[racerx]

I bought 2 cars from D.D motors last year. While purchasing the cars i was asked to buy the autocard, but i denied both times as i already had one.

While closing the deals for both cars i filled the referral slips inorder to get the referral points.
Those 2000 points are not credited till date. I visited the dealer multiple times, but still no action.

I then tried to add my newly bought swift to our existing autocard. For this i visited the dealer more than 10 times, but again and again i was given excuses instead of any solution.

Last week i went to Maruti Sales and services and asked the autocard team to add my new Swift to my existing Autocard and gave them all the required documents.

After couple of days I received an email stating that my Swift is already registered to some other Autocard. I was shocked to read that as i never paid or applied for any new autocard.

Upon further inspection i somehow got the statement for the new Autocard which was connected to my new car.

In the statement i saw that someone has added 751(100 joing bonus+651) points and also redeemed those points somehow.


I went to D.D motors to resolve this issue. I showed them the email which i received from Autocard team. When they saw that new autocard is issued to my car they very causally said " sir ghar jake dekho apne lia hoga autocard. Apki car se linked hai autocard isme mai kuch nahi kr sakta. Aap apne aap dekh lo isse." They did not even bother to check if the information is correct or not even when they knew that i have visited them so many times for this issue.

I was treated badly by the Sales AGM Mr Sumit and Mr Devender(autocard incharge). I was given some absurd excuses for the mysterious Autocard.

After this ordeal i went home and started checking if i have paid for autocard.
I found out the rough payment breakdown written by the salesperson in which Autocard was clearly excluded out. Even in the original bill no amount for Autocard was mentioned.

I immediately sent pictures of the original bill and the handwritten breakdown to the Sales AGM.

After a while i received a call from sales AGM and he said that i did not pay them fully and i have some balance left. That is why D.D Motors issued an autocard and using our insurance policy and statement of extended warranty they got 651 points in the autocard and they took it.

I told him clearly that i paid them every single rupee to which he started giving excuses and said " sir apko itna discount bhi to dia hai car pe". After that his tone completely changed and he started talking rubbish and tried to move away from the point. After hearing all the nonsense i hung up.


They have done a big fraud with me. They have used my documents without my permission to issue a new autocard and then using my insurance policy and extended warranty they got the 751points and then stole those points.

I wonder how many customers who don't buy an autocard are scamed this way.

It was my luck that i went to add my new car to my existing autocard and found out about this autocard scam.

I would like to know what legal action i can take against them as they have used my documents illegally to issue an Autocard and then stole money from that.

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by racerx

I would like to know what legal action i can take against them as they have used my documents illegally to issue an Autocard and then stole money from that.

Sorry to hear about this incident. It can we very frustrating when these dealers do such unethical practices on customers and doesn't even care to talk about it when questioned, because they are very confident about our helpless situation. I suggest you complain to the consumer court about this ordeal if you have enough proofs with you.

[sridhu]

Sorry for my ignorance but what is an Autpcard ?

Assuming it is some kind of independent loyalty card for automobile services, I think instead of suing them, you should get the Autocard people to merge the accounts of all the vehicles

[racerx]

Originally Posted by sridhu

Sorry for my ignorance but what is an Autpcard ?

Assuming it is some kind of independent loyalty card for automobile services, I think instead of suing them, you should get the Autocard people to merge the accounts of all the vehicles

Yes! Autocard is the loyalty card from Maruti Suzuki.

Asking the autocard team to merge my accounts is not the solution here because D.D Motor has issued the card using my documents without my permission and then they used my Insurance policy and EW statement to get 651 points.

Also the autocard which they have issued doesn't really exist!! It's only in documents.

I bought the car on 23/09/2017 and the card was issued on 26/09/2017 by D.D motor and they knew about this since then.

I found out about this scam when i went to add my new vehicle to my autocard.

They were completely aware of the scam that's why everytime they gave me absurd reasons and asked me to come after few days.
They were thinking that i will get over it and forget it after sometime.

Another thing is that it's not possible to get loyalty points on insurance and EW Statement of a new car. This can be done only when we renew our insurance from Maruti itself (Told by a Maruti salesperson). Then how did they manage to get those points and how did they redeemed those points without my permission.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by racerx

Those 2000 points are not credited till date. I visited the dealer multiple times, but still no action.

Sadly, Autocard is one thing that you have to run around to get things done. Of all the customers I sold cars to, only one chap was using his autocard as expected. It was his 4th or 5th Ciaz and specifically told that unless points are credited he wont take the new car home. Thankfully, since autocard work is done by another team, I wrote to them and also cc'ed manager and customer.

Nothing was done. At time of delivery, he made a ruckus and was adamant that points be credited. Magically 2000 points, points for insurance and EW came into his account.

To all prospective Maruti buyers, here are some tips to make best use of Auto Card, Nexa Card
1. Get a reference from someone else's autocard if you don't have one, or refer from your card before booking.
2. Tell the salesperson that after invoicing of the car is done, get it linked with new (or existing) autocard before proceeding further.
3. Quote this number when getting the Maruti insurance and EW. Points are added if autocard number is mentioned. Hence its important that autocard comes before insurance and EW.
4. At every service, insurance renewal, accessory purchase from Maruti, you will get points which you can claim for aforementioned stuff. You also get points for references or car exchange.

"sir ghar jake dekho apne lia hoga autocard. Apki car se linked hai autocard isme mai kuch nahi kr sakta. Aap apne aap dekh lo isse." They did not even bother to check if the information is correct or not even when they knew that i have visited them so many times for this issue.

Literally a scam going on. There is no way anyone in the dealership can do this without hand-in-gloves with the manager. Usually, if a salesman pulls a fast one, upon complaining, it is usually resolved. Ask from for receipt of redemption of points (i.e where the points were used). Escalate this matter to Maruti by calling them on the helpline number / email mentioned on the website.

Personally, if you ask me, for new car buyers, I just tell them to ignore about it unless you are willing to take some pains to get it done. The loyalty program is pretty decent, as it covers most stuff that you are anyway going to get done.

[dhanushs]

I choose to believe that this is only one of the many scams or rather quick bucks the showroom guys make.

For example, a few months back PayTM had a couple of thousands cash back on a scooter and I know the showroom guys making use of it if the customer is ignorant of the offer.

But, then also, when you bargain hard, sometimes they give you attractive offers forseeing to use these coupons or offers for themselves. And when you ask for it, they get pissed off.

[naut]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

To all prospective Maruti buyers, here are some tips to make best use of Auto Card, Nexa Card
1. Get a reference from someone else's autocard if you don't have one, or refer from your card before booking.
2. Tell the salesperson that after invoicing of the car is done, get it linked with new (or existing) autocard before proceeding further.
3. Quote this number when getting the Maruti insurance and EW. Points are added if autocard number is mentioned. Hence its important that autocard comes before insurance and EW.
4. At every service, insurance renewal, accessory purchase from Maruti, you will get points which you can claim for aforementioned stuff. You also get points for references or car exchange.

Hey blackwasp,

Some questions on the above.
1. Can an autocard be linked to two maruti vehicles? i.e. can I buy one more maruti and use my existing card for that car too?
2. If I were to sell my current maruti (to truevalue or an individual) and buy another new Maruti, should I get a new autocard? or can I continue using my current card?
3. In case of a situation as described in Q.2, what should be the steps to get the benefits that Maruti gives its autocard users?

Is there a web-page where all this is described?

Kindly share your inputs.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by naut

1. Can an autocard be linked to two maruti vehicles? i.e. can I buy one more maruti and use my existing card for that car too?
2. If I were to sell my current maruti (to truevalue or an individual) and buy another new Maruti, should I get a new autocard? or can I continue using my current card?
3. In case of a situation as described in Q.2, what should be the steps to get the benefits that Maruti gives its autocard users?

1. A dealer can link only 2 vehicles per autocard. However more cars need to be requested to backend guys (dealer will do this) who will map more cars to your card. They can be your blood relatives ~ parents, children, siblings (same terms as to get exchange bonus) - you can get this information on the website.

2. If you exchange the car through Maruti, you can continue to hold same autocard. If you sell the car outside and buy new car, you will need a new autocard if the previous one has 0 cars mapped to it. This is slightly a grey area and even I don't know for sure. But technically, when you sell your car, Autocard is not involved. It is only when new owner gets an Autocard / transfers to his existing card that this issue would crop up.

3. Simplest would be to use exchange. Or buy new car first, get it linked to existing card and then remove the car you want to sell.

Is there a web-page where all this is described?

Maruti Autocard FAQ page.

Hope this is clear. In case of further doubt, don't hesitate to ask.

[naveen.raju]

I too faced a similar situation but nothing serious. You get a loyalty card from the local Hyundai dealer here where you earn points for referral, service etc with which you can buy accessories or use it for service etc.

I had few referrals that was added to the loyalty card (as per the dude at the showroom). When I gave the car for service (another location but the same dealership), they said my car didn't have any loyalty card issued. So they issued another new card with the points added (40k service). Went home and found the original card inside the car manual pouch. Guess they didn't activate it. So it's 3 cards for me for 2 Hyundai cars . An online system to track the points like payback would have been great.

[racerx]

UPDATE:

I escalated this matter to MSIL and sent few emails to the Associate Vice President of D.D. Motors. After 14 days of drama, I received an email asking me to come for a personal meeting with the Associate Vice President and other staff of D.D. Motors.

The meeting was held on 7th October, 2018. After the meeting, the AVP said that the matter is now clear to him and asked me to wait for few hours till he decides an apt solution for this.

I received an email from the AVP stating that they will offer me 2000 Autocard points plus 3k accessories as compensation.

I would like to ask the gurus whether this compensation is worth accepting or should I move to the Consumer Court?