[ashish22]

Originally Posted by ariendj

lets stick to skoda india here and our members problem.seems we are keenly drifting off comparing brands,other cars and people!!

i do believe skoda is particularly very laxed in India and not the same else where!!
btw any other skoda users who serviced their cars lately!!

i dont have any more guts to go to skoda A.S.S. and get my car serviced. I dont want skoda to take out all the parts from my car and then tell me that i have zillion problems in my car and a repair bill of more then 2 lacs...
My car service is due but i'm so worried that i have cut down on my driving of skoda and i resort to my faithful honda. Meanwhile i'm searching for competent garages who can provide me quality service.
such is the plight of a skoda customer. Thanks but not thanks...skoda.

[evo]

Its 8.47 AM, I`m due to reach JIA AUTO by 9.30 AM.

The story so far:

We`ve talked on the phone where he stated that the LCU will be replaced completely but he wants to have a look at the paint before committing to anything in that regard.

As I`ve had experience of going to the workshop and them really wasting my time, I asked him to come over at home or office and check the car. The guy flatly refused.

So the yellow bits on the car are:

1. Drivers door handle
2. Passenger side rear door
3. Driver side rear door
4. Spoiler
5. Rear Bumper
6. Front Bumper
7. Sunroof Area
8. Drivers Side ORVM

A new development happened last evening when a Jeep(long wheelbase, for those who want to know) ripped off a nice line of paint from my car (drivers side rear fender,rear door). It was a Kolkata Municipal Corporation Jeep, and thus could hardly do anything more than scream at the inebriated driver who slurred back at me.

Now this is a deep gash,so you can see the body, but at the inside edge of the gash you can see touches of yellow. Anyways this is on the drivers side where there are the aforementioned yellow spots are present.

I have a feeling that the dealership will try to say that they will not repaint the entire car after proper sanding but will just touch up the parts that are yellow.

Have taken pictures and will upload them later.

In the meanwhile, fingers crossed!

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by evo

Its 8.47 AM, I`m due to reach JIA AUTO by 9.30 AM.

In the meanwhile, fingers crossed!

All the best! You have been very patient so far, keep it up!

[sajanpt]

At the outset, a request to GTO:

Please take off that Octavia picture from the main screen as it does not deserve to be there !!

An incident five years back; when the luxury segment started getting a boom in Trivandrum, I was planning to buy a Skoda Octavia. My options were Octavia(diesel), and Optra(petrol ). Test drove the Optra and went to Skoda dealer. They did not have a test drive car which is acceptable at those times. But after hearing something from the mouth of the sales person (attitude problem instilled in all by the company managers I suppose) I immediately decided on Optra and I am happy to have made the right decision due to the world class service offerred by Geeyem motors. And you are eager to hear what the salesman said right !

I asked him if there would be any discount if I pay the whole amount in cash. His reply " Even 0.50 paise will not be deducted from the printed price" I asked him why he is so adamant and told what Chevrolet is offerring. He told me in a carefree manner " If you want it you buy it ! It's the company policy"

I walked out and for five years I was able to turn down at least 28-30 people from buying that car. Well, they would all consider a second opinion rather than hearing my words and for sure with the reputation of Skoda in Trivandrum ranked to "brilliant", they never gave a second thought.

Well now all I can say is to give access to this site to Skoda Octavia's main office (I suppose at Slovakia or the Chezch) and they will definitely straighten things out. Can't imagine a car company going to the court, fighting for a car ! Are they not aware of the crash tests conducted at R&D where so many cars are tested and scraped. Or is it that Skoda wants the money and is skipping that. If it was somewhere else, Harish just had to hire an attorney and wait and watch. Well good luck marketing manager, Skoda India !

"Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of the pleasures; costs nothing and conveys much. It pleases him who gives and him who receives and thus, like mercy, it is twice blessed" - Erastus Wiman

[navin]

Originally Posted by ashish22

i dont have any more guts to go to skoda A.S.S. and get my car serviced.

Therre are many good garages (atleast I was able to find one near me) that are competent at servicing european cars. If you are looking for one such garage visit the garge a few times. Observe their processes and what cars they usually have for repairs, talk to some of the owners of the cars, and then take a decision.

Originally Posted by amit_kaus

I've been facing problems every second day. I dont drive it much now fearing anything can happen anywhere...Skoda India pls get up and chk ur dealers and their low class services.

Can you document in detail the list of troubles you have had?

[evo]

So here I was at Jia Auto hoping against hope that they`d mend their behaviour especially since they were going to incur the cost of repair anyway.

But, you know what, they have a reputation to live down to. And they excel at keeping it!

The service advisor was only dealing with me as he had to. No courtesy, totally forget about any apology. Anyways, so he has a look at the paint, notices the huge splotches of yellow and says "yeh toh world ke kisi bhi gadi mein hoga", he and another chap there exchange knowing looks and then the other chap chips in "if we remove the base coat, the whole car will rust in a month", they then proceed to call a third chap who is sarcastically told that "the yellow RS that had come in for paint a year ago, the customer is not satisfied" (in Bengali).

The service advisor repeats that "base coat hatane se rust aajaygee,lekin agar aap bolenge toh hum kar denge" I tell him that since he is the authorised dealer, if there is any question of rust, it`ll be obviously under his scope. I reiterated that my concern was getting the car paint look blue, not yellow and it was upto him how he did it without damaging the car. He mumbles something.

He then points out that two bulbs are fused and "uska toh mein charge karunga", then he and the other chap go around the car with a fine toothed comb and make cluck cluck noises while noting "idhar toh alignment kharab hai, idhar toh brake disc khaa liya" and so on.

I had to get the brake pads changed anyway, so I said give me an estimate and I`ll see about that.

It was such a sick experience, like they were doing me some great favour by repairing the car. It was horrible.

Whatever it is, they have made the ownership experience is so "kirkira" for lack of an English equivalent.

I dont know what more damage they`ll cause her after reading this, but I dont know, somehow, they are spending money on fixing the car and yet not trying to gain a customer. Its strange.

[sfilinto]

Wow!! What a thread.
Have been on team-bhp long enough to get the impression that all Indian manufacturers & editorial staff of automobile magazines have a presence on this site, but NOBODY dared to create an account and reply to all the accusations made against them. (Used to read those magazines from my school days - but stopped when I found team-bhp - reasons will not be discussed over here.)
I guess this is a first... that a company creates an official account and chooses to reply to posts.
Not sure if this is a great initiative of outright foolish. I guess time will tell.
On a side note.... wondering what does this lady mean by “would instigate both Team-BHP as well as the various users in the ongoing court case.”
Now maybe my English is gone rusty…

[navin]

Originally Posted by evo

The service advisor was only dealing with me as he had to. No courtesy, totally forget about any apology. Anyways, so he has a look at the paint, notices the huge splotches of yellow and says "yeh toh world ke kisi bhi gadi mein hoga", he and another chap there exchange knowing looks and then the other chap chips in "if we remove the base coat, the whole car will rust in a month", they then proceed to call a third chap who is sarcastically told that "the yellow RS that had come in for paint a year ago, the customer is not satisfied" (in Bengali).

1. Are you saying that you asked Jia Auto (an authorised Skoda dealer) to paint a yellow RS blue and all they did was paint over the existing yellow paint?

2. What made them think they'd get away with this? Even a small garage (atlesat the small garages I've seen in Mumbai) which has a good paint shop will first strip the car of all the yellow and reapply the base coat and then repaint the car blue. Evo takes pics, lots of pics. Document your case well with names, designations etc.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by navin

1. Are you saying that you asked Jia Auto (an authorised Skoda dealer) to paint a yellow RS blue and all they did was paint over the existing yellow paint?

Yes Navin, that is exactly the case here. I thought Evo mentioned this many times. Very smartly, Skoda dealer painted blue over yellow, no scraping off the existing paint nothing!

[His Highness]

Originally Posted by sajanpt

At the outset, a request to GTO:

Please take off that Octavia picture from the main screen as it does not deserve to be there !!

An incident five years back; when the luxury segment started getting a boom in Trivandrum, I was planning to buy a Skoda Octavia. My options were Octavia(diesel), and Optra(petrol ). Test drove the Optra and went to Skoda dealer. They did not have a test drive car which is acceptable at those times. But after hearing something from the mouth of the sales person (attitude problem instilled in all by the company managers I suppose) I immediately decided on Optra and I am happy to have made the right decision due to the world class service offerred by Geeyem motors. And you are eager to hear what the salesman said right !

I asked him if there would be any discount if I pay the whole amount in cash. His reply " Even 0.50 paise will not be deducted from the printed price" I asked him why he is so adamant and told what Chevrolet is offerring. He told me in a carefree manner " If you want it you buy it ! It's the company policy"

I walked out and for five years I was able to turn down at least 28-30 people from buying that car. Well, they would all consider a second opinion rather than hearing my words and for sure with the reputation of Skoda in Trivandrum ranked to "brilliant", they never gave a second thought.

Well now all I can say is to give access to this site to Skoda Octavia's main office (I suppose at Slovakia or the Chezch) and they will definitely straighten things out. Can't imagine a car company going to the court, fighting for a car ! Are they not aware of the crash tests conducted at R&D where so many cars are tested and scraped. Or is it that Skoda wants the money and is skipping that. If it was somewhere else, Harish just had to hire an attorney and wait and watch. Well good luck marketing manager, Skoda India !

"Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of the pleasures; costs nothing and conveys much. It pleases him who gives and him who receives and thus, like mercy, it is twice blessed" - Erastus Wiman

Ditto ! When I bought the Optra, I faced a similar choice. But my father in law ( Unfortunately for him) owns an Octavia ( Along with an E230) and he was/is very dissatisfied with his car. It would stop anytime for no reason! Each time he would take the car to the Authorised service centre, they would say that rats have eaten this, and eaten that!

Foe the past few years he has been getting his car serviced by a regular mechanic and has not faced any problems.

For me the bottomline is : Skoda are good cars with the worst service centres.

With regard to my choice, the Optra. I can proudly say that after 40k Kms , the car has not been to the garage for anything at all! Regular service at National Garage ( Mr. Viral Patel knows regular customers by name and treats them fairly) have been enough to keep my 2005 Optra in great shape!

[harry10]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

Yes Navin, that is exactly the case here. I thought Evo mentioned this many times. Very smartly, Skoda dealer painted blue over yellow, no scraping off the existing paint nothing!

I think Navin ji was too busy in dealing with autobahn so they missed what Evo has been shouting since first thread.
In reagrds to your post few days back Evo i thought your ordeal is over but it seems it can never get over till you have a skoda!

[evo]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

Yes Navin, that is exactly the case here. I thought Evo mentioned this many times. Very smartly, Skoda dealer painted blue over yellow, no scraping off the existing paint nothing!

Originally Posted by navin

1. Are you saying that you asked Jia Auto (an authorised Skoda dealer) to paint a yellow RS blue and all they did was paint over the existing yellow paint?

2. What made them think they'd get away with this? Even a small garage ..... Evo takes pics, lots of pics. Document your case well with names, designations etc.

1. Yessir. You summed it up to the T. And now they tell me that if they remove the yellow, the base coat will be removed to and my entire car will rust in one month.

2.Yup, took tons of pictures, the yellow is clearly visible, huge splotches, little dots, faint scratches, theres yellow of all varieties.

_____________________________________

Now, the new bit, Mr. Yogesh Chirimar (Works manager, JIA) calls me up and says that "kyonki itna jhamela ho gaya hai, hum gaadi toh paint kardenge lekin Skoda India vale bol rahen hai ki plastic parts" and the line got disconnected. Called back twice but the man conveniently ignored my calls.

So now, after wasting 45 minutes on a Monday morning where they clearly agreed to do all on the Job Card, now they want to back away from certain parts!! Hahaha.

In the hotel industry we call this term "Service Recovery" and if I was there, then apart from making up for what wrong they did, I would have probably offered my customer a free service and car cleaning or something like that.

Ofcourse since I`m an interested party here, the suggestion seems rather selfish, but thats how its done. Obviously they are not of the same opinion.

The Job Card states that I`ll get my car back on 05 MAY 09 with paint and LCU restored and it also clearly states that apart from the fused bulbs (if any) Jia will bear the cost.

Then this strange truncated call about plastic parts.

Now what?

[navin]

Originally Posted by harry10

I think Navin ji was too busy in dealing with autobahn so they missed what Evo has been shouting since first thread.

aha yes
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1242292-post785.html

my bad.

Originally Posted by evo

1. Yessir. You summed it up to the T. And now they tell me that if they remove the yellow, the base coat will be removed to and my entire car will rust in one month.

Now, the new bit, Mr. Yogesh Chirimar (Works manager, JIA) calls me up and says that "kyonki itna jhamela ho gaya hai, hum gaadi toh paint kardenge lekin Skoda India vale bol rahen hai ki plastic parts" and the line got disconnected. Called back twice but the man conveniently ignored my calls.

The Job Card states that I`ll get my car back on 05 MAY 09 with paint and LCU restored and it also clearly states that apart from the fused bulbs (if any) Jia will bear the cost.

Then this strange truncated call about plastic parts.

100s of cars are painted by garages all over India. I dont see any garge complainging or warning their customer that 'if the base coat is removed the car wil rust in one month".

Firstly I think he means primer. Base Coat is usully refered to as Clear Coat that is applied on top of the paint job to make the car chine and keep the shine longer.

Jia hs 2 options either they can sand the car down or use a chemical paint remover. Either option is fine each has it's advantges. I dont think they have the facilities to shot blast/media blast the car.

If they sand the car down they can easily avoid removing the old primer. If they prefer the chemical paint remover they have to mask all the trim with masking tape. Even with this process they can use the paint stripper to remove bulk of the paint and use sanding to remove the last bit thereby protecting the primer. If they are not competent to do this properly then they need to get out of the business. Even a how like OVERHAULING shows how metal is preped, primed and painted (post media blast).

Even if the primer gets removed there are ways to protect the metal before primer is reapplied.

1. Please inform Skoda (Karthik and anyone who will listen like srinivas.sudhir@skoda-auto.co.in) about the latest developments. Send them a link to your posts on TBHP. If Yogesh has an email address CC him as well.

2. Inform Skoda and Jia that they are responsible for damage to parts that have happened due to their negligence, shoddy workmanship, and/or lack of care.

Disclaimer: I have never painted an entire car. I have used rust remover and done some small patch jobs on a 1978 Honda 1500 (CVCC) in the 80s.

[evo]

Attached is the job card which clearly states what they`ll do.

[phamilyman]

Your fuel was NOT measured before taking for service?

The handwriting is atrocious. Those are some weird individuals there. More handwriting analysis experts can say