The last few days haven’t been really good for my LUV & it is because of,
• Got stuck in hailstorm
• 20K service experience
• Dog hits the car
Sadness Part 1
It was March 27th & after visiting my parents at Nippani, I started return journey to Goa at around 2.30 PM. As I neared Belgaum (exactly at Kakati) rain got heavier & storm stuck. The noise of hails hitting the car was so loud that my 5 month old daughter got up crying. I parked car on service road fearing windshield might crack. The impact of hails was so severe that it has left umpteen dimples on the bonnet & some portion of the roof. Once it mellowed & visibility improved I continued the journey. These dings are not visible from a distance but a closer look & you’ll feel sorry. I believe I have to replace the entire bonnet. Do guide me if there is any alternative to it. As of now I am okay with it as there is no paint damage & those are visible only when closely looked.
Sadness Part 2
Gave my car for 20K servicing following Saturday at Chowgules, Margao. I didn’t had any complaints related to car barring broken spring of boot flap (Flap behind 3rd row seat) & cable dressing of reverse parking camera. SA prepared customary job card after noting down these points. He hurriedly explained me what he will be working on as part 20K service. Once he was done, I started going through job card & asked purpose of each task he has marked. He could not explain properly most of the points on the job card. E.g. What is purpose of diesel additives? Why are you recommending EGR cleaning at 20K & How you are going to perform EGR cleaning? Points for which he did not had justification were asked to get rid. What put me off was lack of car knowledge in SA. Before leaving the car I thought of checking the brand of engine oil & to my shock, forget brand he didn’t knew what grade oil will be used. By now I started worrying if my car is in safe hands. I did not wanted to leave but Chowgules do not have customer lounge & neither I could peep in to service bay. I left the premises with heavy heart. By noon I received message about car being ready & contacting SA. I was happy that I will get car almost 3 hours before the schedule & called up SA. He said car won’t be ready until evening as car wash is still pending & it is bottleneck for delivery. I reached premises at around 5.15 PM after couple of follow ups. Took a look at the car & was under impression that it is yet to be ready as exterior were not cleaned properly. But SA had other thoughts. He took me to the payment counter & said car will be ready by the time payment is made. When I gave my card for swiping the cashier told there will extra charges. Upon asking why am I being charged extra for card payment, he called up SA & asked to get consent for waiver. Got the waiver within couple of minutes. I guess the waiver is only for people who question existence of extra charges. We came to the vehicle & one could easily see the dirt on the car. The reverse parking camera cable dressing was also not done. Upon asking why the dressing is not done, he told he has checked for connectors they are perfectly fine. Well that never was my requirement (Checking connectors). I realized there isn’t any point talking to him. Meanwhile SA went to look for the person who can get the cleaning done. I believe Chowgules have given the car cleaning to some contractor & SA got into argument with the contractor labor. By now I had enough of it & left the premises saying not to worry about cleaning.
I received mail regarding service feedback after couple of days. I replied with issues I faced during the visit. I received call from Customer car manager next day about my feedback & I narrated the story to him. He put forward request to visit & meeting was fixed for 9th April.
Lessons learned
If you look at final bill, I am charged Rs.250 for the fitment of Rs.311 Cabin AC filter. So no matter, how unhappy you are with SA, go through job card in detail. Actions and charges against them. Do not assume things will be done under paid service. Trust me 90% of customer fall prey for this loot (Have a close look at the job card & you will get an idea). My estimated bill of Rs.14K came down to actual Rs.7.7K. It would have been much lesser if I would have not assumed break cleaning & AC filter replacement as part of paid service.
Sadness Part 3
I was returning from office Friday evening (a day before scheduled meeting with Customer Care Manager) & after Arlem circle a dog jumped on the road out of nowhere. My speed was not more than 30 Kmph but the pace at which dog ran & hit the car I thought it dead. I got down to see if it has got stuck between wheels, after parking on road side. But it was nowhere to be seen. People standing by informed me it has ran away. Came home and accessed damaged. Luckily there wasn’t anything that could burn a hole in my pocket. Snap fit projections of cover for tow hook were damaged & intercooler grill had crack. The crack was not big for replacement of the grill so I thought I will live with it. Next day I went to visit Customer Car Manager & explained him in detail points that put me off. He called up electrician for cable dressing while the discussion was still on & within no time it was done. I also told him about dog hitting the car & requested to take the vehicle on ramp to see if anything else has damaged. He happily obliged & car was at few feet height from ground within next few moments. I could see other than tow hook cover, wind deflector was also damaged. I may not replace it as I am sure it would not be making any rattling noise. I expressed my willingness to buy the new cover, provided it is readily available. The shop floor supervisor told the piece is available only in black color & painting is required before fitting. Now comes the bomb. The price of the part was Rs.79/- but painting cost was Rs.500/-. I thanked him & brought only cover. I plan to paint at home.
Despite being Customer care manager, he surprisingly wasn’t aware about Team BHP. He thought ‘Live to Drive’ was a nice punch line. To the best of my knowledge I tried to explain him to what it meant & what for Team BHP stands.
DIY’s planned
I did not had any problem saying no to the painting work which would cost me 7 times the price of the part, because I knew there will be several on this community to guide me. In fact below thread is what exactly I have planned.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...ed-bumper.html
I shall keep you posted about the update on it.
P.S. - I have attached pictures of Damage due to Hail storm (Doesn't replicate actual damage

), job card, final bill, Wind Deflector Damage, Tow hook cover portion, Actual part (Which needs paint), Temporary solution.