[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by shahsingh

Carnation also uses 3M materials and trained people for car detailing etc.

Unfortunately this was not the case when we went for the washa nd wax routine.

[Brix]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

they managed to also give a minor dent near the driver handle! to top it all i get a call from their ops team from chennai or hyd asking about feedback! i blasted them...

Thats the worst thing. Good that I gave my older car for the wash.
Mr. Jagdish K could better spend his retirement money elsewhere.

Originally Posted by shahsingh

Carnation also uses 3M materials and trained people for car detailing etc.

As mentioned earlier is was some Diamond wax. And training is a very subjective term.

[pvgm]

Got a call from Snap Deals offering to exchange my 2 Carnation Wash-n-Wax vouchers for a promo code of equal value (Rs. 198) which I can then use for some other offer of theirs. The promo code has to be used within 1 month, and will be e-mailed to me. They said that they could not give me a refund of the money, as per their policy.

While I would have preferred to get my money back, I guess this is the next best alternative.

Following my unsuccessful complaint on the phone, I had written a formal complaint via their on-line complaint mechanism.

I am guessing here, but maybe they have also read up the other complaints on the Team-BHP website, since I had mentioned that all over India customers were complaining -- and pointed them to this site when they asked me for the source of this info.

So more power to Team-BHP

[Brix]

^^ Wowie - thats like a punch in the gut for Carnation.

I think I will use this mechanism too. Thanks for the great tip.

[Sinner666]

Delhi/Gurgaon guys, I suggest you skip the 25point checkpoint, huge waste of time plus nothing really useful unless you are too keen on it. Took our Indica to the Gurgaon Carnation day before and they took bl***y 6hrs for the entire thing. I went in at around 11:30 Am and got my car back at around 5:30PM. I mean 6 hours just for a car wash and a namesake body polish is atrocious. They need to improve a lot of things. Would give a detailed review in a day or two.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Brix

My experience of Carnation in Guindy, Chennai.

Date: 10-DEC-2010, 9.30am.

<If I give an offer, I would try to act efficient so that customers will come back at least once.>

After fixing an appointment, I arrived promptly on Saturday morning 9.30 to give my car for the wash. No one seemed slightly interested in my existence. I finally asked a watchman and he said I need to go to the reception to register. Same story there, no one seemed to be bothered to attend to me.

Finally the girl at the reception took my voucher and asked me to sit down. I saw down and waited for a few minutes and then went again and asked what I was waiting for. This time, I was made to sign a register and thankfully an SA came to attend to me. He quickly went around the car and jotted down some points, took the voucher and asked some questions. I told him that the car should be washed properly and then waxed. He replied in the affirmative.
Then he just left after taking the key without bothering to lock the car which was left on the main road. I had to this myself by locking the drivers side door.

Fast forward to 3.00pm when I received a call telling me the problems in the car. I simply stated that I just wanted the wash and polish. Then I got a message at 3.45 telling me that the car would be ready at 4.30pm.

I reached Carnation at 4.20 and asked for the car. He said it was not ready(my Car was with them for close to 7 hours already). So meanwhile I checked the accessories lounge. This seemed to be interesting because some seat covers(autoform) which I was looking for earlier seemed cheaper at Carnation.

Around 4.40 the SA told me that the car was ready. I got the 25 point checklist from him and an price estimate. The 25 point checklist seemed pretty much relevant. I noticed all those problems he pointed out. I got to give him credit for that. Plus the prices seemed reasonable.

The SA then pointed to my car on the road, thanked me and left. When I went nearby I noticed that it was NOT washed properly and the wax polish was applied directly on the dirty areas. I did a facepalm and left promptly.
Other points to mention:
-He applied tire polish.
-Applied some polish on the bumpers too.
-I'd say it was decent, but he could have taken a bit more care to wash the car properly.
-He could have used a much better wax, even the wax from a candle would have been better.

Moral of the Story -
1. For the wash and wax - be beside the car and let them do it in front of you. You'll be wasting a day for this. Alternative is to pay full price and get it done elsewhere properly where they dont require supervision.
2. Always buy more vouchers ONLY after a trial. I got 3 more and I regret my decision. Now I'll have to gift them to someone.
3. The staff are courteous, but there are a lot of disconnects between the reception, SA's and the actual people working on the car.

I'm sorry to say - Carnation needs new management/processes to spruce up its business, or it is heading downhill.

I was waiting for a feedback from Chennai Bhpians. Thank you Brix for the detailed feedback.

I have two coupons with me and i am sure i will gift it to someone.

[f1fan]

Any reveiew from the Mumbai guys?
Has anyone from Mumbai tried Carnation's services for this Rs 99 coupon?

[Ferrari1976]

Pune experience - I was with the car, instructing the staff to wash the car exactly the way I wanted it to be.
Also got my alignment done free...used a coupon out of the booklet they gave.

Also gave them Meguiar wax to wax the car. They obliged and did a semi-decent job.

Overall, not bad for INR 99!

[Sinner666]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I have chosen not to fall for their fancy customer lounge and false pamphlets and banners screaming 'customer is right' and what not, if they cannot live upto it.

Sorry JK, you seem to have lost out on this initiative.

Exactly the customer lounges, waiting areas and the accessories area do not make up for the shoddy services.

Originally Posted by mobike008

This offer is an attempt to redeem themselves. However, going my majority folk's opinion they are throwing away their final chance.

Originally Posted by mobike008

@Benny, dont you agree this offer is a loss making proposition to Carnation. They are doing this primarily to drum up customers and make them visit their A.S.S and with their good service they are supposed to convert them into regular customer. However, they are losing this golden opportunity with thier callous attitude (maybe they are not putting in that extra effort because customer is paying such a low amount for that service)

Exactly. I was thinking of shifting to Carnation for the regular servicing's but seeing the state of affairs, I am in a doubt as to whether to even take my second car to utilize the 2nd voucher.

My Experience:
Called up the Gurgaon Carnation directly and was given the tollfree number to call. Called and booked for the next day. Reached the next day at 11:15AM hoping to test the Indica first and waited for about 10minutes for a service advisor to show up. He promptly took down the details and opened the job card. He got a bit confused when I said I have 2 vouchers and since both of them were on the same printout, I asked him to use only one of the voucher. He advised me to call up the tollfree no and book the appointment again. I said go ahead, I will do that later. He said the car will be ready by 4-4:30. I said I have some work and maybe will come by later. He says he will try to make it quicker. I agree and decide to hang around. The car is first taken and put in the queue of vehicles waiting to be washed. After a couple of minutes, the person who put the vehicle in the line drove it into the workshop and parked it in a bay. I went inside and started looking around at the work going around. Since the Gurgaon Carnation has some sort if tieups with DC designs(I assume as there were many DC hoardings plus two democars (ANHC and a SWIFT VXI) with bodykits, modded hoods and alloys etc parked inside the showroom), there were quite a few innovas with lounge/chaise style Lazyboy type chairs in the back with a limo/cab like partition between the driver and the passenger area. There even was a streched Innova parked there. All these seemed to have come for services. There was also a E-Class CDI which had come in for servicing.
After almost an hour of looking around the workshop, came back to see my car still parked there. Now I decided to go and wait in the Customer Lounge plus check out the Accessories section. It had some batteries, seat covers, autocop, reverse sensors, seat cushions, door visors, sill plates, mirror covers, ICE besides usual stuff like perfumes, idols, bodycovers etc.
I spend another hour here and come back to find my car is still there. Now I track down my SA and ask him why the car is still here. He says the line for washing is too long and they would be doing the 25point check first. I argue that nothing has been done till now. He says it will be done. Meanwhile since they had just 1 operational washing bay, the line starts growing even longer. I get worried, but decide to be patient. The staff goes off for lunch at around 1:45 and take about half an hour to be back. It is 2:30 now and the car is still parked there and I start worrying if I will get the car on time. I call the SA and blast him that it has been 4hours and nothing has been done on the car yet. I understand that it would have taken time, but waiting for 4 hours and that too when nothing was being done on my car. I am really pissed by this time and ask the SA to cancel the 25point thing and send my car to the wash. He again comes up with some excuse or the other and promises to do it. Now I kept standing next to my car, and I noticed that the SA started avoiding me altogether( taking longer routes around me, not looking at me when passing by etc). Half an hour passes by and now I call it quits and ask him to cancel the whole thing. He apologizes and asks for some time to fix up everything. I agree and decide I am going for lunch and by the time I come back, if nothing happens, I am gonna drive off. Now, since this place is in an Industrial Area, I had to trudge around on foot to find someplace to eat. It would have been about 20minutes after I left that I got a call from the SA giving the report of the 25point checklist. He said a couple of things like rear power windows not working(I do not have them even in the rear!), some tappet cover missing etc. I ask them to leave everything and just wash my car.( I wanted to go there there and then and see what is happening but the return journey on foot stopped me). Also it irked me that I had been waiting since morning for a thing which just took 20mins. I highly suspect that they even did a check. I was just praying that they do not mess with the car to vent out their frustrations. I ran back to the place and found that the car had been put in the wash line.
It was 4PM by now. Since I was in a hurry to go someplace, I hung around and requested the helper(guy who was moving the cars up the line) if he could please move my car up the line. He(the most helpful guy I met in Carnation) happily moved it ahead a few cars. It was 4:30PM by the time my car came on to the ramp for the wash. The wash was a thorough one although I do not know whether this was due to the fact that I was standing along. It was an assembly line sort of operation with the cars being lined up for wash and separate workers waiting further down along in their respective areas for wash, drying, vaccuming, polishing etc.
As soon as the cars got down, 4-5 guys just pounced on it at once. One guy drying the car off with a cloth, another with an industrial size vaccum cleaner vacuuming the carpets, one guy applying dashboard and plastic polish. Then it moves on to the next area for the polishing area where the guys just applied some kind of a polish(did not see the brand as he had scooped out a large amt on his hand and was applying it from there) and polished it within 10 minutes. Finally I waited for about 10-15minutes more for the GatePass and Gold Chequebook etc. Finally took the car at around 5:45PM. All in all wasted a whole day i.e.over 6 hrs to get my car cleaned which would have taken around an hour at my neighborhood place.
I am still undecided if I want to take the 2nd car there. Maybe I will just go and tell them No 25checkpoints please, just wash my car.
Off topic - While waiting at the reception, I happened to glance through the feedback book lying on the reception table. It was filled with people complaining about shoddy service, long delays, poor service etc though I did find one "excellent work" written by someone.

All in all total waste of time and a wasted opportunity for Mr. Jagdish Khattar. Wonder how long your guys would take to service a car if this is how long they make you wait for a wash Mr. JK

[mobike008]

Hmmm, this thread continues to evoke negative feedback for Carnation. Nice to see the inputs and sorry to know the long wait most members had to go through.

My second voucher for my Cruze will be used in Jan/Feb on a sunday when i will visit them at 9am and just get a wash done ( no 25-point check, none of their farce waxing regime etc).

Hope to get in and out in an hour. I am sure it's possible when you set your mind to it

[ch.nathan]

Just came back from Carnation, Marathahalli.

Time: Reached there at 930am.

Reception: Was asked to wait in the lounge. Attended & JobCard opened in 15min.

Process: My car was sixth in the queue. Two wash bays are there. Since the queue was long, they took it for vacuuming first. Removed all mats, spare wheel, etc. and cleaned the interiors. Even cleaned the AC vents with brushes. Then the car went to the wash bay, jacked up and washed.
After washing, one person wiped it dry with ORDINARY cloth. Then one person attended the engine bay & tyres. Another applied Wax (Blue Diamond Wax) and polished.

Result: Since they did the polishing by hand only, result was not so great. Swirl marks still exist.

Then came a SA with 'Carnation' sticker which I refused to accept.

25-point checkup: THEY FORGOT to do that for my car. Anyways, that doesn't make much difference as I saw what's that about in other cars there. Checking the lights, Adding water in wiper tank, Checking Oil levels and Battery voltage. So I didn't insist on that - just waste of time.

Closure: This is where my experience went totally horrible. They took 30min to close the jobcard and issue gatepass. Came out at 12.

Total time: 2.5 hours.

Bottomline: NOT TOO BAD. Can't ask more for Rs.99/-.

Other points:
The SA did not know to open Palio's bonnet.
I was not offered ant Coffee / Tea during the entire 2.5 hours.

BTW, met BHP members 'rchandan' with his Cruze and 'raam' with his Lancer. Had long chats. Also saw a Scorpio(7930?) with loads of TBHP stickers and a Fiesta(redlining sticker).

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by ch.nathan

I was not offered ant Coffee / Tea during the entire 2.5 hours.

BTW, met BHP members 'rchandan' with his Cruze and 'raam' with his Lancer. Had long chats. Also saw a Scorpio(7930?) with loads of TBHP stickers and a Fiesta(redlining sticker).

Ok, thats the best way to spend the 2.5 hours

And thanks for the details. Need to check out sometime.

Is their interior cleaning good? I got it spoiled a bit after my last service in Sundaram. So, I decided to give it outside for interiors next time.

Any idea on the cost? I mean, without these coupons.

[Brix]

Know what - the lesson I learnt is, however big or small an outfit like this can be; you definitely have to sit there and supervise them do the job. Else they are slacking off work just like everyone else.

[ch.nathan]

I wonder how is their normal service, I mean w/o the snapdeal offer. The SA claimed they get 30-35 cars everyday for wash and wax - irrespective of weekday or weekend.
People in the workshop area are pretty quick, but the reception and service advisors have to improve a LOT. I did see many unhappy customers there.

Originally Posted by mjothi

And thanks for the details. Need to check out sometime.
Is their interior cleaning good? I got it spoiled a bit after my last service in Sundaram. So, I decided to give it outside for interiors next time.

For this snapdeal offer, they just vacuumed the interiors and washed the mats.

Originally Posted by mjothi

Any idea on the cost? I mean, without these coupons.

I did enquire abt the interior cleaning rates. They quoted Rs.870/- for Zen. That's for full interior cleaning with 3M products.

[maverick145]

I purchased a voucher after seeing this thread earlier as a guest. I am now seriously thinking whether I should go to the Gurgaon Carnation for the deal or not.

I have an out of warranty Wagon R and I was thinking of making Carnation my preferred service station for service as well but this thread has completely changed my mind.

I guess I will just go and get the car washed and skip the 25 point checkup and waxing. And I might just buy good seat covers for my ride if they have good options there.