My recent review reproduced:-
Collected my car 06 Aug 10. I had paid an advance to book my choice of model and color and so I assumed that I am being given a brand new piece - and that’s what the dealer assured me too. Delivered after a grand ceremony, I drove out feeling very grand indeed. Five km from the showroom - and then came the first big shock - SPEEDOMETER NOT WORKING! Alarm bells came a-ringing. I called the sales guy and tried to keep calm as he explained it as a human error, saying SPEEDO CABLES ARE CONNECTED ONLY JUST BEFORE DELIVERY! Indigestible - DEALERS ARE ALLOWED TO FIDDLE WITH SPEEDO CABLES? It was getting late, so I went to the showroom next morning.
The whole staff came to floor me with various reasons when I questioned them. I asked the CEO that since I had been assured of a fresh piece against my advance booking, could I be shown the date when the car was delivered at Lucknow. Yes! They keep the records and he would get it pronto! He came back with a sheaf of papers and then the sales guy took him to a side and whispered something, and thereafter, he just could’nt find the required papers - they must be somewhere being processed.
Then came another surprise - he offered to replace my car with the only other Linea Emotion D then available - a maroon one. I should have read the hoarding on the wall - and I am today feeling so stupid that I did not! Instead, I took it as a sign of sincerity! I came home in the same car.
Much to my expectation, the car is a delight to drive. I’ve already done 3000km. It sails, it makes music on the road. My wife enjoyed driving it too - never having driven anything besides our good old M800, she was scared’coz of the size and had to be pushed into the driver’s seat. 10km later she did’nt want to give-up that seat for anything. Reason - it gives that firm, reliable feel and seems to say softly - "just let your worries fly - I’m there with you!" Ofcourse, I’ve fallen in love with this beauty already!
There’s more heart-breaks in the affair. I discovered one day - paint chipping from below the stem of left rear-view mirror! I checked further and found paint smears on the stem. On opening the door I checked the hinges and there were wrench marks on the bolt-heads! I moved my hand over the left front door and one area about 15" x 6" felt a little rough, as against the rest of the smooth paint work! The right front door did not have any such marks. Sure enough, the left front door was damaged, and then repaired and repainted before being sold to me.
I called the CEO of Goldrush Sales, Lucknow, and guess what he tells me now - "I told you to change the car! Now its too late!" Did he tell me to change it because it was a damaged car? No! He told me then it was only to clear any’beham’. The response was what was the most shocking part of the episode.
I have e-mailed the complaint to as many addresses at Tata Fiat. No response till date!
I shall have to raise the level. If anyone knows how to get about these people - please advise!