Volkswagen India — Compliant Regarding Poor Service of SUSEE, Tirunelveli

Dear Sir, I am Dr. J.D. Darwin, a Mechanical Engineer, presently working as Principal in an Engineering College with good reputation in the society. I own a Volswagen Vento High Line (TN 74 AA 9339) for the past 3.5 years. On 14th January 2015 my car met with an accident in Nagercoil and the car was sent to the Tirunelveli distributor SUSEE for the repair & recovery. The accident happened on 14.01.2015, the 2nd day after the 60, 000 km service was done by the Susee Automotive Pvt. Ltd. on 12th January 2015. After the service the car was in good condition without any problem. The engine gasket has been replaced according to their suggestion. But after the accident, when the car was there in the service station, I encountered a lot of issues with the people there. The issues are listed below. i. Mr. Ramanathan, the body shop manager, was irresponsible in providing necessary information about the service requirements. He rarely attends my phone call and provides fake information. ii. Mr. Vinodh, the service manager, provides irrelevant information and he used to criticize me for any question raised. iii. When the car was taken for service they promised me to deliver the car within 30days. Finally after a long struggle for about 4 months, I got my car delivered on 9th May 2015. I was shocked to see my car due to the following reasons. Susee Automotive Pvt. Ltd. didn’t care for the satisfaction of the customer. The stickers on the window glass which were pasted to close the window opening on the event of accident were not removed and when I asked them, they told me that the stickers cannot be removed. But when I scratched with my nails it went off, without creating any mark on the paint. The paint of the car that hit my car appeared over the Teflon coat in my car and when I asked them to clear it, they told me that it was not under the insurance cover. But when I rubbed it with a cloth and cleaning solution, it disappeared. I paid for Teflon coating separately. They haven’t even cleaned the floor mat inside my car properly, even though I paid separately for the interior cleaning. The engine has a noise that sounds like an old lorry / tempo. The car automatically rises in RPM level when it is in ON state. The front left seat window glass has got stuck and it cannot be opened. In the bill Rs. 32, 000/- has been charged for replacing the entire right side frame. But it seems only a portion is replaced and the remaining portions are with the same old scratches. The vibration of body is felt very badly. These things happened after the insurance amount has been claimed and a huge extra amount of Rs. 1, 03, 000/- (One Lakh & Three Thousand) paid from my pocket. To my disappointment even after a heavy claim from the insurance & from my hand, these people couldn’t carry-out simple repair works stating that it was very risky. There were no enough service engineers in the service station. I love my car and I didn’t want to give it up even under the suggestion from my well-wishers after the accident. But due to lack of service by these heartless people I hate driving my car. You might think that, the accident would be so horrible that it has taken around 4 months to recover the vehicle. The accident just happened while I was inside my car which was parked in front of a school and a Volkswagen Polo that came that way hit my car. As a Doctorate in mechanical engineering, I don’t understand the need for 4 months to repair a vehicle when 25 Volkswagon cars are coming out every 60 minutes. I am not an illiterate person to believe whatever they say. I feel ashamed to tell that the Volkswagen service station (Susee Automotive Pvt. Ltd., Tirunelveli) itself couldn’t do well. The Volkswagen service station should be ashamed to run a service station, without enough workers with them. I wonder how a world class car manufacturing company has given the dealership to such a low rated showroom with no one taking up the responsibility. Prior to this for more than 20 years, I have owned other brand cars and out of them this is the worst service station I have ever seen. I need compensation for the reckless work and for the delay in delivery. I expect proper immediate response from the authorities, failing which I will be forced to seek social media for attention.