Dear Michelin team,
Its been a highly painful experience being a Michelin customer.Trusting with the brand name and the quality you offer in the International Market i bought 4 tyres of Michelin almost 1.3 years back.The tyre was brought from Trivandrum, Kerala.The name of the dealer was Travancore Tyres/Travancore wheel club.I have spend close to Rs.43000 for the tyres as per the claim that these are premium tyres and provide high durability.
Hardly My Vehicle ran 13000 Kms from the date of purchase of the new tyres, to my surprise one of the tyres developed a crack on the side.This has come to my notice when the tyre air pressure was getting checked .The crack was expanding and seems to be highly dangerous.I visited the dealer 0n 9/9 /2021 at 11am and after checking the tyres, the shop manager (a lady) has informed me that it was an expanding and volatile crack and to my luck the crack has not penetrated deep and so the air was not getting leaked. Multiple photos of the tyre was taken and they have retained the tyre at the dealers outlet and the vehicle was fitted with a stepney tyre which is the 5 year old Appollo tyre-which ran very low Kms.I was told that with in 1 working day(by 10th) the replacement /warranty coverage details will be confirmed and i can get a new tyre.
I also informed the vendor that being Covid time the entire family is moving on this vehicle and it would be a great help if it can be serviced at the earliest.She assured me the best possible option at the earliest.
I called the dealer on Friday 10th evening and to my surprise she told me that the Michelin Area Manager has not yet responded and they are awaiting for his response. I again tried on Saturday-11th September and she told that no solution has been provided by Michelin Area Manager.I again called the office on Monday(13th September) which is almost 4 days after, understanding the situation and since there was no other way she had given the number of the Area manager and the name of the person is Shibin-Mobile no-[protected].I called the area manager at 2.13 Pm on13th September and he informed that my query is still under process. he also informed that to his knowledge i will get maximum of 25% refund .I was completely shocked and surprised by the statement of the Area Manager and i felt that as a customer i was getting cheated as the product is still under warranty period.Based on the discussion he promised me to reconsider the best possible option and asked me to wait.
By evening 5.30 Pm on 13th September i got a message from VK-MICHE stating that the tyre details has been received and the case number is 02454961.From the message i have realized that the complaint has been registered then only and all these days my valuable time was wasted and i was being given false assurances.
As a customer understand my situation i made a claim on Thursday 20 th of September at 11Am and iam getting a response almost after 5 days and that too after rigorous follow up.Team-Kindly remember that the product we are dealing here is Tyres and not mobile phones where in the replacement/serviceability should be done urgently as its a life threatening one.
On Wednesday -15th September nearly after 2 days i waited for the call of the Area manger but i didnt get any response.By evening 6pm i made a call to him and he bluntly told that the claim has been settled and the maximum refund possible is rs.3540 which is approximately 20-25%The second statement was that Michelin has stopped importing the particular brand of tyre to India and using the money its better that i buy other brands like Bridgestone.I was shocked by his statement and i again asked whether he is a dealer or an employee of Michelin itself.I also requested him whether any mail or SMS response can be provided .He told that my mail id [protected]@gmail.com has been updated wrongly in the system and he promised to get the details corrected and provide the same the very next day morning -thats 16th.
By 16th evening since i didnt get any response i called him but the call was not answered.I have send him whats app messages since i didnt get any response i called up the customer care number and spoke to Mr.Santhosh.He was patient enough to listen to my queries and was very helpful.This was the only happy moment i had with Michelin as far as customer relationship is considered.He told me that i will be getting a call back from the technical team and the area manager .he has also told me that the name of the Area Manage is Mohammed and not Shibin I.I was again caught by surprise and as i was calling the Area manager by the name Shibin all these days.
After 15 Mins Santhosh again called me and informed that Mr.Mohammed alias Shebin is extremely busy and thats the reason why he could not attend the call.Mean while i got reply to my whats app message from Shibin that the there is Technical issue and thats the reason for not responding so far.( I have voice recordings of all the calls and iam ready to share up on request)
By 5.50Pm today i got a mail from Mohammed stating that the claim is outside the scope of warranty and the crack has been caused not because of any design failure or manufacturing defect. and as a good will Michelinn is refunding Rs.3477.Evening i got a call at 8.30pm in the night which i didnt pick up.
This is absolutely a case of cheating the customer and how can you confirm that the crack was developed not because of manufacturing defect by only seeing the photos of the tyre and not even analyzing the product.As claimed by the Call center Team iam yet to get any calls from your Technical team..and the waiting continues.
Hardly it has ran 13000 Km and such a durable tyre(as per your claim) has developed a crack with in 1.2 years.Even if i want to purchase the tyre your employee is telling that such a category of tyre is not being sold by Michelin in India any more.What should i do??All these days i was made to run around Pillar to post with out any proper response.
My kid, my wife and my aged parents are regularly travelling in the car and considering the Covid situation we use the vehicle for long distance travel.I cant even imagine what would have been the situation if the tyre has bursted mid away .Myself and my family's life was at stake all these days.
By default the My vehicle was loaded with Appollo tyres and it was providing excellent comfort, quality and assurance.Never had an issue with the tyres.I trusted the Brand Michelin an as a customer i was treated very badly at all stages .Whats the guarantee that the other tyres wont rupture during the normal course.
I demand a compensation and explanation for wasting my precious time and also i demand 100% refund of the amount or replacement of the tyre free of cost.
Awaiting your reply.
regards
Vivek
Michelin India customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.
