BHPian
Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 40
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| Re: Skoda Rapid : Test Drive & Review Harrowing Experience at Tafe Access Service Center at Bangalore. My Car: 2014 Skoda Rapid Ambition Plus (Ultima) 1.6 TDI.
Dealer: Tafe Access St. Marks Road.
Kms on Odo: 35,000
Problem: The diesel pump failure 120 Kms from Bangalore, with my family on board.
Why Scary? I thought German Engineered Cars don't fail, and just 30 minutes before the car stopped, I was driving in the middle of nowhere.
We had gone to Hampi to be part of the Hampi Utsav 2017, and on our way back on the 6th of November, we were driving around in the very interior parts of Karnataka for about 150 odd Kms. One hardly sees any vehicles driving around, you can at best find a couple of people every 10-15 kms on bikes or cycles!
We stopped at a restaurant at Sira, about 120 Kms from Bangalore for lunch, at 2 p.m., and post lunch the car refused to start. Few enthusiastic drivers tried to help me, they even tried to jump start the car, but I prevented them from doing anything, as my car has 2 more years of extended warranty.
I called up Tafe Access Sales Guy (the guy who sold me my car) Kashi Vishwanath to give me the telephone number of a service guy to whom I can reach to help solve the problem as soon as the car refused to start. He provided me with a Service Advisor's number, who was on leave, but he figured out that the fuel pump had failed, and the car needed to be towed. One of the local mechanics had figured out the problem, he opined that a local electrician could fix the electrical circuits of the electrical pump! Well... I thought it best to tow the car, and let Tafe Access Service Center ("TASS") handle the problem.
We towed the car to Bangalore, and then began my ordeal with the TASS at Hosur Road.
Day 1: When the car was towed to the TASS the next day. i.e. on November 7th, I wasn't home, and as a result, I couldn't handover my RC Smart card, which is required for TASS to accept my car. The TASS guys refused to accept my car, it was raining heavily, and my car was parked on the road on the tow truck. I tried to reason with the TASS guys, requesting, almost begging them to take the car in. I told them that as soon as I reached home, I would send them a copy of my smart card. I was finally routed to the TASS CRM the almighty Venkatapathy. He was busy with a customer, said he would call back in 10 minutes, but he never did! so after 30 minutes, I try again, he refuses to let the car in, lectures me on the impropriety of letting cars in without the smart card (all this while, the tow truck guy is giving me grief and threatening to leave the car on the road and leave!) Finally after a lot of convincing Mr. Venkatapathy comes out with a brilliant plan! he says he would let the car be parked in the TASS compound, but would be taken in once I send him a copy of my Smart Card, which was what I was trying to tell him for over an hour. Thanks to his good graces, my car gets parked inside the TASS, and I rush back to my home and send Venkatapathy a copy of the Smart Card, he doesn't acknowledge the message, he doesn't answer my phone calls, and again the Sales Guy Kashi comes to my rescue, he calls up someone at the TASS, who confirms that my car is parked inside!
Day 2: November 8th, I wait until 3:00 p.m. to check if my car was taken in for servicing, if they had opened a job card etc. I don't get a call, I frantically start calling Kashi, who comes back to me at around 5 p.m. stating that my car was not allotted for servicing to anyone, and it would be done so on November 9th by 3:00 p.m. I thanked him, and hung up.
Day 3: November 9th, around 5:00 p.m. a service advisor named Shruthin, calls me and tells me that the Fuel Pump's coil was burnt, and that it would have to be replaced. I asked for a reason for a coil burning, he tells me, it is an electrical pump, and anything can happen at any moment, there is no reason behind the failure. He also tells me that Rapid comes with three pumps, one at the tank, and two in the engine area for enhanced performance, and efficiency. The electrical pump at the fuel tank was the one which failed in my car. Because my car was under extended warranty, they will replace it free of cost. Shruthin also mentioned that it would take them 3 days to get the approval, and about an hour to fix the car, and I should have the car back on Saturday November 11th. I thanked him, and hung up.
Day 5: November 11, I call up Shruthin, check with him if my car was ready. I knew deep down that the car wouldn't be ready, but I expected it at least on Monday. Shruthin tells me that the approval had not yet come, it would take them 3 more days, and the insurer wanted to know the reason behind the coil burning. Shruthin tells me that TASS had furnished adequate information, and within three more days, they would get a response. I asked him to share with me the reason behind the fuel pump failure, but I still got the standard response, it is an electrical circuit failure, anything can happen any moment. I call up almighty Venkatapathy and requested him to get this fixed at the earliest. Venkatapathy has a very condescending tone to his voice, very impersonal, and his responses make you cringe, he tells me that he is woudl write an email, escalate it immediately, and get it fixed on Monday.
Day 7: November 13 Monday, I call up Venkatapathy, he said he was expecting an answer by Tuesday evening.
Day 8: November 14, He said he could possibly get an answer from the insurer on Wednesday.
Day 9: November 15, I call up Shruthin, he says they had received the approval, but the spares guys claim that they do not have a fuel pump available, and it would take them another 3 days to procure it from Mumbai! By now, I had started losing my cool, I start tweeting to @SkodaIndia, I get an automatic response stating someone would contact me.
Day 10: I again tweet to Skoda India asking for an update, knowing fully well that I would get an automated response. I call up Vekatapathy, and again start requesting him, and his highness calls up the spares division, and Lo! they had a fuel pump available, but apparently, were not sure if it would suit my car, and they were checking it with my VIN! Well... anything is possible these days, the new age service centers are like private hospitals, who try to fleece you with unwanted tests. I had no other option but to listen to what Venkatapathy says. By evening, my car was ready, Shruthin tells me that the bill was around Rs. 3,100/-! as the fuel pump was about Rs. 5,900, which was free. He tells me as though they had done me a favour, by fixing it free of cost! The saddest part was, they advised me to go for extended warranty for a part that had a cost of Rs. 5,900/- and made me wait for more than 7 days to fix it, and once they send it for approval to the insurer, I was informed I could not pay for the part myself, as the process had begun.
Day 11: November 17, I generally get the car picked up from service at Tafe Access showroom on St. Marks Road, and the TASS guys sent my car from Hosur road through a driver. On the morning of 17th, Kashi calls me and tells me that he had sent a driver to the TASS, and I should get the car by 12:00 p.m. At 12:30 he tells me that TASS will not send the car to the showroom, and that I had to call up His Highness Venkatapathy and request him to send it to the showroom. I once again call up Venkatapathy, and because I wanted my car that day, I thank him profusely for all the help he extended to me, and requested him kindly send the car to the showroom. He obliges, and he tells me that the service guys had billed extra on service, and he was reducing my bill, and the bill now stood at Rs. 3,100/-! I couldn't take any more risks with this character, so I thanked him for the reduction in service cost, and did not mention to him Shruthin had already told me the price. I finally get my car back at 6:30 p.m.
Isn't this amazing, Hyundai, Honda, Maruti guys thank us for getting the cars serviced in their service stations (barring a few exceptions), and make it a pleasurable experience, but at Skoda, I have to beg, plead and request them to do their jobs that they are supposed to do! I have no hesitation in stating Skoda's service is bad when the car has problems, it ok, if you schedule the yearly service by taking an appointment. It is unreliable, and the people at TASS give a damn for costumer satisfaction.
I have referred to Venkatapathy as his Highness and almighty because, I cannot explain in words the way he spoke to me, every word seemed like my call was unwanted to him, and he is the CRM!
Well... I would appreciate if you could tell me why and how a coil in the electric fuel pump burns, and if I can take any measures to prevent that. I hope I can get to see the explanation that TASS gave to the insurer regarding fuel pump failure. |