Had the most tiresome time yesterday, with a series of irritants and botch-ups during H-4®'s service and clutch repair.
It was found that the clutch slave cylinder (CSC) had leaked, and the clutch friction plate was soaked with hydraulic oil, requiring replacement of both these parts. This is just 28000 km after the CSC was earlier replaced under warranty in May 2011. Since M&M is well aware that this is an unusually highly failure-prone component, the issue should have been taken care of even under extended warranty. However, Koncept refused to honour warranty, and I was forced to pay for both parts, whereas, as per terms of the EW (i.e. all internal oil seals of transmission and gearbox are included and covered under EW), the slave cylinder leakage should have been acknowledged as an internal oil seal failure and replaced free of cost (the friction plate being damaged due to oil leakage, a partial cost should have been recovered from me).
In addition, Koncept unfairly charged me Rs.4000 plus taxes as labour charge for the job done, whereas the labour charges list displayed outside the service centre mentions the cost of CSC replacement for Scorpios, Xylos and Boleros to be Rs.500 (see pic - item no. 38, highlighted). On the other hand, a complete clutch overhaul (item no. 46 on the pic, highlighted) is understood to mean that repairs would be also carried out to clutch components such as the master cylinder, hydraulic lines, replacement of pressure plate and flywheel + ring gear etc. - none of these parts were opened or required repairing on my vehicle. In my opinion, this is downright cheating.
The rubber bush on the lower end of the front right shock absorber was worn out, and I was asked to replace the complete shock absorber unit for a cost of about Rs.2000, since bushes are not available with the service centre. This is ridiculous, since the bush can be easily replaced at nominal cost, whereas the shock absorber unit continues to function perfectly fine. Does M&M propose to replace my complete suspension the next time that a suspension bush wears out? And bill me for suspension overhaul? Now I am seriously worried.
A service advisor comes and makes himself at home in the owner's lounge, with his friend, chatting loudly, flipping TV channels on full volume, and to make sure I leave the air-conditioned comfort of the room, passing wind!
At the time of delivery, a non-working brake light bulb was still not replaced, despite my notifying the SA as well as 3 more people including an electrician checking the operation of the lights etc. of my vehicle. A rusty bolt was used to replace a bolt from the air filter box which was lost during service, while checking and cleaning the air filter. And the final nail in the coffin when I lost my temper? The vehicle was delivered to me with 4wd engaged in 4H mode - I do not know how long the vehicle may have been driven in 4wd mode on tarmac, and it is likely to have been taken out for the test drive with 4wd engaged. Who would be responsible for any resultant transmission wind-up damage due to such negligence? Obviously not M&M or Koncept, because both appear to find it very convenient to shirk responsibility when it comes to warranty claims by customers.
Have sent an email explaining the issues to M&M customer care, but I do not expect any redress or action, apart from polite phone calls and emails.
I have lost confidence in M&M as a customer-friendly company. When a critical component like the CSC is known to fail frequently and leave customers stranded, M&M should, as a goodwill gesture, provide replacement of such faulty parts free of cost & labour charges, whether or not the vehicle is covered under warranty. In addition, the poor quality of service done this time by Koncept Okhla is in stark contrast to their earlier work which I have appreciated.
I don't suppose I'll go back to Koncept Okhla, unless they (and M&M) do something drastic enough to win back my confidence. I am sure I am equally capable of taking care of my vehicle without sham extended warranty covers, fraudulent billing, inept handling of my vehicle by incompetent people on the shop floor and half-done jobs. I can live with the botheration of poorly designed parts and components that keep failing prematurely, but at least I shall not lose a good night's sleep while worrying that someone at M&M or it's authorized service centre is making false promises and trying to cheat me. My FNG can provide much better service support at much lower cost.