[mvadg]

Sympathize with the OP, but this is India and such things happen. We are here to commiserate and I would say that your rant here saved you at least a few thousand bucks you'd have otherwise handed over to your shrink.

But you should really set it all aside (not sure I'd use that advice, but take it, it's perfectly good) and go back and test drive the car from Tata and even buy it if you think it is something you want. Now that you have a personal relationship with the owner, you will most likely get VIP treatment.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by VKumar

It was a long meeting of over an hour, where the GM clearly accepted that he has made the mistake. In fact, he even accepted that whatever I have told is absolutely true, and he has actually used the wrong set of words; and won't be repeating the same. The owner of the dealership was quite a humble man (and co-incidentally, connected my outer circles itself, discovered after the conversation), and was apologetic for whatever has happened. Overall, we had a coffee together and he told me that he will be assuring a smooth process ahead, over which I clarified that it's not going to happen for sure, no more Tata product. Got a bouquet from them (==damage control measures), and left the place.

With out going into the ebb and flow of this discussion I believe you have taken the feedback with maturity and balance. Sometimes the best relationships, whether in love or in business, start with a fight and heated exchanges. Now that you have built a bridge, however slender, with the GM, the dealer-owner and the Tata executives you may want to dwell on building that to a purchase assuming you liked the car and want it. With this new bridge you will be dealing with them, for now and a long time, on a different footing altogether. Just one man's perspective.

[YD14]

Originally Posted by VKumar

So, I went to the dealership called 'Doon Tata', which is a small outlet located at 'Chakrata Road' in Dehradun.

This dealership was our last hope from Tata and there is this GM saying "dekh lunga Tata ko". Seriously Tata?

Bhpian AG has written a good review about the Kuanwala service centre of Doon Tata, so I expected it to be good but this is really disappointing. I think they have a second showroom too their, though I am not too sure.

I hope you have written about this to Tata. Also, do check with Oberoi Motors, if you are still interested in the car.

[mmxylorider]

No offence, but you are fortunate to have the time to spend over such issues. I tend to do a time/money/stress evaluation. Is it worth it? If not, I do what is required and move on.

But persistence does pay even if those are brownie points. Good for you!

[shancz]

I think I am missing something in this thread gauging by the replies.
I don't think there is any doubt about the responsibility of the parking fine which is always with the driver by logic and law.

The issue is the attitude and words spoken by someone as high ranking at the GM of a company like TML.
- Can he lose his cool ? of course he's a human being like any of us.
- Could this incident have triggered something which wasn't related to this issue ? quite likely maybe an impending dressing down in the "video call".
- Is this language acceptable to anyone regardless a customer or not ? No, especially when you're in a customer facing role and regardless of your nationality.
- After this incident what could've been done ? just a call apologizing for the behaviour goes a long way and is mostly reciprocated. What I don't get is why is it so difficult to accept a mistake ? I have made many and have apologized in equal measures, but depends on what you consider a mistake. But sadly my experience too points otherwise.

I completely agree that a private enterprise/premises has the right to ask anyone to leave without even giving a reason but in a customer facing role this won't work right ? There is a reason its called a showroom and open to all.

A weird analogy but when I work in a private setting I go there everyday with the expectation that they can fire me just because they don't like my face or don't even give a reason. And that's fine in my books as long as they uphold the notice period/pay thing. But if they keep doing that we can safely guess their rep and results.

Anyways, the OP has done what was needed by sending a feedback to TML. Escalating it further to me would also be pointless and a waste of effort and time.

But its issues like these add up and contribute to the overall "image" of the company in general.
I had also said in a related thread that in our society perceptions take longer to change than realities but clearly I was wrong and I apologize especially to the OP.

Wishing everyone better experiences

PS : Just saw OPs post, credit him for a mature handling of the situation and agree with every point he has made, I couldn't have wrote it better. Thanks for the update

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by VKumar

A potential customer, when treated right, becomes your customer after paying the money.

The dealership is obviously treating lots of potential customers the R I G H T way, that’s why they are a dealership.

Behavior is always mirrored. Treat them well and they’ll treat you well.

[vishwasvr]

I empathise with you. It wasn't your fault entirely. But then what can you do? Shit happens. Move on.

I loathe such responses from employees, no matter what the age or designation. But again, what can you do? Don't lose your peace of mind.

I agree with GTO on this "But even we - as customers - shouldn't involve higherups over such relatively trivial matters. I ran a service firm and my clients wanted to meet the "MD" whenever there was the smallest of problems, which frankly wasn't always possible."


I always make it a point to sort it out with the immediate person I'm in touch with. No point escalating when the problem lies with the low rung employees.

Even yesterday I had been to a friend's washing centre to get a car washed, and they had been doing a lousy job. I had sent 6 cars in less than a week and every car had not been washed properly. They didn't clean the engine bay in all cars and I had specifically told them to wipe it clean and not pressure wash. They didn't open the bonnet at all!

I contacted the owner (he didn't have an assistant) who apologized profusely. I said ok mistakes happen and sent a car yesterday and asked him to ensure it didn't repeat. The owner was there and he strictly warned the employees to wash the car properly. To which they agreed and said don't worry saar we will not make any mistakes.

Guess what happened? They didn't wash the car properly. Again!

The owner had left for lunch or something and the employees were slacking again. So I didn't want to escalate and instead made them redo the work properly. I made them understand that they have to be sincere in their work. They just nodded.

Bottom line is, no use escalating these things half the time to higher ups. From what I see now, low rung employees are the most difficult ones to deal with. No matter how passionate the owner/founder is, the problem starts with low run employees. If they do their job correctly, then there is no need to escalate anything to anyone because this avoids mistakes half the time. But sadly that category of our society doesn't give two hoots about quality work so we have to shove it and live with it.

[AMG Power]

A few more points:

Originally Posted by VKumar

If the dealership staff is accommodating enough, fights don't happen.

Similarly, if the potential customer is accommodating enough too fights don’t happen either.

Originally Posted by VKumar

Did you buy every car you test drove? .

No, but I didn’t fight with the management, staff and security either.

Originally Posted by VKumar

sitting inside a building with a Tata logo atop it, misbehaves with me.....and he knows what I can purchase and in what quantity..

The fact that he misbehaved is your point of view, considering the circumstances he may well have a different point of view. Regardless of what you can purchase and in what quantity.

Originally Posted by VKumar

I think, the business owner can decide it better than us..

He did decide and tell you right in the beginning that he didn’t want you as a customer.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by VKumar

Why it happens that we have both, the product and people based issues, mostly in the Tata itself?

Because TML is not the market leader in terms of either market share or volumes.
The dealer community in India is a mixed bag. In the present climes of tough competition, most dealers in places, where there are multiple dealer outlets of the same OEM, they have softened up and become more customer oriented. At the same time in towns or cities where the OEM has a single dealer and it holds monopoly over the brand one couldn't care less.
There are a few other things which makes dealers behave in a crass way. I will try to sum up a few (personal observations / insights only):

1. OEM, being a market leader is very important: For example; why do you think a Maruti dealer goes overboard to apologise if you have rated him anything below 8 on their feedback form? That's because Maruti has a stiff penalty mechanism in place for sales and service process deviation. Also being a market leader, Maruti can simply stop the dealer billing of their best selling vehicles, the dealer funds will be blocked and the dealer will be tearing his/her hair out in agony and will do anything to rectify the potential issue.

2. Conversely, if the OEM is weak or has a weak sales & service process mechanism in place, dealer wholesale billings will always gain priority for the OEM and deviations in sales & service processes will be overlooked. The OEM Zonal Manager / Dealer Development manager will "discreetly" overlook such incidents. Because, the OEM is scared, they know they don't have the volumes or market share, and if they penalise or stop wholesale billings, to force the dealer to correct such sales process issues, the dealer can threaten the company higher-up's and say that they are shutting shop and walking away from that particular OEM, (which would be a huge black mark for the OEM's regional management). And no promotion for the for sure for the Zonal Manager !

3. Third is arrogance. Or plain old snootiness. And this is closely linked to market performance of the product / OEM. You have one or two "hot selling" / "hit" products and the dealer will suffer from such a swollen head that he couldn't care less! Some mass market OEM's having some hit SUV products are already exhibiting this syndrome.

4. Then: Snobbish-ness: particularly prevalent with the luxury marques. At least one luxury German marque I have personally visited with my friend, (who was the buyer), experienced such an attitude. In these cases the distaste is shown in a very "polished" way! My friend, who owns a steel rolling mill, later purchased the top model from an Indo - Brit OEM giving the proud Germans a miss. Our fault, possibly, was we had visited the German OEM's dealership in a Nano, and they possibly thought we were time-waster's, notwithstanding our specific questions regarding a particular model in which my friend was interested in.

So, the list goes on. Even today, in India, people "judge" you before speaking.
It's sad, that basic, civil human behaviour from so called "educated" people are increasingly rare nowadays.

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Two things here: 1. The GM's terrible behavior and attitude 2. The wrong Parking.

And the only way this incident would have been avoided was by parking at the right place.

We come across many such business establishments on some of the most busy areas of various towns and cities where the staff or the guards blatantly and confidently tell their customers to park right there and that nothing will happen. To me, this is WRONG!! No matter how good the relationship between business and the local cops here is, in the end, that cop with a bad mood will simply penalize you anyway. So may be it was just bad luck on this day for you.

As a responsible motorist, I just cannot think of parking in a manner that will result in the smallest of traffic pile up due to me. The situation I hate the most. This is one reason why, I have a strict policy to let all the passengers get down and I tell them to carry on while I find a proper parking spot on the bylanes of the neighborhood. I can always meet my folks later by walking back. Would give me so much relief when I know I have parked it a safer (and designated) place.

100% agree with you. I never park my car in a way that it will be a problem to anyone and make sure car is parked at designated parking area only. I always drop my family members at the location and find right parking spot myself nearby. At times I have parked my car almost a kilometer away. When you are parking your car anywhere on road, it's totally your responsibility. Never trust people in such case and make sure you are parking at right place.

GM's behavior is obviously bad, but that's a different issue. Not sure how such people even manage to reach such position. Tata - You must improve your dealership experience and A.S.S. You are making great cars, but some stupid people at your dealerships ruining it for sure.

[ashutoshb]

This guy is in the wrong line of work. He should have been better off behind a desk. I am sure he has great skills, but handling customers is not one of them.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by shancz

I think I am missing something in this thread gauging by the replies.
I don't think there is any doubt about the responsibility of the parking fine which is always with the driver by logic and law.

The issue is the attitude and words spoken by someone as high ranking at the GM of a company like TML.
-

Just to be clear- the person is a GM of the dealership - Surely not on the manufacturer's payroll.

Also , I agree with the OP when he talks about "potential customer". My personal experience from 19 years ago. I was searching for my first car & the Wagon R and Santro were prime candidates apart from Indica and Palio. We finalized on Santro inspite of having more drives in the Wagon R. But yet the MSIL dealer Sales rep. gave us a small gift (a branded English-style umbrella), as token of appreciation. Never forgot that- a few years later, we went to the same dealership for our Dzire, and learnt that the Sales representative was now a Manager there.

[Pkumarblore]

Hi, I surely think its a minor issue that could have been resolved without the GM's involvement, but you have the right to be right in your place to escalate the matter to the higher up.
But for sure as I posted on another thread, some of these TATA dealership folks are still stuck in Indica era. They need a lesson or two in customer service.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

With this new bridge you will be dealing with them, for now and a long time, on a different footing altogether.

Indeed sir, damage control, if done right, leads in a smooth road ahead.

Just one man's perspective.

The one man, who speaks nothing, or wisdom!

Originally Posted by YD14

Bhpian AG has written a good review about the Kuanwala service centre of Doon Tata, so I expected it to be good but this is really disappointing. I think they have a second showroom too their, though I am not too sure.

I too had a word with A.G. two days back, regarding the same dealer, he got his Hexa's issues (all of them) resolved here, and had a positive word to speak about their service and their owner too, and he wasn't wrong either.

I would suggest you go ahead with them, particularly this guy whom I have been talking to since days, Mr. Sayam; you will be really happy to deal with him, it's hard to find so well self managed and chiseled guys in Tata. You can PM me, I will get you in touch with him. It's an irony that I have had one of the best and worst experiences in the same building!

Originally Posted by shancz

Is this language acceptable to anyone regardless a customer or not ? No, especially when you're in a customer facing role and regardless of your nationality.

I believe that it's the sole issue in fact, everything was done, I have any way paid myself only. But using a poor language for the customer, when half of your staff is also present, is something that can cause unfathomable damage at times, and that's important for the marketers to understand.

Just saw OPs post, credit him for a mature handling of the situation and agree with every point he has made, I couldn't have wrote it better. Thanks for the update

I just wanted this saga to end asap, I didn't go there for their apologies, it was probably just a bad day for both of us, and hence decided to shrug it off after a good long meeting. But yes, earned 2 friends in the entire episode for sure.

Originally Posted by vishwasvr

the problem starts with low run employees. If they do their job correctly, then there is no need to escalate anything to anyone because this avoids mistakes half the time.

The concept of Kaizen needs to be applied at the grassroot level before the apex, and that's the most difficult part. Japs have learned how to implement it, look how they have become an example for everyone else.

[NevGin]

Another thought that comes to mind is that there are 'bad' days for all of us. There could be something weighing on ones mind, a work related or personal issue. Perhaps the GM was having one such day and completely lost it. Many a time empathy with such a person will elicit a better response and simmer down the issue.

An incident I had some years back. It was past 11 PM and a late day coming back from work. Roads empty, signal red to make a left (only left available). Everyone started moving through it and so did I. Cop stops me. Writes me a challan. I was wrong i was perfectly ok with it. We got chatting. He told me how hard life was an how he was finding it difficult to ensure he saved enough for his daughter. We spoke for about an hour. We are still in touch even though he is posted elsewhere but exchange pleasantries on festivals and occasions.