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| What would you do if your premium car starts giving you problems? You go to the dealer and service centre to get the car repaired. But what would you do if your car worth over Rs.60 lakhs repeatedly gets some or the other problem within a year of buying it? You get it dragged by donkeys all over the city on the way to the showrooms. That is what Kumud Patel, a Vadodara based businessman did when his Mercedes-Benz E-Class which he bought In July 2011 posed several problems within months of him purchasing it. Mr Patel has said his E-Class started developing problems in September 2011 and he got them rectified at the Mercedes-Benz service centre. However when more problems arose and the dealer did not deliver proper service, Mr Patel took the drastic step of getting his Mercedes-Benz E-Class dragged by six donkeys to not only grab the attention of the dealer but also the premium car maker. The E-Class was pulled along the streets of Vadodara by donkeys and Mr Patel had a banner on the car stating 'Just Think'. Mr Patel has blamed deficient service from the Mercedes-Benz dealer for his angry reaction. This is not the first time when owners of high-end premium cars have responded angrily to low quality products. A Chinese man had also got his Range Rover pulled by donkeys back to the showroom after it had broken down more than six times within one year of buying it. Another Chinese man had his Lamborghini Gallardo was broken to bits using sledge hammers last year after the car developed several problems despite many visits to a service station. |
| After contacting Mercedes Benz India on the issue here, the first thing they said is that the name of the owner is not Kumud Patel, but Rakesh Patel. Below is a reply from their spokesperson. "Mr. Rakesh Patel from Baroda is owner of a Mercedes E-Class 350 CDI and purchased the vehicle on 30-July, 2012 from Benchmark Cars, Ahmedabad." "Two tyres of his car has undergone damage due to external impact . Damages to the tyres due to external impact are not covered under the tyre manufacturer's obligation as well as Car manufacturer's warranty terms and conditions. " "Inspite of these, when Benchmark Cars learnt of the tyres issue, they offered to replace all the four tyres as a good will gesture to a valued customer." "Mr. Rakesh Patel has however, refused the offer and insists on replacement of the entire car. The act by Mr. Patel to try and grab attention is being reviewed from this perspective." |
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Originally Posted by vij
(Post 2977575)
"Two tyres of his car has undergone damage due to external impact . Damages to the tyres due to external impact are not covered under the tyre manufacturer's obligation as well as Car manufacturer's warranty terms and conditions. " "Inspite of these, when Benchmark Cars learnt of the tyres issue, they offered to replace all the four tyres as a good will gesture to a valued customer." |
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Originally Posted by revintup
(Post 2977957)
Are we to believe that Merc agreed to change two perfectly good tires just because the customer asked for it? Something is clearly amiss here. |
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Originally Posted by revintup
(Post 2977957)
So two tires were damaged, and for that the customer is responsible. Got it. Plain and simple. Now comes the funny part. Goodwill gesture. A Merc dealer agrees to replace all four tires in spite of just the damaged two? Why four and not just the damaged two? If driving habit was indeed the problem, then should not replacing just the damaged two be enough of a "Goodwill gesture" ? Are we to believe that Merc agreed to change two perfectly good tires just because the customer asked for it? Something is clearly amiss here. |
| Would you believe it if you received a letter from Mercedes Benz informing you that you had won a lucky draw and your gift was a “FREE INSPECTION!!” But they actually want to replace your turbocharger without informing you? Or would you believe that Mercedes Benz engineers discovered that the clutch assemblies of their cars across the board were remaining stuck to the floor when warmed up. But instead of immediately pulling every single car off the road, they took eight years to first secretly fit a heat shield (hiding the purpose from dealers) and then developed an insulated bodied clutch which was selectively fitted to the “problem cars” thereby putting countless lives at risk for years? |
| Ahmedabad-based Cama Motors, one of the oldest and most reputed dealers of foreign cars, has written several letters to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) asking it to investigate the dodgy business practices of Mercedes Benz in India. Cama Motors, a former dealer of Mercedes, which fell out with the auto giant, says it has gathered dozens of pieces of hard evidence and is awaiting an appropriate body to take on the job of verifing or rejecting it "in an atmosphere of fairness". So far it has failed to find any such body. |
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Originally Posted by Jomz
(Post 2978808)
If it is a 4matic ( AWD) all tires need to be replaced together |
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Originally Posted by sa_kiran
(Post 2979177)
I'm not sure if the readers here had read this earlier. http://www.suchetadalal.com/?id=d1df...ase=sections&f http://www.suchetadalal.com/?id=4e28...ase=sections&f |
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Originally Posted by swarnava.m
(Post 2979495)
I have read this before. In fact if I am not wrong, there is an entire website that highlights all the issues. There is a thread on this. LINK |
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