Sep 26, 2010 05:22 PM
5614 Views
(Updated Sep 30, 2010 02:32 PM)
I had a small outing planned with my family on Saturday. All dressed up, we sitting in the car; I tried to start my swift diesel car which was parked outside my house yesterday night. The car was shining as much as a new one because of the free water wash it got due to the heavy rain yesterday night.
The car did not start. Surprised! This was the first time in 2.5 years that my car did not start in the first place. Soon it was a disappointment, the car did not start and I was little surprised if it was due to the heavy rain, but for sure it could not be since I have driven it and had parked in an open and heavy rain before. Careful observation of the cockpit showed that, the fuel gauge showed no traces of diesel in car. I immediately got angry that the fuel dealer has cheated me for I had filled fuel for Rs.500/- just yesterday night.
One of my neighbor saw this and said, "fuel is the problem, the meter does not even go up so fill at least 5 litre".
I bought a can and filled 5 liters, it did not start. Again one more neighbor said "Fill another 5 liters sir". I did it no use.
Finally called "Maruti On Road service". I called around 11 am and till 4:30 some one or the other called us and asked for address, the landmark and the model of the car. Its close to 8 times someone or the other did this. We stay pretty close to Bimal Automobiles in Mahadevapura. Just 0.5 from a shortcut and 1 km max from the main road.
So it was about 5 that someone from BIMAL - Mahadevapura - Bangalore, attended my car and said the electrical has been chopped by some rodent. Even for someone to say this it took about 6 hours. They said visit charge of Rs.110/- and now the vehicle has to be towed and the charge would be Rs.300/-. I argued that the charge for <1km is high. The BIMAL person said its a standard charge. I wondered and asked what if I got stranded on a high-way.
He coolly replied "We don't even cater to calls out of city sir!"
I had been thinking we can avail services of Maruti anywhere in India. I am reminded of the AD for Maruti service with a service station in Leh-Ladakh.
So the tow vehicle came around 6:30 and about 7 I was said, that the vehicle would be serviced only on Monday and I can get the vehicle by Monday evening. It spoiled rest of mood. Irritated I went to the Bimal, met the manager R**i and he said the same. I said, it was Bimal and Maruti's fault that they attended to my car very late. Bimal says we did not get a call. Maruti toll free number says, we have informed Bimal at 11:30 itself. So it went this way and I was spending the whole day calling here and there. No use you know.
I said "this is very bad and not happy with the support and all". The manager R**i spontaneously replied "I will give you the complaint register sir, what ever you want you can write in that". He asked one of his boy to give the book and did not even look at me and he left. Felt like kicking the ass-hole.
Another person said he will call me and inform if it can be serviced tomorrow since he has to check with another person if someone is working and if they have the bandwidth to handle.
At 7:30 I received a call that Sm has been allocated with the task of looking into my car and inform me.
I called R**i and said I want to see the issue with my eyes before its been serviced to see if its a rodent (so as to prevent it in future with a sleeve protection in case its not done) or someother and asked me to give a call when its open.
Sunday:
I got a call in the Morning around 11 that the issue as said it was due to chopping of the wire by some rodent and the service is done and the charges: Rs. 400 for the wire, Rs. 250 for the service, Rs. 300 for the tow. WTF!!! I asked to call me before the replacement. I hurried up with out having my breakfast. Sm said its been done and if they wanted to show me the area he is going to charge me another Rs.250.
I was bold enough to say him straight, I will pay him Rs.250 but I am going to take it up with his higher up and show the fix.
The service guys were using swear words in front of me scolding me and thinking that I do not know the language. I said to them "Boss, I know your lanugage, do the work for I am paying for this"
Not sure these guys were embarassed but atleast could see their face with a negative expression.
They showed me the cable which was cut. I could see it was still with out a protection and a rodent can chop it again very easily.
At this point I would like to stress that all they know is bookish, why cant they have some common sense and cover the wire with a hard sheath? Looks maruti / bimal wants to earn money cheaply!!!
"If a cable is chopped replace it". Any bugger can say and do this. It requires the 6th sense to see how to prevent this in future. Why the Maruti supplied wires are with out a sheath. This is ridiculous.
One more thing about accessories is, I have replaced my wheel cap 3 times and all the time it was stolen. I have been going to the Maruti guys and asking them why can't you have a screw to tighten the wheel caps along. (FYI, Its there in any Hyundai car)
I went to electric shop searched for a sheath/sleeve which we use for wiring etc. Got some m-seal to cover the exposed area. I asked them to use. They said it cant be done sir. Then I showed them how to do. Asked them to seal with m-seal they did not do saying nothing will happen sir. OMG. They cannot even listen to what I am saying.
Huff... its about 4 pm. My two precious days gone waste.
I said to Sm that two days wasted, he said he is going to give a free water wash. Shamelessly I agreed. He said it will be ready in just 20 mins. I know what is 20 mins in their dictionary, came home and had lunch.
Its about 4:54 pm just got a call from Shyam-Bimal that the car is ready. Needless to say, I had called him at 4:20pm and 4:40 pm to check if it was ready.
Bimal's statement is "By far the Best", but pragmatically its "Best is by far". They have not gone even near to best, its far IMHO.
My conclusion:
Everybody has an impression that Maruti has the cheapest and best services in India. I am sure its not so.
Bimal has the best engineers. My verdict... definitely not, all are the same people, who work for pure number of hours.
Bimal has a good support. Would have been, but not anymore. They are in a situation where they are taking up more than they could do.
Swift is the best and cheapest diesel car. I agree with the engine its the best in class diesel engine. But for sure its not the cheapest serviceable car.
In India, no one has a fear of Customers. Gone are the days when customer was thought of as a king. I am seeing this time and again; only the situation is different like a fuel station, service station, a restaurant or if you want to buy a home.
In India, people without good physique and ability to argue in local language can survive better, for rest of them Mouthshut.com or Glassdoor.com is the place to show-off their anger.
