[Vitalstatistiks]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

I am just curious about the 10% part. Would that be 10% of the number of shareholders? Or shareholders that own a 10% stake in the company?

You, sir, are a very keen observer. Most lawyers (at least less experienced ones) would miss this nuance. My apologies for being less than clear on this in the original post. As JohnyBoy mentions below, 10% has reference to the stake in the company, not the number of shareholders. In addition, a 100 shareholders can also get together and file a similar case (regardless of stake held by them).

Originally Posted by JohnyBoy

It will be shareholders owning 10% stake of the company.

[GTO]

This case got mentioned on The Morning Context:

t took Harish Kanchan six years, eight lakh rupees and the might of an online forum to not set his car ablaze. Turning his sedan into toast would have been an act of desperation for the tenacious businessman, who’d managed to bring an automobile manufacturer to its knees. But even the best fighters get desperate. If at all he was to lose, Harish thought, he wouldn’t go down quietly.

There should never have been a fight in the first place. Harish, who was driving from Mumbai to Nashik 11 years ago, had met with an accident. He was lucky to survive and lucky that the only repairs his car needed were for its undercarriage. But the authorized service centre back home in Mumbai took an excessive amount of time to do the job: first, two weeks, then a month, then 45 days. Harish’s gut told him something was amiss, and it was right, as most gut feelings are. Nearly everything, from the car battery and steering rack to the tie rod and brake disc, had been replaced with rusted counterparts ripped from old cars. The value of the original parts stolen from his vehicle was Rs 4 lakh at the time.

Any company with a sliver of integrity would have righted this wrong. But this automobile manufacturer chose the opposite.

Harish, betting on alcohol’s knack to make people talk, decided to treat one of the service centre mechanics to drinks. It paid off. “You should’ve taken your car anywhere but there,” the drunk mechanic began. “Service centre waale aur upar ke log sab chor hain (everyone in the service centre—and higher up—is a thief).

Armed with incriminating information and pictures of the spurious parts, Harish wrote to the auto manufacturer’s country heads. He marched to their offices, and to consul generals and chambers of commerce. He marched to the district consumer forum, which ordered a restoration of the original car parts. But the carmaker, steadfast in its shamelessness, contested the ruling. The case went into limbo. Harish approached an online forum and the media for help. A subsequent boycott by 70,000 forum members and unflattering print coverage forced the conglomerate to settle.

“I’d spent lakhs on the fight by then, and would’ve burnt my car on national television if nothing else worked. It was the only move I had left,” Harish recalls.

His settlement came with a rider to not name the automobile manufacturer in retellings of his experience. But the internet remembers.

[TROOPER]

We had shortlisted the Octavia for our recent purchase. It was a strong contender. Left it out for other reasons.

But boy this case would always send chills down my spine, whenever I used to think of the after sales expectations from Skoda.

[wheelguy]

Kudos to harishv for the unfaltered resilience, kudos to our forum for the much needed support. Six years of fighting is quite an agony, but still you continued to march on to set the things right, respects to you sir.

They couldn't have done this in countries like America, and China etc, but sadly in India they are getting away with it easily.

Skoda makes excellent cars, but the company's arrogant nature towards their customers is an unforgivable offense. Hope they change things with India 2.0(or whatever they call it) plan.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by GTO

This case got mentioned on The Morning Context:

THIEVES, that's one word that comes to mind. Skoda has reserved a special kind of dealing when it comes to India, commensurate with the level of corruption people face in their daily walk of life. So the company and it's dealers are "Thick as thieves" literally!

[V.Narayan]

Kudos to Team BHP and to the personal courage of GTO and the Mods who took the call to take a stand against Skoda and it's unscrupulous ways. I owned two VW Skoda products - Laura and Superb. But would never ever deal with them again.

A car's driving qualities, looks, interiors, torque etc are only half the experience. A.S.S. is the other half. Often when deciding on a purchase we focus on the first and assume the latter will fall in place. But a leopard cannot change his spots.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The internet remembers... And how!

This was a Mahabharat of consumer wrongs and the hero who took them on.

How childish, indeed futile, for some lawyer to insist on not being named in the future. Skoda, we won't forget.

I hope Harish is doing well and driving happily

[mayankk]

Raise your hands how many people read about travails with Skoda for the first time on Harish's thread? And how many others came out with their own stories on the basis of this revelation?
How many prospects did you tell about this, that "don't buy Skoda, their service centres change parts! ".

Wish you'd listened, Skoda.

I like the way the forum is mentioned, like a "Bhai", who helps people out against the almighty manufacturers,but isn't named. But everyone knows....... Sinister!

[Lalvaz]

I love their cars, have had a lovely solo trip from Bombay to DELHI in a Fabia, loved the Rapid and the Yeti was perfect for me in every way, right from the dimensions to the interiors to the refinement levels. BUT in spite of the excellent cars, I simply will not buy a Skoda because I know how they behaved with Harish. If the management did not support him when he was wronged, why would they ever support me?

In India we deal with enough stress in our lives, I simply do not have the patience to deal with one more. The car is a daily driver for me and I cannot even imagine a 6 year long legal battle with an unscrupulous automotive giant. Much simpler for me to simply take my business elsewhere.

Thank you Skoda for ruining the motoring experience for so many Indians.

[marutifan]

This one article ruled out not just Skoda but also VW from any of my car purchases over the years. Any company that treats it's customers so shabbily, can go take a hike.

[itwasntme]

As a counterpoint from a satisfied Octavia owner for the last 4 years, I feel this particular matter (along with others) shook up Skoda IN as well as VAG HQ, and did result in management changes/reshuffles and a thorough assessment and overhaul of the dealer setups. Multiple ongoing legal & reputational catastrophes were mediated and settled including the famous one where BLR Vinayak Skoda tried to pass off an ordinary Rapid as the Monte Carlo / Black Edition!

In my personal experience, Skoda IN is now quite responsive, generally savvy with social media and mindful of it. The ongoing integration with VW will probably bring even more rigor into the structure and weed out the remaining bad eggs among their dealers.

Note: I have zero vested interest with Skoda apart from being a 'faceless' customer.

[V.Narayan]

Companies all over the world are still coming to terms with the change in power balance between a small individual consumer and a big powerful corporation. And the foundation of that change is the internet and forums like ours. Considering that social media has been in full form for well over a decade these corporations like Skoda are taking an inordinately long time to come to terms with the change in the voice of the customer and the power of a thousand forum members. Bye bye VW. Wake up and learn.

[Scaryskodamenon]

To second what itwasntme mentioned, i am absolutely satisfied by my Octavia 1.8 TSI and is also very happy with dealings of showroom and service centre of Pinnacle Motors. Owning the car for last four years with absolutely zero trouble and enjoys every trip out. Considered Seltos for many days as replacement and even booked one. But when it came to a comparison, i felt it as a downgrade to my Octavia. Experience certainly differs basis individual showrooms , however i feel skoda is certainly taking some genuine efforts for improvement. While they are long way off from best, hope they can turn a new chapter and make some progress in winning back confidence of customers.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Multiple ongoing legal & reputational catastrophes were mediated and settled including the famous one where BLR Vinayak Skoda tried to pass off an ordinary Rapid as the Monte Carlo / Black Edition!

So I quickly went through the thread. Did Suhas get any compensation other than replacing the car - I mean he spent a lot of time & effort on the follow-up. At the end, all he seems to have got was what he should have got in the beginning. Were there any repercussions for Vinayak Skoda - I mean they are still up & running.


Getting people to do what they originally did isn't good enough. This is why even if American Tort has a lot of issues, it's good in it's own way.


Let's say I am a businessman & I cheat customers. 2 out of 10 customers follow up & get it corrected - I am still ahead by cheating 8 customers. Punitive damages will prevent this. I need to be penalized 100 times what I cheated that 1 person who went to court so that I am never ahead. Otherwise why will I stop doing this?

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's all VAG, but, at the time, I don't think Skoda and VW could be said to be the same company with identical customer-service problems.

As a VW fan, I'm more concerned about how future restructuring may change that!