[sid1509]

Wish everyone a very happy and prosperous Diwali.

I am not having a very good one and the reason is given in details below. Pardon the long post but the details are important as I expect Honda 2 wheelers Public relations/Customer support team to take note of this incident. Don't want anyone else to face the same experience as I did at the hands of one of their dealership.

Disclaimer – I was personally at the receiving end of everything stated below (no hearsay story here). I have given all the events below as first person account with no human bias towards me as customer or towards the dealership. Given below are events as they transpired.

About me – I am in the service industry from 19 years with my current role as Founding member, Executive Director & CTO of a reputed IT company. My company has ~1200+ employees and am well versed with handling people/employees and customers.

History about the purchase – Sometime in 2010, Honda announced the plans of launching their quarter liter 250R with racing genes and I was excited about picking up a genuine, off-the-shelf winged Honda and was first in queue when the bookings opened in Jan’11.

First booking at the dealership and first bike delivered in Jul’11 from the dealership (was told that mine’s the first being delivered anywhere in South of Delhi). Before this, in terms of 2 wheels, had owned a Honda unicorn’06-‘11 and a Suzuki Shogun ’94-‘98 during my college times. Both maintained well and sold to other enthusiasts at good price. Original thought was shine up your biking skills on a 250 before you switched to higher liter class bike (was especially keen on buying a R1). Work kept me super busy and plan to buy a bigger bike got shelved eventually.

Since graduation in ‘97, I took up a job and shifted to 4 wheels full time and use of 2 wheels was more for nearby mall runs for nick-nacks etc. I own a BMW 520D E60 ’09 & Scorpio’09 for me and X1’11 & Brio’12 between wifey and dad. Going for a Reva E20 for my mother within a couple of weeks.

Bike had done ~4900 kms in its 4 years with me, with primary use being Sunday runs with bunch of fellow bikers from work; maintained well with not a single scratch anywhere. Twice a year 3M quotes with spick and span shine. I keep my cars well as I see them as extension of my personal space and ditto has been the case with this bike.

In a nutshell- I know my machines and what it takes to keep them healthy. Not a regular Joe customer who doesn’t know anything and can be taken for a ride.


Fahrenheit episode-

I make it a point to take the bike out once every 4-5 days within the place I stay and give it a good 5-6 km run. To keep the engine and other mechanical parts in action. Trouble started when I was in and out of town due to a new business venture engagement and was unable to do the weekly routine with the bike for a period of 4 months or so. Result – battery died out and refused to crank. Bike doesn’t have a starter kick and I am no fan of 2nd gear push starts, thought it was best to call in the “experts”.

I called Fahrenheit Honda (seen this dealership on Mathura Road, Faridabad, near Badkal chowk) , Faridabad sometime early Oct’15 and after multiple attempts to get a pick-up arranged, partly due to my non-availability, partly due to confusion at the dealership, it kept getting delayed and finally got picked up on Saturday 24/10/15 by two people from the dealership (Mr. Sahil, the technician and Mr. Sarfaraz, the service advisor). They were nice enough to arrange a spare battery and tried to crank it up at my place but the bike won’t start. Finally, they pushed it to their dealership with me in tow. My only request/instruction to them was that please keep the bike fairing and other parts tidy and won’t accept any scratches as a result of bad handling. Job card number 16655, SA – Mr. Sarfaraz, was opened for a regular service and battery recharge/replacement.

From Saturday 24/10/15 till Wednesday, 28th Oct’15, I did 2 visits to the service center and found the bike parked in a corner with no work having been done so far except for battery check/replacement. Thursday is dealership week off and finally, on much insistence, on Friday, was told that the battery is dead and needed replacement, and that the bike is not starting due to fuel pump issues. I allowed them to check into it and confirm back to me (all this while insisting that PLEASE keep the bike parts safe and free of scratches). For 2 days, Mr. Sahil fiddled with the bike and finally shared that this bike can be handled only be their senior technician, Mr. Upender and we will have to wait for him to get free from his other assignment. Followed up on Tuesday 3rd Nov with Mr. Upender, who by then had assessed that fuel pump was not working and needed a replacement. Bike tank, fairing and quite a few other pieces were off by this time. I allowed them to check with a replacement and if required, please change the fuel pump as well. I was told that part was on order and will be fixed as soon as it arrived (later on I overheard, the same was arranged from another dealership, probably Pragnya Honda in south delhi). So, at this time, it was nearly 10 days that bike had been at the dealership. I had by this time visited 4 times and other than the service related discussion, on each occasion, had mentioned that keep the bike and its parts clean to Mr. Sahil, Mr. Upender, Mr. Sarfaraz, Mr. dinesh (service center in-charge/senior).

Finally, fuel pump was changed too but was told that the bike still won’t start as they suspected rust (some of which they found on the fuel tank nozzle area) could be reason and it required the engine to be opened. I respected their opinion on the subject assuming they knew what they were doing, but specifically asked for taking advise/bringing in a Honda engineer to check when the engine is opened. Equated it to someone’s heart surgery and best to have a specialist since I wasn’t sure if they were diagnosing it properly. In this entire period, I only saw 1 other CBR250R in the service center with everything knocked off it; that dimmed my confidence level further in the dealership. At this point of time, bike was completely naked and I had no option but to push them to involve Honda before they touched the engine. 2 visits, 3 discussions with the names mentioned above, false promises made of that Honda has been sent an email over 3 days and technician will be here on coming Monday etc, they finally told me that they are taking help from the Honda territory engineer and are doing exactly like he tells them. Period – engine has to be opened and Mr. Upender will open it is my only option. Please give your confirmation. I had no option but to agree.

I should mention that my company works actively with Hero corporate and thought I will seek their assistance in this matter, if required. After all, Hero and Honda’s severance has been the most peaceful business decisions I have come across in my professional life-time. Two big corporate names with amazing ethics are what they seem like. Thought I should call this out at the dealership so that they are careful about it. It helped to a degree that suddenly there was focus on my requests but alas, the damage had already been done.

Mr. Upender on 4th or the 6th nov confirmed that on opening the engine, they found that piston(s) were jammed and needed to be lubricated. Alongside this all, they found that one of the front shockers was leaking and needed a new seal and a new shocker if I advised. Told them that fix the engine issue with lubrication as suggested by them and change the seal. Then I get another call that the front disc is also not working and requires piston changes on the brake module. Lubrication should do and may open up the pistons but it is only a temporary fix. By this time, they had tested my patience thoroughly – I told them to focus on the main engine cranking issue, replace the shocker seal and lubricate the brake pistons so that bike can be in running position. Once it has clocked a few kms, we can get back to the less significant ones. I visited the dealership on 7th nov, Saturday and was shown my bike.

Issues noticed at this time –
• Bike engine rpm kept “missing”. Won’t hold the rpms in idle and kept misfiring.
• Side fairing, top fairing panels had scratches from extensive use of plier/screw driver.
• Engine panel on right and left both had deep scratches because of forced packing/unpacking of the seal. The sealant that had been applied after the work had spillover marks everywhere.
• Bike was leaking coolant when stationary and started.
• Fuel meter did not work and kept on blinking, suggesting either a missing connection or new fuel pump had its meter module not working. Pump was working fine though. I stood with Mr. Upender and his two support staff (highly ill trained mechanics with no company dress and proper training on how to handle a CBR) to check everything end-to-end and finally figure out that the new Fuel pump was indeed not working.
• What took the cake was that bike was washed but had slime marks (old ones from before the bike went to service station) everywhere and had not been properly washed.

During this time, Mr. Upender left me at the dealership without informing and went away for his personal task. Waited for 30 min with excuses of all kinds given to me by Mr. Dinesh on his absence. I was left with the 2 junior guys with no clue what to do. I spoke to Mr. Durgesh (Service Manager) and Mr. RV Sharma (GM- dealership). Mr. Sharma did the good-guy-bad-guy act to the “T” and blamed Mr. Durgesh for everything. He assured me saying that give me a day’s time and I will have all issues resolved. I told them that the engine assembly is badly damaged on the outside and looks like I have gotten the bike done from a road-side shop. It looks pathetic and will severely dent my options/selling price of the bike when its put on resale. Took pics of the engine and fairing on this day and on his assurance left the dealership in utter disbelief. An optically spick and span bike had been ruined due to bad handling – I KNEW BY THIS TIME I HAD SCREWED UP BY LETTING THIS DEALERSHIP TOUCH MY BIKE.

I got no news from either Mr. Sharma, Mr. Durgesh or Mr. Upender till Sunday and finally called Mr. Sharma on Monday, 9th Nov’15 asking him what the status is. He said, give me 5 min and that he will call back. I got a call from Mr. Durgesh saying that he will check and revert. He called after few min and said the bike is ready. I spoke to Upender who said nothing significant has been done since I left last. Bike had been washed properly and that they will wait for new fuel pump to arrive to replace the one currently on the bike. That’s all there was.

I told Mr. Durgesh that I will come on Tueday, 10th Nov to pick up the bike. On reaching the dealership at 3.15 PM IST, Tuesday, 10th nov, I met Mr. Durgesh who got the bike out in the open.

My worst fear had come true – NOTHING HAD BEEN DONE ON THE BIKE. Except for another wash, everything was the same as was before.
• Deep scratches on fairing everywhere
• Fuel pump not working
• Coolant leaking
• Engine assembly damage as-is
• Front Disc brakes not working
• Bike engine mis-firing
• Fairing missing clip-ons to hold the fairing together, Radiator fins in damaged condition

I called for Mr. RV Sharma since he had personally assured me that everything will be fixed but nothing had been done. The gentlemen comes all arrogant, telling me that this bike has taken up so much of their time and there will be marks come what may. I told him the exterior, lets worry later, how do you explain the bike engine damage and in sheer frustration of harassment meted out over 18 days, 6 visits, 10+ hours at the dealership and multiple meetings with different people with no resolution or patient ear in sight, used a cuss word for the bike and its current shape (not for any individual or anyone at the dealership) and voila, the guy started shouting top of his lungs. “Nikal ja yahan se” (get out of here), “aiyee, bhag yahan se” (you, get our of here) and lots of other nasty things with aggressive body language in front of everyone of his staff members. I told him angrily that I am only respecting his age, so please back off but the guy kept coming back. Finally, I gave him a good shouting to make him understand that I too can retort back at him.

The bike had been screwed up by his dealership and he owed me an explanation. Told him that I will be making the payment as told but need these issues fixed. Was told angrily on my face “jaa yahan se, paise mat de” (get lost, don’t give any money). Lots of other words were used which I cannot write on this forum.

His people took him away and immediately started apologizing frantically to me; Mr. Durgesh was nice enough to stick by my side and tried to calm me down and offered me water/place to sit etc which I politely refused. I had to get out of this god forsaken place at the earlier. I told Mr. Durgesh that this is more personal than everything else now.

I had to get my bike out of the dealership – told them to prepare the bill, paid the money. They wouldn’t let me take the bike without the signatures on the form. THIS WAS MY 6TH VISIT TO THE DEALERSHIP SINCE THE TIME THEY TOOK THE BIKE. Took the pics of the bike as-is along with my experience at the dealership before I left the premise to document it there and then.

Last straw – my home is ~6 kms from the dealership. Halfway to my place, engine temp shoots to “H” all the way with coolant leaking all the way. Stopped the bike and dragged it for nearly 2.5 kms with help from some kind fellows. Took the pic of the temp needle, video with coolant leakage, fan ON and my status on the raod, mailed it to the dealership for the record.

Status right now – Bike parked at home; I will be going to Honda 2 wheelers India for a review of this shoddy experience, both in terms of service to the machine and to its owner. THIS DEALERSHIP HAS ZERO EXPERIENCE ON HOW TO HANDLE CUSTOMER ASSETS BOTH MATERIAL AND EMOTIONAL. EACH TIME I VISITED THE DEALERSHIP, I SAW THE LEADERSHIP BUSY WITH PERSONAL TASKS, STROLL IN PARK, SLEEPING IN THE PARK. IN MY BOOK, HONDA SHOULD TAKE SUCH DEALERS TO TASK AS THEY ARE BRINGING BAD REPUTE TO GOOD PRODUCTS THAT THEY MAKE.

Finally, it is not the heckling, being hushed and literally being abused that affected me as much; pride is hurt for sure but the way they took me for a ride and I followed them like a idiot and did not apply my self very well in this episode, that has affected me. I take good decisions at my business; why I fell for such idiotic service has left me amazed and thinking.

Next steps – I will wait for Diwali to get over for everyone, including the people at dealership before raising my concerns with Honda directly. Anybody with any pointers (good/bad) that can help me on this matter are welcome.

FINALLY, HUMBLE REQUEST TO ALL, STAY AWAY FROM THIS DEALERSHIP FOR ANY NEW PURCHASE OR SERVICE. PICS AND A VIDEO GIVEN BELOW.

[sriramv.iyer]

Really sorry to hear that.

Honda's and its dealers' arrogance is legendary in both two wheeler and four wheeler segments.

When I had gone to buy a CBR250R in Dhruvdesh Honda in Bangalore, they switched off the light as I was writing the cheque for booking stating that the showroom time was over!

I absolutely hate any interaction with Honda, esp with haughty two wheeler division.

Please escalate, but unfortunately, I don't expect any help from Honda Two Wheelers India as well.

[Shanenanigans]

Its terrible that they did all those things to your bike. At least my experience here with Honda has been much better. The guys at the Dhruvdesh Honda near my house were actually very tolerant looking at how much I bothered them for the white ABS version.

My best guess is that they treated it like an accident bike, and not something that was well maintained. I've seen differential treatment for the bikes which have had accidents at the service center.

[aargee]

In TN, JSP Honda has gone several times out of their way to get personalized service for me & the same goes with Didar motors.

Goa Rajee, GA has gone out of their way once to help my stranded bike all the way from Madgaon to Molem, 60 Km one way.

EVM Honda, KL, despite many Keralites swearing it, had provided a very attentive service to another known acquaintance & all were over the phone.

Vihaan Honda, MH, had a very wonderful experience; my CPR was treated with priority & utmost care & they also did it quickly to my satisfaction.

Lake View Honda, RJ, though we had a rough start, we ended up exchanging our phone numbers & they did a free water wash (that was the only water wash my bike has ever had) & chain lube & offered evening tea.

Point - In India, most things work out based only on personal relationship than professional.

[Mik]

My interaction with Honda Dealer was nightmarish for the the time I had a CBR250R. I tried what I had done with other auto dealers, build a rapport with the service guys (I know most of the service guys names and backgrounds in Bajaj/KTM and in Ford)
But, people who have been servicing Activa's all their lives are not bothered. Every service led to multiple issues and high handed people who simply said 'Come tomorrow everything will be done'.
Escalation works very well in Bajaj so I thought it would be the same in Honda. Nope! These thick skinned Activa dealers seem to pull weight in the company and nothing works.
The Honda showroom insurance was pretty costly and they were overcharging it seemed. So I got it done online. The lady at the showroom said ' Third party matt le liyo' (Don't take third party - sarcastically)

On the sales side, my wife was looking for a scooter so we wanted to check out the Activa i. The sales guy had the temerity to say 'Buy the bike. You can take the test ride when it comes for delivery'.

Nope! Never going Honda way again.

[hellmet]

Uhh, taking this issue to Honda 2 Wheelers is not going to help at all. You can try, but I'll bet it'll only be forwarded to the dealership again. You'll not receive a call directly from Honda (unless you know someone in the management yourself).

I faced a ton of trouble with my Trigger and took the bike to the dealer for all issues (pretty sure I got a lemon), but was unable to resolve a single issue. They "adjusted" a bad fork seal and ended up damaging the fork itself. They couldn't adjust a misaligned steering and used a rod to straighten it, damaging the handle paint. And, so.. on.

I eventually gave up and can report much quicker and better results at an independent mechanic.

However, the dealership has damaged your bike severely, so I'm not sure how you want to get it back into shape. I'd suggest you not step into another Honda dealership. Take it to an FNG, get the bike fixed. Powder paint can be repainted. Plastic can be replaced. Do not get flustered. Life will be back to normal soon.

But, again, do not expect any resolution from Honda - very slim chance. Try, but don't expect anything. Honda is too arrogant to deal with a particular individual's problems. People have been, and will continue to buy Honda blindly for years to come, so they have no interest in taking care of one person. Sorry, but that's the truth.

[ReluctantRebel]

It is really sad to see what you have gone through. I would suggest that you take to social media and highlight what you have gone through. I am pretty sure that you have the wherewithal to make the right people notice your ordeal. Its disappointing and frustrating that customers in India are taken for a ride.

[amit_snk]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Uhh, taking this issue to Honda 2 Wheelers is not going to help at all.
========
People have been, and will continue to buy Honda blindly for years to come, so they have no interest in taking care of one person. Sorry, but that's the truth.

I have very little experience of Honda 2/4 wheeler ASS, but looking at the level of frustration of Honda customers and still mind blowing numbers they are selling each month we can surely say that bosses at Honda are having the time of their lives. No worries of 'customer satisfaction' or 'sales target'.

On a side note- how does Honda fair on 'employee satisfaction index'? Or whatever it's called.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by sid1509

Heckled, Insulted at the Honda 2wheeler dealership by GM(Fahrenheit Honda, Faridabad, NCR), CBR250R

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I had a Honda Shine a few years ago, which the authorised Honda dealer/service centre in my place messed up. Their USP was getting the rear swing arm and the bolt holding the wheel in place (not sure what you call it) tightened to such an extreme that you won't have to use the brake to slow down from any speed. Wrote a couple of emails explaining the problem to Honda as well as made a phone call to one of their customer support numbers. Fortunately, the problem was resolved by the same ASC to our satisfaction, and also they waived off the full service costs (which amounted to the sum they'd charged us for each visit to fix this problem) in good will. The arrogance was replaced with a VIP treatment, and the ASC's personnel who would shout at us over the phone when asking about the status of the bike, learnt how to talk politely and show respect - all this in a matter of 2 days.

Since you appear to be the kind of person who has the mettle to take people to task if necessary, I'd suggest that you use your skills with no hesitation, and Honda themselves will take control of the situation. Wish you good luck

[Added_flavor]

Extremely sad to read your experience, especially being an owner of this wonderful machine. As aargee said, it purely depends on the personal relationship/rapport more than the professional side of things in our Country.

From your write-up I could decipher that this is not the regular A.S.S your bike has seen for regular services/oil changes and you got in touch with them only because the bike wouldn't start.

I think the best thing you can do now is to get in touch with your regular A.S.S or technician and have the bike towed till there, explain them the complete episode and seek their assistance - both in terms of getting your bike fixed and to get HMSI's attention to the abuse and insult meted out to you.

I guess other BHPians Delhi can pitch with the best available A.S.S in Delhi.

[rm_arjuna]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use a spell-checker.

[.sushilkumar]

My Only experience with honda was when i tried to visit their showroom for TD of CBR 250 . Never visited them again given the shoddy experience afterwards.

Strangely Honda do not has a twitter handle. Has twitted this thread to their famed brand ambassador and corporate honda.

[djpeesh]

Before I had the Vitamin M to buy a Bonne, I toyed with getting a CBR250. I went to the WingWorld showroom in Andheri on my Yezdi. I was treated with so much disdain and when I asked for a test ride, the salesman said what's the point, Unicorn will be in your budget.

I walked out and have never been back since. But yes, they're very arrogant, at least in Mumbai.

[mbilung]

the image of scratches on your bike's engine and the ill handling left me bothersome about the post-delivery service of premium bikes in India.

The network of service stations and skilled technicians/mechanics/engineers should gradually increase with the sales figure, but we don't see this happening or the automobile companies are taking the indian consumer for a ride ?

secondly please file a consumer case against these goons

[sriramv.iyer]

Originally Posted by djpeesh

Before I had the Vitamin M to buy a Bonne, I toyed with getting a CBR250. I went to the WingWorld showroom in Andheri on my Yezdi. I was treated with so much disdain and when I asked for a test ride, the salesman said what's the point, Unicorn will be in your budget.

I walked out and have never been back since. But yes, they're very arrogant, at least in Mumbai.

Originally Posted by Mik

The lady at the showroom said ' Third party matt le liyo' (Don't take third party - sarcastically)

The sales guy had the temerity to say 'Buy the bike. You can take the test ride when it comes for delivery'.

Nope! Never going Honda way again.

Originally Posted by aargee

Point - In India, most things work out based only on personal relationship than professional.

aargee, I disagree. How do you expect things to work out when things start on such a bad note? It is not that the people above or I were disrespectful to anyone in the Honda showroom. They switched off the @$%@ light while I was signing the cheque! Look at the temerity shown in the instances above.

Honda's arrogance is not something to be put up with or tolerated by 'building relationships' with service guys.

I completely don't put up with this kind of misplaced arrogance from Honda folks.