[vij]

A disgruntled owner gets his car pulled by donkeys all the way to the showroom -

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.

source - http://www.drivespark.com/four-wheel...st-003892.html




UPDATE

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."

source: http://www.rushlane.com/mercedes-dra...a-1253456.html

[MetalBuff]

Hilarious to say the least! Brings along a lot of shame to the manufacturer and fame for the individual. So, can safely say they are counter-productive.

[vikram_d]

If the news reports are true then it is the owner's sheer stupidity that he is expecting Mercedes to replace the whole car for tyre damage that may have been caused by his own negligence. He should take the dealer's offer to replace all tyres and get on with it.

[hrman]

Hilarous.
Reminds me of the Rolls Royce stories of yore where the Maharajas used to cut off the top and use the car to transport garbage to get the attention of RR.
But I will take Mercedes's statement with a bucket of salt.
There is no way they are going to admit in public about deficiency in their car which forced Patel to take this step. It doesn't look as simple as a tyre bulge to me.

Wasn't Cama motors the Ahmedabad dealer who came out in the open about a lot of Shady practices about Merc ? Details were in another thread?

[samarjitdhar]

I also don't understand in the first place why the media publication in question didn't do a thorough bipartisan investigation before publishing the first report. First they create the impression that the owner is justified by giving vague references of problems and undelivered service by the dealer. Then they publish the company's version about only the tires. Is the Merc owner so daft to think that tires damaged due to his own driving mistakes would be a reason to replace the entire car? Something is not right. I mean they didn't even get the name of the guy right in the first instance. Seriously with such utter lackadaisical misreporting where the goal is only to sensationalize rather than report facts, objectivity is lost making it more difficult for everybody to get a correct understanding. How in the world can either parties expect to get respite through legal channels if facts are left out in such incidents?

[revintup]

Originally Posted by vij

"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."

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.

[coloneljasi]

Originally Posted by revintup

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.

It's not so hard to believe. Mercedes may be offering four tyres on goodwill basis to ensure that he does not come back with another tyre damage claim for the other two.

If it really is a case of sidewall bulges (we don't know for sure, do we?) then it is not a manufacturing defect. But very few premium car owners will accept this justification and pay for the tyre(s) themselves. So car companies end up using goodwill to resolve issues even when they're not at fault.

We don't know for a fact that the customer had indeed asked for a car replacement due to the above and the the donkey event being staged. So I can't say anything about that till we get further information about the whole thing.

[sanjeev.d]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further.

I dont understand anything. So the 4 tires were replaced. But what was the actual problem ? So the owner goes to the workshop and the Workshop replaces 4 tires.

Now what is the problem with the customer. He wants a new car? This is sheer greed

There must be something missing here, because many owners understand the situation and they accept if the SC repairs/replaces the faulty components.

Commenting based on few statements which have no relation wouldn't make any sense. So no comments from my side

[Jomz]

Originally Posted by revintup

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.

If it is a 4matic ( AWD) all tires need to be replaced together

[ghodlur]

Merc is trying to push off the issues which the owner faced by limiting it to just the tyres issue. The OP says the owner was fed up with the issues cropping with a high values buy like the Merc and inspite of getting the car serviced the issues kept popping up. Thats frustration when you own a high end car. The owner wanted to highlight that. All he needed to do was to highlight all the issues faced along with the media act.

[sa_kiran]

I'm not sure if the readers here had read this earlier.

http://www.suchetadalal.com/?id=d1df...ase=sections&f

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?

http://www.suchetadalal.com/?id=4e28...ase=sections&f

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.

[revintup]

Originally Posted by Jomz

If it is a 4matic ( AWD) all tires need to be replaced together

The E class is a front engine rear wheel drive. The Indian version is at least.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

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

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

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

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

Yes, I saw the thread later. It seems that European cars are turning out to be complete no-no. I wonder how they operate in other countries, where rules are enforced strictly!