Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi Quote:
Originally Posted by arjab Phoolbagan would mean, i assume, at Beliaghata Main Road, where there is a temple on the road right?
I don't know whether this is the same Garodia, but there was one notorious Garodia Distributors or some such named outfit quite some time back in Kolkata. They were in the auto workshop business having started with Daewoo and then switched to Tata Motors. Their Tata workshop was located behind Ruby General Hospital area.
In fact, according to a close friend of mine, who was responsible for Tata Motor's after sales operations in Kolkata region, Tata Motors was on track to de-recognise Garodia. I do not know whether finally that happened or not. Then the reasons cited were many, starting from inefficiencies at the workshop, customer billing issues, spare parts issues, poor customer experience etc, etc.
If this is the same party/outfit, maybe it is worth checking out its antecedents before you put your hard earned money on the new metal. |
Perhaps the first report on Garodia Automobiles here. Doesn't matter. It was around a month back and I was excited that a FIAT service center has opened doors in the city. Have had bad experiences with the service earlier. Then I thought to myself - that was Tata-Fiat. And things should be better now. Called up the service, asked for directions. It is indeed the same one - behind Ruby Hospital. What I saw was an eyesore - Old unpainted walls with stickers and posters of Tata cars and engine oils. Bad vibes. Could also mean Fiat wants to get on with it quickly so customers are not inconvenienced, I thought. Felt good. Benefit of doubt given to Fiat. Was made to wait for 15-20 minutes with no evident reason. A couple of not so well dressed people talking among themselves. Patience. Enter the car advisor. I was shocked for a moment to see it is the same guy from KB Motors where I have had many mishaps with my car - one of them being when they had managed to pour water into my music system and the supervisor denied the possibility. Needless to say, the Head Unit was no longer working and I had to get it changed. I did not post it here or take it up with Fiat, because, frankly, I was fed up of their callousness and could not care less. Then, I was excited and optimistic, like a lot of others when I heard that Fiat is going solo and opening new dealerships and service centers. My AC was blowing warm air and I had to get the glow plugs replaced. The car was delivered in a day or two - the glow plug lights had gone off but the unusual sound on ignition remained. The AC seemed to be working fine. So I paid and drove off. Next morning, I was puzzled to find that the AC has stopped working again. Called the guy up and he asked me to get the car to the service center and said they'll get it looked into immediately. Everybody makes mistakes. Big deal. Benefit of doubt given to Fiat. So I drove all the way to Fiat service, got the car inspected. He asked me to leave the car and said he'll get the car inspected properly this time and get back to me by next evening. When I asked why they didn't do so previously, he said "aap log hi toh gaadi jaldi chhodne ke liye pressure deta hai, isliye hum log chhod diya". Great. That's meeting customer expectations, I thought to myself. Anyways, I gave the keys to him and walked off. Got a call from him next day saying the AC evaporator has to be replaced. When I told him I have the extended warranty, got to know it cannot be used because the system is being upgraded or something. I didn't have the patience to argue and I had to get it changed ASAP because of the sweltering heat in Calcutta at that time. Took 3-4 days to complete the work, got a call from them and went to take delivery. Was surprised to see gas charging added to the bill again and told the guy that it was done just last week and leaked because of a fault at their end. He gave me a silly and went in to speak to Mr. Garodia. After a 15 minute discussion, he came out, pleased with himself, and said "aapko 50% discount de rahe hai, theek hai?" I said okay, paid and took the car away. It wasn't so quick though as the guy on the counter was not to be found for quite sometime. As I was driving, I found that they had managed to misalign the accelerator pedal 2-3 inches above the other two and it was quite a pain to drive that way. Been a month using my car like that with the clutch and front left suspension needing some attention and I'm not sure where to take my Punto to because each time they fix one issue, they create another.
Question to bhpians - Benefit of doubt given to Fiat? If not, what can we do? |