Air bags with airs, not air!
It was one fateful day some months back. Little did I realise that the friendly flyover that I frequented all the time had a nightmare lurking in the mists of the unknown. As I went up the elevation in my Honda Accord, my wind screen showed me the hazy outline of a Santro charging from the wrong end (a common sight in India and the cause of many a mishap everyday).
Before I realised, my Accord had a head-on collision with the Santro taxi. Luckily, on my side, only the car was damaged. The Santro driver was however badly injured and thrown on the wind screen of his car.
I was saved since I had pressed the emergency brakes, had worn seat belts and had held on to the steering wheel tightly to prevent being pushed forward. While my common sense did not fail me in the moment of panic, something else did... something that was supposedly mechanised to come to my rescue – the airbags. The passenger-side airbags did come out but refused to blow up. The driver-side airbags were even more adamant – they remained motionless in their cocoon, despite the fact that the impact of the accident was on the driver side.
So there I was, left to the mercy of fate. But the horror story did not end there. The on-road disaster paled into insignificance before the off-road terror that waited to greet me. Going by the “Honda” brand name, I was rest assured of prompt service – in fact, after such life-threatening experiences; prompt customer service is a foregone conclusion, one that needs no effort to seek it. Honda’s service quality has been shocking at best and nauseating at worst. The diversity of their excuses is no less than a litany of head-on collisions:
“Airbags may not open, if the accident is not major”. “It’s quite possible that only one-side airbags blow up”. “Seat belts are the primary safety instrument, aren’t they?” And in the name of customer service, all they have for you is a heap of apologies.
While they doubt the severity of the collision, their own estimates prove them wrong. They have placed the number and extent of parts/components damaged to be around 1/4th of the car’s cost – how’s that possible without a major accident. And if the driver side airbags do not inflate even under such a situation (not even to stage-1 level), when do they inflate? Have they been programmed to wait for something worse to happen? And if, for a moment, we agree that the malfunction of the safety system can be a matter of debate, how can the poor quality of service be?
The sequence of my interaction with their help line (or the lack of it) sums up my plight. During the night of the accident, Honda’s Delhi numbers (011-39898918) are found on voice recording. Shouldn’t there be a 24-hour customer service help line, ideally for all but at least for premium car owners? The next morning, I call the same number and register the accident information (record number 80900294). No response from Honda still. Another call the following day. No response. After an email communication with multiple Honda ids, I receive a call from one Mr. Kuljit of Arya Honda Dealership. But no help as yet.
One Mr. Jim comes into the picture, but no proper response, replies keep going back and forth. Multiple deadlines missed till Jim disappears with a promise to “get back”. Jim not contactable on numbers given (0120-2341315, 2341310, 2341322). Why aren’t these numbers reachable? Apparently, only incoming facility available on some of these lines. Jim surfaces again, following another email sent to multiple Honda ids, and apologizes for the delay. “I was on leave”, he says. Jim is kind enough, this time round, to lend me his mobile number.
Things don’t move ahead, I am forced to serve a legal notice, post which few Honda executives meet me in Mumbai on 30th September, 2009. Months passed since the incident and the situation was unresolved. I have had several interactions with: one Mr. Robin (if I remember his name correctly), more than one tele-caller, Arya Honda sales team. And of course Mr. Jim.
Atlast Mr. Majed Ali, Mr. Surjeet Sachdeva and D. Sengottu Velu meet me for discussions in Mumbai (not to mention the towing people, Reay Road branch and related parties). - I wasn’t even offered a spare car during this period... especially in a matter pending for so long, an aggrieved customer at the other end and a legal notice served. - After discussions in Mumbai, a spare car promised to be made available to me but nine days pass, no car in sight.
Finally, I get a spare car after one more reminder. When a premium car owner at that, can suffer for extended periods, I can very well imagine the plight of the ‘not so’ resourceful car owners. And after all the tomfoolery, they have the audacity to point out that complimentary towing service comes with the New Accord – since my model is older, towing service is my lookout. Honda apologised for poor service but my misery continued.
I was indirectly conveyed a simple message from Honda, “Just accept the apology, we’re sorry. You know how long legal battles take in this country.” The tagline of Honda proudly proclaims, ‘The Power of Dreams’
The power of dreams...is the horror of reality!