| Address: prabhadevi, mumbai |
Totally let down by the service staff at Vitesse service located at Prabhadevi and in particular the staff who attended to me – Mr. Sameer Valve.
Took my car – Maruti Ertiga VDI (fully loaded) to the service centre on 5th Feb 2022 which was a Saturday – after inspection, I was asked about the service history and the same was noted.
Thereafter, I was informed what all would be changed as a matter of routine service and told that some servicing would have to be carried out either due to the time gap between the last service and / or KMs driven.
I readily agreed to all that was explained to me. I was given an estimate of around 15, 000/- and I agreed to the same with s few requests from my side – which was ALL agreed to.
1) I requested that my car be thoroughly cleaned from inside (as a loyal customer) and this was promised along with seat shampoo thrown in complimentary.
2) The 3rd row seat was making some squeaking noise and I was informed that the cost included the greasing and oiling anyways and that this would be taken care of in the paid service itself.
3) There was a scratch on the front screen in the line of view of the driver caused by the wiper blade and I requested that if the team there could get someone to buff the scratch away, I would be grateful – I was promised that it would be attempted but the result could not be guaranteed and I agreed to the same.
4) The stepney tyre had never been used and due to which I was apprehensive that that the mechanism to lower the Stepney tyre could be jammed. I requested them to just lower the same and oil the same so that in case I had to replace the tyre in an emergency it should be free and not jammed.
5) 47, 000 Kms done, I requested them to check the brakes and shock absorbers etc.
6) I had recently fitted HID bulbs in my car and at the time of fittings of the same, the headlight alignment appeared to have been marginally altered from the original positioning. I requested that if it was not some herculean task, could the team ensure that the same was corrected and that focus / fall of the light was adjusted as per original setting.
When I went to collect my car on Monday, I was totally aghast and felt cheated by Vitesse.
1) Forget my request to clean the interior, even the exterior was dirty, and I was told that the car had been washed in the morning and that the dust was of that day itself. There were tell-tale signs that no washing had been carried out, the wheel wells were dirty, the dirt around the edges of the front screen and rear screen as well as the rear quarter glass showed enough proof that the car had at best been wiped lazily and not washed. No vacuum was done on the inside, the seats has all the stains and dirt marks as before, the arm rest was not touched, the steering had been wiped with a cloth but not cleaned properly, the small pockets that are present on the door handles to keep coins etc had dirt inside them (not cleaned at all). Even the inside of the front screen had finger-print impressions and it was apparent that no one had even bothered to wipe the front screen from the inside. I was so disgusted that I had to call Mr. Faizal (I believe he was in-charge of the workshop service dept.) and he asked Sameer why the cleaning had not been carried out as promised. Quickly, few people got around and tried to clean as best they could whilst my time was wasted as I had to stand for 1.5 hours in order to collect my car due to this delay. I really wonder what the approx. Rs. 2, 500/- is taken towards cleaning and vacuuming etc. and misc charges.
2) Whilst the above cleaning was underway, I checked my rear seat and was astonished to note that the squeaking had not stopped and was the same as before. Once again, I called out to Sameer and asked him if he has done the oiling/greasing as was informed to me that it was part of and included in the service costs? It was only at that time that he instructed someone to get some lubricant and work on that. This – when it was supposed to have been done anyways and for which I was charged.
3) I noticed that the scratch had not been touched, leave alone buffing the scratch away. When I pointed this – someone was asked to look at that. What I realised after driving away from there is that whoever worked on that scratch has ruined the 2-inch area on either side of the scratch all along the length of the scratch which is nearly 8 – 10 inched long. Instead of clearing the glass, they have ruined my front screen and now driving in the night has become more of an issue than what it was with just a simple scratch. The headlight from an oncoming car scatters the light all along the 3 – 4-inch width and nearly 8 – 10 inches in length – that too right in front of the driver’s line of view.
4) Immediately after collecting my car from the workshop, I took my car to Saifee Tyres (Khar) to replace all 4 tyres as they had seen 47, 000 kms and a replacement was due. In the course of replacing the 4 tyres, it is customary to get the Stepney down and inspect it and then based on the least worn out tyre, that 1 tyre is kept as Stepney. It was at this point when they tried to lower the Stepney that I realised that this simple request to oil the mechanism was also not carried out. It took them some effort and they used RUST-OFF to get the mechanism going and they took care of this small but relevant issue for me which should have been done at the service centre. What a Shame !
5) The mechanics could not believe me when I informed them that I had come straight from the service centre. They were shocked and could not fathom how the mechanics at Maruti had not informed me that the shock absorbers needed work / maybe even replacement. I told them that I had explicitly asked the service team to check the shock abs and no one informed me there was any issues with the same. They pushed the front of the car down – either side - to show me that there were issues with the shock abs. This was the most hard hitting of all the follies because if the shock abs are not working as they are supposed to it severely compromises the handling of the car and therefore can be life threatening for the occupants. How could the team NOT HAVE checked the shock-abs? I really fail to understand this. Now, I will have to spend time again to go and give the car to a Garage ( going back to Vitesse is out of the question) and I will have to be without a car for a couple of days, there will be test drives by the mechanics after the shock-abs are replaced and once again the interiors will get soiled and I will have greasy finger-prints on the steering and gear knob etc. So the entire sham of the interior cleaning will be brought to nought.
6) It was last evening when I drove back from Saifee Tyres back to Worli (my residence) and it was then I noticed that the headlight adjustment had also not been carried out. It was a request as I thought the mechanics would know how to align the headlamps perfectly as they are trained at Maruti Suzuki institute. But even this small request was not met.
If any of the above requests could not have been carried out or the same was on a chargeable basis, I was not told. If any service was to be charged, I would have agreed as I did for all that was asked of me, if anything could not be carried out by them, it should have been pointed out but was not done. At the time of pick up, when I kept asking them if all my requests have been worked upon or were there any not done, I was promised by Sameer Valve that all requests were successfully worked upon. I was blatantly lied to – on my face – and without thinking that the ruined front screen, the jammed Stepney mechanism, the issues with the shock-abs etc were all things that could lead to troubles for me and my family which commuting in the Ertiga.
Such fake promises and lies make me doubt whether the engine oil / brake oil / coolant / gear oil / oil filter / AC filter etc were actually replaced or I have been cheated in all these too. Just charged me and let the earlier oils / filters etc remain with just some top-ups made. I am in two minds to actually take my car to another reputed Garage and get all these checked if they have actually been replaced and if not, they file a police complaint for cheating and also to the consumer forum for deficiency of services provided against full payment.
I am weighing my options and am very much inclined to report the above to the Consumer forum and seek damages and seek other compensations for the fake promises and lies that were fed to me. I have photos of the initial noting’s made when I was dropping the car as well as the WhatsApp exchanges with Sameer which will more than prove all my averments hereinabove to be factual.
I have lost my complete faith in Vitesse – someone from whom we had purchased our first Maruti (original Japan import Suzuki actually) in 1984 (MFA 1416 & MFA 1211 – these were the 2 cars we were allotted in a lottery basis).
Even roadside Garages don’t cheat in this manner – the way the Vitesse team cheated me at Prabhadevi. Sameer Valve should be sacked for his lackadaisical attitude towards the client and shirking his responsibilities.
This is not the last from me – I am also in the mood to copy paste all this on various blog sites for other Maruti customers to be aware of such let downs.
Yogesh Dhameja
Maruti Suzuki India customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.
