[sole_rider]

I always wanted to own a TVS product. I was so blown away when I saw the RR 310 for the first time. The component and surface quality it offered when it was launched was unmatched at that time. Whenever I visit any TVS dealership which had an RR310 parked inside, I used to drool looking at it.

Being a biker, I wanted everyone who is close to me wanted to become a biker. I taught my sister to ride motorcycles. One of my friends had a Bajaj XCD 125 lying unused at his home, I took it, brought to home, completely stripped it and then restored it and made it roadworthy. It's on this motorcycle my sister learned the basics of riding motorcycles. After getting a drivers license, I handed over my then 9+ years old Honda Unicorn to her. She rode it for around 3000km and then we moved to Trivandrum from Kochi and from there finally to Bangalore. I enjoyed taking my sister as a pillion on many rides - to name a few memorable ones are - to Dhanushkodi on my then Himalayan 411, to Hampi and Badami on my then Dominar and numerous short rides on my current steed- 390 Adventure.

I wanted her to have a new bike and wished she also get to experience what us motorcyclists experiences when we go for a ride. This is when I decided to buy a new motorcycle for her. I chose TVS Apache RTR 2004V. I took her for test rides and I was sure she will like it. I really liked the motorcycle - it was light, very easy to ride thanks to GTT, not intimidating for a newbie, had so much kit like adjustable suspension and levers, and it was not very expensive also. We took test ride from PRN TVS, Kalyan nagar. The experience we had at the dealership was nothing short of excellent. The great customer dealing by the sales executive mr. Solomon helped us to have this pleasant experience at the dealership. I really wanted my sister to have this bike. But to my disbelief she didn't like it. Later I realised it was the looks which refrained her from proceeding with the purchase. I then thanked the SA mr. Solomon profusely and left. The Royal Enfield dealership(Avaahan motors) is on the same service road on our way home and I decided to pay a visit. I always had a soft spot for the Hunter 350 and after a test ride my sister liked it - both the looks as well as the ride. So I booked a red hunter for her by paying Rs.5000.

My sister on a Hunter at the company dealership at BTM


Months passed, my sister couldn't gain enough confidence to ride a motorcycle in Bangalore and she asked for a scooter. She said she could gain more confidence by riding a scooter first and then we can buy the bike later.

This is when my miseries started. Thinking about the great sales experience I previously had, I visited PRN TVS again to get a test ride of the TVS Zest 110. Within no time we were offered a test ride of a matte black TVS Zest. My sister was fairly lean, so the smaller frame of the Zest fitted her perfectly.


And the ride was super smooth. Suspension was negating all the undulations on the road, the seat was smooth, and the engine was so smooth we could hardly notice the engine was running. So on April 13th, a Saturday afternoon, I paid Rs. 5000 as advance amount.
Booking receipt:


Quotation:


Later after reaching home we had further discussions and I couldn't justify myself paying close to a lakh for a scooter. That's when I decided to buy a used scooter. I rushed to PRN TVS on the same day evening and asked for a cancellation. To my utter surprise, the sales executive told me to write a request letter for cancellation. This was the first time I was ever asked to write a request letter for a booking cancellation. I was also told Rs. 250 will be deducted because the cancellation was not because of a problem from the dealership but we decided to cancel it. I softly reminded the sales executive about google reviews. He then agreed to refund the cash without any deductions. I then wrote a request letter and gave it to the accounts section.
The 'request letter for cancellation':


Weeks passed I still didn't receive the cash in my account. So on 27th I visited the dealership again and asked what happened to my booking amount. The sales executive acted surprised and said you should have received the money by now. He took me to the accounts section and the guy at the counter asked me to wait. I waited for about an hour and decided to go back to the counter again. The person then showed his computer monitor and told me he had sent a mail to his 'manager' for a refund on 15th April, but he has not received a response. He then made an excuse that his manger had an accident and I was assured I will get my money on the next Monday ie, on 29th April.
Again weeks passed no sign of refund. Losing all patience, I decided to shoot a mail to TVS and national consumer complaint redressal forum. On may 7th, I sent a mail to national consumer complaint redressal forum and copied all the email addresses I have known at TVS - including the sales and finance at PRN TVS and TVS customer care.


I have also filed a consumer complaint on the "https://consumerhelpline.gov.in/" website.


On the next day I got a response from the TVS customer care that I will get a resolution at the earliest and the matter has been forwarded to relevant team.


Response by TVS on the consumer complaint helpline portal:


A day has passed, no response from the dealership and to my surprise, neither from TVS as well. So I sent another email following up to my previous complaint copying the grievance number created by TVS. To which I got a templated response saying that the matter has been forwarded to the relevant team and I should wait patiently.
TVS is asking me to wait patiently to receive my booking amount which I paid close to a month ago.
I do not know what to do now. But one thing is for sure, No TVS products for me please. No matter how good they are. Unless these dealerships and service centers are improved I won't touch any TVS product not at least by my own money.

Thanks to everyone who stayed with me till the end of this post, reading my unpleasant experience.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by sole_rider

... He then made an excuse that his manger had an accident and I was assured I will get my money on the next Monday ie, on 29th April...

I sent a mail to national consumer complaint redressal forum and copied all the email addresses I have known at TVS - including the sales and finance at PRN TVS and TVS customer care.
Attachment 2604263

I have also filed a consumer complaint on the "https://consumerhelpline.gov.in/" website.
Attachment 2604264

..

Seems a regular occurrence that either the sales rep, their manager and all in their decision chain, get into an incident that mandates them not working, when an issue is raised!

Suggest you also raise a complaint at https://pgportal.gov.in/

I was wary of being made to do such a run around when I cancelled both my Triumph bookings, but surprisingly, all it took was a WhatsApp message and 5 working days.

[sole_rider]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Suggest you also raise a complaint at https://pgportal.gov.in/

I was wary of being made to do such a run around when I cancelled both my Triumph bookings, but surprisingly, all it took was a WhatsApp message and 5 working days.

Seems sure it's. Don't know how these people run into problems right at the time when their intervention is required the most.

In the past I had made several bookings and cancelled those. Never faced any problem getting a refund. I used to wonder whenever I read online about someone else was made to run around by the dealership when it comes to cancelling a booking.

The irony is, I had made a booking at Bhojana Suzuki(on the same service road where RE and TVS are present) a couple of days ago and the booking amount was credited back into my account by the time I reached my home from the dealership. It hardly took an hour. No questions asked, no request letter, nothing.

Thank you for the suggestion regarding pgportal. I will file a complaint right away.

[frewper]

I have dealt with this TVS dealership. Seems to be run by a bunch of crooks this place.

Gave my 3 yr old TVS Jupiter for an OIL change here. Charged me 3k for a 1200 kms run vehicle. Crap like Gear box cleaning and things like that. Gave them an earful and tried to get the bill reduced, but wont budge. Said we have done the work.

Seriosly what are they cleaning on a CVT gearbox ?

The person then showed his computer monitor and told me he had sent a mail to his 'manager' for a refund on 15th April, but he has not received a response. He then made an excuse that his manger had an accident and I was assured I will get my money on the next Monday ie, on 29th April.

All they are trying to do is take you for a ride. If they are paying their electricity bill and salaries they can refund you monies as well. All I can say is, go there and make a racket and dont leave until they pay your money back. Prefererrably go on a weekend when there are other potential customers around. And dont entertain any excuses. Online Portals means nothing to crooks.

[para_7k]

Your thread and the reasons for cancelling do not seem logical to me. The prices of automobiles in general have increased and you cannot get a scooter (barring the pep+) under a lakh. Are you saying that the scooter is not worth it ?
When you were ready to pay nearly a couple of lakhs for the RTR 200 4V, why not half the price for the Zest ?
What does the cancellation policy of the dealer state ? Why dont you quote that as well.

[RunGaDa]

Originally Posted by frewper

I have dealt with this TVS dealership. Seems to be run by a bunch of crooks this place.

Gave my 3 yr old TVS Jupiter for an OIL change here. Charged me 3k for a 1200 kms run vehicle. Crap like Gear box cleaning and things like that. Gave them an earful and tried to get the bill reduced, but wont budge. Said we have done the work.

Seriosly what are they cleaning on a CVT gearbox ?

I have Vespa 125 VX and I changed the oil last month. I went to a multi brand service outlet. Got the oil myself 360 rupees and they took 60 rs to change oil. Waiting time 20 minutes, first 10 because vehicle was hot.
I recommend to use multi brand service. They do it promptly and don’t charge extra.

[frewper]

Originally Posted by para_7k

Your thread and the reasons for cancelling do not seem logical to me. The prices of automobiles in general have increased and you cannot get a scooter (barring the pep+) under a lakh. Are you saying that the scooter is not worth it ?
When you were ready to pay nearly a couple of lakhs for the RTR 200 4V, why not half the price for the Zest ?
What does the cancellation policy of the dealer state ? Why dont you quote that as well.

What's the point mate. OPs money OPs choice. Anyone has the right to change their mind once they book anything.

The point here is that the dealership is required to refund the money in a reasonable amount of time, excluding a reasonable cancellation charge.

Originally Posted by RunGaDa

I have Vespa 125 VX and I changed the oil last month. I went to a multi brand service outlet. Got the oil myself 360 rupees and they took 60 rs to change oil. Waiting time 20 minutes, first 10 because vehicle was hot.
I recommend to use multi brand service. They do it promptly and don’t charge extra.

If I tell my watchman to change oil, I am pretty sure I can do it at 50 bucks. You overpaid big time.

This thread is seriously going off topic. Need to stick to the issue that the OP is concerned about.

[Aviator_guy]

Dealer would do anything to delay and frustrate customer during cancellation. I too had bad experience with Hyundai dealer while canceling my Creta booking. While booking, they promptly asked me to pay instantly using their QR code shared on WhatsApp. Later, I changed my mind and decided to cancel my booking. Nothing moved for more than a month. After following up multiple times, I was asked to visit their showroom to collect cheque ! When I asked about online transfer, they rudely mentioned that as per their policy they only issue cheque. I had to travel 10km to their showroom. Such bad experience left a bad taste and I decided never to buy from or recommend that dealer ever again.

[VwRabbit]

Had a similar experience back in 2012 when i cancelled a Punto booking to go for Polo instead, took over a month for them to return the booking amount however in this case seems like OP overreacted as it’s not like they are going to shut shop and run away with the amount, they will delay it to the maximum happens with most dealers, and a mail to TVS notifying them about the situation with one of their dealers is the best one can do other than frequently calling the sales executive regarding the amount but filing a complaint with the national redressal forum , might work in case of banks or online shopping sites but a company like TVS they won’t even care not even if you had bought the scooter from them in the first place and it then turned out to be a lemon, one can even take it to court and it will take years for getting back that small booking amount sometimes with interest also but will have to spend more time and money in court proceedings alone.
It’s a dealership at the end of the day not a scam centre that loot people off their money, and yes a scooter costs one lakh now everything is overpriced especially automobiles.

[sole_rider]

Originally Posted by VwRabbit

however in this case seems like OP overreacted as it’s not like they are going to shut shop and run away with the amount, they will delay it to the maximum happens with most dealers, and a mail to TVS notifying them about the situation with one of their dealers is the best one can do other than frequently calling the sales executive regarding the amount but filing a complaint with the national redressal forum ,

It’s a dealership at the end of the day not a scam centre that loot people off their money, and yes a scooter costs one lakh now everything is overpriced especially automobiles.

I completely agree with you, VwRabbit on lodging a complaint on the consumer redressal forum. Out of hindsight I did that. I should have pestered the sales executive/dealership more with calls and frequent visits.

I received the booking amount(Got it credited to my sister's bank account) yesterday(12th May, Sunday)

Takeaway from all this:

• I did not get any response neither calls/nor emails other than the templated response from TVS regarding the resolution/refund.

• No help received from the national consumer redressal forum other than someone from TVS putting a comment that they are working on it.

• No option to follow-up on a complaint. Not sure how it's handled.

• Dealership had no clue about the escalation to TVS(at least that's what it looked like)

Here's how yesterday unfolded:
Morning by 10:30 I and my sister visited the dealership. The friendly SA, Mr. Solomon whom I mentioned in the opening post was there and came to greet us soon we entered.
I mentioned I have not received the booking amount yet. I also informed him that I escalated it to TVS. He was very surprised that I have been waiting for a month now. He also told me that nobody did not know anything about the escalation to TVS. He immediately called someone higher up and the conversation continued for about 15 minutes. He then came back to me and asked me to write another request letter with my sister's bank details because the booking was made on her name. Upon asking why is it required he said since the booking was made on her name the bank account details should also be of her's.
Upon further asking, I got to know that someone who had previously booked a TVS Ronin from PRN TVS's Domlur branch cancelled the booking and got a refund of Rs.100,000 which he paid as an advance amount. This person then came to Kalyan nagar branch and asked for a refund again. So this issue is what made them to ask for a request letter from customers who wanted to cancel the booking. Made sense to me.
Coming back to my refund, he promised I will get my refund within 1 hour. Within an hour the money got credited back to my sister's account despite that day being a Sunday.

If I hadn't got a chance to meet this friendly SA there I would've rated this dealership a total disaster. But just the interaction with this SA helped to restore the faith in this dealership for me.

Thanks to everyone who have pitched in.