Re: Carwash & Waxing for Rs.99 at Carnation @ Captain Slow - Here it is.
Just had a horrific experience yesterday at Carnation Gurgaon. I had bought 2 coupons just like everyone else when they were available on Snapdeal last year. I had taken our Indica earlier and was highly dissatisfied and had posted the entire ordeal on this thread. I got a call on Thursday saying my vouchers will expire on 28th Feb and I should use them before that. Now with all the rains, the cars had gotten quite dirty. So, thought I'll take the Esteem and this time wisened up after past experience, just get it washed.
Called up Carnation and the lady asked me to bring it in at 12. I got there at 12:30, told the service advisor, no checkups, just wash the car. he said the queue is really long and it would take time. I said OK and I am prepared to wait. He writes down the time for delivery in the jobcard as 6:30 PM. I protest and he says he is just writing it down, but the car will be ready much before that. I agree and he puts the car in the queue for washing which actually is pretty long. Around 15 cars are ahead of me. The queue is actually a very narrow area around the building. I have tried to illustrate it in the figure below.
Now I just hang around for the long wait. While waiting I wander around to the washing bays and there I notice that the service advisors are getting more cars directly into the washing bays from Exit 2. I object to this and one service advisor says that these cars are the ones that came for service and they have to be delivered first. The promo cars have to do the go around of the building and wait their turn. I said how are they ever going to get their turn if you keep getting cars ahead. Upon this, he asks for my Job card, I hand it over to him and he points out that my time of delivery is 6:30PM and I should go inside and wait. I argue with him that my service advisor said my car will be ready much before that. He says that I should talk about it to my service advisor. I let it go. It was around 4:30 PM by now and then I see a couple of more service advisors trying to get their cars ahead in the line by squeezing the cars between the wall and the building. I protest to this as well and they say that these cars had come for service and had to be delivered by 3PM and please co-operate. This way cars which were standing much behind mine in the queue were washed well before me.
After a while, some other service advisor started to do the same thing, and this time I was left with no choice but to raise my voice and express myself. Now they became aware that I was standing there and did not push my car back any further. One of them says "saab ki gaadi aage lagvao" and tells a driver to move my car ahead. Now while doing this, he reverses my car at such a speed that he loses control and scrapes it against the side of the washing bay and there is a big scratch. More of a Gash on the LH rear quarter panel.
I now lose my temper real bad and walk towards the car ready to give them a mouthful. It turned out that the guy standing there was the Service Manager. He very politely apologised to me and said he will get it repaired. I have to give him the credit as I was at the epitome of frustration and the way he handled the situation was really well. He sincerely apologised to me and said he would hand back the car to me as I had handed it over, but I have to allow him some time. I was really furious as to how wrong a free car wash could go. I still did give him a mouthful about what kind of drivers he employs and about the poor service.
He directs the wash guys to wash the car and take it to the bodyshop. The car is now promptly washed and taken to the bodyshop, where a guy immediatelly starts working on it. He strips off the paint, does some welding and applies putty and primer and leaves it to set. All this within half an hour. (These guys can work fast if they have a stick up their behind). The area is then sanded and prepped for paint. It is around 6 by now. Meanwhile the service manager keeps hanging around me to keep me happy offering Tea, Biscuits etc etc. He meanwhile tells me that I will have to come again for rubbing and polishing. I tell him I had no plans of coming again, but since he convinces me that new paint needs polishing, I oblige and say I will come in a couple of days. He says he will have the whole car washed and rubbed and polished. I tell him just get my car repaired as of now. I decided to wait inside the workshop itself watching the work being done. The whole place is empty by 7PM and it is just me and the two guys working on my car and the service advisor. I had by then chatted up with them and found out that the service manager had just joined 2 days back. Finally they paint the quarter panel and the guy also gives a coat on my LH rear door. I ask why and he says there were some scratches and he did it just for me. I pretend to be flattered and nod. The car is left to dry for around half an hour more.
I finally leave at 9:00 PM. Almost 9hrs wasted on a stupid carwash.
The paintwork has been done pretty good. I am a bit confused as to whether I should complain or take it further as in the end I got the car back as I had given it in.
Attached are the pics of the layout, the scratch, the work in progress and post repair.
I request the members to please think twice before giving in their prized possessions to Carnation(at least the Gurgaon one). As for me, I have one more "Last in this lifetime" visit left to Carnation for the rubbing/polishing.
Last edited by Sinner666 : 2nd March 2011 at 14:08.
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