Re: Ford EcoSport : Official Review So, I finalyl picked up my car today from Mody Ford, Hyderabad. I had booked it exactly 4months back on June 26th, the day of launch. Here's my experience -
1. Booking - Since the official pricing was declared that day, there were too many people in the showroom and it was chaotic! It was more about paying the booking amount asap to get your car reserved since they already had loads of bookings already. I went ahead, paid the monies and got the car booked.
2. THE WAITING PERIOD - I'm just gonna copy the email I wrote to the folks at Ford & also the showroom owner on 11th of October -
Hey xyz -
I'm writing this long email just so you know how painful it can get when the folks interacting with a customer don't really know what customer service is. Please bear with me.
I had booked an Ecosport Titanium Diesel, color white, on the day the car was officially launched that is June 26th. My receipt number is xxxx & the booking number told to me is 2xx. I was promised the delivery by the sales executive, xxxxx, by August end & the same was conveyed to me by the other guys at the showroom. I did read about the component issue in diesel variant and was told that the delivery might get extended to mid september. I never bothered or tried reaching the guys at the showroom until then since I knew there was a delay.
Now, I'm almost nearing 4months since I've booked the car and I still have no clarity on the status. xxxxxx, obviously doesn't really know a lot about the status of the cars since his job is to sell and not to do client servicing I suppose. I've tried following up with him and I always get the same response that there are no cars. I also did come down to the showroom in august end and had spoken to a lady downstairs ( who I presume is a manager) and she had promised me the delivery by September 15th. This went by as well.
Later, I was put on to some other guy who is the manager of xxxxx I guess. It took me alteast 20 calls and sms's and a wait for 3-4 days to get through this guy. He seems to be super busy all the time and doesn't really care to respond. This guy couldn't help me at all and he then put me through his senior called yyyyy who again seems to be always on the phone or in meetings but can never respond to a call. I again tried reaching yyyyy for almost 3 days and of course didn't get any response. Suddenly, xxxxx calls me from yyyyy's phone to tell me that the color I've opted for isnt' available and the GM cannot speak to me since he is always busy. I guess yyyyy didn't have an answer.
I was then put to the AGM known as zzzzz who called me on Saturday, 11th of October, to tell me that the color I've opted for isn't allocated in this months lot. And I need to decide asap if I want to go ahead with sea grey color since thats my second option. I told him I need a couple of days to take a decision.
I went to the showroom yesterday, 14th october to actually see and understand what colors/models have been allocated for this month since I see white ecosports getting delivered every other day. I stay very close to the showroom. ZZZZ I guess is again busy & I had to deal with xxxxx, the allocation sheet wasn't shared with me inspite of me asking several times. I repeatedly asked to share the the allocation sheet as I need assurance. I was only being told " sir no white model, have to wait next month if you want white"
While I understand that your team must be having a tough time in managing the bookings/deliveries ratio and not much is in your hands, the way your staff and managers work is astonishing. I feel like these guys are doing me a BIG favor by getting me car for which I've to pay from my own pocket. There has been no proactive communication from the day I booked the car until today. Every single time I had to call up and ask for the status and was never given any status since noone seems to either have a clue or answer their phones. Even now, I tried reaching all the three guys to let them know about my final color choice, and noone answers.
I just thought you should know painful it is for a customer to deal with this kind of careless & super inefficient staff.
While my other friends have been able to get their cars delivered by september end through Vibrant ford and we had booked on the same date.
End of email
3. Action - Post the above email, I got frantic calls from everyone and they arranged and got a car for which I picked up today. From having no white cars at all, I got one in 10 days straight.
4. Accessories - Bargain as much as you can with the showroom guys, please call different showrooms in different cities to get an idea about the avg costing. Some of these showroom guys are fleecing us totally! I called two showrooms in hyd, one in blore and one chennai to get the avg costing. ANd realised that I was paying 8k extra for all the accessories I had picked. I had to argue and make sure I picked up more stuff for 8k from them to balance out they money I already gave them.
- Some pack - IVRM + led scuff plates + spare spoiler
- Spare wheel cover
- Seat covers
- Bumper Applique
- Cross bars
The car had already one 33 km when I was handed over, finished about 70 odd km so far. Tanked up the fuel when it was around 50km done. The drive has been awesome so far. The sync works like a breeze. I'm quite surprised that the speakers that come with the car are quite decent.
Couple of questions, do we get a remote with the car? I didn't get one. I felt the headlights weren't very effective. Did anyone else feel that too ?
Cheers
Aditya |