From :
Tarun Antony Sasidharan, & Ms. Astha Tarun Antony Sasidharan,
145, Double Storied HIG Complex,
Gyan Khand – IV,
Indirapuram
Ghaziabad – UP
Telephone Nos. 0120-2690214, Mobile: 9910140441, 9818452616
To:
Head Office,
M/s Maruti Suzuki India Limited,
Plot No. 1, Nelson Mandela Road,
Vasant Kunj,
New Delhi – 110 070
Board No.011- 46781000
Fax : 011-46150575/46150276
Subject: COMPLAINT REGARDING THE STANDARD OF SERVICING CARRIED OUT BY THE AUTHORISED SERVICE CENTRES OF M/S MARUTI SUZUKI, I.E.M/S DD MOTORS, JANAK PURI, AND MOTORCRAFT, NOIDA
Dear Sirs,
Please find the copy of a complaint submitted by us regarding our Swift Lxi Vehicle.
Maruti Suzuki is known as a quality manufacturer of cars and their products are purchased with utmost trust as their reliability and trustworthiness on road is a matter of pride for any Indian.
In the past, we owned Maruti Vehicle too. It was in that context, when we wanted to purchase a car for us, our choice was for a Swift Lxi of Maruti Suzuki. Accordingly the same was purchased from M/s.D.D. Motors, Mayapuri, New Delhi for a price of over Rs. 4 Lakhs. The Registration No. and the other details are as under:-
CRM: 0053000005460
1. Registration No. UP-14-AU5787
2. Engine No. G1388N472548
3. Chassis No. MA3EKE41S00396686
Our car Swift Lxi was very sparing used from the date of its purchase, as we were frequently using our other car a Suzuki WagonR Lxi. This is evident from the Speedo Meter reading as on this date, i.e. only 5038 KMs.
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During our usage of the Swift Lxi, and whenever the car came across potholes on the road, we used to hear a strange noise from the left front side of the car. The same issue was showed to Mr. Jatin (D.D.Motors) on May 21 following to which a confirmation was received from him stating that the noise was from the front suspension. It was the First mechanical problem we faced in the car and FRONT SUSPENSION ARM BOTH SIDE R&R was changed as per their bill dated May 22.
During our trip to Delhi on July 16, we experienced an intermittent harsh noise which developed to a continuous one and we were compelled to cancel out trip to Delhi as the noise was very loud, and we brought the car back home.
On reaching home, we contacted MOTOR CRAFT for a date on which we could bring the car and get a confirmation as to what that sound was? Accordingly, they asked us to take the vehicle to their Office at Sector-F8&9 Sector-8, NOIDA01 on July 21. But due to non-availability of my husband, Mr. Tarun Antony Sasidharan, on that date, the car was taken by him to them on July 23. Due their preoccupation of a lot of cars already in their office, we were asked to take the car to them on July 28, and the car was positioned in their office accordingly on July 28.
On July 28 itself they checked with a few mechanics and supervisors, and confirmed to us that it was a problem with the GEAR BOX and was asked to leave the car with them for necessary actions. My husband handed over the car to them and they promised to keep us updated with the details, but it was not done at all. We had to take initiatives repeatedly to call Mr. Zahir of M/s Motor Craft who had taken the charge of the car and from whom we were able to get the updates.
On August 08, my husband was called by the receptionist of M/s Motor craft to go and collect our vehicle. When we reached M/s Motor Craft, we were told that there was still a humming noise in the car’s GEAR BOX due to the new part which was changed.
When A QUESTION was put to them, “WHY THE NOISE IS THERE WHEN THE PART IS CHANGED??? ”. They said the sound is from some bearing that they had changed in the gearbox (Copy of the bill is attached), and we were asked to drive the car for about 400-500 Kms and assured us that the noise level would vanish. But the noise remained abnormally high throughout. But we were repeatedly assured by the supervisors from M/s MOTOR CRAFT that there was nothing to worry and the noise would gradually cease.
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I took the vehicle home with the humming sound and it used to be a bit noisy, The vehicle was normally not driven more as it was stated earlier that we normally use our other car, Wagon-R (Registration No. )
In between this Swift car was taken by us to our Office at the IGI Airport for 2 days, during which we found the sound was not receding, and it remained constant during my journey to and fro, my office.
On the August 28, we met Mr. Vimal Awasthi (Motorcraft) and informed him that we were going out of station and will be taking the Swift for our journey, which will make the vehicle to run for around 400 kms and that the noise should probably lower down as they had promised and Mr. Vimal assured us not to worry and to go ahead.
On August 29 at 0500 hrs. me and my husband departed Delhi towards Jaipur, and after traveling about 190 KMs the sound in the vehicle started increasing enormously, but as we had been promised by the Engineers at M/s Motorcraft, and as we had the faith in them, we moved on hoping the sound would decrease. After traveling about 197 kms, all of a sudden the same harsh noise was heard to be increasing from the car again, and we were forced to stop the vehicle. After stopping and visually inspecting the car from underneath for any obstacle getting attached on the car and finding nothing underneath, we continued our journey again. But all of a sudden at around 0715 hrs. within the next 2 kms, the car started shaking, with a continuous thud sound from the front side of the car which made us scared, and we had to lower down the speed to 45 kmph resulting to which a fast moving truck on the highway nearly missed us…. It was a life scary situation there.
Finding myself was scared and shivering, my husband stopped the car on the side of the Highway around 42 Kms from Jaipur, just to inspect the car again for something unusual..
As there was nothing found, again my husband started the car. As soon as he tried to move forward the car, it started shaking vigorously and producing a thud noise from the left front of the car. The car was on a slope on the Highway at a place near Chandwaji which is around 42 kms to Jaipur so he alone could not push the car.
My Husband called up M/s Vimal and Yogender (Motorcraft) after being advised by Mr. Shaji of Motorcraft, as M/s. Vimal and Yogender were his Superiors at the Motorcraft Noida office and was assured that they would surely look into the matter to assist us at the earliest.
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Mr. Yogender (Motorcraft) gave across Maruti’s On road Service Numbers to me who denied on the phone to come and assist us as we were too far from the nearest place of their service center. They asked us to contact Maruti again on the Toll Free #1800 1800 180. for some service center which is closer to us who could bring us to the city from where we will be assisted by Maruti…..
What is important to Maruti Suzuki? As a Customer of Maruti Suzuki the graveness of the situation, the distance of the situation, or the situation in which the customer is made to suffer itself??? We are concluding it the Poorest Customer Handling I would say………
This all had taken around 1 and a half hours and we were virtually stranded on the Highway 24, being on the road and getting traumatized by the situation and giving a mental agony for no fault of us, at a place wherein no one helped us….
I was given the number of Kataria Automobiles by the toll free people, and I contacted them, I was answered very professionally and when I told them about the situation they planned for a quick action, after confirming them about our where about from the ongoing traffic and tea stall owner’s son on the highway, we could guide them to come and help us. Mr. Suresh Kataria (Owner of the Service station) arrived himself with a technician at around 12:25 who checked the car and decided to tow the car to their service station to rectify the mechanical fault if any and to decide what exactly the problem was..
(It was around 5 hours that we were on the road without any proper help and putting us under mental stress continuously and making us to wonder “What’s gone wrong to a brand new car which hasn’t even completed 4500 Kms…and what are we going to do now, also thanking our Luck and God for firstly saving us from the speeding truck and also for the same not happening at the night time wherein we would have been in real danger.”.)
We arrived at Kataria Service Station (AutoZone at Vaishali Nagar). and requested
Mr. Suresh to talk to Mr. Vimal and he informed him that the car was at their station and they would look in to see what the problem was. As we both were exhausted after such a long day of tension, we decided to move out to our Hotel nearby as we were told that there was a major problem with the Gear Box and Crank Shaft, and Mr. Suresh Kataria pacified us that the car was under warranty period, and M/s Maruti Suzuki would look after us with their best Customer Care service and by attending the problem genuinely. We felt very confident when Mr. Suresh Kataria assured us with these words. But as the day being a Saturday, availability of the parts would be an issue. On my request to Mr. Suresh Kataria, he promised to liaise with Mr. Vimal and to get anything, to get the vehicle to be on road as early as possible.
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We called up Mr. Suresh Kataria to ask how the situation looked? He said that they were looking out for some parts, he mentioned to me and had already been mailed to Mr. Vimal Awasthi with the Part serial numbers and required for easy access of the parts.
August 30 being Sunday at about 1130 hrs we called up Mr. Vimal Awasthi (Motorcraft) and he informed that nothing could happen as al the shops were closed and the parts which were required were not available at Jaipur, and he was communicating the details with M/s Kataria Automobiles. Further, I informed Mr. Vimal Awasthi that we had to join Office on the August 31 and the pace at which the things were moving would not allow me to reach Delhi on the August 31. Further Mr. Awasthi was requested to send a car if possible so that we could drive back home with the driver to Delhi or else I would be hiring a taxi to Delhi and would present the bill to Motor Craft for compensation, and requested him to give me time to find out about the taxi and the rates.
Please also take into consideration that even after being in such a lot of troubles we were only calling for answers from Motorcraft, and there were no initiative from them to inform us with the developments.
My Husband telephoned Mr. Awasthi at around 2100 Hrs (9PM) on August 30 and told him about the taxi fare if it was agreeable or to be kind enough to make arrangement to send me a car in the morning enabling us to join our duties on August 31.
Mr. Vimal Awasthi informed us that he was sending the required spare parts from their NOIDA Work Shop to M/s Kataria Automobiles (AutoZone), for getting the car fixed. At the same time we were also answered that we had informed him too late about the fares in a very rude manner. With all these we advised Mr. Vimal Awasthi that were to join our office, and our priorities would be to come back home and their priority should have been to look into an alternate solution on their own with the view of the situation under a loyal customer was in. On this he realized and informed us that he would look into the matter and surely do the needful.
We were called up on August 31 at around 1030 hrs. to inform that there was a team of 3 Engineers reaching Jaipur with a whole gearbox of the Swift in a car (WagonR), which can be fitted in our Swift and it would be driven back to M/s Motor Craft by the same persons after which it would be looked into and to hand over our car to us at the earliest…
The car (a Wagon R) from M/s Motor Craft reached and the engineers met us at Jaipur at around 1715hrs on August 31. The Engineers opened up the bonnet and started to check for something in the engine. We thought they were doing the necessary checks for us to reach back Delhi safely, but to our astonishment, on our enquiry it was told that there was some problem with the car and they were yet to come to conclusion of the fault.
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It was so paining to note that Mr. Vimal Awasthi was not understanding the situation under which two helpless souls would feel at a situation that a car which came to fetch them home was itself in a bad shape. Another factor which was of concern was that there was no commitment of satisfaction given to the customer that M/s Motorcraft would be extending all the help to the stranded customer, and to take us safely to our home and to resume our duties.
After the preliminary inspection of the Car and cleaning the Air filter, Spark plug, etc. the Engineers reported that the WagonR was reported to be completely fit for our journey back home..
Though we were not sure about the reliability of the car which we received we started moving to our home, but the car broke down twice during our journey.
We were already late for the office and had to request for a day’s off from my superiors, as I had reached Ghaziabad at 0130 hrs on September 01.
The engineers from M/s Motorcraft went to Jaipur and brought the Swift back to M/s Motorcraft NOIDA on the September 1 in the night time. We telephoned to
Mr. Awasthi to get the updates of the car. In reply he said that it would take 1 and a half day more for the car to get fixed and would be handed over to us by September 03.
We asked for a vehicle as a backup as there was no car at home, for the family to drive. On September 5 M/s Motorcraft sent across a Maruti Baleno to our residence at Indirapuram as a backup without the following :-
1. Registration Papers
2. Pollution under Control Certificate
3. Coolant in the radiator
4. Insurance Certificate
How a responsible Company could send a backup car without the above for use by a customers who were already made to suffer for no fault of theirs.
We did not use the Maruti Baleno as we did not want to take any further risk by taking the car outside without the proper documents. Suppose the car was to be taken out for an emergency, who would be responsible for the consequences? And who would pay the fines?
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The same car was at home for about 3 days without any of the above even after repeated conversations. The papers were sent across and the vehicle (Baleno) was taken away for servicing and it was requested to not to send the same car to home as it was of no use to us.
On the September 07 when it was asked to Mr. Vimal Awasthi, how long it would take for the Swift to get fixed, we were told that they had information that the Swift was fitted with a part of having wrong Part number, and hence the car was not getting fixed.
So, we have a strong belief that even when we had the initial problem with the car and the humming sound was there, they had used parts of wrong part number in the car which was actually a big negligence on the part of Motorcraft.,
I was called up by Mr. Awasthi in the afternoon on September 11 to go and pick the car up as it was ready…
The above developments are indicative of the following:-
a) That the vehicle was assembled with non-genuine spares.
b) There was utter carelessness at the initial testing of its road worthiness.
c) It has been a source of constant worry, non-reliability, and un-satisfactory status since beginning due to its frequent breakdowns.
d) That the details of facts provided in the foregoing paragraphs confirms the lack of sincerity in the part of M/s DD Motors, & Autocraft, which has simply damaged the reputation of your esteemed company beside providing constant worries to us, your customers.
e) It has lowered my respect in the eyes of my near relatives due to its malfunctioning
f) That has been a constant source of harassment, financial burden on my pocket, unreliability and insecurity rather than giving us confidence while having a car from your reputed company and supporting us with satisfactory customer service.
In view of the above, it is earnestly request your reputed concern to:
1) Kindly get the vehicle mechanically evaluated and certified by your trusted engineers before it is re-delivered to us after repairs.
2) That if need be, it may be got tested at your manufacturing plant against all defects.
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3) The warranty period may please be extended to test its reliability and road worthiness.
4) That a quick and time bound action may be initiated to rectify the defects so that we can repose our faith in your esteemed products.
5) Adequate compensation to be provided to us in consideration to the mental agony, status of stranding on the highway without food and shelter, etc.
6) As there is a strong evidence of repairing the vehicle with parts with a wrong Part Number, an immediate action to replace the vehicle with a new one.
Your esteemed company is requested to take immediate action on this mail and inform us the action your office is contemplating in this regard.
With best wishes,
Yours truly,
(Tarun Antony Sasidharan, & Ms. Astha Tarun Antony Sasidharan)
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