[iraghava]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

So i check the AC & it is cooling fine just like before & i was shown the bill amount. I saw that they have charged Rs.5300/- for the cooling coil. I remembered seeing the MRP in the box was Rs.4840/-, so i ask them what is the difference & i am told by the SA that it is service tax. How stupid !!! Then some others said it was VAT. How stupid again !!! I asked the CC manager how there could be any taxes beyond MRP & i also showed him the marking on the box which read "MRP . Rs.4841.20 (inclusive all taxes) Inclusive of VAT, octroi etc".

They tried to teach you taxation? All over again? Damn they are a bunch of monkeys is all I can say!!!!!

[benbsb29]

John, all's well that ends well. And teaching taxation to someone in your profession? God help them.

Lets hope the A/C serves to cool down all the heat you managed to cook up.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Lets hope the A/C serves to cool down all the heat you managed to cook up.

I hope so too ben. So far so good. The summer is showing no signs of respite, though there was a bit of a cloud cover this morning.

[headers]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

AC is working alright.

I saw that they have charged Rs.5300/- for the cooling coil. I remembered seeing the MRP in the box was Rs.4840/-, so i ask them what is the difference & i am told by the SA that it is service tax. How stupid !!! Then some others said it was VAT. How stupid again !!! I asked the CC manager how there could be any taxes beyond MRP & i also showed him the marking on the box which read "MRP . Rs.4841.20 (inclusive all taxes) Inclusive of VAT, octroi etc". Then they said they cannot change the billing in the computer & that i would have to pay them now & they will send the receipt later. I stood my ground & said i will pay only if i am given a proper bill & receipt. Somehow that was also managed & i drove out. Some experience that. Phew!!!

WOW..Guess ABT is the god of all taxes..teaching the taxman..well..john, next time you want to refresher course , well you know where to go..

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by johy

What would be the ideal interval of getting the coil cleaned? With normal running?

Johy

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

every two years could be a good time......

Best is to avoid cleaning the CC unless you know your mech is competent.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

if you keep the windows wound up all the while, donot use outside recirculation and vacum regularly you can live without cleaning coils for more than 5 years. again newer gen cars have a protective filter which will collect the dust and can be easily removed and cleaned.

You are right jaggu, if you don't use recirculate mode this will never happen. My fault was that i park my car under a tree in my office & i do use the recirculate option quite often to clear the smoke smell & other smells(). This resulted in a lot of leaves getting through to the coil & choking it. And our friendly maruti wallah conveniently created leaks in it while cleaning.

[esteem_lover]

Whew !!!! I thought that was the end of it all. I was stupid enough to give my car to the same ABT believing that they would take better care of my car. I gave my car for a simple 9 point service which includes checking of all electricals, brakes, carb tuning etc. I got the car back & immediately sensed that the AC was only 50% of what it was. I complained as usual, but the response was " Sir, we never touched the AC", It was very clear that the gas has leaked & all that they could say was 'Bring back the car next day & we will check it thoroughly'.

I have had enough of this & sought the help of the Maruti Engineers & they have promised to take a look at my car & analyse the real problem (if there was any ) & let me know. Right now, my car is in ABT guindy & the estimate has been fixed at 12K for servicing the compressor, replacing the dryer unit & general service costs. The cost of servicing the compressor alone has been fixed at 5K. This better be good.

What all this means is that I may not have my drive for the 6th April Sunday meet. On the brighter side, I am hoping that there would be a real solution to my cooling problems.

[JayD]

Why on earth did u go back again to ABT??

[iraghava]

I guess with his advancing age, he's becoming forgetful & delusional

And John, that was a bad decision.

[fiery enzyme]

WOW!! I did not know all this. Heard Service masters are the best in Chennai. Any opinions?

[Shashank.A]

why the hell are you paying such an amount ? just ask those guys what do they mean by service of compressor ?

I assume that they cannot anything about the compressor except to change the compressor bearing, which should not have any impact on cooling..and whatever they do, they might not do it themselves as well, most of these things are fixed by your friendly neighborhood CAR AC walla...YES people from MASS take the things to AC walla to get them fixed...

The coil of my esteem was also leaking, I got it done from a local guy, he had to open the condensor, compressor, blower and other things to check the problem..everything washed and fitted back and the leakage was still there, finally he opened the cooling coil and found it to be leaking. Quoted Rs.3800 for the coil (it was ACDelco I guess, something to do with Denso)..got it fixed, gas top up and everything for Rs.5000 (including coil)...

[MillionSwords]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Till about a fortnight i had an extremely comfortable ride in my 8.5 years old esteem. About that time, the blower(AC) started to be ineffective in the sense that the air flow was about 30 percent of normal.

So last saturday i took the car to my mechanic & he removed the blower & cleaned the insides of the duct till how much he could reach with his hand. We checked the grille temp & it showed 10 C which was excellent.

Basically the problem is i park my car under a tree in my office & the leaves tend to get inside the ducts & block the air flow. So after this attempt by my mechanic, the air flow increased to 40% & i was not satisfied & told him so. He asked me to bring the car again next week so that he can remove the dash clear all blocks, since he was busy this weekend.

Since i am leaving for pondicherry on monday(28th), i took the car to ABT sat morning( 26th) (in good faith) & explained to the personnel there that the cooling was great & only the blower was not good. Straightaway he says the estimate is 2.5k & i tell him again that that the cooling is Ok & only the air throw needs to be checked.

I had 0 confidence in leaving my car there, but i had to do because i was desparate. So i went to pick up the car in the evening & i was told the bill was 2.2k & i go to inspect the car. I find that the air throw is now as good as it has ever been & i am happy & proceed to pay the bill. From the bill, i notice that there were only 2 charges.

1. cooling coil r & r (remove & replace) 900
2. Gas top up Rs 1000/-

I ask for the qty of gas topped up (since i know that there was nothing wrong with the gas in the first place) & i am told that there is no record of such things & that whenever gas is topped up that means that the existing gas was liberated & new gas was filled in (I find that hard to believe).

AND I was told that my compressor is weak (It could be), but i never had any cooling problems. So i take the car with hard feelings about the so called great customer service of maruti & drive on towards my home (3-4 Kms away). Initially the AC felt not so cold, so i started cursing the maruti **********. Slowly it turned out that there was no cold air coming out of the AC. Now, i am thoroughly diappointed & dissatisfied with the whole thing. i could have remained at home & had a car with an AC instead of taking it to some jokers who spoil what was there in the first place.

Actually what happens is that the compressor is going on/off within 2 seconds(at least that is what i think it is). I am not taking this sitting, i am taking it back tomorrow & make sure they give me a proper explanation to all of this. Hope I am right guys, what do you think ?

hi E_L

please mention which ABT you are talking about?
It will help others to stay away from risk!?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by JayD

Why on earth did u go back again to ABT??

Originally Posted by iraghava

I guess with his advancing age, he's becoming forgetful & delusional

And John, that was a bad decision.

From my previous visit, I had an amount to settle with this ABT. So I thought i will use this opportunity for that.

Originally Posted by fiery enzyme

WOW!! I did not know all this. Heard Service masters are the best in Chennai. Any opinions?

MSM used to be great, I am not sure now.

Originally Posted by Shashank.A

why the hell are you paying such an amount ? just ask those guys what do they mean by service of compressor ?

I assume that they cannot anything about the compressor except to change the compressor bearing, which should not have any impact on cooling..and whatever they do, they might not do it themselves as well, most of these things are fixed by your friendly neighborhood CAR AC walla...YES people from MASS take the things to AC walla to get them fixed...

You are right, they have to take it out for this. This is being done under the direct supervision of a Maruti engineer, so if there is any screw ups, I will make sure they pay for it.

Originally Posted by MillionSwords

hi E_L

please mention which ABT you are talking about?
It will help others to stay away from risk!?

ABT Arumbakkam.

[kavesh55]

Brother, I completely empathise with you. I have gone through the same, right from a/c repairs to engine overhaul. every mechanic/technician has a different story. Now I tell the mechanic what to check & what not to even TOUCH. Nevertheless a learning experience and a lesson that buy a car with the cheapest replacement parts so that even when you replace them it does not lead to a heart burn.

[nitrous]

You should have gone to Oshin,John.
I always can tell between a good technician and a great technician. This guy's the latter.
I'll anyday put my money on him.
And I bet he'll do a far better job than ABT.

[anandtheleo]

ABT Arumbakkam is the place where my friend had a really bad experience. His Alto which he had given for service was involved in a accident by the service engineer who had taken it on a test drive. The accident was with a city bus, the entire right side of the car was damaged.

Then they had the gall to deny compensation, we went to Maruti Delhi and got the issue solved, but even now his Alto is not the same and has panel gaps visible. His re-sale value has gone for a toss.