Nexa: Paid for dry cleaning but also charged for polish used

I asked the SA what it is and he replied that it is related to lubricating some plastic parts.

BHPian Dhillon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I recently went for 30K PMS of Ignis Delta 1.2P at Prem NEXA, IDC, Sec-16, Gurgaon.

I bought the car from them and have been visiting them for regular service as well as VAS.

However, during this service, I asked them to do a dry-clean also for my vehicle. Dry-cleaning usually costs ₹1600/- plus GST but as I had a coupon, I was asked to pay only ₹600/- plus GST.

Now when the final bill came, I saw that there was a charge for EC-Star cockpit spray (₹237/- plus taxes for half a bottle). I asked the SA what it is and he replied that it is related to lubricating some plastic parts. Confused, while paying the bill, I asked once again that what the spray is for? To which the SA replied that its used to lubricate mechanical parts. I shrugged it off and paid and left.

But some how, I was not convinced. So after reaching home, I searched for EC-Star Cockpit spray and found out it is used to polish dashboard and other plastics of the car (I felt stupid when the result came because the name itself is very evident).

I believe that I have been charged wrongly for the same for the below reasons:

• During PMS, the car is washed and the interior is polished. The washing is part of service and I have never been charged for polish.
• The dry-cleaning was done post washing, then why did they charge for the polish?

I raised this issue over email with Prem NEXA and marked a copy to NEXA Area Service Manager.

They replied that this is a standard practice and the SA forgot to inform me about the charges while opening job card. Attaching the email reply for your reference.

Though the amount is not much, but somehow I feel that I have been cheated and have lost trust. We have other cars from different brands in our family but this is the first time I have come across such a charge.

My question is, considering that the dry-cleaning is for ₹1600/- plus taxes, should not the price be inclusive of consumables?

Also, this being my first Maruti car, I want to ask fellow Maruti owners whether they have had to pay for consumables during dry-cleaning?

Here's what BHPian gkveda had to say on the matter:

I suggest you to consider this as lesson learnt. And you are lucky to lose only 250 and odd rupees and got the lesson. There are people who have paid in thousands for the same lesson.

The lesson is, do not trust dealers. Have a clear understanding that they are there only to rob money from you. Hence, give very clear instructions on what has to be done and what need not be done prior to handing over the car to them. Go item by item. Go through the estimate and review the cost and strike off and disapprove all that you think as non-essential. Also threaten them, I repeat, you need to really threaten them that you will not pay single paisa extra if they carry out any job without your approval.

If given a chance, they will mention rates in the invoice even for the tools such as spanners and wrenches they use to do service and charge you for the tools. You may think I am exaggerating but honestly, I am not.

Once, they had charged me for AC duct cleaning although I had not asked them. I refused to pay and said I would complain to Hyundai. Immediately, that was striked off.

Another time, in previous service, I was asked to change the brake pads. I did not approve but got it changed outside. Next time, when I left for service, SA again asked me to change the brake pads while the car was in mid of servicing (probably, he looked at earlier comments and persuaded me). I asked him to share pictures of the pad since I was sure of how new the pads were. He said he would share but disappeared after that. When I went to pickup the car, he had assigned the card to someone else and had left home saying he was unwell.

There are several such stories which proves they are there only to rob money. Lesson is we need to be careful.

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

Like gkveda said, take this as a lesson and make sure to get the job card filled with all necessary information including IFs and BUTs. And verify everything before you take delivery.

Another easy buck making is from wheel balancing. I faced the issue once with Honda, I was charged for 11 balance weights (which I never asked for, in first place) but I could see only 7. On questioning SA tried to convince it will be on the inner side and not visible from the outside. When I asked to put the vehicle on lift he said it may be a wrong entry. When I verified the mechanic's copy of job card, nothing was mentioned.

Another instance with Fiat, I was charged for a tail lamp bulb replacement. Linea cluster will give a clear warning if the bulb was failed earlier and SA should have noticed while taking the Odo reading. They placed a failed bulb in the boot (God knows where the bulb is from) and said "it was not working saar, we replaced" 45 INR for the bulb and 100+ INR as labor. I said it is not a part of job card and they may remove the bulb if required.

From then, I made it mandatory for the SA to note down the functioning of all electrical parts in Job card.

Here's what BHPian ruzbehxyz had to say on the matter:

As rightly mentioned above, consider this as a lesson learnt. Always check and ask for each and every item. With GST today, the final invoice becomes very difficult to interpret sometimes. So ask again.

My suggestion: At service centers, just do the basic service required as per the owner's manual. This is to keep your car in good shape and also in warranty. Once your warranty is over, you are free to go anywhere.

All additionals should be done from specialists outside, eg. interior cleaning / vacuuming, polishing from 3M or any good detailing center, underbody antirust etc. and tyre balancing from a good tyre shop in your area.

Here's what BHPian Artyom had to say on the matter:

To avoid these hassles I usually do these things:

• Take the vehicle early morning for servicing (Around 9 when they number the vehicles)
• Tell them that I will be present during the service in the service centre.
• I will keep a close eye on the servicing without causing inconvenience.
• Instructing the SA that whatever parts are replaced should be shown to be before replacement
• Not to include ANYTHING except what is mentioned in the Service booklet and if they do, I will not be paying for that.

Now, I am not a technical person. So if the service centre decides to cheat me, they have 100 ways of doing that, but at least by being vigilant and being straight with the SA, you can save yourself from the argument "What is this for and why is it there in the list?"

Trust me, for a regular service, it usually does not take more than 2 hours tops and if you can spare that (which is the least you can do in my opinion), then you can save yourself from all these hassles. It has worked for me for the last 8 years and only once I caught them cheating when they opened a can of oil/coolant which was meant for my vehicle and then used it on other vehicles and quietly kept the bottle back after using it. I caught them red-handed and complained about it. The manager apologised for this and promised not to let this happen again.

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