[vishwas]

Man, this is pretty worrisome. I did not expect this kind of behavior from Tata. I wonder why they did not pacify a disgruntled customer, when it can cause this much damage to their brand.

[f1head]

I have been through this thread 2-3 times and am totally shocked and aghast at the service given by TATA Motors, usually even a small blog article is able to make these companies take notice, but if even the Supreme Court of India is unable to make them listen, there is something very wrong with India. India shouldnt be TATA-stan where one family/company feels that it is above the law.

Mr. Varun Roy, I am a little worried here, isnt there any way to recontact the supreme court and tell them the mockery Tata Motors has made of their order.

I was also personally very shocked to see the way the senior counsel got the decision. No compensation, no legal expenses and we are back at square one. Does it mean that those who cant afford senior lawyers cannot expect justice.

I pledge never to purchase any Tata Motors car in my life and I am sure more BHPians will join in.

We all are proud of you Mr. Roy

[honeybee]

Hi All,

First of all, I cannot describe my respect for Mr. Varun Roy for the fight that he put up against Tata Motors. My uncle is a lawyer. I learnt my driving from him, on his Premier Padmini. We used to drive to the court together where I accompanied him sometimes into the courthouse as well. The first advice he gave me as we entered the courthouse for the first time was never to visit a courthouse.

Secondly, after also going through the Skoda/Nummer Eins thread and this one, I shall always keep in mind these two cases and whenever these two brands are mentioned, I am sure these two horror stories are going to be the topmost on my mind.

[Bullitt]

I just went through this entire thread, and I must say, I really respect the perseverance and determination of Mr. Roy and family. Unfortunately, in a country like India, these qualities just don't hold any value if you are a common man. You have to possess some other, hard to find qualities, namely money, influence and power (or powerful friends).
The judicial system, the highest court of the land, through this verdict, has LEGALLY endorsed the age-old adage

"GOODS ONCE SOLD WILL NOT BE TAKEN BACK."

that we find written so prominently on the wall of EACH AND EVERY shop or mall or multiplex or whatever that we go to, to buy stuff that we need. On the other hand, it has also endorsed the fact that

"THE LAW IS AN A$$." (as aptly quoted by Charles Dickens.)

Anybody who feels that the concept of "justice" actually exists in a country like ours is living in la-la land.
In a government and an economy that is essentially crony-capitalist, complaint redressal is a joke, and costs like "mental agony" and "anguish" just don't exist. There is a very very sound economic reason for this. The government considers these mega business houses as important cash cows which provide millions of rupees in cash for funding elections, and it simply cannot afford to antagonize them by snubbing them for a common man's tiny and unimportant cause. You can see this everywhere, from bad roads and brand-new crumbling infrastructure made from sub-standard material, from near-extinct Olive-Ridley turtles to entire forests being mowed down for illegal mining, from gas tragedies that killed and maimed thousands to multi-billion rupee scams in the government. The common man's voice doesn't matter at all, simply because nobody wants to listen to it.
In my opinion, if you are a common man (like me, and most of us here), trial by media is the only way to make yourself heard. If I had received a lemon like that in return for my hard-earned money, I would simply have driven it into the glass panes of the showroom where I bought it from, or maybe thrown it into some river by pushing it over the side of a bridge in full view of news channel cameras, and then let the media do the rest.
On the other hand, if you belong to the not-so-common fortunate class who have enough money, power and influence at your disposal, then heck, you can even get your money back AND a new car thrown in for free, just to keep you happy and your mouth shut. We all know the story about the great Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and his run-in with Rolls Royce.
Honeybee's uncle was spot on when he said you should never ever visit a courthouse in your life. I have been there once, when my bike was stolen (and subsequently recovered) a few years back. Imagine my plight when I had to make umpteen rounds of the courthouse just to get back from the police what was legally mine in the first place!!! Inspite of my vehicle being stolen, I was the one who was made to feel like a criminal, by being asked to submit proof of ownership, insurance documents, my driving license, PUC and what not. And because the cops couldn't nab the person(s) who stole my bike (apparently for joy-rides), they walked away scot-free!!! To top it all, the filthy cops stole all the fuel from my bike and broke the fuel knob in the process, just because I refused to bribe them. All this in spite of exercising considerable influence. When I looked back at the entire thing, in hindsight, I realized that, for aggrieved people who wish to take legal recourse, its essentially a "Heads you win, Tails I lose" bargain. And they call it the law.
My apologies for being too emotional and verbose. It is incidents like this one here experienced by Mr. Roy that make me hang my head in shame for being an Indian. It's no surprise why people migrate to countries like the US and UK (and never return), at the first chance they get. No offense.

[KRRaj]

Nicely put Bullitt. The fact the highest court also couldnt deliver justice and for that Matter TATA has not even bothered about even the court has asked them to do.

Wonder whatever happened to Varun and his saga?

[arindam]

Dear All,

I went through the thread and I would also like to salute the courage of Varun.

And moreover after reading through this thread I understand that my 4 years ordeal of owning a Tata Safari is not a unique experience. It was indeed very telling when one of my colleague who left Tata Motors at a very senior level advised me against buying a Tata high end vehicle (He himself owns cars by Honda and Hyundai) - I however had always felt good and proud about the Tata Brand name and ignored his advice.

The treatment I have received at the Tata dealership has turned me away for good from the Tata Motors brand and I dont see that faith coming back (more so when I read through this thread) - however I fought my battle at the local (Kolkata) level only and hence did not make much headway.

A typical response from them (that echoes their nonchalance is)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Sir,

I have discussed the same with Lakpa and the team is ensuring that your concerns are take care of.
We may not achieve a drastic improvement but the intention and commitment of the team is there to deliver the best.

Regards,

Tuhin Kumar Dass
RCSM – East,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anybody help me with email id/contact no of a sufficiently senior person @ Tata Motors Pune (I have half a mind to drop a mail to Carl-Peter Forster if I have his email id) - I would like to escalate this one last time before I give up the battle totally

Best Regards,
Arindam

[stanjohn123]

Such a shame on TATA , isn't Mr. TATA even reading this blog ???

Equally shameful are our courts, which has no power or respect. Everyones taken it for granted that no action will be taken against the guilty.

Man I really don't know how you're this patient Mr. Varun.

It's just better to stay away from TATA and Skoda products if this is what is in store for all of us Indians. At least me and my friends wont buy any of their products anymore.

:-(

[Skyline GT-R]

Hi Varun,

What's the update on the Issue? It's almost 1 year since your last post.

[MHG]

May we know what is the current status of this case ? I find it surprising that the company which was steered by someone like Mr. Ratan Tata, who has been known for his strong ethics and his love for his cars, would be so horrible.