[prince85]

Today a very unfortunate incident happened in my GT TSi ownership experience. Its more to do with troubles in obtaining Extended Warranty for my car to be exact.

I took delivery of my vehicle from Global Gallerie (VW, Thane) back on 20-01-2016. Today, realised with just 8 odd days left for my standard warranty cover to lapse, i quickly headed out to the nearby VW Service Center (VW Kurla (W), Mumbai) to purchase VW Extended Warranty Cover for my vehicle. They verified my vehicle details by asking for the RC and Insurance Copy. They also asked for the Sale Invoice to verify if my car is still under Standard Warranty Cover. All the above documents i happily gave the service center including the Sale Invoice dated 20-01-2016. Now since everything was in order and my car is still under Standard Warranty Cover, they were bound to let me purchase the said Extended Warranty Cover and hence they accepted my payment for 19k odd and gave me a receipt for the payment received and asked me to pick up the Extended Warranty Cover Certificate once its prepared by them later in the day. i obliged and left.

Now a couple of hours later, i get a call from the service center saying that they cannot issue my car the extended warranty cover as apparently my car has already completed two years, back on 30-12-2017. And as per the records at the VW Head Office, my car was apparently purchased on 30-12-2015 Atleast thats the date that is punched in their systems. They are outright refusing to issue the extended warranty cover to me and asking me to take a refund of the payment made for the same. I refused to accept this as i have all the paper work records to prove i took delivery of the car on 20-01-2016 including date on RC, VW Thane Sale Invoice. Even my bank loan for this car was applied for on the 07-01-2016, so how they sold me the car 8 days before i even applied for a bank loan for the said car beats me! Took this up to the VW Customer Care Team. They got back saying its probably a mistake from the Dealer who sold me the car in punching the wrong date and now nothing can be done.

I asked them to change the date in their systems then and was willing to email them supporting documents to prove my claim. But they said they have seen my documents and can't make any changes in their system as apparently its now not possible to change it even if they wanted to. They further asked me to collect a refund for the money which was paid for by me towards the said extended warranty.

So in short, i am being made to suffer for a mistake made by the Dealer who sold me the car and punched in a wrong date of purchase. The said dealer is now not in business anymore and VW Head Office clearly wants me to suffer for no fault of mine. I have always gotten extended warranty for my cars just days before the standard warranty lapses, and have never once had these issues in getting it done. Heck i got extended warranty for my SX4 a day before the standard warranty was to lapse from Maruti, no questions asked. But with VW, customer documented proof has zero value to be taken as evidence.

I am extremely gutted by the unruly treatment meted out to me by VW India, my car has already had a DSG failure where the Mechatronics was replaced under warranty six months back. Now i dont think i can even dream of using this car without warranty with the probability of the above expensive failure occurring again looming large in my head.

Guys, kindly suggest how do i end up getting my right to extended warranty. I hate the feeling of being made to look like a scapegoat for no fault of mine whatsover.

Thanks

[jbpanda]

Originally Posted by prince85

Guys, kindly suggest how do i end up getting my right to extended warranty. I hate the feeling of being made to look like a scapegoat for no fault of mine whatsover.

It is indeed unfortunate and I really feel bad for you. Though the cumbersome route, I would suggest you to go the legal route considering the fact that you have all documents in order and I believe VW would have no document evidencing sale of car to you with your acknowledgment receipt on any date prior to what you claim. To start with, please write a to the point (bullet pointer) email to VW Customer Care summarising what transpired. Please also enclose all the documents that you have to substantiate your stand about the date. Place on record that you made the payment against acknowledgement receipt. Do not return the receipt or take back the payment made by you towards extended warranty as that may lead to your conceding to their stand. On the basis of this, call upon them to hand over the extended warranty coverage document with effect from 20 January 2018 and onwards and in case you do not hear from them you would be constrained to resort to legal action. Please also specify that in case of any delay in issuing the coverage on or before the validity period, you shall hold VW solely liable and responsible.

Let them put it in writing that the date in their records is earlier. I have a feeling they would be reluctant to do so considering the official documentation in your possession and may like to resolve it over a telephonic or face to face discussion. Please do not entertain the same and refer them to your email and ask them to give it in writing whatever they have to say and that you will decide on your next course of action after you receive their response.

Hopefully good sense will prevail and this works for you. If not, please go ahead with a consumer complaint. It will take some time but you will get the relief.

[Turbopetrol]

Originally Posted by prince85

Guys, kindly suggest how do i end up getting my right to extended warranty. I hate the feeling of being made to look like a scapegoat for no fault of mine whatsover.

Thanks

You have to hold on to the receipt for 19K which would prove that you attempted to purchase the extended warranty within 2 years of vehicle purchase. Did you think about legally handling it? For that probably you need to capture the dealer's official response/refusal and the grounds of refusal in an email.

Edit: Just noticed, the response above from "jbpanda" elaborates what I had in mind.

[sarthakmehrotra]

Originally Posted by prince85

Today a very unfortunate incident happened in my GT TSi ownership experience. Its more to do with troubles in obtaining Extended Warranty for my car to be exact.

I took delivery of my vehicle from Global Gallerie (VW, Thane) back on 20-01-2016. Today, realised with just 8 odd days left for my standard warranty cover to lapse, ...

Firstly, I apologise if abridging the Quoted Post is incorrect or against the rules.

Secondly, your best, sure-shot and a bit time consuming route is the Legal Way. A Legal Notice to the Dealer along with Volkswagen HQ and subsequent filing of a Consumer Complaint for Unfair Trade Practice and Deficiency in Service should do the trick. There are, of course other routes both civil and criminal, that can be taken along with the Consumer Route for a speedier but drastically costly solution.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sarthakmehrotra

Firstly, I apologise if abridging the Quoted Post is incorrect or against the rules.

Offtopic, but, in general it is a good idea to do so!

Your advice seems apt. Only thing is that it would worry me that legal process might take longer than the duration of the warranty. Also, if something goes wrong while the matter is in the courts.

[jbpanda]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Your advice seems apt. Only thing is that it would worry me that legal process might take longer than the duration of the warranty. Also, if something goes wrong while the matter is in the courts.

Though legal process will be time consuming, one should not be hesitant and reluctant to go that route. It's a matter of principle and setting things in order. Moreover, the companies take advantage of our reluctance to be callous and careless. That mindset needs to be set right, even at the cost of some time, money and effort.

As regards anything going wrong during the pendency of the case, one can always file an interim application to seek directions upon the manufacturer/ dealer to attend to the problem under warranty subject to adjustment of expenses depending on the final outcome of the matter. Alternatively, one can bear the expenses for the time being without prejudice to its rights in the matter and adding the expenses incurred in the final claim/ compensation amount that may be awarded in case of favourable outcome.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, Prince85! Have moved your post to a new thread.

Am going to drop VW an email on this. Hopefully, you get a resolution soon.

[prince85]

So, I got an email from the customer care team at VW, Kurla - West where they are basically repeating what they had conveyed to me over a telephonic conversation earlier, the same was illustrated in detail in my first post, word for word. The only difference was this time around it was via an email. Here is the screenshot of the said mail sent to me where they are asking me to accept refund of the Extended Warranty payment made by me.



Now clearly and in an extremely embarrassing fashion, they completely lost the plot even further this time around whilst composing this email. For eg. They accept there has been a mistake punching wrong purchase dates by Global Gallerie (VW, THANE). But these guys now go one step further to only make more mistakes in this email by making mention of some further random and absurd dates this time around. They now say on email that the date on RC is 20-01-2016, when clearly the date on RC is 28-01-2016. And this after sending them a scanned copy of the said RC. I really don't know what they were smoking when composing this email when they had the actual RC copy at their disposal for reference which clearly has 28-01-2016 printed on it.

Secondly they have conveniently avoided making any mention of the Sale Invoice copy I sent them which was dated 20-01-2016. They are basically accepting fault now as per my limited capability comprehending this email received from them.

By the way, in other development, after digging my car purchase file further in these last few days, I got some bills and receipts which now state and point that the car was delivered to me on 27-01-2016 as per a final balance settlement bill paid to VW, THANE. All this whilst the car was invoiced on 20-01-2016. Either ways, it doesn't matter because even if we take the earlier one of these two dates, point is, I am still eligible for extended warranty either against the invoice date or the actual car delivery date.

I am not going to accept refund at all costs. I have had a DSG Mechatronics failure in May, 2017. And I have big question marks in my mind regarding long term reliability of the DQ200. Period. All words said and done, i need the extended warranty cover for my car which I am eligible for. Thanks

[jbpanda]

Originally Posted by prince85

I am not going to accept refund at all costs. I have had a DSG Mechatronics failure in May, 2017. And I have big question marks in my mind regarding long term reliability of the DQ200. Period. All words said and done, i need the extended warranty cover for my car which I am eligible for. Thanks

Thanks for sharing the update. It would be advisable to place on record the careless and callous approach adopted by VW while dealing with the dates when you furnished all requisite documentation. Please emphasise the dates as appearing in RC and the invoices and actual date of delivery by referring to the documentation in your possession. You may consider stating that the date entered in their records is something unknown to you, never communicated and has no bearing in so far as your records are concerned, hence not binding. You may consider to threaten them with legal action in the event they fail to give the extended coverage in a time bound manner, say 7 days. You may also record that refund shall be at their sole risk and responsibility as you do not accept the stand taken by VW, particularly in view of admitted mistake/ fault attributable to them. Their response to such threat of legal action should give you an idea about their approach on the issue.

Let me know if you need any assistance.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by prince85

vehicle from Global Gallerie (VW, Thane)

Global Gallerie are huge fraudsters.

In my case, Global Gallerie took a ~Rs. 11,000 cheque for the extended warranty at the time we purchased the car, but just kept the money and never actually registered the purchase of the extended warranty with VW!!


Here's a thread full of complaints on them : Global Gallerie didn't pay Road Tax, etc.


Didn't their dealership shut down in 2017?

[PetrolRider]

Are they kidding? By the way, as an end customer; why would you bother of some EW portal that they maintain?
Just ask them, if they would have mentioned in their portal, purchase date as 2013, would they have denied you warranty from day one. Please note, they have not only denied you extended warranty, they have also technically denied you 28 days of original 2 years warranty.


I think your case stands as a criminal case of fraud, breach of trust and denied service. You may consult with a lawyer and send them a legal notice.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by prince85

I took delivery of my vehicle from Global Gallerie (VW, Thane) back on 20-01-2016.

And as per the records at the VW Head Office, my car was apparently purchased on 30-12-2015 Atleast thats the date that is punched in their systems.

When did you finalise the car and pay the downpayment? I think I know what has transpired here. I'm guessing you finalised the car in Dec, paid them the downpayment and asked to deliver the car after invoicing in Jan? In a bid to bill that one more car towards completion of their targets, the dealer must have billed the car in your name on 31st Dec.

Originally Posted by prince85

For eg. They accept there has been a mistake punching wrong purchase dates by Global Gallerie (VW, THANE).

Secondly they have conveniently avoided making any mention of the Sale Invoice copy I sent them which was dated 20-01-2016.

....All this whilst the car was invoiced on 20-01-2016. Either ways, it doesn't matter because even if we take the earlier one of these two dates, point is, I am still eligible for extended warranty either against the invoice date or the actual car delivery date....

Unfortunately, date of billing thats punched in the system counts as purchase date for all purposes. However, even if the dealer punches the date in the system as 31-Dec, he can always modify the entry on the invoice thats given to you and the RTO.

MSIL has a system as re-invoicing the billed cars incase of special circumstances. eg. cancelled due personal reasons, loan fell through, changes in the cost, etc. So the new customer can get full use of the warranty. However this is bad for the dealer. In my 2 years in the dealership, we had only a couple or more cases of re-invoicing. In one case, the customer paid full money in Nov, we billed the car in Dec, and had kept on hold for registering in Jan, but customer told to cancel. This car was later sold to another customer and re-invoiced.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Global Gallerie are huge fraudsters.

No question there. Lots of complaints against them, not just their VW, but Mahindra dealerships as well.


However, VW must cover up for its dealer's mistake / fraud. OP is eligible for the warranty.

[ALTIMAed]

Dealers issue invoice and delivery order. As per my understanding, the invoice is generated on the date the invoice / bill is generated and the delivery order is generated on the date of delivery to the customer. Warranty, hence should start from the date of the delivery order and not the date of invoice.

When I was abroad, we too, in order to meet targets (monthly or yearly), used to invoice vehicles on the last date of the month, but warranty always started on the date the delivery order was generated.

[Ferrariwell]

I did write to the vw India Facebook page regarding your problem and my problems faced in the past with my vw cars it’s been almost 5 days but there has been absolutely no response from them.

I feel Extended warranty is absolutely essential on the GT TSI thanks to its finicky dq200 gearbox
My friend who has a 2016 vento TSI has already faced issues with his car and has had his multi-multiclutch replaced once already the car has only 13,000kms at the time. Today the car has around 20,000kms on it and he’s facing problems with the gearbox yet again. His suspension has also already worn out pre-maturely. I made the huge mistake of not opting for extended warranty (which would have paid for itself in context to how much we’ve spent on maintaining it). Basically vw cars aren’t as reliable or well built (quality of materials not structural integrity wise) as they advertise them to be. The pointless arm rest in our 2014 vento has been rattling since day one and now the clip that holds it in place is broken, the CD player doesn’t work , the fuel pump has failed multiple times leaving us stranded once and now the AC has stopped cooling. With our 2011 Polo the AC vents keep breaking inspite of replacing them multiple times, the seats have been rattling since day 1 the newly put radiator leaks (done by VW A.S.S itself) there’s a weird ticking noise coming when I switch of recirculate on the AC the part that’s failed costs only 1000 rupees to fix but vw wants 3000 rupees in labour as it requires removing the dash board and they just charged me 8500 rupees to change a headlight switch instead of quoting me only 6500 rupees at the time of calling ( post #92 here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4342264)

[V.Narayan]

Thanks for sharing this. Your paperwork seems to be in good shape. Catch hold of a smart consumer cases lawyer and send them a notice including a copy to their India country manager. Check with the lawyer if you {or say your wife or friend ,who are not the plaintiff} can launch a social media attack. Their contractual obligation to you cannot take a lower precedence due to their internal mistakes. The dealer probably booked the car earlier to claim some incentive scheme!