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-   -   Comedy of Errors at Indian Dealerships (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/67938-comedy-errors-indian-dealerships-27.html)

When my Bolero was delivered to me i was told by the salesman that the Heater button in the fascia is just for "show". It works only on the Scorpio:)

MSIL also gives training to Managers, Team Leaders & some staff who has been on the dealer's roll for some time. The unfortunate fact is that these guys do not understand the purpose of training & cannot pass its benefit on to subordinates.

I was working as TL and had the misfortune of attending the training held by the dealer (NOT MSIL) for new staff. He was reading out of a printout & had no idea & understanding of Maruti's brand value or positioning.

3 instances comes to my mind which happened during the training.
- Trainer (while explaining Maruti cars catch phrases): "You're the fuel" Its the punchline for Swift because Swift Diesel give very good fuel efficiency & now with the 1.2 K-series also gives good fuel efficiency.

- Trainer: "Blue eyed boy" is the punchline for new Wagon R because it is considered as the "younger version" (maybe he meant sportier?) of the old Wagon R.

- While discussing about improvements of Alto K10 over 800CC Alto i mentioned the tyre size change from 145/80R12 to 155/65R13, The trainer glancing the K10 brochure yes yes K10 has 155/65R13 but how do you know that old Alto has 145/80R12? You are new recruit. I will refer & let you know. :Frustrati

If this is the quality of training offered the poor frontliners are not to blame. Better not to discuss about the salary offered. Peanuts would be an exaggeration.

The figo salesman told me the air conditioner can cool down to -20 degress Celcius.:deadhorse(did I enquire about a car or refrigerator)

I burst out laughing and strongly declined his facts, the embarrassed salesman has to sheepishly accept his super exaggeration.

Well, if one pays peanuts, they can only expect people to perform like monkeys! Jokes apart, this is now becoming a disturbing habit across businesses. Sale proces are being equated to global standards, but salaries stay at old levels. This seems especially true in car showrooms, restaurants & other labour reliant businesses.

I would like to share two incidents with Hero Honda dealierships

1. We went to the Hero Honda dealership in Jalgaon to rectify a problem with my friends bike. The bike had a front disk brake and whenever we applied it, the bike pulled to the right.

When we told the problem to the head mechanic, he told us that it is bound to pull to the right as the disk is located on the right side of the tyre.

When I asked him why doesn't my bike pull to the right when it also has a disk on the right side, his answer was that it must already be pulling to the left!

In the end we had to leave the place laughing.

2. Another time when my CBZ's disk brakes were skipping when applied at high speed, I went to the dealership in Aurangabad and told them the problem, the shop supervisor warned me that disk brakes only work when applied at speeds lower than 40kmph. I frowned and left the place.

Open mouth, make noise

it's a technique of sales and marketing people all over the world. My boss and I, back in London, used to wonder how some of the people who came to see us ever sold anything to anyone --- but, as they were not dressed in rags, plainly they did.

It's a shame though, when technical staff, who should know a lot better, catch this disease.

Figo salesmen across the country seem to be quite knowledgeable about its AC. :uncontrol

When I test drove the Figo, the sales person told me that the AC chills in exactly 12 Seconds.

Went for a test drive of the Vento, and had another family sitting in the TD vehicle. These guys already owned an ANHC. When they asked the sales person what's better in the Vento, he instantly replies "sir the ground clearance is much better, you will wont scrape the bottom ever!". I was willing to digest it till I realised that as per him, this is the only advantage a Vento has!

My new car had a dealer fitter Pioneer head unit and a pair of speakers. On the very first drive, on cranking up the volume, the RHS speaker started sounding like a torn drum and things only got worse after that.

On taking the car to the dealership, the accessories guy and the sales executive tell me "Sir we have installed a very 'powerful system' in your car, and the 'speaker is not able to take it'"! Their solution was to listen to music on low volumes on "Flat" equalizer setting!

I simply asked them 2 questions:

1. Oh why then, did you not fit "equally powerful" speakers to go with your "powerful system".

2. Howcome the left speaker is able to "take your powerful system" and the right one is not?

In the end, they just gave up and replaced the right speaker.

OT: Maruti's feedback mechanism is very strong. My wife (in whose name and for whose use we'd bought the car) got a feedback call the very next day from MSIL, and she told them about this and a couple of other small issues. The sales executive called me requesting me to give an appointment to fix the issues, else he'd be in a lot of trouble.

This is about 6 months ago when I was considering Scorpio 4X4 along with other cars. (finally bought an ANHC). I went o Mahindra dealer on Mathura Road in Faridabad and talked to their sales guy. This is how it went.

Sales Guy : Hello Sir, bolo kya kar sakta hoon aapke liye? (what can I do for you)
me : yeh Scorpio dekhne aaya hoon. ( here to see the scorpio)

he starts explaining features of a scorpio standing in the showroom, while I sat in the car with 'captian seats' and looking inside the car. This discussion follows.
me : Aapke paas koi 4X4 scorpio hai kya? (do you have a 4X4 scorpio?)
Sales : Sir, Scorpio 4X4 aati hi nahin hai. (Sir, scorpio doesnt have a 4X4)
me: Arey aati hai bhaai, aapke paas nahin hogi. (It comes, you might not have it)
Sales : Sir hum showroom wale hain, ab scorpio bahut dino se discontinue ho gayi hai. (Sir, we are the showroom guys and the scorpio has been discontinued for a while)

he looked pretty young, I knew he doesnt have an idea of what he is talking about, so I said.
me: Arey yaar, jaao apne manager se pooch ke aao, Scorpio aati hai ya nahin 4X4 (please go and ask your manager if a scorpio comes with 4X4)
Sales : Sir aapko Xylo dekhni hai kya? (Do you want to see the xylo?)

I dont know where did that come from, but my Father in Law burst into laughter after this !

I had to take him personally to his sales manager to get it confirmed that Scorpio comes with a 4X4. This salvaged some pride for me. I must admit, he was a nice sales guy, he admitted of being new and got us some cold drink for this mistake.

Love the thread. Heres my experience at Ring Road Honda-

After we had decided on an Accord and sealed the deal at the showroom, i was the one who sold the car to my parents and not the salesman as he did not know a thing about the car! He couldnt locate the USB in the car, didnt know how the acc works as he was trained to sell a city ! He also tried to convince me to trade in my civic for the facelifted one as he claimed it had a VTEC engine and mine had an ordinary one (lol) and then when i convinced him that he was wrong, he finally stated that i had the old VTEC technology :Shockked:. Anyways before delivery i asked them to make sure i got Michelin Tyres and not the Bridgestones. To my surprise, i was delivered a car with Bridgestones, so i asked the salesman to explain, heres the explanation-

Sir Ji,
Honda has a tyre specification and companies make tyres as per Hondas high level of specifications and you should not worry as Michelin and Bridgestone are both the same ! :Shockked:

Come on, Rehaan. You can tell the rest of the gang that the car you were talking about is the EVO X :Shockked::Shockked:

I'd give my right arm to watch that chap explain the EVO to an unsuspecting customer ("Saar, it is racing car with Formula 1 engine. And still gives 15 kpl in the city"

And while you are at it do tell which showroom this was at Atria Mall, Malad or Sanpada?

A friend of mine wanted to check ETIOS and went to the dealership. The sales guy was asking what variation he requires.

My friend told him the variant and incidentally mentioned that he was having an ALTO. Immediately, sales guy asked him whether petrol or diesel?

Immediately left the place!