[Resolved]  Volkswagen — Cheating and mishandling of my car at the volkswagen downtown - shaman cars service center, lalbaug, mumbai

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra

I approached volkswagen downtown mumbai, shaman cars pvt ltd on 11th october, 2013, to avail of my annual service facility and also get my windscreen replaced. On approaching them, i was told my service is yet not due and hence i must get the car servicing done only on / post the due date.

I agreed and gave them my car only to get the following corrected:
1. Windscreen replaced, since it had a crack
2. Paint front bumper
3. Left hand side fender & door repair & paint
4. Steering wheel noise
5. Hand brake setting

I was quoted a cost of inr 28, 000/- for the above.

Before handing over the car to them, one of their drivers also did a test drive to check the car. The car was in an absolutely excellent condition and smooth running.

A day later i get a call from one mr amol from the service center, telling me that the car has a starting problem, is vibrating, jerking and mis-firing. I was also told that one of the cylinders of the engine head has stopped working and i should get all this rectified immediately and pay a cost of inr 1, 20, 000/- to get this corrected.

When i argued that my car never had any such problem and how did this suddenly come up, mr amol said that they did some checking on their own end and this was diagnosed over that checking system. I had not asked the service centre to do any such checking or touch the engine but they did so out of their own course. Now since i insisted that before giving the car to them my car had no such problem, he immediately said that it was not necessary for me to get this rectification done immediately.

On 16oct13, when i went to collect my car, i was again told that i should get the engine head changed and at that time they quoted a cost of inr 1, 30, 000/- for this. Amol was quick enough to even tell me that the company was willing to bear the cost of the material and hence i would have to pay a cost of inr 20, 000/- only. I was surprised that the company was willing to bear such a high cost and a little suspicious too, but since i was confident that my car had no such problem, i told them that i will come back if need be.

However, to my surprise, when i started the car, it gave jerks and there was excessive vibration in the car!!! I was now convinced that the service centre had done some mischief and hence they had been trying to convince me to change the engine head! On confronting them, they then said it could be some electrical problem or engine head problem, but i must get the engine head changed. When i raised my voice and said that i refuse to pay any such money cause they are cheating me, one of their seniors – mr amin doshi (Service manager), told me that the total cost would be inr 150, 000/- but he will try and get me an additional 50% discount on the labour cost and 100% on the material cost, and i will then have to pay inr 20, 000/- - 22, 000/-!! This is again surprising considering that amol had quoted a total cost of inr 120, 000/- first and then inr 130, 000/- and after material discount i was asked to pay inr 20, 000/- while amin after the material & labour discount was charging me 22, 000/-!! All these convoluted quotes itself indicate that they are only trying to make money out me!!

I have checked with multiple other people who’ve been into the car business, and all of them have confirmed that engine head cannot have such a problem, specially since the car is not very old and has hardly run 21, 867kms.
I am amazed that a company like volkswagen can fool and cheat their clients like this. Since i could not drive my car out, i had to leave it there and i have told amin & amol to ensure they correct whatever the problem and give me the car back in the same condition that i had given it to them in…but they have refused to do any work on this, unless and until i agree to bear the cost of inr 22, 000/-, which i have refused.

I urge you to look into this immediately and assist, as i would not pay volkswagen even a penny for this, since it is a mischief they have played and i should not be penalized for this. As of now, my car is with them, so please do expedite, as i am worried they will mess it up more!