Well, here's my ordeal and a very frustrating one at that!
PS:- It's going to be a long post.
Some backgroud first, I was a proud owner of Fiat Grande Punto Emotion diesel until this incident happened and which shook my belief to the core.
So here it goes, my girlfriend was to visit Pune on a monday in December 2016 and was going to stay for three days. So on the previous friday, one of the pipes supplying the coolant to the engine of my Punto broke from the middle and the part had to be replaced entirely which was done at a roadside garage. Needless to say, it was a duplicate part and the car started experiencing problems soon after and on the next monday had to be left at the dealership for further repairs. The exact day when I had to go to Mumbai in the night to pick her up.
I trusted Zoomcar as we also had plans to visit Lavasa or Mahabaleshwar, so needed a ride anyways. I booked a Swift through Zoomcar and went to pick it up after office (during daylight though). The car was dirty but was washed immediately before being handed over. Odo showed 65k which I thought was pretty normal for the Swift and the DDiS engine could handle abuse since its a Fiat product. I checked the car thoroughly and even clicked pics of some minor dents present and showed it to the executive over there. I took the car, went home and off I went to the Mumbai Pune Expressway. As I neared Lonavala, the car threw up the Check Engine light. I got a bit worried and my heart sank since I knew it's going to be a long night. I stopped the car over the shoulder of the road and waited for 10 minutes. I started the car once again and Voila! The light was gone. I resumed my journey towards Mumbai and after the Lonavala ghats ended, just before the Food Mall, the car started losing power and my heart sank to the deepest levels imaginable.
I started picturizing the events that might follow soon. I would have to call up the Zoomcar assisatnce, would have to get the car towed away and would have spent the night at the food mall sipping coffee. But as luck would have it, the car started once again after waiting for 10 minutes. I immediately called up Zoomcar and told them about the problem and asked for a replacement car (they have a parking in Navi Mumbai). They told me to wait for 10 minutes. I got the next call after about an hour when I had already reached Kharghar in which they informed me that they don't have any replacement car available and would have to abandon my journey. But I kept my cool. I told them about my situation and the person on the call asked me whether you can drive back to Pune and he would get the car replaced the next day. I agreed and said that I anyways needed to return Pune that night. All the while the Check Engine light would come on and after stopping the car for 10 minutes, it would go away and the cycle continued. On my return journey to Pune, the car again started losing power once. But after stopping it for 10 minutes, the problem went away once again. I somehow reached Pune and decided to get the car replaced first thing in the morning.
The next day, I called up Zoomcar and asked them to take away the vehicle and provide me with a replacement car. They denied the same and said they would have to tow the car away and if I drove a meter further and anything happens to the car, I would have to bear the whole cost of repairs. I got scared and told them to take the car away. I needed a car badly since our travel plans were at stake. I tried to book another car but the Zoomcar app was not letting me do it since my current booking was not cancelled and it was live.
This was the moment when I had enough. I blasted the guy on the other end of the phone and asked him to connect me to his superior. He connected me to a lady after a lot of haggling over the phone. She understood my case and told me to make another booking as she had cancelled the current one from the backend. I thanked her whole heartedly and with shivering hands (due to fear and anger) I booked a Zoomcar Swift once again!
This time the car was clean and was driven just 9K. I took a leap of faith and continued with our plans. I kept the issues related to the previous booking on hold till my girlfriend went away. The next Swift performed splendidly save for a moment when the wheels locked up during an emergency braking manoeuvre and I missed the ABS of my Punto at that moment. Thankfully, it was just to avoid a speed breaker which was almost invisible in broad daylight too and I did not have anybody following me. The next night I dropped the car away after dropping my gf at the airport and went home.
The real deal started after two days. A point to be noted here is that I did not hear anything from Zoomcar in the meantime. I called up Zoomcar and asked for the refund for the number of hours I paid for the first Swift and did not use it since it was towed away. My conviction was that since it was their car which had an engine problem and why should I bear the cost for a problem which was not created by me. The executive told me that he will call back. I got a call after about three hours and the executive told me that the car they towed away did not have any problems as per the workshop report and hence they would not refund me anything. I was astounded!
This time I again lost my temper and asked him that this is what they pay back to the customers who identify problems with their cars and report it to Zoomcar diligently. I would have kept driving the car until it finally broke and then would have called for assistance. In that way, they would have incurred higher costs but I would have had the car for a longer time with me. I told them to give me the location of the workshop and that I would personally visit and make the SA aware about the problems otherwise someone else might face the same issues on booking the car through Zoomcar. I even asked for the address of their local office so that I could visit their place and explain my situation. I kept on screaming on the phone and told him that I had it enough with Zoomcar and even threatened that I will take this up on social media and other platforms (I was till then a Team-BHP fan and not a member). This time he seemed to be uneasy and told me that he will call me back. I got a call after about an hour and the same guy told me that he was really sorry since I had to suffer so much and had to drive an unreliable car which would have broken down at any moment. He said that they were processing the refund and would also send an official mail regarding the refund. At this point, I apologized to the executive profusely for having shouted on him and told him that it was for Zoomcar and the ethics they have and nothing was personal. He was also pleasantly surprised since I was apologetic.
In the end, I had mixed feelings but have decided not to book Zoomcar even if the need arises. I had it enough with them and I do not want to fight every time I have to face such a situation and Zoomcar needs to have some policies designed for such instances.
I so missed my Punto during the whole ordeal but that love ordeal ended soon after. I sold it off and got myslef a Hyundai Grand i10. But that story is for another thread. I hope Zoomcar ups their level of customer service and makes sure that such instances do not end up as a bitter memory for the customers.