[Resolved]  Maruti / Khivraj Motors — FAILED CUSTOMER SERVICE

Address:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

To,
Maruti Suzuki & Khivraj Motors(Chennai) Managers

Dearest Reader/Customer Service Executive/Team,

I am writing this mail to share my experience with Khivraj Motors, Guindy Industrial Estate branch which unfortunately is a collection of failed customer service events on Maruti’s behalf. I met with an accident on 7th March 2012 on the OMR highway, Chennai. The following was the outline of incidents which have followed. It is very unfortunate for me to remind the team of what my experience has been and it has in fact impacted what image I had regarding your highly regarded customer service, even if we consider this as a one off incident, in the end I have been on the receiving end.

1. I called the Maruti helpline number (1800…) who gave me the number for the tow car service. As it happens I have been given ICICI Lombard insurance when I bought my car (Maruti Alto Lxi, Khivraj Motors, Mount Road) last year from Khivraj Motors. I asked the helpline which is the nearest service center, and it was CARS INDIA on OMR road itself, which does not have cashless service with ICICI.
2. Then I moved the car to the Mount Road service center, to which they replied, that the damage is too big and only the Guindy workshop would be able to fix up my badly damaged car.
3. As I moved my car to Guindy center, I was given the approximate timeline as 20 – 25 days by looking at the type of damage, however was not given an estimate, due to the obvious reasons.
4. Post 20 days, I started following with the workshop and met the AM, Body Shop for the regular follow-ups.
5. However whenever I would ask for a certain date when my car would be delivered, I would always get a “next week by Thursday” standard reply.
6. After 4 weeks, I asked them if a spare car is available, to which I got the reply from the AM that I would get one, within a day or two, this day is 9th April 2012, that is one day more than a month.
7. I was constantly disappointed by the Guindy team when they gave me the excuse that another customer has taken the spare vehicle and it’s out of the team’s control to get it back.
8. To add to the tension the AM stopped picking up my calls and even if the phone was picked, someone else would come as a proxy to explain that he is not there.
9. Yet every time I asked what exactly is being done with the car, TINKERING is what I heard as a statement, how can a car be tinkered for 40 days is hard for me to understand.

This consistent absence of decent CUSTOMER SERVICE which frustrated me has lead me to write this firm letter. My family has been a Maruti customer for over 20 years and now I am pushed to this extent, really upsets me. I still have not received my car and the next due day is Tuesday 17th April 2012, which is 40 DAYS from the day I gave my vehicle.

Kindly take my case into consideration, and probably by the time this mail is read, I would have received my car, and this mail forgotten. However I can imagine the plight of someone else who fits into my situation. If this level of service continues I am sure it would be a perfect example to be read as a business case study for CUSTOMER SERVICE FAILURE.

Disgruntled & Disappointed,
Karan Verma
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