JLR Modi Motors refusing Range Rover booking refund for bizarre reason

It has been around 6 weeks and Modi Motors still hasn't refunded the Rs 2 lakh booking amount which my family friend had paid for a Range Rover Autobiography.

BHPian Akshay1234 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

We've all heard stories about JLRs after sales and unreliability, not just in India but worldwide. While off late the reliability seems to have been getting better, one can't say the same about the sales/aftersales going by people's recent experiences. One such strange experience is as follows -

So a family friend of ours decided he wanted a Range Rover Autobiography, and this was after the CKD prices were announced which brought the car to a shade above 3cr on road. This gentleman was in touch with Modi Motors, Worli and gave them a booking amount of 2 lacs in mid-June. He was promised a car mid August which seemed to be the standard waiting period.

Now a week after this, he was offered a Range Rover Autobiography available readily at Navnit Motors JLR. Maybe it was a cancellation of an order they had, but whatever the reason, it was available for the taking. Considering the time saved versus waiting for the existing booking was a no-brainer.

Being the gentleman that he is, he had a word with his Modi Motors salesman, informing him of the same and that he may now purchase the car from Navnit Motors considering the availability. But he also offered them an opportunity to see if they could somehow arrange the vehicle for him immediately considering they had shown him the car, given him TDs etc.

He then confirmed with the salesman that his booking amount of 2l would be refunded, to which the salesman replied in the positive. On 26th June he made the booking for the Autobiography with Navnit, and brought the car home on 11th July. All went smoothly from booking to delivery.

Post this, there were follow-ups made to Modi Motors for the refund of the 2l, which were replied to in the positive, but with various reasons. Every week they would say it's being processed, and various other similar excuses. This went back and forth for about 6 weeks.

But an absolutely strange thing occurred today, the sales manager of Modi Motors, who till a couple of days ago was all positive, said the management had refused a refund since the vehicle was purchased from another dealership. This has been asked for in writing, and the sales manager asked to get back tomorrow.

This is something I have never heard of, especially when it comes to a meagre amount for such a hot-selling vehicle. Range Rovers are sold out for months, and have become a status symbol these days. This just seems to be a harassment tactic and is absolutely unethical.

Had the dealer refused his refund when he informed them about his decision before booking with the other dealer, it may have been a different story. But to take someone for a ride, and then come up with a ridiculous excuse just isn't done.

I think JLR is certainly going to erode their image if this kind of behavior is allowed by their dealers. Just recently another member had issues with the same dealership for other reasons.

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

Trust a Range Rover dealer to lose a 3-crore customer for life over 2-lakh rupees. Not to mention, the bad publicity. Here is another recent Range Rover complaint from Modi Motors.

The best part about a Range Rover is the styling, how they drive (truly something else!), the comfort, luxury and brand value. The worst part is their dealership network, service network, reliability, long wait periods for parts & overpricing of SUVs (although things are getting better with CKD operations). A Range Rover can never be your only car of the house.

Here's what BHPian Axe77 had to say about the matter:

101 lesson on how to lose a customer for life.

I bought my 3GT from Navnit but for a variety of reasons, for the majority of its 9 years of ownership, it’s been serviced at Infinity (locational convenience; fellow BHP’ian in a senior position at Infinity etc). My Mercedes was bought at Autohangar and very early on itself service has shifted to Landmark.

In one fell swoop, Modi JLR has earned bad public PR, has lost any possibility of the service-related business of this customer for his ownership tenure of the Range Rover, and the possibility of any future business with him and perhaps his immediate family members too. This is unlikely his last luxury car purchase and I can’t imagine him ever dealing with Modi again after an experience like this.

I do know certain cases where dealerships have a hard stance on refund booking amounts. But they had the opportunity to communicate a “no-refund” stance, which clearly they’ve not done - in fact, they’ve confirmed to the contrary.

Here's what BHPian Y@SH had to say about the matter:

Dealers are always low on working capital, however, this behaviour is just atrocious.

Was your family friend aware of any T&C before handing over the booking amount?

I think the best approach is to get a lawyer and slap a legal notice.

But would suggest to first mail JLR Customer Care in detail about the case and if nothing works then approach a good lawyer.

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