Car & Bike Buying a Skoda ? Think again.
- Thread starter hkanitkar
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wel.. just a weird incident that happened like 2 odd years back with me an skoda.. an reading this thread reminded me of it, and so i thot i should post it:
Well i was contemplating buying a new car back then, and was to choose between a skoda and a toyota corolla (since the civic wasnt out then) n thought il go 2 ta skoda showroom and get a test drive. All goes well in the showroom, i get the car for a test drive and i feel that the cars a little hard 2 drive so i tell the idiotic salesman this, and his reply (beat this guys
) is:
" Actually sir this car has come in for service and hence might be a little hard".
Wtf how can a showroom use a customers car in for service as a test drive vehicles. That day onwards i decided never to buy skoda!
Well i was contemplating buying a new car back then, and was to choose between a skoda and a toyota corolla (since the civic wasnt out then) n thought il go 2 ta skoda showroom and get a test drive. All goes well in the showroom, i get the car for a test drive and i feel that the cars a little hard 2 drive so i tell the idiotic salesman this, and his reply (beat this guys
) is: " Actually sir this car has come in for service and hence might be a little hard".
Wtf how can a showroom use a customers car in for service as a test drive vehicles. That day onwards i decided never to buy skoda!
I am totally for GTO's stand against Skoda on TBHP.
Basically the whole idea of a forum is freedom of speech and if someone threatens the very essence of a free speech forum, the mods are bound to see red and do something about it. I am assuming/hoping that if something like this ever happens on TE where a manufacturer tries to curtail an ongoing discussion about some tiff going on between a customer and them, the mods would definitely takes the customer's side and not give in to the empty threats by the manufacturer.
The Skoda thread indeed is a bit old but as someone pointed out earlier, the 'instigation' happened because of a post by Meghna (Skoda's senior manager). The response has been to create a public awareness thread about how Skoda treats it's customers. Believe me, there are some instances (of course rare) where customers have outlined of apparent good service by Skoda and these posts are also kept as it is on the thread. This is what is meant by freedom of speech. Let both the pros and cons of Skoda come out in the open - the problem is that the after sales service cons far outweigh the pros.
Basically the whole idea of a forum is freedom of speech and if someone threatens the very essence of a free speech forum, the mods are bound to see red and do something about it. I am assuming/hoping that if something like this ever happens on TE where a manufacturer tries to curtail an ongoing discussion about some tiff going on between a customer and them, the mods would definitely takes the customer's side and not give in to the empty threats by the manufacturer.
The Skoda thread indeed is a bit old but as someone pointed out earlier, the 'instigation' happened because of a post by Meghna (Skoda's senior manager). The response has been to create a public awareness thread about how Skoda treats it's customers. Believe me, there are some instances (of course rare) where customers have outlined of apparent good service by Skoda and these posts are also kept as it is on the thread. This is what is meant by freedom of speech. Let both the pros and cons of Skoda come out in the open - the problem is that the after sales service cons far outweigh the pros.
sharmapu said:
thats what happens when something is blown out of proportion. One solitary unfortunate incidence has shadowed the fact that there are many other content skoda owners.
For the price that these cars are being offered currently, its a steal. You cant find a better built vehicle at that price,excellent value for money.
Sigh....
greenhorn said:
Eh, do you mean there are no litigations going on between customers and other brands ?
Are you aware of any other incidence involving legal fight between the company and skoda customer ? which has become so popular ? Atleast I didnt come across on Tbhp.Correct me if i am wrong.
Such cases happen with almost all car manufacturers. I don't need to tell you that, so why so much fuss about this case ? Just because most of such cases are not mentioned on Tbhp ?
What happened with Mr.Harish is sad and unfortunate and i sincerely feel he must be compensated in the best possible way.
Anyways, looks like everyone is on a Skoda bashing spree and if I keep doing more of such posts, I stand the chance of getting labeled as a Skoda fan.
Nobody seems to get my point anyways. So why bother ?
the problem is about the issues that are not resolved by the company when escalated from the dealer's level.
There have been a few cases involving other manufaturers, but with most other cases, the manufacturer and the customer is able to resolve it.
take for example the other two widely hated manufacturers in team bhp because of their bad ASS, tata and ford. for all these manufacturers, you dont see tons of users complaining about how there is no help/response from the manufacturer about issues they face with the dealer. Though there is no shortage of problems with their respective dealerships, almost all the people who have these problems get some sort of support from the manufacturer. While in the case of skoda, indifference seems to be the norm. There have been several issues with tata cars as well ( and i know the owner of one of the famous lemon indicas on team bhp) - they all acknowledge that the manufaturer at least makes an attempt to help.
THAT is not happening here.Forget help, or even trying to help. the responses from the manufacturer have been apathetic to hostile, as the rep posted. I havent seen many satisfied skoda customers posting in their defense there. Tf this had been a tata , ford or fiat lemon, there would not have been the case. in fact , it has happened, but nothing of this scale happened, and certainly nobody came after us threatening legal action
There have been a few cases involving other manufaturers, but with most other cases, the manufacturer and the customer is able to resolve it.
take for example the other two widely hated manufacturers in team bhp because of their bad ASS, tata and ford. for all these manufacturers, you dont see tons of users complaining about how there is no help/response from the manufacturer about issues they face with the dealer. Though there is no shortage of problems with their respective dealerships, almost all the people who have these problems get some sort of support from the manufacturer. While in the case of skoda, indifference seems to be the norm. There have been several issues with tata cars as well ( and i know the owner of one of the famous lemon indicas on team bhp) - they all acknowledge that the manufaturer at least makes an attempt to help.
THAT is not happening here.Forget help, or even trying to help. the responses from the manufacturer have been apathetic to hostile, as the rep posted. I havent seen many satisfied skoda customers posting in their defense there. Tf this had been a tata , ford or fiat lemon, there would not have been the case. in fact , it has happened, but nothing of this scale happened, and certainly nobody came after us threatening legal action
Your point is correct....
but right now... a guy is being cheated.... you attitude of "shit happens, move on" is not good right now... ok dont care.. atleast dont bash him...his 10 lacs is gone...
you have to be in a position where you paid premium for premium service and gets treated like dirt...
but right now... a guy is being cheated.... you attitude of "shit happens, move on" is not good right now... ok dont care.. atleast dont bash him...his 10 lacs is gone...
you have to be in a position where you paid premium for premium service and gets treated like dirt...
cool_cat
Explorer
guess the n00bs are not at all reading that thread to feel the content of other owners of that brand as well.not bashing that brand.but consider -this is not a single case.though I acknowledge other brands(except may be japanese ?) are also not much different.
this case is not like the usual fiat bashing sessions.this occasion is taken by other contented car owners also to express their feelings about exorbitantly priced spares to worst service.
this case is not like the usual fiat bashing sessions.this occasion is taken by other contented car owners also to express their feelings about exorbitantly priced spares to worst service.
Amey said:
The bigger problem I see is not the bad customer service incidents, but the general attitude of the company which is questionable if they are threatening a open Internet forum in an effort to force them to remove the negative feedback posted by a customer/customers.
m-jeri said:
You are misunderstanding me.I am not bashing up the guy, infact i feel really sorry for him and sincerely hope he gets justice.
You think I have not been subjected to Skoda's famous 'looting' ? Trust me my friend, even I have had bad experiences but luckily with a little bit of hard talk and fighting, things were sorted out and till date the dealer hasn't tried to mess with me.
Yes i know, I was and am lucky,not everyone is. At the same time, not everyone is as unfortunate as Mr.Harish.
I have gone through that thread my friend
As mentioned above, even I have experienced their world class service before but yes, I haven't been in such a horrid situation as Mr.Harish.
I have been paying an average bill of 10k for routine service for the past 4 years, so yes i am aware of how expensive it is to maintain these cars. For that matter recently when i got my Timing belt changed, i was charged 18k. 18k incuded the timing belt,tensioner everything. Its on the higher side but then its a crucial component and is usually expensive,irrespective of the car.
I am not cribbing since i was completely aware of their maintainence costs before i purchased the vehicle.
For that matter, even spares for Mitsubishi Lancer (Diesel) were expensive when it launched 10-15 years ago.Its only now that there has been a substantial drop in spare prices. For example, their Fuel Filter which was imported then used to cost nearly 2.8k. When Mico/Bosch started making Fuel Pumps for the car, the Fuel filter was also being supplied by them and was made available for 1.3k or so, don't remember exactly.
As I have mentioned before in my posts, cost reduction due to localisation does take time when it comes to CKD cars and might vary from brand to brand.
The dealers do try to push for unnecessary parts replacement so that they get to earn but if you are alert enough, you can avoid paying up for something that was totally unnecessary.
Once again, I AM NOT BASHING MR.HARISH AND I COMPLETELY FEEL SORRY FOR HIM AND HOPE THAT HE GETS PROPER JUSTICE.
So before blaming me for being inconsiderate and all such non sense, read this and then make your statements accordingly.
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