I sent my Car there at "South City Ford", “Ford Ikon” for routine Service.
The car was running absolutely fine & had only minute problems like some sound in the steering while turning & wheel alignment. I also asked them to check the engine belt as few days back it had broken & I got it replaced from a local mechanic on the way. Their executivecame to my home at Dwarka, New Delhi to collect the car. He took the car & later, an advisor called up & told me that the car has major problems with the engine, power steering, suspension etc. “in fact he told me that almost everything in my car needed replacement”.
When asked about the estimated expense, he told me that it requires a lot of work for about Rs 75, 000.00. I asked him not to do all those expensive works & perform just basic service & check if something was really urgent then he may definitely give me a call & make the changes. Sometime later he gave me a call & told that some pulley bearing in the engine was out due to which the belt had broken few days back. Trusting him, I right away asked him to replace that since it was something really urgent. After that I recieved a call at 6.00 PM that the car is ready for delivery. I asked him to get the car delivered at my home & collect the payments against the bill. The same guy, Harish came to my home around 7.30 PM with the car. He gave me the bill of around Rs 6, 800.00. The bill also had charges for a new Engine Belt. When asked about the explanation, he told me the belt broke down on the way while going for the service.
However, I trusted him & made the payment of all the amount billed. Then I asked him to come for a test drive, firstly he was a bit reluctant for that giving excuses of getting late to home. Then I told him that I’ll take a test drive & leave him at the nearby transportation point. He then agreed. While just starting for the drive, I noticed that the car was over-headed & the needle showing temperature was at extreme right i.e. extremely hot. I asked him the reason, he became dumb & had no answers to my questions. He then thought of something & then told me that he’ll get the car collected next morning & then get the problem fixed.
The Next morning no one came to my home to collect the car. When I called the service station, they din’t have any clues about the case. I then collected Satish’s (advisor) mobile number & gave him the call. He replied very bluntly that he’s on leave & cant do anything in this regard. I again called up at the centre & told them my problem, the executive there told me that the car cannot be collected that day & would be collected in next empty slot.
I became very anxious & then came across an online portal http://www.team-bhp.com where I found many ford customers dissatisfied with the quality of service being delivered at the ford service centres. I also came to know about another globally recognized service provider (Name un-disclosed). I then decided to get my car checked from there. From that service station I came to know that the engine got badly damaged due to overheating.
They told me that the Head needs to be checked & may be repaired if damage found. I told them to get it checked. I also came to know that the condition of the head, when opened seemed as if the damage done was intentional. However, I got the car repaired & the total charges that I had to pay were Rs. 18.000.00. here
After all this I wrote to ford - Customer Service, but there also an unsatisfactory response, trying to justify their dealer & not caring about the customer.
I guess, now I’ll have to move to consumer forum only!!!
One more thing, I recieved the mail from Ford India, but these pathetic people at SouthCity didn’t even bother to ask the concerns!!!!*