recover it from the erring employees

Dealership in all probability will have fired concerned employees and withheld salary / gratuity and even pf (if possible)

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Voodooblaster

Dealership in all probability will have fired concerned employees and withheld salary / gratuity and even pf (if possible)

Not necessarily, depends on how this whole scenario happened. If the employee/s in question honestly brought this (damage and subsequent paint job) to the higher ups attention then they would not be penalised, except maybe the actual damage cost if there was negligence involved. It may have genuinely been an accident in the workshop or showroom.

Normally, this kind of a cover up cannot happen without everyone knowing about it and the bosses deciding to cheat/fool the customer. Whatever steps they may take against the errant employees (if at all), any employer cannot block an employees provident fund.

Cheers