[rajeshsundaram]

Makes me think, it is better stick to "Made in India" motorcycles. What a pathetic response from kawasaki.

Here is another Skoda.

[Monaro CV8]

Indeed, very unfortunate situation for Neil and his friends here.

But I'd like to question the basic business model utilized by MNCs in India.

Clearly this is a case of a rogue dealer, who has been unable to manage his finances and then ends up duping elite clients.

A few specific questions need to be put up here ?

1. Why didn't Kawasaki intervene, right from the days SNK Auto has had issues when their Pune branch shut shop?
2. Kawasaki should share the SO number (sale order no.), if generated after the dealer has accepted bookings from customers.
3. Whether they have a TAT (Turn Around Time) to deliver the goods after such a booking is made.
4. Whether there is a TAT for resolving issues such as customer complaints.
5. Is there any buyer protection act when a business model between two parties is failing (SNK and Kawasaki), whilst a third party gets to suffer ?


Agreed, Kawasaki is acting up because their dealer has mismanaged his funds and unable to pay his debts.

We have seen similar such malignant dealers seriously contributing towards sliding of the brand values of well established Auto Giants, all over the country.

Like I said, the business model, altogether needs to be reworked, re-structured and secured for all - specially the end user.

Company Act - Time to wake up and 're-think' !

[anshumandun]

This is sad. I was trying to decide between Triumph Street Triple and Kawasaki Z800. I loved both the bikes but I was more bent towards the Z800 since Triumph has a bad reputation of cheating its customers. And now this! Guess we'll have to choose bikes not on the basis of which bike is better but on the basis of which company has less probability of cheating you.

I'm a part of Superbikes Classified group on facebook which has over 20k members. I'll see if I can post this story there too. Kawasaki might try to resolve this if they see that their reputation is at stake in front of their elite customer base.

[shan_ned]

A dealer being unethical is one thing, but Kawasaki has no right to wash off its hands. At least they should have been sensitive to the affected customers and work for solving their issues.

Apart from the legal stuff, I think this needs to be published in other international motorcycle forums as well. For Kawasaki, we need to hit where it pains them the most. If anyone from TBHP are part of part of other well reputed forums, please spread this information.

[i74js]

This is utter rubbish, very similar to what use to happen in real estate sector for quite some time and in few cases even now when the flat was no where to be seen forget delivery after making complete payment.

The auto sector reforms are also required and it should not limit to the vehicle performance, safety and recall; this should include customer protection too. The dealership and the principals / manufacturer should both be responsible for safeguarding the interest of end user.

How can Kawasaki shy away from taking onus is something beyond me. They should put they act together and come out clean. The person should either get the vehicle or his money back and that should happen immediately.

This is very shameful and falls under "willful misconduct" , "breach of trust" and "poor business ethics"

Kawasaki should own up !

[farhadtarapore]

Precisely why I ditched my plans of buying a versys. Got to know that the palm beach dealer had stopped accepting bookings long ago and was on the verge of going under.
That would leave hardly any 'authorized' showrooms for Kawasaki; other than the mixed KTM-Kawasaki dealerships. Happy with my enfield for the time being.

[anilp]

Originally Posted by farhadtarapore

Precisely why I ditched my plans of buying a versys. Got to know that the palm beach dealer had stopped accepting bookings long ago and was on the verge of going under.
That would leave hardly any 'authorized' showrooms for Kawasaki; other than the mixed KTM-Kawasaki dealerships. Happy with my enfield for the time being.

Versys 650 is sold by the Bajaj-KTM showrooms. Not India Kawasaki Motors. No concerns when it comes to support for the Ninja 300/650/Versys 650/ER-6N. Buy without fear.

Only Z800 and bigger bikes are sold by India Kawasaki Motors.

[Siddy]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

2. Kawasaki should share the SO number (sale order no.), if generated after the dealer has accepted bookings from customers.
3. Whether they have a TAT (Turn Around Time) to deliver the goods after such a booking is made.
4. Whether there is a TAT for resolving issues such as customer complaints.
5. Is there any buyer protection act when a business model between two parties is failing (SNK and Kawasaki), whilst a third party gets to suffer ?

Exactly my thoughts as well, the business model needs to be reworked.

I think big brands keep a safety deposit before starting a dealership/getting into an agreement, can't the company deliver the bike directly to the end customer and take away the amount from the safety deposit? I mean, that's what I do when I give out my property on rent!

With the internet and software industry growing in all directions, the TAT & S.O's should be tracked online & transparency should be maintained with the end customer, after all "Customer is the king!"

[jkdas]

That's a real shame! I hope Kawasaki does intervene and sort this asap. Always have one or two rotten oranges in the basket to ruin the image of others!

[navin_v8]

This is so very similar to the episode of that someone called "CHORdia" from Shreyans Auto. Any dealership is the face of the company and their representative. In this case Kawasaki has to intervene to bring the dealer to the task and provide an immediate resolution to the buyers left in lurch. As it is they are not so popular in India as their other Japanese counterparts, this episode will further tarnish their image.

I fail to understand about the PR these multinational companies lack. There has to be some mechanism for the customer to get in touch with the company directly. I am sure had it been a similar situation in USA then Kawasaki would've had sleepless nights with regards to losing a quarter of their profits to law suits/litigation by the American customers. Today India is the fastest growing market for two wheelers but unfortunately the customers are taken for granted, thanks to archaic laws. Triumph did it earlier and now it is Kawasaki. The only international brand in recent times I can think of which has done well and has strike a cord with our junta is KTM.

[quickdraw]

Shame on Kawasaki on letting this happen looks like they are trying to give Triumph India competition on who is the bigger Jackass. I can't believe that this can happen in this day and age, do foreign manufacturers really have this viewpoint of us as being a 3rd world country where they can get away with anything?

Premium Motorcycle sales are not like premium cars in India and word travels very fast, Kawasaki should apologise and provide loaner bikes to these people immediately. They put faith in your brand and you've turned their dreams into a nightmare!

I'm sharing this on all social media, this is absolutely unacceptable and unless Kawasaki intervenes immediately for me they are as guilty as the dealership.

[noopster]

This is a real pity. If it were just one guy with a complaint, maybe the fault could lie on either side but 15 people! There is something very rotten here.

As a member already posted, Kawasaki Palm Beach is probably in process of shutting down and from the looks of it, were not a "full fledged" dealer in the first place, sourcing bikes from a Bajaj dealer, etc. Far from absolving IKM and Kawasaki Japan of their responsibility that just reinforces the fact that they need to do better due diligence in setting up their dealership network. It's a reality check for them and a grim reminder not to go down the Skoda route!

From the owner side of things, I think a legal notice or consumer court forum complaint is the need of the hour. Advocating a complete ban on this dealer among the tightly knit biking community is also something that can be tried. Sadly nobody takes notice till it starts impacting the money.

[mandheers]

This is crazy and true as can be. Thanks for your time to cover this GTO and Team-BHP.

I sold off my 2012 Ninja 650 in April and decided to go for the Kawasaki Z800. Paid up a down payment of 4.25 lacs and financed the balance from HDFC - entire payment done and loan disbursed to Palm Beach Kawasaki on 27th April.

Was promised delivery by 29th May, was told it takes 20-25 days.

Kept following up all May, no response, no updates nothing. The sales guy Rathish also quit sometime in first week of June or end of May, not sure because he never answered calls or returned them. Have been debited June + July EMI towards my loan as well. I deliberately bounced the August EMI, and that's stirred another nest at HDFC since there is no bike hypothecated against the superbike loan.

The dealer, Kawasaki Palm Beach has had no bikes since Feb & March and there are 11 of us customers waiting to get either deliveries or refunds – with bikes ranging from Z800, Z1000, ZX10R, ZX14R and one H2.

4 customers have been refunded, from what appears to be the loan amount money disbursed by bank.

IKM says they cannot do anything since they have not received money from the Dealer – Palm Beach Kawasaki – and their outstanding is even more than these 14 bikes' amount. Now I was told in 1st week of June that it would take 2 days for amount reversal via RTGS and loan cancellation at HDFC, but it's been over a month and everyday I'm told - Today!

The Bank is also planning to take legal action since loan was disbursed for 8 out of these 14 customers; and no bikes are hypothecated against the loans. Unable to attach (owing to proxy) the post dated cheques given by Satyen Karandikar for 7th July, which bounced when presented. I was asked to wait by Tarun Khanna of IKM since they were stepping into the picture and may deliver bikes to us, and settle with the Dealer on their accord – but that also didn’t happen.

Now even IKM is saying it's the dealer's responsibility to deliver these bikes, and IKM is standing by – with no definite date/time for when this might come to closure. What's now evident is that the dealer and IKM are both smug about it, and we are not even acknowledged as customers. There have been zero updates from Kawasaki and they have been very standoffish - saying that the dealer will have to do whatever it is.

SNK gave in writing with individual 10 names, that by 5th August the matter would be resolved amicably, and either money refunded or bikes delivered - which again didn't happen and was a tactic to defer the issue. We now have connected 11 customers with pending deliveries, all from social media posts. One customer as late as last night, in response to my post on the IKM Facebook page.

Moving court now all of us, as the only option is to sue for damages - and not just a refund or bike.

[pavanmadhini]

Sad. I was planning to buy a Versys 650 soon, but I'm thinking of waiting to see how this pans out before I commit to Kawasaki.
Someone mentioned the Versys is a safe buy since it is sold by Bajaj-Kawasaki and not Kawasaki India. Are the two completely independent entities? Are there any customers waiting for their Versys/Ninjas?

[mobike008]

As a Kawasaki customer, I'm ashamed to hear about this situation. Even though it's a completely one dealership situation but, it reflects really badly on Kawasaki India and how they view the market in our country

Had this been in USA or any other western country. They would be under a heavy law-suit and whatever profits they had made would be wiped out in a few weeks but, being India they know we are patient even in out outburst let alone taking a legal route

All these foreign manufacturers take the customers for granted AFTER selling their products at premium prices and expect them to take it lying down. Hope through this medium Kawasaki wakes up and smells the coffee and helps the customers who have booked the Z800 and gets them their bikes ASAP

Just as a comparative example, I feel Kawasaki is little better than Triumph. Here, they sold 20 Street Twins on TC (Trade Certificate) and these owners are not even able to register their bikes and fearing to take it out on streets (how ironic it matches the name of bike) as cops are becoming quite strict and seizing the vehicles with no documents.

I personally had and having fantastic experience with Kawasaki dealership here and I have no complaints but, then maybe because of the Bajaj-Kawasaki tie up

Good luck to all customers entangled in this messy situation to come out clean with your new bikes or money !!!