Baleno Petrol, Fourth Service update (20000 KM) -- Service Woes(Bimal Auto Agency, Bangalore).
Went for the first paid service of Baleno in Bangalore(shifted here last year from NCR). Since my last service(10,000 Km) Bill was around 4187 which includes Synthetic Engine Oil. I expected the bill to be in the vicinity of 6500-7000 due to the major paid service. Visited Bimal Auto Agency Service workshop situated at old airport road. Reason for choosing Bimal is a few weeks back I have done the rear suspension replacement under warranty from them and I was pretty much satisfied with the job done. Besides was aware of the AGM(Service) and Service Advisor Santosh who is responsible for getting the job done.
Reached pretty late in the morning around 11:30 am. SA inspected the car and rather than taking my inputs on the issues I'm facing or what needs to be taken care of along with the regular service. He provided me with an estimate with a large spread of items on their palette to offer under different categories just to rip off customers. The initial estimate he provided me was of
Rs14600 on which he was too kind hearted to provide me with a sumptuous amount of discount after which the total came out to be Rs. 11700(Excluding GST).
My eyes were sparkling with pity and grief for that young lad who spent a considerable amount of time to trap me in the honey net of returning my car in a never before Spick n Span condition only for the nominal charge of
11700 that too with a discount. Keep in Mind it's a petrol car and a Maruti Suzuki is cheap to maintain (herd mentality).
Let me furnish the details of the break up under different categories:
Consumables:
3500 synthetic engine oil
500 Oil filter
700 Coolant
500 Weights to be used during balancing
500 Additional work if any
Total: 5700
1800 Paid service
700 Brake cleaning
500 Wheel Alignment
500 Wheel Balancing
850 Throttle Body Cleaning
2200 Teflon Boy Polish
850 Suspension Greasing
1500 Upholdstry cleaning(Interior)
TOTAL: 8900
Grand total: 8900 + 5700 (Consumables) = 14600
Then he came up with a knight from his shining armour and blessed me with a never before discount of 2900 and brings down the total to 11700.
Anyway, I played such a spoil sport for that young lad and denied to take the help or even the need of discount.
Went ahead with just following things:
1800 Paid Service
3600 Oil Change
700 Coolant change
500 Oil filter change
Ac filter change
700 brake cleaning
Basically, the services which I'm going to avail pissed him off big time.
Since I've reported the brake noise issue, while brake cleaning he came up with the theory that disc(Rotor) and brake pads are gone and due to the metal to metal contact, I'm facing this noise issue. I checked both the parts thoroughly and there is some uneven pattern on the brake pads for sure. Though disc(Rotor) looks absolutely fine to me for a car which has done just 20000 Kms and some amount of rubbing with sand paper will make them good to go. Consulted
bhpian audioholic for the same and went ahead with the brake pads change.Although there is some decent amount of life left in brake pads as per my observation(I could be wrong too) but rather than risking the whole set up, went ahead to change the brake pads. Another attempt for rip off somewhat went downhill.
Next was the link road of Left front side reported weak. Had a word with Technician working on it in absence of Service Advisor and as per his words, it looks bit weak and I should get it changed if I heard any noise from the front side. For now, put it on hold and will observe for next few days.
Enquired from the service advisor about the Warranty Claim for Disc(Rotor) and Link Rods, since the car has done just 20000 km on the odo and these parts should not give up so early. But obvious he denied since we were locking horns a lot of time and by now he is completely pissed off at me and asked me to contact AGM Service for any such request. According to him any MOVING PART IS CONSIDERED AS WEAR AND TEAR PART and therefore disqualifies for warranty claims. I was seriously put off by his lame explanations.Just to put his case stronger he started pointing out to the extra fitments in order to make his case more stronger and his words were he will communicate about the extra fitments to NEXA.By now I was completely losing my temper by now. Extra fitments on my car are:
Hella Trumpet Horn
LED Fog Lamps
Rear Bumper Guard.
On the cleaning part, they did the basic interior vacuuming and nothing else. On the contrary, when ever I got my car serviced in NCR, interior vacuum cleaning with some basic cleaning through a polishing agent and through shampoo wash is done with no extra charges. But here everything looks paid and prices are inflated.They did charge me Rs 250 for exterior waterless Cleaning which he mentioned as Polishing in the bill. By this time I literally gave up and didn't want to argue on that.
Just think how much Petrol Baleno Service can cost. Well, in the end, I was billed for
Rs 8931 which was OK keeping in mind the initial estimates.
But just for a moment think, does a Petrol Maruti Suzuki service should cost this much or I've some unrealistic expectations.
How brilliantly they are ripping off and set the bar higher in the name of premium services. These days I can only see premiums in terms of amount/pricing involved be it the ex-showroom prices of cars or their servicing costs. In the end, if Service Adviser would have handled it nicely then it could have ended without any issues, but the over all experience left a very sour taste.
Ford is the company which actually transformed its image and leading the baton when it comes to the cost of servicing, providing their customers complete peace of mind.Even companies like Skoda which are famous for service related horror stories have come up a long way. And testaments of customer speaks volumes about that.
Maruti needs not to create additional premium NEXA service centres rather if it focuses on not ripping off the customers and make the current Service Experience bit premium, will do wonders for them. Attaching the bill which he will be sending to NEXA as well. You will notice his remarks for extra fitments which I don't know will create any issues in case of any future warranty claims or not.
P.S: Attaching disc(Rotor) and Brake pads pics for expert comments.
Thanks
audioholic for your availability at the right time and guidance.
Saw quite a few cars which got flooded in recent rains parked and ripped apart, heart goes out for those car owners.
Disc Rotor
Uneven Wear and Tear on Brake Pads
Thickness of brake pads
Bill Copy one
Bill Copy two - Highlighted part is the remarks submitted by SA.