Beyond Travel — Unprofessional handling of my XUV 300

Address:

PATTO CENTRE, PANAJI - GOA

COMPLAINT AGAINST MAHINDRA

Vehicle no: GA03 Z 8196

I would like to express my sheer disappointment with Naik Motors and Mahindra on the way my vehicle has been handled. I own a XUV 300 which we invested in on April 2022. We have always experienced a huge lack of customer service from Naik Motors, right from the first day. Our first experience was during the additional fixtures ordered for the vehicle. These are areas where nothing could go wrong, however I am not sure whether this is pure negligence or lack of training. It begins with issues relating to the fixtures, like the door guard fitted started giving way and coming out, the window magnetic shades took 3 weeks to be delivered even though the order was booked at the time of ordering the car. I did express my disappointment to the Naik Motor incharge but thought perhaps it was a one of thing and decided to let go of it. I must share with you that my vehicle is an AMT (Automatic Manual Transmission).

Very recently, I had a major issue with my XUV 300 vehicle, whereby there was a message popping on the dashboard stating Transmission Malfunction. So I immediately took the vehicle to the service centre. Once at the service centre, they hooked up my vehicle to their computer system for a scan and the person incharge mentioned that there is nothing wrong with the vehicle and they indicated to me that your clutchplates could be damaged and the cost will need to be bourne by me. Now look at the customer service here, instead of finding a solution and resolving the matter the supervisor was very prompt to highlight who bears what cost.

I told him that I have experienced ample number of times where this message "Transmission Malfunction" keeps popping up. He mentioned to me that incase they open the vehicle up and they do not have the parts then he would have to keep the car. Hence, he then said that he would order for the parts that could possibly be required and then call me. He said until then continue to drive the car and manage.

As the next few days progressed, I started experiencing tough moments whereby the vehicle would stop midway and I had to wait until I could restart the car. There would be times when the vehicle would automatically switch to Neutral gear sign. There have been times, where I am midway on the road, vehicle not moving, raining outside and a complete chaos.

In between, after couple of days of visiting the service centre I get a call from the supervisor at the service centre to ask for my chasis number as they need to log for the parts against the vehicle. So not sure whether the parts was already ordered before or was just being ordered.

Anyways after about two weeks I get a call that the ordered parts have arrived and I was requested to bring the car. I took the vehicle and while they attempted to fix the issue, I waited the entire day at the service centre in Verna. After fixing the desired parts (which did not include the clutch plates), they hooked up the vehicle on their computer system for the final check. Unfortunately, there was a failure on the system popping up or they were not getting the system run on a pass status. I was told that they would need to keep the vehicle and check with the concerned person from Mahindra the following day. I was very kindly offered a drop by the service supervisor to my home, which I appreciate. The following day I was advised that the vehicle will take longer. So I asked the supervisor how long will this take, I need to have a vehicle as my work, my family commitments. It was at this moment that the supervisor mentioned to me that I could take a vehicle on hire and I will be reimbursed for the same.

Thereafter the saga continued for days, weeks and for 40days and in the interim it was getting very frustrating. As even though the car hire was verbally authorised, I was still paying for a petrol vehicle and to add to it had an expensive mileage with the rented car. On 30th Aug23, at 11am I was called to the service centre to collect the vehicle on 30Aug23. I was advised that no drivers were available. At this moment I was advised that the vehicle has been taken for washing.

Before receiving the vehicle, I was advised by the supervisor to take the vehicle for a test drive to be satisfied. I took the vehicle for a test drive and experienced a strong foul smell in the car