Re: Had a bad sales experience at a dealer? Please do NOT eliminate the car model because of that! Extremely interesting thread. Hope it's okay if I mention a few quick "reviews" about some 2 wheeler dealerships! I've been snooping around in Bangalore for nearly the past year, as I've been looking to buy a 2 wheeler when I can afford it and wanted to try everything within my budget just for the kicks.
Regarding my answer: I did vote YES, because I do know how to circumnavigate the BS that some of these showrooms spout when it comes to actually buying the bike, but I still did want to have the complete n00b experience once and visit each showroom just to see how they were. Hence this list! 1. TVS (RTR200 and RTR160): * Prakruthi Mobikes: Apathetic towards customers entirely. Never had a test ride bike ready despite multiple confirmation calls. Had to sit behind me on one test ride and very reluctantly let me go on another for a 100m. One one occasion, I decided to visit a branch of theirs that opened near my house. I asked the sales rep if there was any chance of getting a bike with Pirellis (the option used to exist). She was visibly confused, asked me what tyres those are, and finally pointed to a display unit and said "sir that's what you'll get sir".
On my last visit there, they were offering what looked like a customer's new bike for a test ride since they knew me by then and didn't want to send me back. The fuel lines hadn't been connected and the moment the rep tried filling some petrol into it, fuel everywhere on the floor. That was enough to make me nope out of there. * The Bharat Automobile Agency: Slightly less apathetic, also had a more sensible test ride service. They had a separate unit for test rides, gave me the key and sent me off. Weren't pushy about buying the bike, but patiently answered whatever queries I had. Wouldn't mind buying from here at all. 2. Honda (Hornet 160): * Dhruvdesh Honda: Did not even give me a glance when I walked in to the showroom. Perhaps too busy signing off Activa deals for everyone. Walked in, waited 2 minutes and walked out. * Silicon Honda: Similar experience to Bharat TVS, funnily enough. Rep gave me the key, let me go on a ride of my own, answered a few queries I had when I came back. Decent experience. 3. Bajaj (NS200, Dominar): * Kalyan Bajaj: Not a single time did they have a test ride vehicle of the NS200. And this was after following up, setting a date, etc. Didn't even bother visiting the showroom. * Khivraj Bajaj: Far better than Kalyan. They also seem to know their customer base better. Was assigned an SA who was a biker himself (I think I had this experience in only 2 showrooms in Bangalore!). Didn't let us test ride the bike on our own but he was patient with us, let us play with the bike a little (in fact, when my friend tried it, the SA insisted that he gun it at one point!) and also didn't push us to make a purchase. However loan dept seemed a little lazy, but forgivable. * KTM Mekhri Circle: Okay, not Bajaj but I thought I'd mention it here! Didn't actually test ride any models since I'd arrived there late and didn't give them any notice, but the sales rep was courteous, although he did keep pushing to make a booking (which I felt was odd for a KTM showroom). 4. Yamaha (FZ-S, FZ25): * Torcente Motors: Was okay. Went to test the new FZ-S. They had one, went for one ride with the rep as pillion and one round without. Didn't push much, gave me the quotation and said to call for any doubts. * Pacer Yamaha: This was where we'd gotten our household's current 2 wheeler, a Ray Z. Less interested than Torcente, even. 5. Hero (Xpulse 200): * Sai Motors: They are, to date, the only showroom in Bangalore even selling the Xpulse and its variants. There's a Hero showroom in Lalbagh that kept saying "sir they'll come in 10 days" and to date the 10 days haven't ended yet. Sai motors in BSK is decent though. Will let you test ride the bike on your own. However, didn't have a clue about accessories and spare parts. 6. Suzuki (Gixxer, Gixxer 250): * Meghavath Suzuki: Very pushy, test bikes were in bad condition. Sales reps lost interest the moment I said I wasn't immediately booking. * Aerolex Motors: By far the WORST showroom experience in this list, which is ironic considering they sell most of Suzuki's "big bikes" here. Which means I guess smaller bike owners are good-for-nothing in their eyes. Took 20 minutes for the sales rep to even figure out if there was a test bike, which model it was, and another 5 minutes to get the forms for me to sign. I'd asked for the Gixxer 250, they made me ride the 250SF (the faired version). Worse, the sales rep seemed to have ZERO clues about the bike except for the price and the displacement. (I think I did bump into the owner at the showroom who was more friendly and answered a few questions about the V Strom that was on display there). But for sheer incompetence from their SAs, Aerolex has to be the worst. 7. Royal Enfield:
I visited the Jayanagar branch of Royal Enfield, and I have to say, the experience was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. For some more context, I hate RE except for the 650 twins and the Himalayan, and I'd also read quite a bit on T-BHP about how their showrooms were. However, a colleague wanted to have a look at the Interceptor for non biking work and I thought I might as well have a test ride on it. When I called the showroom, they were extremely polite, even insisted that I wear shoes (HUGE thumbs up RE!). The showroom folks were very pleasant, let me ride the Interceptor (what a bike!) and even let me try the Himalayan for the first time even though I had no interest in it (until then).
Then they brought us in to the showroom post TD, had a rep from HDFC talk to us separately about financing, took my number and only called ONCE to ask if I was buying any of the models (honestly, I was half inclined to).
But somewhere I did feel that this was akin to Apple's service in the US: The reps are manic fans of the brand, and service, etc might be a different issue. No comments here. |