How not to sell a car- the German way!
This is about Volkswagen a company regarded as one of the best car makers in the world. I am planning to buy a new car. I wanted to test drive a Vento. I went to my neighbourhood dealer “downtown Prabhadevi in Mumbai”. The first visit was funny. I went in sat in all the cars on display and walked out but no sales guy or the reception staff bothered to ask if I was interested in the product! I was in a hurry so I left. I went back on last Sunday, and same thing happened. I asked the lady at the reception whether I could test drive a Vento and she asked me to wait as everyone was busy. I asked roughly what would be the waiting time and she just shrugged her shoulders! I decided to walk out and sensing the move a gentleman appeared. He said the car was in workshop and hence could not be test driven, and told me to call him to arrange a test drive. I am self employed professional and on a Saturday I started calling this guy but the phone was switched off. I called the landline number and I was told I will get a cal back. A guy called Mukesh called up to tell me that there were no cars available today but I could try tomorrow. When I said send the car around he said they do not send the car out on Sundays! When asked to about a senior manager the reply was “I am not allowed to do that”! He finally gave me an email id only.
I have heard before that Volkswagen has no corporate structure in India and god forbid you have an issue with your car the dealer is the only level you can deal with. Many customers have written about the hard ship. This is again a warning to Volkswagen customers, deal carefully.
I can’t buy a vehicle if the first touch point is so bad.
Is Volkswagen listening?