Are Dealerships Creating More Dent on Tata Motors' Image?

[Nadkarni]

Do you still follow this practice of leaving beneficiary's name vacant in your day to day life,? If yes, then who takes responsibility of potential misuse?

yes i was a fool to do that. That was the last time i gave a cheque without beneficiary name.

Who helped you to identify this fraud and fraudulent man, Police or insurance Co? Because similar fraud was uncovered by a owner of a car with the help of insurance company man. Here is a link http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...insurance-scam-maruti-dealer-scam-beware.html

Just 1 day before the delivery date, Government announced reduction in the excise duty on cars. I was eligible for refund from the dealer as i have paid the entire amount. After a long followup i got the refund which was lesser than i expected. Hence i asked for the breakup of the entire transaction for this car. It was then i found this fraud. I immediately went to the bank and asked from the copy of cheque only to find in the personal name of salesman.

Good to read that you exercised caution while purchasing the car from maruti too, as you see from above links that irrespective of the brand name it is the research and vigilance on the part of customer which matters more.

i fully agree with you.

 

[TrafficHacker]

Tata motors are improving and so is their range of cars, no doubt in that but not their dealerships and empolyees trained for this.
Have seen the SE's giving looks of you sure want to buy a TATA car? i mean why the heck would i be into your showroom then.
This is when I was looking to buy new car last year.

@Vijay - I agree that Tata as a company is improving, they are acquiring other companies & diversifying, but that is still not very evident on their products.
If you take the example of the Storme itself, it has improved a lot and is a much better machine today, but am sure anybody in this forum would agree that it is not up to date in comparison with the market.
I mean, It would have been better if this version was launched in 2008/09 not in 2013, its outdated even before the launch.
It can never complete with the current market options like XUV in terms of features and gizmos.

Again, blaming the dealers alone is not fair, Concord is run directly by Tata (AFAIK) and even they have the same attitude towards customers when it comes to sales or service.
There have been many instances where there were escalations and it went into deaf ears even in the top management level.
So its clear that they still have the 'dont care' attitude.
They dont keep any standards for their dealers and services and it seems they dont realize the sand getting loosened under their feet.
They are clearly loosing their grounds and soon will sink, if they dont correct themselves, they cant survive in such competitive market anymore if they dont decide to change.

 

[Tornado]

Storme itself, it has improved a lot and is a much better d agree that it is not up to date in comparison with the market.
I mean, It would have been better if this version was launched in 2008/09 not in 2013, its outdated even before the launch.
It can never complete with the current market options like XUV in terms of features and gizmos.

it competes with xuv on the basis of quality of brakes and suspensions. But I agree that dealers are not trying positively to bring forward goodies of storme when the customer comes there.

They are clearly loosing their grounds and soon will sink, if they dont correct themselves, they cant survive in such competitive market anymore if they dont decide to change.

The dealership attitude and the not so good sales figures scenario is constant since many years still what surprises us is that they bring new car models to display at every auto expo.
Rather than sinking, they bought whole JLR. Don't know from where they managed money from?

 

[bagariachirag]

I totally buy this point.
Tata Motors makes excellent cars. They have the highest NCAP ratings and are available in multiple fuels and gear options at attractive price points.
However, it is the dealerships that are spoiling the entire experience even in cities like Mumbai where the Tata Motors headquarters are located.

I had bought a Tata Tigor XZO Diesel from Concorde in 2018 - The company-owned dealership and the process was smooth as silk.
I selected the car over Maruti Swift Dzire Diesel ZX at that time as the looks were refreshing, it felt premium inside the cabin and the build was robust.
My first 2 free services took place at the Concorde Service centre in Andheri and it was a delight. Then, Concorde Andheri closed down leaving the owners to the mercy of other authorised service centres like Richard Garage and Wasan Motors.

These 2 ASCs have a lot of pressure from the increasing sales numbers of the car. So much so that a major servicing at Richard Garage took a month for me. It's unbelievable. I had to fight and take the car after the servicing in an unwashed state as the washers had not reported to duty on the day of delivery. In the span of a month - I visited the service centre thrice - as none of the times the response over the landline number was satisfactory. This was followed by hours of waiting just to hear that they do not have the availability of spares and hence it is taking time. I spoke to 4 people - two service managers who resigned in the span of a month, the receptionist and ultimately the owner of the franchise. I vowed that this would be my first and last experience with them.

Later, I managed to discover Banai Auto on automotive forums and the two services here were smooth. I also bought the Extended Warranty and the P2P Package here. However, the service centre closed down and they gave up Tata Motors Service Franchise. Leaving the people of Western Suburbs the only option of Wasan Motors in Kandivli West.

A series of harrowing times began at Wasan again with the period for Major Servicing which is usually 3-4 days extended to more than 40 days. The excuse given was that they are not receiving the spares and approvals from the company as everybody is working from home. My question to him was - "Is everyone WORKING from home?" Finally, I gave up and spoke to the regional service manager and within 2 days they delivered the car i.e. on the 42nd Day.

Next was a minor service after a span of 6 months, the service manager asked me to come the very next day to collect the vehicle after confirming over a call. I called but the vehicle was not ready. They again dillydallied for 8 days and on the 9th day, I was being called to pick up the vehicle. When the vehicle was being sanitized in the delivery area. I saw the front left fender damaged and bruised and the dent extending to the front bumper. I asked the sanitisation executive and he admitted that it has happened at the workshop and asked me to speak to the service manager. When I spoke to the service manager, he said that the same was already there and asked me to refer to the JOB CARD. I referred to the job card and showed the same to him and then he admitted and said that he did not know when did this happen at the workshop and asked me to claim the same from my zero depreciation insurance policy. I do not know, from where he got to know about my zero depreciation policy. He asked me to take the car home and bring it back after a couple of days as they have too much load of cars due to the rainy season.

I did not accept the same and left the service centre without taking the car. I had already paid the invoice by then. The very next day I called the helpline number of Tata Motors but it was down and I could not connect. Aghast, I tweeted about the incident. I got a reply in Tweet from Tata Motors asking me the details. After around 48 hours I got a call from the social media team of Tata Motors asking to describe the problem in detail and assuring that they'll escalate the same. I did so. Also got an email from Tata Service giving me a complaint number and an assurance that they'll resolve the complaint. Unfortunately, they were not specific as to how the complaint will be resolved. I think we have made a big mistake by relying on this indigenous car maker and giving into the advertisements that speak of Bharat Ki Car. The service network is not empowered and too weak to take the burden.

I have had service experiences with various brands like Maruti, Hyundai, Jeep and Skoda and trust me this is the worst by far. I will urge everyone to buy a Tata Car only and only if you have a good service mechanic and a reliable garage that you know of. Relying on the authorised service centres is a waste of time and your hard-earned money.

 

[Akash1886]

I have a substantial amount of details that I need to write on this very thread. I with my experience of owing the TML cars would like to share those details here. But this will be next week. Thanks for highlighting this thread.

Regards
Akash