Mar 14, 2007 05:22 PM
6094 Views
Well, as a Senior Manger heading Business Development for International Clients I have learned one thing in my past 9 years..Customer is the KING!! One has to meet every Whim and Fancy of a Customer regardless of the requests and that's it..There is no other way around it. Trust me when I say this because I have come accross some very funny requests from my clients especially when they visit Bombay..Taking this experience into account I visited Ichibaan Honda next to the Phoenix Mills compound delighted to be a customer myself once. My requirement was simple.
I wanted to buy a Honda Civic as soon as possible at the best price without any hassles. God, was I wrong in thinking that as a customer I hold the upper hand ! !If I were to put my experience on paper, this review would go into a few tens of pages so let me be specific on my experiences. As soon as I entered, there was no one to greet me at the reception. I had to run around looking for a sales agent to help me with the purchase formalities.
Once I found an agent, he asked me to wait at the waiting area which lasted for 30 minutes. Thankfully I was offerred Tea/Coffee which I refused. 30 minutes later I was greeted with my nightmarish Sales Agent [Let's name him Bharat] I first wanted to have a look at the display car which was not allowed as they were 'Car Ready For Deliveries' As there were no other cars, I finally was allowed to explore a 'Delivery Car' [I feel Sorry For That Customer]. Keys to that car took another 20 minutes [was it in a Bank??]
Obviously in the age of Outsourcing the Loan Dept was outsourced to Kotak Mahindra and they have only 1 agent from that bank to handle all the customers queries. Now here is where it gets interesting; I was asked to meet this Loan Agent from Kotak Bank who was single handedly talking on his mobile, attending another call on his desk, talking to one of the sales agents & was going to handle my case. I think India has no need to build another Super Computer..Multi-Tasking was right here in front of me...LIVE... Another 20 minutes wait and finally while putting his mobile on HOLD and his land-line of the hook, he started talking to me.
Already frustrated and tired of waiting I quickly understood what is required by the bank to get a loan. [AVISA application to Pakistan would have required lesser documents].. I asked the Sales agent the estimated Delivery time if placed an order the same week, 2 weeks was what I was promised. [Turned out to be 22 days finally] * Several hundred phone calls later and with Rs. 50K as a deposit [To book the car in my name so as to avail the current price from Jan 07 the prices were reportedly going to go up by 4-5%] I went to submit all. 'Sir ' 50K is not enough now ! ! ' I was told..' You have to pay 90% of the car value to get the delivery in 2 weeks '
Why did you waste my time ? Why was I not informed?? Sorry Sir [A standard Response any maybe 346 of apologies in total] during this whole nightmare. * Finally after making the payment on 30 Dec I received after a lot of heated calls my car on 23rd Feb.I would NEVER go to Ichibaan again. The only thing working for them is that they have a good product like HONDA in their stable. I wonder what would happen to them if they were to start selling Ford/Mitsubishi?? I wonder.....I also sent a letter to their directors [No response] complaining their non existant level of service and maybe one day I can expect at least an apology letter from them..[ Wishfull Thinking ? ? ] To All Members: Do not go to Ichibaan...PERIOD...Adios..Moadweeb
