CHAPTER 1 The TD and Booking Process
We booked the car on the 17th of April. Before that I had taken a short drive in a Sportz variant which the dealer had brought to my home. And to my fear they had brought a ready to deliver vehicle. I hated this somehow. It cuts down on your TD too.
SP: Sir please lets not go too far, Sir please lets not test its power , Sir please dont make me connect the ODO, Sir please dont clock too many KMs with the connected ODO.
I HATE YOU SP!!
I know I should not have taken the TD but I could not resist . All these months I had only dreamt of sitting behind the wheel of the i20 and now when the day comes this happens. NO. That SP cannot play the villain. No. So I decided to take the TD.
Then came the booking day. I know I am stupid but I had even dreamt at least a 100 times of the booking day.
Actually the thing is everything seems perfect till the booking. You will find Mr. SP calling you all the time , checking out with you, and
not annoying you at all.
S.P : "
Sir, how is next week"
Me: "
For what ?"
S.P : "
For booking, sir, actually sir we have this early bud or bird or whatever..
and you can get the car quickly."
Me:
???? need more time please..
So the D-day came and everything went well. I was told the car would take at least 15 days. i was OK with it . And thus started the wait,
again.
Decided to take finance(SBI) and insurance(TATA AIG) from showroom. Dont call me stupid. My mom's decision that was + i am lazy.
Freebies: After a lot of negotiations( I mean a lot) the answer was the same. Sir, nothing for the i20 yet. But still I landed up with the floor mats, mud flaps and boot mat and car cover (useless) and perfume (useless).
So this was till booking when the dealer was still not sure if the customer will buy or not . Now that you have booked you get taken for granted and the problem starts.
CHAPTER 2 SBI woes
Post booking period is like you have got engaged with the one you love and now you are waiting for the wedding day(No, I am not married. just a thought). It is the time when you go through all the threads, decide on the accessories, discuss about the car with your friends(and bore them). BUT i had already done all that. But still I was very excited that after the LOOONNGG wait finally my dream is going to come true. And hence I waited. Only if I knew there was another wait heading my way.
During this period as the buyer we had one duty to perform. We were asked by the SP to submit the necessary documents in the showroom so that he could send them to the bank for the loan processing to start. And that is what I did. I gave him all the documents by the 19th of April and then i was told that the SBI guys will call me up and ask my mom to come over for verification within 3-4 days. He also mentioned that the loan processing will take max 10 days. So I expected the car to arrive by the 6th of May as it was Akshaya Tritiya. Then the wait started and we waited and waited. No phone call came. The West Bengal elections were held on the 27th of April. So it was quite expected that the bank employees will not be available for work. Yes, it happens in W.B. Then came the 29thh when I lost all the patience and I called up the SP with a stern voice this time. He made a few calls and made sure that the SBI people call us the next day. They did. Everything was verified on the 30th. The chap at the desk was Pramod. He told us that we will receive an SMS within a couple of days about the approval of the loan and will ask us to come and collect the Delivery Order. So we were done with our duties. The wait started AGAIN!! No SMS reached us. In the meanwhile I visited the showroom(on the 5th IIRC) to submit some other documents when I told the SP that we hadnt received any SMS. He immediately called up Pramod and casually asked him about the rate of interest. Then I got a shock. SBI interest rates had been increased from the 1st of May. It was 9.5% previously now it was 10.75%.
I was very patient in dealing with this. I told them the loan processing was delayed by them. I submitted the papers on the 19th itself. So WHY SHOULD WE SUFFER? The SP had no answer. All this happened and SBI was all quiet and mum. They didnt bother to inform us about anything. Forget it they werent even bothered to give us the D.O. The next day SP calls me to tell me that our loan has been approved. I was getting agitated. The SP had to call me and tell me. WHAT WERE THE SBI PEOPLE DOING?? SLEEPING. Finally, we received an SMS and were asked to go the JEEVAN SUDHA building to collect our D.O. As me and my mom reached the place the environment was typical. The office was nice but the people had it written on their face: WE ARE NOT LOOSING OUR JOBS. SO WHAT THE HECK. One of them (who seemed to be the chief) was gulping down Coca Cola from a 2 Litre bottle and cracking jokes and laughing it loud. The others werent different either. Finally someone called us. We sat down in front of a young guy who looked smart. Remember friends by that time "I was boiling...with anger". i just cannot tolerate callous behaviour and this type of work culture. So coming back to the smart guy..he was very polite and calm. After all the documentation he gave us a sheet where the EMI was given and I again got a shock. (I am running out of smileys..Dhatt!!). THEY HAD CALCULATED A WRONG EMI. I showed him that and also showed him the calculation. He agreed to me. I couldnt control and burst out "YOU GUYS KNOW NOTHING..NOTHING. You people dont even care to inform me that the interest rates have increased and now the calculation of EMI is wrong." GREAT!! After that a lady approaches my mom and smiles and says--
" Ma'am we have this blah blah debit card. Would you like to take it. It would help you buy petrol and blah blah....."
I thanked God that she was a lady.
So the main problems faced related to the finance are stated below point wise for your benefit:
1) The showroom said the rates were fixed for the first 2 years but the bank claimed there is no such scheme of fixed rates. All are floating
2) SBI didnt care to communicate with us about anything. Not even interest rate hike or for verifiaction. As if they were doing us a favour.
3) Wrong calculation of EMI
4) Excessive delay that forced us to go for the hiked rate of interest.
The list goes on and on.
CHAPTER 2 ends..... contd