[GTO]

*UPDATE*

The Senior management of Skoda came down to meet with three of Team-BHP's Moderators (GTO, Navin & Rehaan) in order to discuss the reported issues with Skoda’s after-sales service. We were pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Thomas Kuehl (Member, Board of Directors, Skoda India), present for the meeting as well. Mr. Detlef Roemhild (GM, After Sales) - along with other members of the Skoda team were also present to hear what we had to say.

We put forth the following customer concerns to Skoda:

1. Absolutely unacceptable levels of after-sales service provided by them in this country. We discussed most of the issues that have transpired on Team-BHP and had a detailed talk covering most aspects of Skoda's sales and service.

2. Our ownership review statistics which indicate that an overwhelming majority of Skoda owners rated their after-sales experience as either "poor" or "below average" was brought to their notice. They couldn’t possibly get a better representative and totally unbiased research sample to gauge their after-sales quality on.

3. Various customer cases were brought up (diffsoft’s & Shanbagh's client for example) and the seriousness of these cases was made clear.

4. We stressed that changes should be made by Skoda for ALL of their customers, not just Team-BHPians. What became apparent was how a lot of the major issues were clearly not escalated to Senior Management. Mr. Kuehl listened to all the concerns and was receptive to what we had to say. We guess he has a lot of thinking to do and a lot of questions to raise internally. Hopefully this will be a significant step towards driving positive changes for Skoda owners. We mentioned that as much as we are around to expose poor practices, we are there to encourage change for the better.

The ball is clearly in their court to move things forward. We appreciate Skoda’s management looking into this matter directly, and we know that bringing Skoda’s after-sales to acceptable standards will not be an overnight task. It will take time, but at this stage, we can only hope for a change.....we can only wait & watch.

In conclusion : The objective of our meeting was to get the attention of Skoda’s senior most management to the issues mentioned above. We have very successfully conveyed our message.

At the end of the day, Team-BHP and all the car manufacturers want the same thing : Satisfied customers. Though, Team-BHP is and will ALWAYS be, on the side of the customer.

[thebagchi]

Now this is a great news.
Hopefully they work towards restoring the lost faith.

[sanjayatarizona]

Now that is great news indeed. Hopefully, just hopefully this will bode well for all current and future Skoda Customers.

Great work mods and the zealous members of the forum.


An aspect i could not digest was the fact that the Exec team could be so completely divorced from ground realities

Edit: Team-BHP rulez..

[Holyghost]

@GTO: Great effort from you and your team. Skoda India must have realised the power of this community. I believe this will definitely bring some changes from Skoda.

[Perakath]

GTO-- you haven't mentioned any responses from the Skoda team! Was all they did listen? Or can you not write it here?

[harishv]

Kudos GTO, Navin, Rehaan, Team-BHP.

A step in the right direction.

[Ardy]

Kudos to GTO, Navin & Rehaan.

Great work ... Though I personally have not been on the wrong side o Skoda's A.S.S (touch wood), this is a good result from the community / skoda owners perspective.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by thebagchi

Now this is a great news.

Originally Posted by sanjayatarizona

Now that is great news indeed.

Originally Posted by Holyghost

@GTO: Great effort from you and your team. Skoda India must have realised the power of this community.

Great work mods and the zealous members of the forum.

Originally Posted by harishv

A step in the right direction.

Originally Posted by Ardy

Kudos to GTO, Navin & Rehaan.

It was only due to strong supporters like you gentlemen that this matter was escalated to the highest level. Look, we've not beat around the bush. We came straight to the point. Most of Skoda's dealers are rotten & their own customer care inexistent; tough times need tough decisions. A complete overhaul is the only way to go.

As things stand today, I cannot recommend a Skoda to anyone. As stated earlier, we can only hope at this stage.....hopefully, things improve in the future (for existing & potential owners).

Originally Posted by Perakath

GTO-- you haven't mentioned any responses from the Skoda team! Was all they did listen? Or can you not write it here?

Rehaan put it this way : Actions speak louder than words. It is important to walk the talk.

Great work ... Though I personally have not been on the wrong side o Skoda's A.S.S (touch wood), this is a good result from the community / skoda owners perspective.

Well, only about 10 - 12% of Skoda's owners did rate the after-sales as good / satisfactory. You are in the minority! Good for you, though.

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by GTO

*UPDATE*

The Senior management of Skoda came down to meet with three of Team-BHP's Moderators (GTO, Navin & Rehaan) in order to discuss the reported issues with Skoda’s after-sales service.

Great job indeed :-) To have Skoda India officials turn up for a face to face meeting, team-bhp must be doing the right things !

4. We stressed that changes should be made by Skoda for ALL of their customers, not just Team-BHPians. What became apparent was how a lot of the major issues were clearly not escalated to Senior Management.

Very relevant indeed. tbhp is not a mere 'lobby' group for members but stands for the Indian automotive consumer at large.
Wrt most major issues not escalated to senior management, I am, somewhat, skeptical. I mean it reflects on Skoda India's corporate culture and management practices that the top management remained unaware ? One might say they 'didn't want' to know of it, or ? Atleast on many threads, bhpians have mentioned writing in to MD, any and every top official of Skoda including to Skoda Czech...
In any case, if they turn a new leaf, we should welcome that - though proof of action is required ...

BTW, did you ask for a 'clarification' post on SkodaCorporate's threat to team-bhp ? I mean this is the least they should do to start a turnaround!

Cheers,

[ecclipse78]

Great job, GTO, Rehaan and Navin !!

It's time for Skoda India to 'Walk the Talk'.

Personally, I owned an Octavia 2.0 and RS. Wonderful cars, but had to sell them due to non-existent after-sales service from their so called authorized dealer.
I swore to never buy another Skoda vehicle in India and dissuaded many in Chennai to do the same. Pity, as the Laura and Superb are indeed great vehicles.

For Skoda India's own good, I hope they wake up and smell the coffee.

[narayan]

Good first step from SKODA - needs to be followed up with a lot of action and trust me , its going to take an IRON FIST to fix this within a large organisation - but better late than never

after all - who would want to go down as one of those manufacturers who made great cars but was totally let down by awefull after sales service ? there are many examples in India and I am sure SKODA does not want to go down that route

[Raj1008]

GTO and mods, once again kudos to you. You guys have stuck through with harish, evo and others dilemma and didnt back down even once. So finally the voice was heard and hopefully it would start to show results. After this if this dont get fixed then Skoda is a lost cause.

I think you should tackle the politicains next May the force be with you!

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Good step.

If withdraw the threats, and make sure that when an A/S/S says that a part has been changed, it has indeed been changed, I guess most Skoda owners would be happy.

I believe the complaints are not about service costing Rupees X or Clutch plate replacement costing rupees Y or headlamp assembly coming only in pairs and costing rupees Z.

It is about being treated honestly. And competently. And consistently. And transparently.

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by GTO

...The Senior management of Skoda came down to meet with three of Team-BHP's Moderators (GTO, Navin & Rehaan) in order to discuss the reported issues with Skoda’s after-sales service. We were pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Thomas Kuehl (Member, Board of Directors, Skoda India), present for the meeting as well. Mr. Detlef Roemhild (GM, After Sales) - along with other members of the Skoda team were also present to hear what we had to say...

Good to note that some effort is being taken at the top of Skoda India. Even though it is kind of difficult when it is said that the top did not know what the bottom was doing, which by itself shows a disconnected structure, it is at least a step in the right direction.

Time will tell.

Originally Posted by GTO

...Rehaan put it this way : Actions speak louder than words. It is important to walk the talk...

Was that too much to ask for? I would say that an update is meaningful only if you are willing to share the whole information. Saying the part of what you did and masking what the other party said by such statements does go well.

Unless we know what they 'talked', how will we know if they have 'walked' it?

[evo]

Whoa, thats brilliant news. They actually decided to do something about it and came down to talk. That speaks volumes!

To repeat the others, lets see em walk the talk