Car owners getting spammed non-stop by authorised service centres

I was not able to answer the first call since I was sick with a fever and asleep. They called me right away for a second time which woke me up.

BHPian sac23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have previously shared my experience with how Nexa dealerships spam to get a 5-star rating after a service. We have no other option but to give them the highest rating. If we reduce it by even one point, they will keep calling us continuously until we give them the highest rating as well as a confirmation over text or WhatsApp that we are fully satisfied with their service. This has gotten so bad that I have blocked 5 or 6 numbers, and they keep calling from different numbers. I had already decided not to take my car to the authorized service center because of this!

And just when you think they can't go any lower, here comes the next surprise.

People from different Nexa and Suzuki service centers in the city started calling me on my phone well before the next service was due, randomly asking me about my current ODO reading. I told them all that the vehicle hadn't even run half of the recommended service interval, and that I would only service it on the due date.

Regardless, I kept getting calls from them 3 or 4 times a month, and I used to keep blocking them, thanks to True Caller. They seem to be more eager to get the vehicle serviced as the due date is nearer. There are still 2 months until the service due date. But it has again gone out of control, like how once they spammed me constantly for weeks for not giving them a 5-star rating. I have already blocked two Nexa numbers this week, and today being a Sunday, some lady called me. I was not able to answer the first call since I was sick with a fever and asleep. They called me right away for a second time after the first call was not answered, which woke me up.

It was the same ordeal. I told her clearly that the car's service due date was yet to come up and that the vehicle had not even run anywhere close to 5000 km. She ignored this completely and blatantly asked if I'd be able to bring the car in tomorrow for service. I politely declined this and told her that I would be busy tomorrow. Then she insisted that there was a staff member who resides near my place, and they would take the car from my home. For this, I told her that the car is used by my father, and he needs the car. I thought she would disconnect the call by now, but no. She told me she would call me back again tomorrow so that I could confirm with my father if the car would be taken for service the day after tomorrow.

I seriously believe that Maruti Suzuki/Nexa is not making enough money these days from their service centers. Their employees are given targets to meet, or perhaps even a commission, based on how many people they can pull in for a service or how much they can bill. And their service advisors are also seen overselling stuff lately and trying to fool technically unsound customers. During the last service or so, I was told that there was something wrong with the clutch because the 'clutch is returning!

Imagine how desperate you have to be to spam people even 4 months before the service due date, even when you sell about 40% of the cars on the market.

There are memes in the US about how dealerships call all the time to ask for extended warranties, and I believe there will be similar memes in India in the near future.

Have you faced anything similar?

Here's what GTO had to say about the matter:

Thanks for sharing, Sac23. Not just service centers, I get spammed by all dealerships too with trade-in offers & discounts. Truecaller to the rescue - I rigorously block all spammers, whether calls or SMS or email.

The biggest scam was Honda dealerships spamming you non-stop for a "compulsory service" every 3 months, back in the day. A majority of Honda customers fell for it. Honda India was well aware of it, but did nothing - related thread. Can you imagine sending your car to the dealer every 3 months? How terribly inconvenient!

Here's what BHPian sharmanova had to say about the matter:

Exactly! These Nexa guys are so irritating. For example - Our Baleno's service was due on May 20th. These people started to call my dad from March onwards saying Saar! your car service is due. My dad replied that my car's service is scheduled in May, so please remind me in the month of May. But still, these people used to call my dad every week. Finally, my dad got fed up and gave the car for service in the month of April itself

Also, my dad had reminded them not to apply that 'sticky polish' on the car, but still they applied those on the dashboard and door trims.

Here's what BHPian TorquePull had to say about the matter:

This used to happen with our Mobilio, the actual service interval was 10,000kms/6 months. We used to cover the distance in about 5 months, sometimes sooner. But still, they managed to convince my dad to send it much sooner, claiming it was system-generated based on our usage pattern. The very next service I gave negative feedback citing the frequent calls and unfair practice of calling for service before due. The issue escalated and I was guaranteed that it wouldn't happen again. That put an end to it.

Here's what BHPian Rocketscience had to say about the matter:

I have seen if you are persistent, they eventually give up or maybe if the car has crossed 5 years they do give up.

Earlier Honda and Hyundai used to constantly bother me for service, I started getting the car serviced from outside after the 5-year mark and used to tell them the same, they did bother me for a while but this thread reminded me that I haven't gotten a call from them in quite a few years.

Also for our new Verna, they haven't bothered calling at all, hell I am the one bothering my dad for getting it serviced more than Hyundai people are.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.