15th December, 2014
I once again complained to the Operations Manager about Air-con malfunction. He visited my residence along with two technicians. They ran diagnostics on the vehicle. the Operations Manager assured me of a follow up as soon as he received a reply from JLR UK regarding the diagnostic report. I didn't hear back from him. I also demonstrated the squealing/noisy brakes to him.
22nd December, 2014
Videos of the malfunctions with the vehicle were emailed to the Operations Manager.
January, 2015
Intermittent problems kept appearing with the climate control and the Infotainment system. All of these were again informed to the Operations Manager multiple times over the telephone, SMS's and Whatsapp messages containing video proofs of the same. NO action was taken.
I continued to use the vehicle with these electrical defects, purely because, at the end of the day, the Discovery was running and driving. 3rd February, 2015
The infotainment system was completely dead and the air-con was still functioning erratically. The vehicle was collected by the JLR workshop but they could not fix the problems or arrange for a loaner vehicle, to conduct an extended review. The vehicle was therefore returned to me on the same day, late at night with a partially working infotainment and air-con system. However the park distance control (PDC) switch had now stopped functioning – the Operations Manager was informed about this.
4th February, 2015
The Infotainment started working, but the audio and the climate control stopped functioning completely. The park distance control switch was also not working, and all of these problems were informed to the Operations Manager immediately. I continued to use the vehicle without the air-con, PDC and infotainment until the
8th of February, 2015
Imagine driving your vehicle without the ac or music. It is absolutely harrowing!
8th of February, 2015
A Park Brake Fault appeared on the instrument cluster. I abandoned my vehicle at my office and informed the Operations Manager immediately.
9th February, 2015
A driver from the JLR Workshop came to my office to take the vehicle to the workshop. He was unable to start the vehicle and he reported the matter to me. I checked the vehicle myself and saw that the AIRBAG warning light was illuminated on the instrument cluster.
Here is the chronology of events that occurred on the 9th of February, 2015. Gathered from the CCTV footage:
- 14:57:20 – The driver carried out a pre-pick-up inspection on the car and document checks
- 15:28:48 – He tried to start the vehicle; but the engine shut down immediately after starting and the airbag light came on the instrument console
- 15:32:54 – He inspected the vehicle battery
- 15:33:42 – He attempted to start the vehicle
- 15:35:05 – He informed me that the car is not starting and the battery might be dead. I spoke to the Operations Manager and informed him of the same. He assured me he would talk to the driver
- 15:41:20 – The driver was on the phone with the workshop
- 15:45:15 – The driver was in the front drivers seat, leaning over to reach the fuse box
- 15:45:38 – He noticed me at the office door and quickly exited the Discovery and moved away to hide behind a parked vehicle nearby. He returned to the discovery the moment I turn back to the office.
- 15:47:37– He accessed the fuse box from the driver's side
- 15:51:44 – He accessed the fuse box from the passenger's side
- 15:54:45 – He tampered with the electrics and without my knowledge/permission, replaced the air-bag fuse
- 15:58:13 – He reported to me saying that the vehicle is finally working and that solution was to just lock and unlock the vehicle a couple of times
- 16:04:56 – He drove off with the car
It is evident, that the vehicle did not start due to the AIR-BAG error. The fuse was CHANGED on my office premises without my knowledge or permission. Furthermore I was deceived by the Operations Manager, saying the car started on its own after locking and unlocking the vehicle a couple of times. 10th February, 2015
I visited the workshop to check on the progress. the Operations Manager was not present at the workshop. The vehicle was shown to me by another service advisor. Even after I asked for a job-card, I wasn't provided one. I telephoned the Vice President (Jaguar Land Rover India) who said he was busy and would call me the next day.
Back in the Workshop!
11th February, 2015
While the car was in the workshop for additional scrutiny I interacted with the Operations Manager and the Regional Technical Manager. There were 4 issues raised during this interaction:
(1) Pin for the PDC switch located on the air-con control panel was broken:
the Operations Manager identified this problem and he blamed the broken pin on me, by claiming that I had gotten work done on the vehicle outside the official workshop. I flatly denied this and reminded him that the PDC switch was working when the vehicle was picked up by the workshop on 3rd Feb and that I was the one who had informed him that it had stopped working on 4th Feb
(2) A non-genuine part was found in the car:
During my conversation with the Operations Manager about the broken pin, I noticed that they had removed what seemed like a non-genuine blown fuse from the car. I was able to confirm this by comparing the part with genuine fuses. Not only was this not notified to me by the workshop, they claimed they were not aware as to how it made its way into my car.
The blown fuse and the broken pin
(3) I was informed that the blown fuse was from the air-con unit and not the air-bag system. I received this confirmation repeatedly from the Operations Manager. However, I knew this was not the case because in a previous photograph we had taken of the car, we could see the non-genuine fuse in the air-bag slot.
Picture of the fuse box with the non-genuine fuse and blown fuse (inset)
This cover-up is relevant because the main reason the car has been in the workshop so many times is due to an air-bag error. This is the problem that could not be properly resolved in the past. It seemed to me that the Operations Manager was trying to deflect the problem to the air-con system so that JLR would not have to deal with the persistent air-bag defect.
(4) I was given a job card by the workshop only because I insisted for one.
The problem with the blown fuse and the vehicle not starting had also been conveniently omitted on the card I received. It was added by hand on my copy of the job card by the Operations Manager, when I insisted.
No mention of blown-fuse or vehicle not starting on job card. Vehicle not starting added by hand by the Operations Manager on my insistence. 12th February, 2015
The Operations Manager confirmed via phone that the vehicle started (on 9-02-2015) by locking and unlocking the vehicle multiple times. Again, there was no mention of the Air-bag fuse. At 6:39pm; He called me and asked me for additional time to address the issues with the vehicle.
14th February, 2015
In my conversation with the Operations Manager, he admitted that the fuse should not have been in the car. He agreed that the fuse is non-genuine, but feigned ignorance on how a non-genuine fuse got into the vehicle in the first place. He added that the fuse is related to the air-conditioner and not the air-bag system.
16th February, 2015
I visited the workshop again to retrieve my dash-cam from the vehicle. I was given a fresh copy of the job card by another service advisor, and even this had no mention of the vehicle not starting, or the blown fuse.
18th February, 2015
I arranged a meeting at my office, which was attended by the Operations Manager, the Regional Manager (Service), National Service Head at Jaguar LandRover India and the Regional Technical Manager. Just before the start of the meeting, I confronted the driver, who confessed to being told by the Operations Manager to change the fuse and to keep it hidden from me. The attendees of the meeting denied that anything was changed on my vehicle, but after showing them the evidence, they had nothing to say.
The National Service Head claimed they were on the 'back foot' and that this was a 'one-off' incident. They had brought the car to my office for the meeting, without informing me. They insisted that I take delivery of the vehicle and that it was in working order.
At that time, there was no mention of any amount to be paid to be paid by me.However, I refused to accept the vehicle as it was clear the airbag fault was not fixed and non-genuine parts were being used.
23rd February, 2015
I was requested to meet the Vice President of Jaguar Land Rover - India at the JLR showroom. This meeting was also attended by the National Service Head and a couple of other JLR employees. I brought up the issue of the non-genuine fuse being surreptitiously installed and I asked why I was being kept in the dark about this, and possibly other such changes to my car. Instead of admitting to the mistake or apologizing, the Vice President of JLR reprimanded me for:
-Questioning their driver on the fuse
-Emailing my concerns to the Chairman and Ex-Chairman of Tata Sons previously
-Voicing my concerns on the internet.
He also arrogantly added that no one above him in the organization had any authority over him, and no matter where I escalated it, he would have the final say on the matter. He also added that all he had to do was to show how much money was spent on repairs for the vehicle. When I asked why the vehicle was still giving problems even after this,
he had no answer.
When I continued to ask about the fuse replacement, his only response was that JLR did not need to inform me every time parts were changed on my vehicle. He said that the driver's job was to get the car to start working again - how he did it and what he changed was not my concern. I asked for this 'policy' of JLR to be confirmed in writing.
Soon after the meeting, I received a mail from the Regional Manager (Service) with pictures of a broken pin on the air-con panel connector, which he claimed was the result of my 'tampering'.
There was also an invoice for Rs.75,939 for parts replaced and the threat that I would be charged Rs.1500 per day for parking after 27/02/2015 if I did not collect the vehicle. The email also asked me to only contact the Regional Manager (Service) and to not try and contact any other person. I would like to highlight that in the previous meeting when I was asked to take delivery of the vehicle, there was no mention of any payment. This invoice appears to have been sent to me after my meeting with the Vice President, when I refused to just accept how this problem was being dealt with.
I replied to the Regional Manager (Service), by listing the facts as they stand, and again refusing to take the car back or make any payment until I got a clear response from JLR. In this response,
the Regional Manager (Service) finally admitted to the fuse being changed on the sly by the driver, which had been denied on multiple occasions previously However, he still did not address the issue of the part being non-genuine and he also glossed over the persisting air-bag problem.