[Resolved]  Maruti Suzuki India Ltd — Harassment by Maruti Sucks Masters

Address:

South Delhi, Delhi

Dear Sir,


This is reference to your company owned service outlet Maruti Service Masters at Okhla. I own a Maruti Swift Diesel, Car No: DL 3C AU 0978, Model: VDi, Year: 2007. I bought the car on 26th March 2007 and since then I have been harassed and ill-treated by Maruti Service Masters, that I have decided never ever to buy a Maruti product. Maruti must have manufactured a million vehicles in a year, Maruti is the largest Car Maker in India and other numerous records to its name and also topping the JD Power CSI Study for the 10th consecutive time but the ground reality is totally different.

At First, I will fill you on my recent experience dated 2nd May 2010. It just so happened that, I started my car in afternoon and realized that the central locking and air conditioner is not working and heard a few sparks under the steering wheel. I immediately called up Ashutosh Bhatnagar who is a Service Advisor and has attended my car on previous visits as well. I told him the problem on the phone and said that I would be reaching MSM in about 30 mins, his response was “sir, have you booked your car in advance”? . Given the situation, I don’t think anybody can book for a heart attack in advance. When I told him again that I am not able to lock my car he agreed on me getting the car. I reached MSM around 2 p.m, parked my car outside and informed Ashutosh. In the meantime I asked somebody to send an electrician so that he can check the problem. An electrician came and checked the problem and suggested that I should get the car diagnosed with the SDT. Then after repeated calls Ashutosh came, I told him this is what has happened and I have been told to get it diagnosed with SDT. He then tells me to take the car inside and get a job card opened. I took the car inside and the security guard asked me whether I have a booking, because without booking we are not taking any car, so I told him that I have already spoken to Ashutosh about it. The guard then informs Mr.Dheeraj who is posted at the service counter on the entry gate. Dheeraj again asked me the same question and then calls up Ashutosh to confirm however turned back refusing to let me in as instructed by Ashutosh on the phone. To reconfirm I then called up Ashutosh and to my surprise, he tells me that Dheeraj is the incharge and without his permission job card cant be opened. Between this confusion that was created, I did question him as to why did he then ask me to get a job card opened to which he had no response. The entire series of incidents narrated to you till now, would surely agonize you had you been in my shoes as well and hence I refuse to believe in Maruti’s so called great customer service and satisfaction.

Further, now that I was completely agonized for being ill treated, I went straight to Capt. A Choudhary (Managing Director) hoping for a resolution however I was absolutely wrong in my judgments about this senior official appointed by you.( Just to add here, I have met him before in (December 2009) for sharing my pathetic and irresponsible customer service experience with the same service advisor Ashutosh Bhatnagar who took 6 hours to get a Fender Lining fitted. ) . I told him the entire problem and the conversation I had with the service advisor and also reminded him of the conversation we had the last time I met him wherein he suggested me that in order to get the work done I should build rapport with service advisors. Hearing all this from me, he made a strong point that it’s a fact and that’s how things work at MSM. When I told him that you talk about rapport and your service advisors take 6 hours to get a fender lining fitted, for which his response was it depends on the circumstances and it can take 2 – 4 days also. He also mentions that it depends on the commitment given to you, when I said I was told that the car would be ready in 30 mins, he had no answer for it. I also asked him what action have you taken against the service advisor again no answer, which was clearly visible because nothing has changed at MSM from any of my last visits, however was getting worse day by day.

I then said that I have made the biggest mistake of buying a Maruti car to which his response was it is indeed. I even asked him about the harassment customers are facing everyday at MSM, he says I cant say anything about that and tells me that what ever I am saying is utter nonsense.

I would like to bring this to your notice not only at MSM the customers are treated like trash but are also abused by the so-called strategic officials. When I say this please be aware of this incident wherein Capt A Choudhary, at MSM has the utmost ability to harass customers, ill treat them, give lousy customer service and above all even abuse them and on the flip side with all this when a customer has a corresponding reaction he calls them and there complaint “as absolute nonsense”. Leave apart the base level employees you have, it is shocking to discover that your leadership team has no servicing skills with which you can ensure many more upset customers like me.


Now I will fill you on my experience dated 30th March 2010, Job Card No: JC09039434, Service Advisor: Ashutosh Bhatnagar. I took the car, as there was problem with the central locking, suspension and steering. The car is taken for a road test by Mr. Anil Rohilla, Assistant Supervisor (T.A) and after the test drive agrees there is a problem with the suspension but for steering said there is some problem with the damper. But since there is shortage of staff and previous day backlog of 200 cars he won’t be able to repair it today and asked me to get the car tomorrow. Since I wasn’t satisfied with his response I decided to get the car road tested again by some other Assistant Supervisor. After road testing the car his response was that the front shockers and the steering rack has to be changed. And he also mentioned that if you need to get these changed under extended warranty you actually need to work hard and also get your car road tested by some senior supervisor otherwise it won’t be changed. What I can’t understand is if same things have to be checked again by senior supervisors then why do we have assistant supervisors. So I took the car back without the job done.

I took the car again on 31st March 2010, Job Card No: JC09039541, Service Advisor: Gaurav Kumar Choudhary. I explained him the entire problem again and handed over the car to him. Next day I reached MSM to pick the car but to my surprise the Service Advisor was on leave and my car wasn’t assigned to a new advisor. After a while I was able to locate my car. I then went for a road test with Mr. Anil Rohilla, who told me that the Front Stabilizer Joint and the Stabilizer Bar Bush has been changed, but the problem was still persisting. Mr. Rohilla wasn’t agreeing that the problem is still there. I then went to Mr. Prakash Jha (Customer Care Manager) and explained him the complete scenario. He then took me to Mr.Praveen (Deputy General Manager), who after listening to my problem instructed Mr. Rohilla to change whatever parts required. And also requested me to get this done next week as they were overloaded with work.


My car for the 1st time was picked up from home dated 7th April 2010, Job Card No: JC10000786, JC10000936, Service Advisor: Gaurav Kumar Choudhary. The car was first sent to the Body Shop Department for the front right door to be repainted since it wasn’t painted properly before. On 8th April 2010, I received a call from Mr. Rajesh Bhatia (Body Shop Incharge) at 1p.m that the car is ready and that he is handing over the car to the Repair Department. I then called up Mr.Prakash Jha who confirmed that he has received the car from Body Shop but the repair job can’t be taken up today and would start tomorrow only.

Next day 9th April 2010 I received a call at 10 a.m from Mr.Gaurav Choudhary informing me that car is under him and is getting the front shockers opened. I informed him that I would be coming to MSM around afternoon. I reached MSM at 3 p.m and met Gaurav to know the work done till now. He told me that he had got the front shockers opened, got them greased and then took it for a road test but the noise is still there. So I then asked him why were the shockers not changed then but there was no response. He tells me that he is again getting the shockers opened and greased and this happened till 4 p.m. I was surprised that if following a certain procedure does not rectify the problem, how can following it again and again rectify it. This shows that there is no set procedure and timeline defined by Maruti Suzuki and this is how they waste their as well as customers time, which is the primary reason why there is always a backlog at MSM. I finally lost my patience and called up Mr.Praveen. I told him that this is the work done on my car for the last 6 hours and I don’t know why they are not changing the defective parts. His response was that I have already told them to change whichever part is defective but then I asked him why are they not changing it and just wasting time. Suddenly I see Mr.Gaurav Choudhary talking to Mr.Devender (Deputy Manager) and taking the necessary approvals. Then I see that a new shocker assembly (Left Side) and collapsible steering column assembly has come and the fitting has started. When I saw that the work has started, I decided I should leave now and by then it was already 5 p.m. I informed Gaurav that I am leaving and would take the car tomorrow. So for a job that could have been done in an hour’s time, MSM wasted 6 hours and that too with the customer standing on the Shop Floor for 2 hours and getting the work done. Between all this there was no sign of courtesy or apology that I could have got from Mr.Devender who was around, but however was reacting aloof.

Next day 10th April 2010, I receive a call from Gaurav that the car is ready and reached MSM at 2 p.m. I then went for a road test with an Assistant Supervisor but the Steering noise was still there. I met Gaurav and told him that I have taken the road test and the noise is still there but there was no response. I then went to Mr.Prakash Jha and informed him about the work done on my car and that the noise is still there. He then took me to Mr.V M Chawla (General Manager), I told him the entire scenario and that people at MSM doesn’t want to change defective parts under extended warranty. Mr.Chawla then tells me that we don’t just go by what the customer says and that the customer doesn’t know the technical aspect. He then calls up Mr.Devender and tells him to come for a road test. After waiting for 45 mins Mr. Chawla and Mr.Devender accompany me for a road test. During the road test Mr.Chawla tells me that since Okhla roads are bad, if you drive fast on these roads the suspension would obviously be damaged, so you should be careful while driving on these roads and also compared the Indian roads with the roads abroad. He mentioned that the Swift that is available in India is the same as abroad. So in a way he was trying to tell me how to drive a car, as if I didn’t know it. Then I said that there is no point comparing our roads with the ones abroad because we don’t have that kind of roads nor we would ever have, so you need to make cars according to Indian road conditions. Mr.Chawla responds by saying that it doesn’t work like that; otherwise Swift should have been a JEEP. After the road test Mr.Chawla and Mr.Devender didn’t agree that there is any noise from the Steering and that the Steering Rack needs replacement. Mr.Chawla also mentioned that even if I change it, within a week’s time the noise would again be there.

This shows the quality of parts Maruti Suzuki is manufacturing and nothing has changed with the change of ownership. The people, the system and the callous attitude is still the same, only the name has changed from Maruti Udyog to Maruti Suzuki. I suggest that Maruti along with their cars should provide a manual that describes the kind of roads suitable for their cars. So after wasting my time for the last 4 hours I took the car and came back.


On 19th December 2009, Job Card No: JC09028325, Service Advisor: Ashutosh Bhatnagar. I reached MSM at 10.30 am to get the Front Fender Lining fitted and was told that the work would be done in 30 mins. After every 30 mins I called up Ashutosh to check about the status and his response was it is being done. After 4 hours he informs me that the work has been done. After patiently waiting for more than 4 hours I went to Capt. A Choudhary’s office. After explaining him the ordeal, which I went through since morning, he tells me that I should build rapport with the Service Advisor in order to get the work done. So instead of taking action against the service advisor, he tells me to build rapport. Also in this visit I discovered that before doing any job they will first wash your car and for that they will take 1 - 2 hours. Finally I left MSM at 5 pm, more than 6 hours after I came there.

Now to sum up the above experiences and many other unshared and unpleasant experiences, which I have been having with MSM time and again, I now clearly understand that at MSM they don’t believe in quick and first time resolution. However, they have the best capability in ensuring no delight to the customer. Also they have no respect for time that a customer puts in when he visits MSM. It is very sad that as a customer I had to further invest my time in writing in to you looking for some betterment at MSM and resolution to my contested problem of a faulty part (Suspension and Steering Rack). I hope you treat this letter of mine with the right level of seriousness and work towards saving and achieving the so called vision of Maruti Suzuki (Customer Obsession) and build my confidence again in your brand.



Thanks & Warm Regards,

(Kuber Saraogi)