This email/letter’s purpose is to demonstrate the unacceptable level of service from Trident Automobiles with regards to the vehicle mentioned above. Service levels have been on the decline ever since my Santro was purchased from Trident in May. The latest series of incidents proves my point and deserves further action/resolution from Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
Chronology of Events:-
• Vehicle given to Trident service center Indranagar for routine six month check up on 07 Feb. Repair Order R200701913.
• Horn was tuned but customer not informed about this at time of delivery.
• Horn malfunctions. Car is brought back twice to be fixed.
• No resolution – Customer complains that horn not working. On insistence Mr. Preetham Shetty (service supervisor) dispatches mobile service unit to customer residence and fixes horn – why wasn’t issue fixed correctly the first time around. Poor quality customer service.
• April 14 – Vehicle meets with minor accident – impact into central median. Axle damaged and A/T transmission fluid leak.
• Call made to Hyundai Mobile Service. Mobile Service hand off to tow truck /crane service. Invoice No: 1156, Spot Crane Service.
• Vehicle towed to Sheshadipuram facility. No follow call from mobile service to let customer know if car has safely reached Trident Hyundai Sheshadipuram facility?
• April 16 – no call from body shop re: car condition/estimate. Why?
• Body shop not aware of transmission leakage until customer intimates them. Why?
• Repeated calls made to body shop for estimate – NO RESPONSE.
• April 17 – Estimate number: S200701041 received for total of Rs 3, 20, 386.98 – More than the value of the car and enough to buy a new Santro Xing!!
• Complaint emailed to [email protected] and [email protected] about the over-priced estimate.
• Standard generic response provided from care – no empathy, no one cares!
• Call received from Srinivas from the body shop Sheshadipuruam apologizing and revised estimate faxed.
• April 20 – Revised Estimate: S200701041 received for total of Rs. 58, 884.33 How has estimate dropped suddenly from 3.2 lakhs to 58k? Why the discrepancy?
• Customer gives ok to commence repair work April 20
• April 25 – No follow up calls to give customer repair updates? Why?
• Late April – Call received from Trident Ccare asking how car is after service. Car is not with customer but still in garage. Why does Trident Ccare not have up to date information about repair status? Very unprofessional and irritating.
• Repairs carried out at very slow pace. Estimate covers replacement of axle, suspension, rims and transmission pan and gasket etc. No mention of any torque converter damage/issues.
• May 03 Vehicle ready for delivery on 03/05. Customer requests delivery from Indranagar location instead of Sheshadipurum location.
• NO TEST DRIVE CONDUCTED BY MECHANICS PRIOR TO CUSTOMER DELIVERY.
• Service adviser not aware care is at Indranagar location. Customer made to wait for 3 hours.
• Service adviser in a hurry to get payment. Customer insists on a test drive first.
• PROBLEM:- On Test Drive, Transmission not shifting smoothly. Why was vehicle driven a long distance from Sheshadipurum to Indranagar in such a condition?
• Service advisor Srini runs engine diagnostic – discovers problem with sensor.
• Srini not available the next day. Cust handed over to Preetham Shetty.
• Second Call received from cust care center about perf of car after repair. Once again car is still with Trident – unprofessional and irritating. Cust care and garage not synced on status of vehicles. WHY?
• May 06 – Fault diagnosed – Faulty Solenoid. Part to be ordered from Chennai – Delay of 3-4 working days.
• May 15On Delivery on May 15th, problem not fully fixed. Mechanics give up and don’t know how to strip transmission apart – additional costs. Mention Maruti has easier to fix auto transmissions. Cust pays Rs 55, 360 RO R200702322 and R200706355. Adviser mentions it will cost another Rs 50, 000 to fully fix transmission. Why was this not mentioned earlier??? If Trident Hyundai cannot fix, who can???
• Horn not working. Repeat of issue of Jan 07. Customer not happy.
• No survey provided to customer at time of payment. Why?
• Vehicle still in not 100% driving condition. After 4 weeks in Trident’s care.
• May 25 – Customer checks A/T transmission fluid while engine is running and in Park - Fluid levels at the critical ‘low’ mark. Why?
• May 26 – Vehicle taken back to Hyundai. Service Adviser Preetham Shetty admits A/T fluid not topped up properly when transmission was being inspected/repaired. Tops of fluid. Why was this not done properly?
• Faulty Horn inspected – Invoice D 20070000871 – Preetham advises replacing horn. Cust agrees.
• Vehicle driven back – Left indicator lamp not working properly. Call to Preetham – Left Headlamp assembly wiring not connected after horn replacement. Why???
• Upon customer insistence, electrician dispatched to customer residence and issue resolved. – very sloppy service and sheer negligence on Trident Hyundai’s part.
Questions/Comments:-
• Why did I have to inform the body shop about the transmission leak? Hadn’t they fully inspected the vehicle yet?
• Why is Trident’s follow up system so screwed up? No one has the decency or common courtesy to keep a customer looped in. The Ccare department has no clue about the status of vehicles being serviced. Obviously a reflection of the professionalism and attention to detail Trident stands for??
• Why was there such a variance between estimate number 1 and 2? Regardless of a repair being paid for by cash or insurance claim, an estimate provided should reflect the proper labor and parts charge required to get the vehicle to a 100% fit condition. The damage in my car didn’t’ mysteriously change over night.
• Why was the vehicle driven from Shehsadipuram to Indranagar when the transmission wasn’t fully inspection/work fully completed? Tirdent Hyundai caused further damage to my transmission during that drive and I hold them fully responsible for this.
• Why was the vehicle not test driven prior to delivery?
• Why was an estimate given when the service team did not fully know how to fix the problem? I can assume a FALSE estimate and promise was made to me.
• I was charged Rs 55, 000 and my car is still not a 100% why???
• Why was no survey provided to me at time of payment like they usually do???
• Why was there NO follow up phone call from Ccare after delivery?? Why is Trident not willing to take my feedback? They cannot accept responsibility of their own faults and don’t want you (the manufacturer) to know this! How can this be a trustworthy dealership to do business with – NOT???
• Why the transmission fluid wasn’t fully topped up? Why wasn’t this double checked and I can assume more damage has been caused to my transmission because of this negligent behavior!
• Why wasn’t the headlight assembly put back together after fixing the horn?
• Why does a Hyundai repair team quote Maruti as having easier transmissions to fix? Should I have taken my car to Maruti for repairs? Why kind of customer confidence does this instill?? I can assume Hyundai repair folks can’t fix their own cars!
CONCLUSION:-
Mechanics at Trident Hyundai are NOT following proper checklists or guidelines set forth by Hyundai Motor India Ltd. Work is there for un-professional and incomplete leading to numerous customer issues after service work is under-taken.
Trident Hyundai has not been able to scale with the massive growth in sales volume. Their service centers cannot handle the load and do not have proper qualified personnel to fully satisfy their customers. The dealership slogan “Drive Home a Relationship” is thus false advertising as they cannot deliver what they promise.
What should have been done?
The customer should have been updated at all times about estimate/repair progress. A 4 week turnaround time is unacceptable considering the magnitude of damage in this scenario. Work should have been completed in 2 weeks maximum.
The Trident team should have consulted Hyundai Motor Company India Ltd and diagnosed the problem, reverted back to the customer and endeavored to fix the vehicle instead of wasting time and coming across as ignorant.
Considering the damage caused to my transmission, whilst under Trident care (driving the automobile when unfit to drive, fluid levels lower than permissible levels), Trident Automobiles should fix my transmission free of cost and pay me damages for inconvenience caused. No effort to apologize, provide a rental car or help fix the issue has been suggested thus far by Trident.
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