[loving_alaap]

Originally Posted by nithinnarayanan

Hey all,

Got an SMS from +912402475999

For a pleasant & cool drive this summer get your Skoda car checked at no cost from 30th March to 11th April. Call your Skoda dealership for an appointment. T&C.

Is this another attempt from Skoda to take parts from our cars ?

check up is free, but after that, they will definitely say to each skoda owner: There are few parts damaged, need to replace / need service.

Looking like another gimmick to earn the 17% lost business.

[harishv]

Volkswagen scandals – The Indian Connection. ?????

Supplier tip triggered VW corruption affair -ex-CEO | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters

Volkswagen union boss Klaus Volkert jailed for two years - Times Online

domain-b.com : Project Volkswagen rolls again

Volkswagen scam: Judicial custody for Jain

Dubious business

VW decides to pay Rs 11 crore to Andhra

Dr Helmuth Schuster, Head, India Project Team called on the Hon'ble CM

'Many in VW knew I was the Indian partner'

CorpWatch*:*GERMANY: Auditors Detail VW Corruption in India and Czech Republic

http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13897038

Govt says 'danke' to folks at Volkswagen. | Full text Regional & Local Governments articles from leading publications on ArticleArchives.com.

Kickback Scandal Cost VW Millions: Report | Business | Deutsche Welle | 12.11.2005

Scandal at Volkswagen: With Prostitutes and Shady Executives, There's No Love Left in this Bug - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

[ajayr]

Looks like the mysterious one-line comment poster SkodaIndia has been editing out Skoda Auto's criticism section put in place by BHPians.

Guys, please keep a watch on the Wikipedia page about Skoda Auto and in case they delete the criticism section again, feel free to undo the change. Å*koda Auto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

User SkodaIndia has already been warned by one of Wikipedia's veteran editor about his/her "disruptive" edits: User talk:Skodaindia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And yet another friendly reminder to Digg this thread: Skoda Auto sucks - threatens users describing their service

[abhibh]

Originally Posted by navin

Imagine being chased by this car
FileSC00255.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

at first it seems to catch up with then it's timing belt snaps he he he ok it is a poor joke but I could not help it. Old age is also known as a second childhood.

Originally Posted by theMAG

Thats a cracking one Navin!!

Originally Posted by abhibh

Oh my my my...

I just saw a Skoda Octavia towed by an Indica today.

There was no external damage to the car. Must be something related to timing belt.

I'll post the pic later.

Timing Belt problem eh ?

[blacmagic]

it looks like people in Skoda India are quaking in their boots.
they are actively trying to contain fallout from the Harish incident, the most recent example being this:
Skoda Auto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

so lets see: we have 'Skoda Corporate' threatening people with instigation, checking this forum almost everyday but not bothering to respond, CarWale prohibited from carrying a link to this thread, newspapers and magazines being persuaded not to mention anything about Skoda's service and canned responses posted on independent blogs and aggregators.

would it not be much simpler to call up Harish and return his car?
Harish, this is what I call maximum bang, maximum buck. you are getting your money's worth for what you paid Skoda. you have successfully managed to kick off a campaign that has one of the world's biggest companies ducking for cover.

no matter what, I will NOT let that Wikipedia entry be sanitized. so Skoda, instigate me if you will.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by shuvc

?koda Auto - Concern

If that page didn't exist a week ago, well, you just brought a smile to my face. I hope this is indicative of some new customer service processes being rolled out. Of course, the real test is when they actually start solving problems submitted via that form (if at all). Lets wait and watch. We have enough Skoda owners amongst us to gauge the effectiveness - or lack of - for this complaint's page.

Again : WAKE UP, SKODA!

Originally Posted by GTO

If that page didn't exist a week ago, well, you just brought a smile to my face.

+1 to that.
The move to add this thread on wikipedia was good, whoever did that, and as usual, internet challenged "SkodaIndia" has blundered again.
This is likely the same person as skodacorporate on teambhp. Why dont Skoda just get rid of this person from their payroll before this individual inflicts more damage on his/her own company?

If more tbhpians Digg up this thread Skoda Auto sucks - threatens users describing their service, that would help further in turning up the heat on these crooks.

[ac 427]

@harishv,

this is a friggin revelation. i always thought that vw was a clean company.

Had huge respect for them. Always thought it was a huge but a clean company.

is this the dirty underbelly they wanted to hide. Many this thread is throwing up surprises and how.

Thanks to harish.

Cheers,
AC

[theMAG]

Skoda India - did you really want this ? Would it have hurt you so much to have taken care of your customers well as a culture rather than now trying to execute one knee-jerk reaction after another - very unlike a corporate and very like a kid ?

[RajaTaurus]

[quote=abhibh;1248606]Timing Belt problem eh ?

Ha ha ha ha.. Couldn't just stop laughing loud man.. What a catch picture this one is...

[greenhorn]

i see another edit war coming on the skoda auto page

1. I'm not sure forum posts meet the notablity criteria for wikipedia. Gather all the links and articles from the published media as you can, and link to them instead of the team bhp threads

2. find out who took the pic that's posted there. They should be able to declare there that they have taken the pictures and grant copyright for the same.

3. keep a watchful eye. skodaindia and their other proxies will try to edit the article again. thankfully wikipedia admins should support us, but they will go only by the rules, so make sure we have enough ammo through #1

[blacmagic]

Greenhorn, you speak the truth. there is definitely an edit war on the cards.
to make things more acceptable, I changed the general tone of the article by removing adjectives like 'shoddy', so the neutrality of the article should be beyond question.

however, Skoda made a hash of it by stupidly trying to edit its page using a handle that screamed SKODA.
that incident alone is enough to prove that Skoda has a vested interest in this issue. it will make a very strong argument.

lets see if somebody comes forward with the opinion that this forum is not notable. because that would make almost everything on any website non-notable.
it will take somebody well versed with Wikipedia to raise that argument and looking at the mistake Skoda has made, Im sure they dont have the first idea what 'notability' really is. unless of course Meghna is reading this post and reporting to her superiors.

the picture isnt copyrighted and nobody can trace its origins. anybody with a camera could have taken that picture. if anything, the owner of that car should be traced. until then, AjayR is the owner of that picture. but its going to be a real eyesore for Skoda Im sure.

this is purely a hunch, but Im pretty darn sure Skoda India does not want its higher ups at VAG reading this and is doing its best to make sure nothing gets out of hand. Im certain VAG has a PR department smart enough to handle this sort of information, but I dont see them anywhere yet.

[gameonrwind]

Just a thought...

After this incident, why are we still carrying the red “Skoda Octavia” image on the top right banner of the forum?

Should it not be replaced by better car from a better manufacturer?

[blacmagic]

... an interesting bit of info from Skoda's Wikipedia page. how they managed to improve their image in Europe by tackling the problem head on; quite unlike Skoda India who is busy denying that a problem even exists.
maybe they should read their own Wikipedia page more carefully.

The perception of Škoda in Western Europe has changed completely.[4] As technical development progressed and attractive new models were brought to market, Škoda's image was initially slow to improve. In the UK, a major turnabout was achieved with the ironic "It is a Škoda, honest" campaign, which was started in the early 2000s. In a 2003 advertisement on British television, a new employee on the production line is fitting Škoda badges on the car bonnets. When some attractive looking cars come along he stands back, not fitting the badge, since they look so good they cannot be Škodas.[5] This market campaign worked by confronting Škoda's image problem head-on — a tactic which marketing professionals regard as high risk. Before the advertising campaign, it was common to hear tour guides in Bratislava making jokes about the Skoda, saying "How do you double the value of a Skoda? Fill up the gas tank!" If the Fabia and Octavia had been anything less than excellent cars, the campaign might have backfired badly. By 2005, Škoda was selling over 30,000 cars a year in the UK, a market share of over 1%. For the first time in its UK history, a waiting list developed for deliveries by Škoda. Škoda owners in the UK have consistently ranked the brand at or near the top of the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey during the 2000s.

[dockap]

Originally Posted by ac 427

@harishv,

this is a friggin revelation. i always thought that vw was a clean company.

Had huge respect for them. Always thought it was a huge but a clean company.

is this the dirty underbelly they wanted to hide. Many this thread is throwing up surprises and how.

Thanks to harish.

Cheers,
AC

hey man are you serious VW a clean company?
some time back the top management in VW were arrested for bribery and fraud see the below links

VW Scandal Engulfs Schroder Ally, Threatening Chancellor - Business - redOrbit

VW Scandal Could Be Blow to Government - Los Angeles Times

BBC NEWS | Business | VW scandal probe to cost 5m euros

BBC NEWS | Business | VW scandal claims Schroeder ally