[akj53]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Porsche is not operationally part of VW yet so it is premature to lump them together

Agreed but the takeover by VW appears to be a certainty now and may happen any day.

[navin]

Originally Posted by ajmat

They forgot to put the sump plug in. However, they put a new engine in, no qibble, nothing

Wont they notice the oil then trickling out? I once forgot to put the sump plug in (Contessa) but ntoiced that the oil had leaked out (after filling the new oil I had gone for a bath and when I came back I saw a pool of oil under my car) other than cursing myself for wasting good oil there was not other damage.

Originally Posted by Samurai

The Skoda dealer charges the customer for the oil change which they didn't do. Then they take it for trial run, without the oil, thus seizing engine. Then they want approval from the customer for 1.2L worth of repairs for fixing the damage.
Bravo Skoda!

Well Said.

1. You (Skoda-Marikar) make a mistake.
2. You (Skoda-Marikar) compund the mistake
3. You (Skoda-Marikar) charge the customer for the mistake

1 and 2 are excusable but 3 is surely not. I do not think any other manufacturer Honda, Toyota, Maruti, Hyundai, Tata etc. would do this.

The dealer messed up. Skoda needs to correct this. If they dont we will know what their attitude towards the Indian customer is.

Ideally the dealer should have been giventhe authority to correct such errors at their end. With proper documentaiton ofcoruse and Skoda should hafe then called up the customer appologies on the dealer's behalf for the trouble caused and verified the facts.

The dealer has obviously tried to hoodwink the customer. With or without Skoda's blessings we do not know.


Dear Skoda
Has the customer got his NEW engine? If not why?
How long does Skoda intend to leave this customer without a vehicle (Harish has been without his vehicle and monthly reminders in the form of EMIs for 18-20 months now)?
Has any action been taken against Marikar Engineers? If so what? Has the dealership been revoked? What punitive steps are being taken to deter other dealers from behaving in a similar manner?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deterrence_(psychological)
Have you not learnt from the Nummer-Eins/TAFE cases? Whose brand & business do you think these dealers are destroying?
How come we do not see as many poor reprots of other cars on TBHP (and other forums)? Not Toyota (read as Corolla), not Honda (Civic/Accord), not any other manufacturer.

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Ok now I'm convinced. Skoda has lost the plot completely.

dont be so conviced, am sure they will come up with something more disastrous. Reminds me of a saying : we have hit our lowest, but we always will try hard to go lower.

Originally Posted by Samurai

The Skoda dealer charges the customer for the oil change which they didn't do. Then they take it for trial run, without the oil, thus seizing engine. Then they want approval from the customer for 1.2L worth of repairs for fixing the damage.

Bravo Skoda!

this takes the cake. Skoda, do you guys see what you guys do ??? Buying a car in India isa big thing, its always Roti, kapda, makaan and gaadi. A car in India is a highly emotional purchase, skoda just doesnt get it, How can they repeat these mistakes again and again and again.

THough I would like to know if skoda has contact our man yet ?

ac

[Thad E Ginathom]

After an initial flurry of PR damage limitation, I wonder if Skoda are still interested in Team-BHP?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

After an initial flurry of PR damage limitation, I wonder if Skoda are still interested in Team-BHP?

Not the least!
Skoda, or the Indian franchisee of the marque, is smarter than we would like to believe.
After all, the current 'management' is Indians and they know better than anyone else what our weaknesses are and how they are best exploited!
There can never be a united effort for anything in this country. We are always too busy disagreeing with one another!

[harishv]

Ironic that he started the business because he could not find the spare parts.

Å*koda Auto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History

1905 Laurin & Klement A: Škoda Auto Museum, Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
The origins of Škoda go back to the early 1890s where, like many long-established car manufacturers, the company started out with the manufacture of bicycles. It was 1894, and 26-year old Václav Klement, who was a bookseller by trade in Mladá Boleslav, in today's Czech Republic, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, was unable to obtain the right spare parts to repair his German bicycle. Klement returned his bicycle to the manufacturers, Seidel and Naumann, with a letter, in Czech, asking for them to carry out repairs, only to receive a reply, in German, stating: "If you would like an answer to your inquiry, you should try writing in a language we can understand". A disgusted Klement, despite not having any previous technical experience, then decided to start his own bicycle repair shop, which he and Václav Laurin opened in 1895 in Mladá Boleslav. Before going into business partnership with Klement, Laurin was an already established bicycle manufacturer from the nearby town of Turnov.

[sgiitk]

@harishv: I thought you had some news at last! alas this is not to be

[harishv]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@harishv: I thought you had some news at last! alas this is not to be

Sorry friend. No news worth mentioning, for the moment

[diffsoft]

There may be no news at the moment but it is worth mentioning that Skoda sales, save the new Superb, is racing downhill, with Octy + Laura selling 37% less than year ago. Fabia, present in the largest growing segment - the premium compact, sold 370 units less by 40% year ago and about one third of Jazz, the costliest hatch around.

This year has been very bad for Skoda. I am not sure how much is the impact due to poor A*S*S, but any car maker with even the common sense of a mentally retarded mule will take note of the poor A*S*S and its impact on sales.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Thomas8700

...Team - Bhp stands for the truth. but not skoda they are here to do business. they weill solve problems by hook or by crook....

Which is something we as consumers should stand up against.
If i get ripped off today and do nothing about it, someone else is sure to get ripped off again tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Thomas8700

...one of us got unlucky and my prayers are with him. all the best for him. ....

Well Thomas8700, as Navin said, Skoda has a LESS than ONE-Percent market share.

It was 0.86x% at the time when we met with representatives from Skoda, YET look at the sheer NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS!

Where?
Well take a look at this ever-growing list from post #2 of this thread :

Originally Posted by GTO

Important posts from this thread:

1. Confirmation that member "Skoda Corporate" is indeed a Skoda official

A poor Skoda owner gets frustrated

2. Scooby STi's experience with a Laura & a Fabia
Diffsoft questions Skoda Corporate

3. Kapil Jolly's experience with an Octavia

4. Harish's emotional take on the last 12 months

5. A veteran's experience with Skoda

6. Nearly half a year to repair an Octavia

7. Fake Skoda brakes caused the accident!

8. Navin's experience with Auto Bahn

9. Kapil Jolly's email interaction with Skoda

10. An owners experience with a fleet of Skodas

11. Jasher commenting on a RS experience

12. Evo's experience with a Skoda dealer

13. And Skoda's shocking response!

14. Coverage in WhatCar? Magazine

15. Dr. Bhatti's narrates a Skoda experience

16. GTO's suggestions to Skoda

17. Navin's suggestions to Skoda

18. How to do it : The Maruti experience

19. Thad's fitting reply to Skoda Corporate

20. Is Skoda India merely an importer of cars?

21. Skoda comes visiting

22. What Indian customers actually want!

23. Dealership forges signatures and replaces alloy wheels & music system!


External (and relevant) links:

1. Skoda India's Wiki Entry

2. Consumer Court directs Skoda Auto to replace faulty car

3. Mid-day Article on Skoda's fraud

4. Mumbai Mirror's article on the Skoda fraud

5. News Channel UTV's take on Skoda's service

6. Builder takes Skoda to court over poor service


Team-BHP User Experiences with Skoda

Pathetic Skoda Service & my Fabia 1.4 woes

Is a Skoda more expensive to own?

Skoda owners dharna

Skoda Octavia experience with Continental motors Delhi

Defective Skoda Dealer

Problems with my Skoda Laura

Skoda dealer milking the compelled customer!

AutoBahn Skoda - Pathetic!

Nummer Eins Skoda - PATHETIC

TAFE Skoda sucks!

Save me from Skoda!

Is it worth buying a Skoda anymore?

Skoda vRS woes

Terrible experience with Skoda T.A.F.E.

Rs.60,000 for the 30K service of an Octavia!

Hello Skoda, do you read at all?
Skoda Trouble

NEED : Non-authorised Skoda Service

Rs. 2,300 for a single Skoda wheelcap!

No test-drive cars from Skoda

Fraudulent Acts by Skoda India


Consumer website complaints about Skoda India

Fabia 1.4 Technical Problem

Woefully Inflated service bills

Skoda Superb Problems

Another Superb problem

Skoda dealer refuses to return the car or the deposit money!

Laura air-con not cooling

Another Laura Problem

Incompetent Skoda dealer & an Octavia story

Fabia problems

Engine problems in an Elegance

Fabia engine stall issues

A Superb experience

Fed up of a Laura

Laura engine falls off!

Even more Laura air-con problems

SKoda Engine issues

Fabia stops on the highway

Unhappy Laura customer

Turbo failure on a 4,400 kms Laura

This is no "one-off" incident that we are making a big deal about. Its clearly a wide-scale and consistent problem.

Do you even see 1/4th as many complaints for companies like Maruti, Tata, Hyndai etc who all have 14-40% market share? I think not.

Thats the reason we are spreading the word here, to warn prospective customers and to help current customers....

...like you, as it turns out a few posts later ---->

Originally Posted by Thomas8700

i would like to thank all the guys for this piece of info regarding the marikar!! fellows!! both the Skodas in my family go to these marikar fellows in kerala. i will keep an eye out for any dubious activities!!. .....

cya
R

[navin]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Where?
Well take a look at this ever-growing list from post #2 of this thread :

Terrific job Rehaan. That post should be a sticky (ok ok I know posts cannot be made stickies).

As much as my heart wants to buy the Superb my head wont allow it.

I heard Hormazd Sorabhjee recommend the Superb not to one but atleast 2 buyers on UTVi last night (7pm oncall). I cringed every time he did that. Does not A.S.S even figure into a buyer's experience?

Et tu Hormazd?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by navin

Does not A.S.S even figure into a buyer's experience?

Et tu Hormazd?

Seems to me like A.S.S. does not figure! The long term total experience does not seem to have much weightage!
How often here itself, at T-BHP, people recommend only a TD before buying a car!

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by navin

Et tu Hormazd?

Wonder if Autocar is paid by Skoda to keep this down. There are no clear references to Skoda A.S.S. by Autocar. They claim its poor but then again, they say that about Fiat too. And Fiat, is an angel in terms of A.S.S. in comparison.

[quickdraw]

Make's me feel more and more scared about buying another Skoda car. I would rather NOT have a car then go through even 1 of the scenarios mentioned above. Touch wood my Octavia hasnt made me go through anything as such till now.

[amit]

Both ACI and OD have long term test vehicles with them nowadays yet I have never heard them crib about after sales service of any of their long term test cars. How is that happening? Didn't OD have a long term Octavia VRs few years back?

A bit off topic: Have any of you seen the latest OD? They are promoting the Jazz so blatantly that you don't need even a quarter of a brain to realise why that's happening! I am not renewing my OD subscription anymore.