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Old 9th October 2009, 12:49   #16
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Originally Posted by Trapezio View Post
Is it not true? I never understood (yet to understand) how people can compare the Indica V2 they owned five years before to a Swift ZXi!

Obviously the list price is just number that is forgotten after the sale.
Ofcourse true, but the service should be upto the mark and should satisfy customer needs irrespecitve of the pricing and service charges
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Old 9th October 2009, 13:34   #17
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Originally Posted by vivek.singh.73 View Post
All,

1. Attitude of the Company - towards customer complaints and ownership.
- With Tata, I get a feeling that they look at customers as though customer is looking for a free ride and trying to get more from them i.e. what they don't deserve and un-necessarily creating noise. Which is very different with other well placed player - they actaully go out of their way to understand whats bothering the customer and perhaps emapathy also a play a role there. I was thinking hard on this topic as to whats the source of this problem - and I think its typical India attitude, we see that in our offices as well..department like admin/support function the same way. Just put a gora on top of them..attitude just changes. Moreover goras/mnc also have more process oriented view - they want to know what went wrong to create this problem and try to improve on the process then just take care of point problem.
I hate to disagree here completely. It is easy to blame a company without considering their situation. Tata doesn't cater to same customer group in large as Honda and Hyundai. A lot, (and I mean a LOT) of Tata customers are from commercial background who do make an issue out of every small thing and YES, they do try to get things for free as much as possible. Now, with a large chunk of such customer base, it is sometimes difficult for service centre employee to differentiate genuine customer from such people and I am sure you can't expect them to have double standards.

As far as management of complaint and policies are concerned, TATA actually has most advanced back office policies, believe it or not. Just request your service centre staff to give you a glimpse of centralised TATA back office software and you would realise it is eons ahead of competition. We must not forget that Tata also owns India's largest consultancy and software company so their processes are well defined, at the very least!

I will agree in some cases, these processes are not followed to the tee by some service centres and that is because Indian attitude of 'sab chalta hai!', something which is not limited to Tata.

As far as Honda or Hyundai is concerned, their customer base is largely private customers who would rather just drop the car at service centre and receive it when done without going into details of every minute spent by mechanic on the car. It is therefore easier for their staff to handle irate customers, if any.

Tata, on the other hand has every second customer who is pissed off because a particular mechanic left the car to pee wasting his 3 minutes, or why an engine mechanic can not sort electrical fault in car.

I find it very disturbing that some individuals fail to acknowledge that TATA has moved leaps and bounds in its years as automobile company and believe me or not, TATA certainly is not the worst QC company on earth. Just few years back, when Skoda was not bought by VW, it was a joke! So, give this company some time and please try and be courteous to the chap at service centre. You have one problem with your car, He has a million cars to look and with one problem each car, he has a million problems.

I have personally observed that a lot of customers when in Tata workshop for service treat the staff as dirt, even managers are misbehave with by customers. These same customers suddenly don the garb of manners and ethics when entering Honda/VW workshops. Believe me, What you give is what you get.

Just my few thoughts and I seriously don't mean to offend anyone.

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Originally Posted by joseph5600 View Post
I once spoke to the customer relation manager of a Tata dealer regarding this. His reply was very interesting. "Tata gives for whatever the customer is paying. i.e. the car would be atleast a Lakh cheaper than its competetor cars of the same segment. So the quality also would be slightly lesser than the competetors. Same applies to the service as well. The charges would be lesser than that of our competetors. In general, the objective of Tata is to give VFM cars to the customers"

It is sad but some employees within Tata Group / service centres feel it is cool to berate their own bread provider in front of customers. Tata ethics have never been to give sub-standard products just to match price else, there would no Tata Tea, Tata Salt or Tata Steel. Even in automobiles, Nano is in no way sub-standard to any of its competition.

The problem is with the age of company and resources available in our country. Tata has improved considerably over the years and recent pedigree of vehicles prove that Tata doesn't take QC for granted. It is just that they are still growing as a company. There are what, just 10 years old in the business and we are comparing them to 100 year old companies. Even Hyundai, which is mentioned here as one of the companies with high QC, only recently with i10 and i20 have managed global standards for QC. previously, Hyundai and Kia, were all but cheap cars that have steering to drive and place to sit. and suzuki itself has never been great at quality even after so many years in business.

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Originally Posted by joseph5600 View Post
Ofcourse true, but the service should be upto the mark and should satisfy customer needs irrespecitve of the pricing and service charges
I completely agree and there are no two ways about it but it is a two way thing. Customers must also treat service centres with same respect as they would for Honda/VW service centres.
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Old 9th October 2009, 14:26   #18
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Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
I find it very disturbing that some individuals fail to acknowledge that TATA has moved leaps and bounds in its years as automobile company and believe me or not, TATA certainly is not the worst QC company on earth. Just few years back, when Skoda was not bought by VW, it was a joke! So, give this company some time and please try and be courteous to the chap at service centre. You have one problem with your car, He has a million cars to look and with one problem each car, he has a million problems.

I have personally observed that a lot of customers when in Tata workshop for service treat the staff as dirt, even managers are misbehave with by customers. These same customers suddenly don the garb of manners and ethics when entering Honda/VW workshops. Believe me, What you give is what you get.

I completely agree and there are no two ways about it but it is a two way thing. Customers must also treat service centres with same respect as they would for Honda/VW service centres.
I agree that the average tata customer might not be as courteous as the average hyundai or maruti customer. But thats the problem. I have been very courteous and gone out of my way to accommodate timelines and estimates claimed by my tasc, and yet they slip up consistently. Quality of work, attention to detail, so many things. In fact, only if i shout, and generally behave like a pain in the *** customer ( thats what my dad is for) then do get any attention. I'd say tata is in a chicken and egg situation now. It needs upmarket customers ( as evidenced by the direction its products are taking - the Vista, the xenon etc) , but its customer base is by and large, not as 'cultured' as you have said, at least not in their interactions with the company. Those customers who actually try to be courteous and helpful and accomodating now find ourselves at the shorter end of the stick, because mechs and service advisors would rather deal with the 'pain in the behind' over there whining about outrageous 315 rs he was charged for interior washing, when in fact , it should be free. And We have to wait until we get fed up and leave with whatever is rest of the car.

A lot of us have tried to break the deadlock We bought their more upmarket products, dont mind the various 'value adds' they pile on during services, and yet evidently it hasnt worked. We are probably treated worse now - they probably think we are suckers.
The ball is in tata's court now. I would love to recommend their products to my friends and relatives, but i would rather they remained friends ( at least the friends ).

I have not had a meaningful or useful interaction with tata customer support yet. During calls, they act like they do care, and nothing happens. If i mail, it is forwarded to the local center, and some placeholder reply is sent, if any is sent at all. My colleagues with m800's get better service and attention at their service centers than I do, and I'm the butt of their jokes ( spent 2x for a car which is in arguably worse shape now, and deteriorating, thanks to the quality of their service).

And honda? I see how immortalz' civic is taken care of. His honda Dealer Service is next to my office. though they are a bit high, they seem to be competent, and He's not had any big issues.

You might say well, that comparing the servicing of an indica to a civic is not fair. But then, GTO's OHC is cheaper to ( and probably is better maintained at those costs) than his indigo.

Last edited by greenhorn : 9th October 2009 at 14:39.
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Old 9th October 2009, 14:32   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
I hate to disagree here completely.
A lot, (and I mean a LOT) of Tata customers are from commercial background who do make an issue out of every small thing and YES, they do try to get things for free as much as possible.

I have personally observed that a lot of customers when in Tata workshop for service treat the staff as dirt, even managers are misbehave with by customers. These same customers suddenly don the garb of manners and ethics when entering Honda/VW workshops. Believe me, What you give is what you get.
Akhilesh,

Extremely well put and have to agree with your observations here. Most naysayers here who'd like to have their word against Tata and it's vehicles might have hardly even owned one of their vehicles.

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Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
and suzuki itself has never been great at quality even after so many years in business.
Exactly. Why crib only about Tata's quality when others aren't great themselves. Only Tata vehicle owners are not embaressed in accepting and pointing out their vehicles have QC or other issues, if any.
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Old 9th October 2009, 14:54   #20
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As for Hyundai let me say from my experience.

They promptly send you an ack and (by the looks of it) just forward the mail to the dealership in question. The dealer has the authority to go beyond the minimum free of charge.

I had problem of repeated rear damper failures over three years. The dealer responded promptly and fixed the problem. After a problem was fixed I sent a thank you note. To my surprise, I get a call from the dealer as to what is my complaint. Need I say more. I have a feeling that they just tell the dealer to contact Mr X on phone no. yy for his problem. The rest is up to the dealer! They do seem to keeping a tight leash on the workshops. If they did a follow up at the next inspection I would not know.
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Old 9th October 2009, 15:02   #21
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Dear Mods

Would like to protest about the thread topic. (the word horrible - in usage for TATA seems inappropriate.) Yep there could be a majority openion that Honda and Hyundai are much better, but this definately is not an appropriate word. There is already another thread about Tata support and cost of the same and that to is unconclusive on how bad or good it is.

Pls moderate the thread header. Nothing would otherwise stop another member from starting another thread referring to Honda cars as "Horribly priced" or Hyundai cars as "Horribly designed"
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Old 9th October 2009, 15:14   #22
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ACM, the Thread starter, and others who have actually gone through this feel this way. Maybe you havent, but that does, in no way change their experiences and opinions. And by and large most of the posts here do support what has been said. Unless People start posting their better experiences here ( about how these processes actually did some good to a tata customer) , i see no reason why it should go.

PS: we did have a thread on whether honda cars are overpriced a while back
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Old 9th October 2009, 15:22   #23
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Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves View Post
I think lets forget about all the processes of Tata. What they need to do first is sort the MOST IMPORTANT PROCESS(MIP) and everything else will eventually fall into place.
I feel that all the Tata service centers are overburdened with work due to the failure of this MIP. This MIP by the way is QUALITY CONTROL which Tata seriously lacks.
+1 to what Jay says. This is the real issue, if this is sorted out other things will fall in place.

I feel the talk regarding bad processes at Tata or the lack of it or the talk of them disrespecting their customers is not true. If it were true, they wont be bringing out products which are generally well engineered and designed (quality notwithstanding) and generally meet the market requirements quite well.

Vista - is a sign of a product coming out from a company which has good processes.
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Old 9th October 2009, 17:50   #24
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And to add to what I posted earlier
Quote:
It is easy to blame a company without considering their situation. Tata doesn't cater to same customer group in large as Honda and Hyundai. A lot, (and I mean a LOT) of Tata customers are from commercial background who do make an issue out of every small thing.
I wonder why. Arent Commercial and private vehicles marked seperately in the service sheet? I bet Chevrolet and Toyota ASC's face a similar lot. We dont see their customers complaining.

Quote:
As far as Honda or Hyundai is concerned, their customer base is largely private customers who would rather just drop the car at service centre and receive it when done without going into details of every minute spent by mechanic on the car. It is therefore easier for their staff to handle irate customers, if any.
Probably because you dont need to worry about anyone screwing up the car in the first place. You say the problem is due to all these irate customers, yet are not sure why there are so many of them. You claim its because the majority of them are unscrupulous. I'm not going to accuse you of anything. I'll even say that it could be true. But once that's in the mindset of the staff and management, I dont think that bodes very well for customer service, does it? Separating wheat from the chaff can be very hard. It would be easier just to burn it all.

Quote:
Tata, on the other hand has every second customer who is pissed off because a particular mechanic left the car to pee wasting his 3 minutes, or why an engine mechanic can not sort electrical fault in car.
Why would an engine mech be assigned to fix an electrical fault in the first place? Shouldnt the SA be dealing with the customer? If I'm a customer, I really don't see how it is my problem. I give it to a TASC for repair, the onus should not be on me to do the work allocation and staffing. I pay, Someone has to fix it. Is it so hard ? If I knew a good electricals guy, a good ac guy, a FIP specialist, a bodywork guy etc then I wouldnt be going to an ASC in the first place.
Quote:
I have personally observed that a lot of customers when in Tata workshop for service treat the staff as dirt, even managers are misbehave with by customers. These same customers suddenly don the garb of manners and ethics when entering Honda/VW workshops. Believe me, What you give is what you get.
I completely agree and there are no two ways about it but it is a two way thing. Customers must also treat service centres with same respect as they would for Honda/VW service centres.
I'd say the reverse holds equally good.

If there were any good processes implemented, and more importantly, followed, would these issues be there in the first place?

Quote:
The problem is with the age of company and resources available in our country. Tata has improved considerably over the years and recent pedigree of vehicles prove that Tata doesn't take QC for granted. It is just that they are still growing as a company. There are what, just 10 years old in the business and we are comparing them to 100 year old companies. Even Hyundai, which is mentioned here as one of the companies with high QC, only recently with i10 and i20 have managed global standards for QC. previously, Hyundai and Kia, were all but cheap cars that have steering to drive and place to sit. and suzuki itself has never been great at quality even after so many years in business.
Yes, Tata has improved a lot over the years. Even I've felt the incremental change over the last two years. But saying comparing tata to , say what it was 5 years ago, or what Hyundai was 10 years ago, or suzuki was 20 years ago is not exactly saying much. Tata has to prove themselves against the best these companies offer today. It has shown that it can deliver on the product front. It can Build good looking cars. It can build fast cars, it can build cars that drive and feel as great as its competition. But all that will amount to nothing if the ownership experience is a letdown. Thats what we've been trying to say.

Last edited by greenhorn : 9th October 2009 at 18:09.
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Old 9th October 2009, 22:04   #25
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And to add to what I posted earlier
I wonder why. Arent Commercial and private vehicles marked seperately in the service sheet? I bet Chevrolet and Toyota ASC's face a similar lot. We dont see their customers complaining.
Toyota ranks second last in JD Power customer satisfaction survey (Just ahead of Tata) so that proves they face similar problems. As for Chevrolet, which once again very low in JD Power customer satisfaction index, has only one commercial product, Tavera... very easy to distinguish. I would also like to bring to light the fact that a lot of commercial owners register cars with private plates to save long term costs so it would be very difficult to maintain on service sheet.

Quote:
Probably because you dont need to worry about anyone screwing up the car in the first place. You say the problem is due to all these irate customers, yet are not sure why there are so many of them. You claim its because the majority of them are unscrupulous. I'm not going to accuse you of anything. I'll even say that it could be true. But once that's in the mindset of the staff and management, I dont think that bodes very well for customer service, does it? Separating wheat from the chaff can be very hard. It would be easier just to burn it all.

Why would an engine mech be assigned to fix an electrical fault in the first place? Shouldnt the SA be dealing with the customer? If I'm a customer, I really don't see how it is my problem. I give it to a TASC for repair, the onus should not be on me to do the work allocation and staffing. I pay, Someone has to fix it. Is it so hard ? If I knew a good electricals guy, a good ac guy, a FIP specialist, a bodywork guy etc then I wouldnt be going to an ASC in the first place.
You kind of prove my point. I, like yourself, just leave it to the SA to attend the vehicle and return to me at right time. But, in TATA workshops with commercial drivers who want someone to work on their car all time causes massive problem. You have rightly pointed that mechanical guy wouldn't fix electrical problem but so many time I have come across people complaining that '2 mechanics are free yet no one is repairing my car!' C'mon leave it to the SA!!!

Quote:
I'd say the reverse holds equally good.

If there were any good processes implemented, and more importantly, followed, would these issues be there in the first place?
I agree with you completely but as for any company, processes are strengthened with time. BMW was not established in one day. Even Ferrari at one point was notoriously infamous for breaking down during rains because engines casings were not properly water-proofed !!!

Similarly, TATA is making all the right efforts in correct direction. and just in passenger cars division, look at Tata Ace or the World Truck series and you would realise that Tata is not just sitting while all hell breaks loose.


Quote:
Yes, Tata has improved a lot over the years. Even I've felt the incremental change over the last two years. But saying comparing tata to , say what it was 5 years ago, or what Hyundai was 10 years ago, or suzuki was 20 years ago is not exactly saying much. Tata has to prove themselves against the best these companies offer today. It has shown that it can deliver on the product front. It can Build good looking cars. It can build fast cars, it can build cars that drive and feel as great as its competition. But all that will amount to nothing if the ownership experience is a letdown. Thats what we've been trying to say.
I completely agree but processes unlike products, take time to implement. Tata service centres employ same processes for service for Fiat as for Tata and yet Fiat is 4th on JD Power survey. So, there has to be something right in Tata services but wrong in either product or customer profile. Now, you have agreed that products have improved massively so can this be due to customer profile??? You decide.
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Old 10th October 2009, 17:54   #26
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Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
Toyota ranks second last in JD Power customer satisfaction survey (Just ahead of Tata) so that proves they face similar problems. As for Chevrolet, which once again very low in JD Power customer satisfaction index, has only one commercial product, Tavera... very easy to distinguish. I would also like to bring to light the fact that a lot of commercial owners register cars with private plates to save long term costs so it would be very difficult to maintain on service sheet.
I agree. but even between them, the service is still better, even to the commercial folks. My dad's office has a tavera and a CS TDI. They are happier with the tavera, despite it being an mostly commercial product. Even A colleague with a Tavera ( private - he has a large family) is very satisfied.



Quote:
You kind of prove my point. I, like yourself, just leave it to the SA to attend the vehicle and return to me at right time. But, in TATA workshops with commercial drivers who want someone to work on their car all time causes massive problem. You have rightly pointed that mechanical guy wouldn't fix electrical problem but so many time I have come across people complaining that '2 mechanics are free yet no one is repairing my car!' C'mon leave it to the SA!!!
And I've had the reverse experience. somewhere along the line, they lost one of the wheelcaps, and i was waiting patiently for the better part of an hour, waiting for the SA, and the Mech he pulled up who were looking around for it. eventually they gave me a damaged vista wheelcap.



Quote:
I completely agree but processes unlike products, take time to implement. Tata service centres employ same processes for service for Fiat as for Tata and yet Fiat is 4th on JD Power survey. So, there has to be something right in Tata services but wrong in either product or customer profile. Now, you have agreed that products have improved massively so can this be due to customer profile??? You decide.
Its only the new range of products - vista, xenon etc which can think of competing on equal terms. the existing products - Indigo , indica, sumo etc sold mostly on vfm. You'll find any number of fans for the palio, who are madly in love with their cars, but the best you can get out an indica owner is probably that its a vfm product.

Last edited by greenhorn : 10th October 2009 at 18:03.
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Old 10th October 2009, 20:17   #27
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Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
Toyota ranks second last in JD Power customer satisfaction survey (Just ahead of Tata) so that proves they face similar problems. As for Chevrolet, which once again very low in JD Power customer satisfaction index, has only one commercial product, Tavera... very easy to distinguish. I would also like to bring to light the fact that a lot of commercial owners register cars with private plates to save long term costs so it would be very difficult to maintain on service sheet.
This is the same JD Power which places Skoda on top of their lists. QED I think.

The reason Hyundai, Toyota or Honda survive with the chalta hai attitude that prevails in every dealership is by ensuring quality at the factory. Make a trouble free car and the A.S.S don't have a chance to ruin it by opening it up or tinkering with it.

My belief is that just about every dealership of every brand in our country is horrible when it comes to technical knowledge and/or troubleshooting prowess. I doubt that any A.S.S mechanic knows how an engine turns over even if his life depended on the information. The way they differ - they way some of the feel better to us - is simply by having courteous people at the front office. The better ones also have cars which are better by design and manufacturing, thereby leaving very little for the A.S.S to muck up.

That's my 2 paise.
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Old 11th October 2009, 00:42   #28
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There are serious problems in TATA service centers

Dear friends I have posted a similar view in another thread.

I have tried to observe about 4 main dealerships on TATA in our state(from Calicut to Trvandrum) in the last 10 years.I tried to talk to customers of different TATA vehicles and try to know various problems they face.

This what I noticed.It may not be fully correct.
1,TATA wants to be good to the customers,but their control over the dealers is very poor.

2,The quality of some products supplied by the TATA venders are very poor.

3,The service advisors and some mechanics are very good.But there are too many less experienced people in the workshop.This is what you do not see in Honda.If there is a good mechanic in TASS ,he will go to gulf or jump ship with in 6 months.

4.Aleast in some TASS there is cheating.eg-topping up of oil instead of changing,not replacing the part you paid for,Diesel theft.
(met a taxi owner 2 months back,he escalated the problem and got a tank fill up!)

Indica (even pre V2) was not a bad car at all.They serviced it improperly and made things worse.

Almost everything had leaked in last 10 years.

Rainwater leaked into the cabin,culprit was poor door beadings.Was very difficult to convince the TASS.So left the car in rain in the workshop overnight.Was very difficult to solve.

Coolant leak,was due to some ignorant mechanic in TASS damaged the radiator with a tool when he accessed something near it.I was stranded in the road.Had to replace the radiator.

Then Oil leaked,but was less severe than many other cars.Solved,but the car had an appetite for oil.

Brake fluid leaked due to poor service.TASS did not check the brakes during regular service.And they applied the wrong grease to the rear brake drum so it was jammed.

Diesel leak two times due to a Rs.5/- rubber tube!.And service people didnt notice it because my DLX version had an engine cover made of plastic over the rubber tube area.

AC gas leaked - it can be normal.But the problem was that TASS were not recognising the problem or reluctant/ignorant to repair it.They were saying that the cooling of my AC is normal and told me not to expect more from this pre V2 model car.I believed them for nearly 2 years.Then a local AC mechanic in TVM solved that for me.The cooling improved considerably.

Fed up by all these I serviced the car in a mostly in a local workshop for the about 3 years.To my surprise the car was almost trouble free in the last 3 years.And I was really sad when I sold it in march 2009.But it was expensive to maintain than the NHC.

The moral of the story is that even if the car is perfect it needs good service.After experiencing all these how will I consider Linea/Manza before it has proven itself.

But the strange thing is that MASS is trying to give a competiton to TASS in some centers.But since Maruthi cars are almost trouble free the MASS can relax.

I am posting the picture of my beloved Indica ,the photo was taken on the day I sold it.
Attached Thumbnails
OEM Support processes - what makes Hyundai/Honda tec Tick and make TATA horrible !-indica-.jpg  

OEM Support processes - what makes Hyundai/Honda tec Tick and make TATA horrible !-indica-one.jpg  

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Old 11th October 2009, 01:37   #29
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See Akhilesh, there is no point defending the undefendable. At the onset, I must say that I have immense goodwill for the Tatas. Heck, including me and my immediate family, I have a good number of Tatas and quite some experience with these cars and the A$$.

Tatas make cars which have lot of things going for them. When greeny says that the most a tata owner can say is that they make VFM cars I do not agree with him either. I know it is not just about being VFM. They are strong, bulletproof vehicles in many sense. So a sensor of your beloved vehicle failed or may be a rubber hose went bust. Still the same vehicle also performs relentlessly in the most ardous conditions which make you sit back and wonder. Look no further than Tanveer's White Elephant. The poor guy, he suffered so much with this and that (ok so he got a piece with a few problem components too many) but the same vehicle after most of these conditions were attended for undertook one of the most strenous journeys ever and came out with flying colors. After that mamoth and ardous journey, bad enough to break a human being's back (visit Tanveer's travelogue for details) his Safari still came back unscathed. He just gave it a regular service. Finito! I have many more such examples.

So what gives? Well, the vehicles are really built pretty well. Unlike what Greeny says, they are not just VFM (that they are) but a lot more rugged and almost bulletproof. The problems arise in 90% of the cases because of the incompetent service stations. They try to fix one problem and introduce 2 more. And you are not sure whether they fixed the original issue properly in the first place. The SA has a million problems to sort out when you have just one, to quote you. But then there is a very good chance that of those million problems at least half or even more were introduced by their own guys in some way or the other.

It is all a matter of the company (TAMO) tightening the leash on the service centers well and proper. If the problem is a repeat one or a follow-up from the previous visit there should be a strong process to audit why it needed a repeat visit by the customer. Too many such cases should immediately penalize the service station. Until that happens the SA will keep pleading helplessness about the unruly mechs (as in the case of Greeny) or else play cocky (as I see it here in Hyderabad) because they know that there are hardly many true checks and balances put in place. They can always blame the customer, his dog and even the weather on Himalayas for the repeat problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
...I have come across people complaining that '2 mechanics are free yet no one is repairing my car!' C'mon leave it to the SA!!!
And finally to answer the above quote, while you may have a point, the flip side of the coin also tells a story. I have had the 1st hand experience of this. In my last service I wanted to wait and take the car back with me as it was raining cats and dogs and the TASS is at a far off place from my house and has hardly any mode of conveyance available from anywhere nearby.

Now, I saw how the mechs kill time. Obviously they have a minimum quota of vehicle they need to attend to in a day. They do not want to do an iota of extra work beyond that. So they kill time in between to fill up the buffer time if there is any available while servicing a vehicle. In my case the car was in for a minor service. Just two top-ups and the regular air filter clean up and some simple, basic checks and such. After that it had to move to the wash section. The mech realized that this won't serve his purpose. Obviously once the car is taken away he gets another vehicle to keep him occupied. So every few minutes he will leave the car and vanish for a long time. After seeing this happen a couple of times I went serching for him when he again vanished for the 3rd time. I found him at the far end of the floor in a different bay chatting with his 2 colleagues, one of whom was servicing a vehicle while the other looked just as vella (without work) as my mech. I went and asked him that he just needed to fit the wiper blades and release my car. This pissed him off I guess. He asked me to go and sit in the customer lobby. I went back to where my car was. He returned after another 5 minutes but saw me standing by from far away. He went elsewhere for a minute but returned to my car soon. Within a minute one floor supervisor type guy appeared and started almost forcing me to leave the area. I told him that I am not causing any hindrance to anyone and am standing far away and watching. When I realized that he trying to act a little too tough I told him point-blank that I am aware why he is here and what his mechs are upto. So he better ask the guy to speed up and release my car. Only after this the guy left me alone (after giving me a dirty stare of course).

Story does not end there. After the car was done the mech again happily started moving all over the floor chatting with everyone. Finally I caught hold of the SA and asked why they are not sending the car for a wash when its done. He very coolly replied that the inspector will come and check the work before it is sent for a wash and that he is currently busy. Well. Finally when he arrived I was surprised to see that the guy was the same one whom I saw sitting idly on a comp chatting with another employee (in a glass office at the corner that sits some 10-12 guys) when I went past the place some 15-20 minutes back in search of a loo. I do not know what he was busy with but to me it looked like they had some kind of a TP thing going in there. Either the mech did not inform him of the completion of work immediately (for obvious reasons) or else he is also hand in glove and likes to take his own sweet time (I am sure he also has a quota of minimum number of vehicles he needs to do a final QC on).

So obviously, people are not entirely wrong when they say that their car is lying idle and the mechs are killing time. The SA ensures that every mech is loaded as per the guidlines and the minimum SLA is achieved but I do not think they want to do any more. So if there is some additional time in hand they will rather kill that time than letting you go after dealing with your problem in that time. And I am reasonably sure of that (I do enough work allocation in my professional life to identify a slacker when I see one).

Last edited by Zappo : 11th October 2009 at 01:47.
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Old 12th October 2009, 13:41   #30
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hmm now that narrates the perfect story and the perfect realisation of what thread starter was looking for.

Last edited by Dippy : 12th October 2009 at 13:53. Reason: Post edited: Please do not quote an entire long post when replying in a thread. It makes difficult for other members to read. Thanks
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