Let me get this right:
1. A Skoda dealer replaced parts of your car - WITHOUT your permission - to the tune of 4 lakh rupees!
2. You've followed up with the top management of Skoda, VW and some officials from the political / commerce offices.
3. You caught them red-handed trying to move parts, and then they want you to sign an undertaking or pay up?!
Instead of apologising for their representatives follies and making up for their mistakes, Skoda is actually fighting you in court! What does it say about a company, when it so obviously wrongs a customer and then goes further to fight him in court?! This only shows that Skoda India cares a damn about the Indian customer. Would Skoda have DARED to do this in Europe? Let us show them that the Indian customer isn't ready to be walked over just yet.
Kudo's to your spirit, Harish. It is fine gentlemen like you who help in making the big manufacturers take customer service seriously. Some people have commented that court judgements lead only to miniscule reimbursements for the company's wrong doings. That's not the point. The real blow is in AWARENESS.....awareness of what low levels a multi-million $ organisation can stoop to....awareness of such malpractices. One case is enough to straighten up a thousand scoundrels.
The entire community of 40,000 BHPians is with you Harish. Anything that I can help with, just drop me a PM directly.
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Initially, the said vehicle was reported to M/s.Nummer Eins, Chembur workshop for accidental repair work in the month of February.
- Please refer carefully the enclosed photographs of the said vehicle and extent of damage at the time of accident was occurred. The accident was taken place at only front LH side.
- The enclosed photographs are received from the Insurance Surveyor.
As per the customer’s apprehension and as per the final invoiced parts list, all the replaced parts have been inspected for their originality.
- Please carefully refer the enclosed photographs of inspected parts by me; all the replaced parts are Non Genuine (substandard spares which are available in grey-market).
Apparently there were some unjustified/unnatural repair works also carried on the vehicle along with accidental repair jobs, the details follows as;
- V-belt with belt tensioner assembly was replaced without any reason.
- Electric magnet clutch of AC compressor was replaced without any reason.
- Original battery fuse box was swapped and fitted with damaged/burnt fuse box is fitted on vehicle.
- Original battery was swapped and fitted with underspecified voltage and substandard (make AMRON) battery was fitted without battery clamp.
- Original radiator fan was swapped and fitted with a damaged fan.
- In the month of January 14th, 08, the said vehicle was reported for periodic service and during that service schedule the dealer had replaced both front brake rotors (brake discs), but within a month period the customer has faced concern about brake juddering, as per the customer apprehension, I have inspected the replaced brake discs, found the same are Non-Genuine parts (substandard spares which are available in grey-market).
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i was helped immensely by the media namely
Hemal Asher, Mid day
Soumitra Pote, Maharshtra Times
Danish Khan, Mumbai Mirror
Ravi Rao and Hafeez Mateen, Times of India
Durgesh Singh, Navbharat Times
S. Muralidhar, The Hindu
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Kudo's to these fine gentlemen.
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Skoda is a big advertiser in newspapers. Lot of pressure was put to stop these newspaper articles.
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No such worries on Team-BHP, Harish. Our community was built on the foundation of truth, honesty & integrity.
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Skoda continues to fight with me with their clout and resources because they have to protect their image and my matter has kind of become a prestige issue for them.
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Skoda's image is going downhill, thanks to their utter disdain for the Indian customer. Skoda's terrible customer service and absolute disregard for their existing car owners is costing them crores of rupees in business. Look, there is a reason that the Fabia has been a ROYAL FLOP in our market, and Octavia / Laura sales are dwindling at 300 - 400 cars a month.
This episode is an eye-opener to the cheap lengths that a company can go to....this is absolute blasphemy! Alongwith other Skoda experiences on Team-BHP, I am convinced that
there is no point in buying a car from such a lousy organisation A car is a serviceable product, and not like a pair of levis Jeans. When you are assured of zero support and ill treatment from dealers & the parent company alike, why WASTE your hard-earned money on a Skoda? There are far better options...in terms of products that perform and companies that take care of you. Toyota comes immediately to mind. Even Mercedes, for all their unreliability, they literally go out of the way in maintaining the highest standards of dealership service and replacing defective parts for me. For Indians, a car is the second biggest reason of financial outflow (after a house). What's the point of buying a car that is going to need service, and that service is performed by a bunch of dealer scum. Who seem to have the full-fledged support of the parent company. Jeesuz, this is downright CHEAP behaviour that isn't even expected of my local neighbourhood kabariwala!
Not like Skoda's are reliable either. Who can forget the various issues that many Laura owners face. Or the Fabia 1.4 petrol engine debacle.
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The number of Skoda issues i have seen in this forum are scary. This is one brand i will not buy in India even if they cut down the present prices on all product by half!
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That makes for the two of us. I don't think a wretched Skoda is going to make it to my driveway for a long time to come. Period. I can assure you that several other potential customers think the same way.
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How about, we change Team-BHP sticker to include some bad publicity on skoda.
"Thank god i don't own skoda : Team-BHP"
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You've just given the sticker dudes an idea!
P.S. : I see that this thread has made it to the top of our home page as well!