[reppy]

Unbelievable - check out Orkut Skoda communities and there are people complaining of similar problems (replacement of parts by dealers in Chennai and Gurgaon etc). One of the cases has an answer from Skoda where it tells the customer that they are not responsible for what goes on between customer and dealer.

Harish that might be of help to you?

[HappyWheels]

Just a thought, since Skoda Chez washed their hands off, not that it is a good sign, should not the title be changed to "... Skoda India..."?

This way we are specific and also search results are more accurate.

[harishv]

[quote]

Originally Posted by horsepower

Hi! Can we mail the link to this thread 2008 India Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study | J.D. Power and Associates, to the person who wrote this report.

Sales Satisfaction Index????????? What about Service Satisfaction Index?????

Originally Posted by reppy

Unbelievable - check out Orkut Skoda communities and there are people complaining of similar problems (replacement of parts by dealers in Chennai and Gurgaon etc). One of the cases has an answer from Skoda where it tells the customer that they are not responsible for what goes on between customer and dealer.

Harish that might be of help to you?

Sure will. Will take a look.

The link to orkut

orkut -

orkut -

[amit]

Originally Posted by prabhusati

This article was printed in the "BrandLine" supplement of Business Line newspaper dated 2nd April 2009.

The article is about how companies are trying to ensure that their car sells.

I was amused by one paragraph in the article: Quote "Thomas Kuehl, Board member (Sales & Mktg), Skoda India, endorses this view (the previous paragraph mentions about how car companies work to sustain their relationships with existing customers). When I am at Lakme Fashion week I meet more customers. I can run around and ask what they feel about our cars. I believe in face-to-face marketing" Unquote.

That's where the problem is. The top management is busy courting celebrities and thus are totally unaware of the facts. They go to fashion shows and the celebrities tell them how good their cars are, the technology, the great service blah blah and they come away impressed thinking there is no problem with their products and service.

For lesser mortals like us, the choksey's are given the responsiblity.

Of course, the celebrities think nothing of spending Rs.100K on service because that much they earn in 30 minutes advertising for toilet paper. So when 'ordinary' mortals complain about Rs.60K service charges, Skoda thinks why the hell is this guy making an issue over such a small amount when so many of my customers are delighted with our service charges?

Mr.Thomas Kuehl, please make a surprise visit to any one of your dealership in our country on any day. Or just flag down a Skoda on the road or walk upto a Skoda refuelling at a petrol pump and talk to that owner about the car and service expereince. It will be a far cheaper and effective way of getting to know your customers then spending millions on sponsoring fashion shows to connect with them.

[diffsoft]

My mail to Mohit Arora with cc to John Tews

----------------

mohit_arora@jdpower.com.sg

Dear Mohit:

I am an automobile lover and read the JD Power Asia Pacific Report whenever it gets released. Some of my buying decisions do tend to get influenced by the report.

However I am sad to say that my (and many others') personal experience does not align with the findings of the report in some cases. For instance you have ranked Skoda the highest in Overall Sales Satisfaction Study 2008 India Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study | J.D. Power and Associates ; and this is contrary to my and others' experience.

For a while I assumed my experience was a statistical outlier, but I found that I was certainly not in a small minority to be an outlier. In my case the dealer passed off an old car as a new one, with Skoda India's knowledge; further my registration was forged and the primary Bangalore dealer was handling it. This led me to seek help from the internet and I found an automotive lovers' forum - Team-BHP - The Definitive Indian Car Community which was a neutral forum of auto lovers helping/ sharing with one another. I discovered that I was not alone at all; in fact others had worse experience; and Skoda's after sales complaints seemed to be high in relation to other auto makers (despite the relatively small overall market share of Skoda India).

Some of the links to explain the above can be found here:

My experience with SkodaAuto India was detailed here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...gnature-4.html

Other Skoda woes are listed here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...rned-year.html

I own two Hyundai cars and I found them to be super excellent in Pre and Post Sales; and of course no forgery and they are listed last. So it makes me look at your reports with a skeptic's eye.

Would you have any thoughts to explain the above aberration?

Thanks for reading through my mail and would appreciate a reply to a future auto buyer who would like to better rely on your reports.

Warm regards,
Krishnaraj

P.S: I have no financial / fiduciary interest in either Skoda or Hyundai other than being an auto-owner

[babe_on_wheels]

Instead of fair compensation and resolution of the problem, so called Skoda Public Relations Executive is resorting to mud flinging and restricting the freedom of speech/opinions.
Get your act together and clean up the mess.

@ Skoda Corporate: Just went through your profile, where is your loyalty to SKODA. It says your cars are Hyundai and Mahindra! Heehehe!
You should be lending your Heartfelt Support to Skoda NO ?

[ajayr]

Have posted about this thread in many Orkut communities as well

[maverick030581]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

-------------
Dear Mr. Prashant,

We thank you for giving us the feedback.

Glad to be of your “Service”. Good day &
Best Regards

Srinivas Sudhir
Customer Be Damned (LOL)

We at Škoda, constantly endeavour to bring to our customers the latest technological innovations in our products and services.
Huh???

Our customers expect a lot from Škoda cars, and I am proud to say that we have been able to exceed expectations in both terms of our technology and our Services.
Huh???

On the technology front, our state-of-the-art Pumpe Duse diesel engines are highly acclaimed for their performance and economy. Advance safety technology such as ESP, TPM, and head airbags are still unique to our cars in their segment.
Huh????

On the service front, we are ranked No 4 in the JD Power Satisfaction Survey in the year 2008 which would not have been possible unless we have in place the best Customer care initiatives. Various up to date trainings are being rendered to the dealership personnel at every stage of our operations. You may note that Skoda was escalated from its erstwhile Rank 7 in 2007 to the current Rank 4 for customer Service. We are keenly strategizing ourselves to top the list in the years to come.
Huh???

On the general foot you may note that the Service intervals for our cars are 10,000 kms which is the best in its class, when compared to the service intervals of 5000-7000 kms of other brands.
Huh??? (OT-Sam, would you care to give us your take on "the general foot"?) LOL

Nevertheless whatever you have read on team-bhp is purely an exceptional case which is Sub-judice before the Hon’ble State Commission, Mumbai
Huh???

We hope we have been able to respond to most of your concerns.
If you have any further concerns do write to us
Yeah,right. I'll do that when I feel like laughing next
My my, just when I get a break form laughing, Skoda comes with up gems like these. Again, and again, and again. The laughing stock of the Indian car scene. Man am I glad I didn't go in for a used RS like I had planned. This thread reminds me of the 1st post by GTO in the Official Joke thread

[Hurrycane12]

Originally Posted by reppy

Unbelievable - check out Orkut Skoda communities and there are people complaining of similar problems (replacement of parts by dealers in Chennai and Gurgaon etc). One of the cases has an answer from Skoda where it tells the customer that they are not responsible for what goes on between customer and dealer.

Harish that might be of help to you?

Seems like once Skoda sells the car their job's done and they longer are responsible for anything else.

Wow I wonder who is helping them draft their response? Just shows they are taking the Indian consumer for a ride.

Accepting responsibility for the goof up and apologising to Harish (and other consumers) will earn more good will, respect and get you more brand equity.

Learn something from MUL they treat customer as King be it sales / service.

[harishv]

Hi. Did a skoda search on Orkut. Got 1000 plus communities. Opened only about 3 of them. Got the following. Phew.......


orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

orkut -

The feeling is unanimous.
Some good cars. Ridiculously expensive spares. Horrendous after sales service.

[Xehaust]

One thing is for sure...
Skoda, this incident is going to...rather already has, caused an unmeasurable amount of damage to your brand. The amount of us enthusiasts present on this forum is definately going to affect your stay in the Indian market. The way the representatives have responded has been very poor, in taste and in the image that they have potrayed regarding the company.

The fact that "aggresive" behaviour was shown to this forum was the turning point. Did Skoda not know how badly this move would reflect on it. Id even say that Skoda's success in this country when it entered with the Octavia would be purely due to customers who loved cars and this community of members is filled with exactly those type of customers. Heck, the image on our forum is that of an Octavia RS.

Let me just add that the number of prospective customers you are going to loose is going to be "n" times more than the amount of users on this forum as its not just the members, but the amount of people that each member can influence. These are individuals who thier family and friends would most probably consult while making their car or bike buying decisions.

Just by going through some of the posts on this thread itself, you can make out how much sales Skoda has already lost & must be losing as this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Me, being a fan of the new Superb & all that is has to offer have also changed my views purely after going through this thread and seeing the way Skoda has responded in various areas. I was even suggesting the car over the Accord to people i know even though the Accord is in itself an excellent car. I think im rather just going to keep mum from now on.
This just goes to show how badly your image has been tarnished.

I suggest that Skoda takes this seriously and runs it throught thier HR & PR staff in order to fully comprehend the seriousness and amount of damage that it's going through.

P.S. - I strongly suggest Skoda goes through it's sales figures. Even if it's not down by much, all i can say is, as mentioned by a fellow member somewhere in this thread, the goodwill that Skoda has built over the years is going to go for a toss. This goodwill is what keeps sales and reputation of a company. The goodwill has most probably already plummeted to non existent levels.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

" .... On the service front, we are ranked No 4 in the JD Power Satisfaction Survey in the year 2008 which would not have been possible unless we have in place the best Customer care initiatives ...."

Yes, sir. Way to go! Continue to believe you are the best. Sooner or later the customers will put you in place.

Apology in advance for Old Codger Rant...

Once upon a time, people worked their way up organisations. Even in family companies seniors insisted that juniors started life on the factory or shop floor.

Now they get MBAs (Often it seems, in marketing) and enter directly to jobs with titles like something-or-other executives. Many of them wouldn't make filing clerks. I have learnt, to my cost, that a number of them at my bank had absolutely no right at all giving investment advice.

It's a kind of corporate sickness, and the customer suffers.

Please, India; give up this love affair with things American. Look where it has got them!

[MaxX]

I just struck up a conversation with a friend in the auto industry about Skoda, planning to talk to him about this case. Even before I could say anything, he told me about how spurious parts are put in the cars and when the customer has problems, original parts are put back at high prices and the cycle repeated again..

Was shocked, this seems to be happening from quite a while.. wonder how it became a issue only now.. anywayz, better late than never I guess!!

[anilkalvani]

The thing that Skoda India realize real fast is that this is the internet generation. Cars in their portfolio start from the Fabia to the Superb. Today as a consumer and innumerous consumers, to research any product, the first thing we do is to log on to the internet & look it up (read: Google It, Yahoo It, Mouthshut, etc.). If all that has been written on blogs here by unbiased, unpaid 'real' owners is noticed by any prospective buyer, what will it portray about Skoda as a brand? Unreliable, High Maintenance, Duplicate Parts, Fleecing Customers?

Is this what Skoda wants itself to be perceived as in India. You can fool 'some' people all the time, but you can fool all the people 'only' for some time. Wake Up Skoda, you're in the 21st century!

[anupmathur]

IMO, it's time to shift focus to the present.
If Skoda was as good as it imagined, it would not have been up for sale and VW would not have become the current owner of the marque.

The take-over is not yet complete, or so it seems to me. There are many operational details that have not been 'slotted'.
The problem is actually VW's today. They are the ones that have to make all crucial decisions. They never imagined the ill-will the brand carried with it, albeit only in some countries! But the www transcends all international boundaries!
This 'bad baggage' is going to affect the bottom line of VW. They HAVE to think this through very carefully.