There is a huge issue with us auto fanatics - attention to detail. And as we love and pamper our cars, we have a certain level of expectation from the Authorized Service Centres that we give our cars to (being referred to 'ASC' hereon). My mother drives a 2016 Honda City CVT and her usage is quite heavy. We got the car in February 2016 and since it has covered over 20,000 kms. Very happy with the car, but I wish I could say the same about the Service and repair experience with Honda.
About 2 weeks back, while in bumper to bumper traffic, a silver swift rear-ended the Honda and left a big crack on the bottom left of that huge bumper. Slight arguments followed, but we decided to not really waste time and give the car in to an ASC and claim insurance on it as the front also got some scratches in the impact.
Cut to Ace Honda. To start with, they did not have an appointment for 4 days, so I was left driving a dented car around town (this is where the irritation with the ASC starts). Finally got through one of the service managers there and he asked me to drop the car on Sunday, i.e. 20th Nov'16 and said it would take about 6 days as the insurance papers had to be filled and the 20k kms service was also due. My mother (jjazz) dropped the car off and I noticed an unusual thing with Ace Honda - they gave me two different job cards for the same car and assigned two different managers for the body work and service respectively, note this point as it becomes an issue later.
All was ok until I called them on the following Saturday to check whether the car was ready. This was the first time that I was beginning to realize that this ASC works like a stupid government office - I was told that it would take 2 more days.
After another conversation with the service manager, and him consulting with the other manager, I get a confirmation that the car will be ready at 11 am Tuesday morning. This was good, at least I was getting my car back and I thought it would be close to perfect now. But my hopes were short lived, like my expectations now from Honda ASCs now.
Got there at 11 am and was politely informed that the car was not ready and cleaning was left. This was service manager 1 (SM1) and he further added that he would confirm from service manager 2 (SM2) about the status of the car as SM2 was handling the body work. Waited patiently till about 11 30 am and still there was no sign of the car, no sign of the bill and SM1 along with SM2 were no where to be seen. I started to get slightly agitated with the attitude of the managers there as it was a working day both my mother and I were getting late. Finally, I went around the workshop to look for SM2 and found him standing near the delivery bay, waiting on my car to arrive from the body shop (which was on the first floor of the same building). Upon asking him about how long it was going to take, he told me that it would take 10 - 15 mins for the car to come down a single floor lift and that I should make myself comfortable in the owner's lounge and indulge in some tea/coffee. This really irked me off and I gave him a little piece of my mind. I was not interested in having a gala time at the ASC and it was already half an hour past the time I was to be given to take my car.
There was a slight commotion after that and then SM1 appeared outta nowhere along with the car. This is at 11 45 am and the car is yet to be cleaned and dusted. While it was being cleaned, I started to notice the work done on the car and saw that it was absolutely pathetic, worse than some of the road side mechanics do! The freshly painted rear bumper seemed like a different shade of white altogether, the front bumper seemed like a shody job and there were minor grey paint marks all over the car.
The small grey marks you see below are from the bonnet and there were similar ones through the entire right side of the car. And you know what, thats not even the worst part - here I am standing with SM1 and SM2 asking for an explanation for this and the as**oles are telling me that the car had them from beforehand!! And that I should refer to the job card to verify that. And I guess we all know the problem with that - when a job card is made and any SM does a survey of the scratches and dents on ur car, he does it so beautifully on the paper that when you view it later, it seems like your entire car was already scratched! There has to be a change in this process.
Coming to the front bumper, the picture below show the 'touch-up' done by ASC and another subsequent grey spot on the fog lamp case. I dont even know how they manage all this. The white paint applied on the scratch was already pealing, even before I took delivery.
Here is another 'touch-up'. What expertise, truly meeting Japanese quality standards!
After repeated arguments and me asking for the body shop manager, he finally emerged. Initially he also started giving me all sorts of BS about this and that and how they body shop is extremely careful and its not possible for such a thing to happen - must say it was a script he seemed well versed with. Finally, after me putting some pressure and telling him how I will write down my experience about this pathetic experience, he calmed down and took two steps back. Told me to come back at 12 45 pm and that I would find the car ready. Messed up, ruined one half of a productive working day and no one seems to care about it. It seemed that when Honda calls their customers to take delivery of their car, they expect them to clear the entire day's schedule and just be there only. Extremely unprofessional!
My mother and I went to have a cup of coffee at a nearby Costa until then and by god's grace by 12 45 pm, the car was ready. But wait, this is not the end of it. Here is an image of what they used to clean the paint splashes off my car. No words for their complete lack of knowledge and skill.
I did not even bother clicking any more pictures as I was soo annoyed and extremely disappointed with Ace Honda. Just wanted to get my car from there and leave. Never going back there.
And guess what, this was not my first bad experience with them - when I had bought the car on 11th February, I was one of the privileged customers who drove the car straight from the showroom to the workshop as it had an alignment issue. Brilliant, right? I am done ranting now.
Please suggest a better Honda ASC in Delhi, if anybody here knows.
About 2 weeks back, while in bumper to bumper traffic, a silver swift rear-ended the Honda and left a big crack on the bottom left of that huge bumper. Slight arguments followed, but we decided to not really waste time and give the car in to an ASC and claim insurance on it as the front also got some scratches in the impact.
Cut to Ace Honda. To start with, they did not have an appointment for 4 days, so I was left driving a dented car around town (this is where the irritation with the ASC starts). Finally got through one of the service managers there and he asked me to drop the car on Sunday, i.e. 20th Nov'16 and said it would take about 6 days as the insurance papers had to be filled and the 20k kms service was also due. My mother (jjazz) dropped the car off and I noticed an unusual thing with Ace Honda - they gave me two different job cards for the same car and assigned two different managers for the body work and service respectively, note this point as it becomes an issue later.
All was ok until I called them on the following Saturday to check whether the car was ready. This was the first time that I was beginning to realize that this ASC works like a stupid government office - I was told that it would take 2 more days.
After another conversation with the service manager, and him consulting with the other manager, I get a confirmation that the car will be ready at 11 am Tuesday morning. This was good, at least I was getting my car back and I thought it would be close to perfect now. But my hopes were short lived, like my expectations now from Honda ASCs now.
Got there at 11 am and was politely informed that the car was not ready and cleaning was left. This was service manager 1 (SM1) and he further added that he would confirm from service manager 2 (SM2) about the status of the car as SM2 was handling the body work. Waited patiently till about 11 30 am and still there was no sign of the car, no sign of the bill and SM1 along with SM2 were no where to be seen. I started to get slightly agitated with the attitude of the managers there as it was a working day both my mother and I were getting late. Finally, I went around the workshop to look for SM2 and found him standing near the delivery bay, waiting on my car to arrive from the body shop (which was on the first floor of the same building). Upon asking him about how long it was going to take, he told me that it would take 10 - 15 mins for the car to come down a single floor lift and that I should make myself comfortable in the owner's lounge and indulge in some tea/coffee. This really irked me off and I gave him a little piece of my mind. I was not interested in having a gala time at the ASC and it was already half an hour past the time I was to be given to take my car.
There was a slight commotion after that and then SM1 appeared outta nowhere along with the car. This is at 11 45 am and the car is yet to be cleaned and dusted. While it was being cleaned, I started to notice the work done on the car and saw that it was absolutely pathetic, worse than some of the road side mechanics do! The freshly painted rear bumper seemed like a different shade of white altogether, the front bumper seemed like a shody job and there were minor grey paint marks all over the car.
The small grey marks you see below are from the bonnet and there were similar ones through the entire right side of the car. And you know what, thats not even the worst part - here I am standing with SM1 and SM2 asking for an explanation for this and the as**oles are telling me that the car had them from beforehand!! And that I should refer to the job card to verify that. And I guess we all know the problem with that - when a job card is made and any SM does a survey of the scratches and dents on ur car, he does it so beautifully on the paper that when you view it later, it seems like your entire car was already scratched! There has to be a change in this process.
Coming to the front bumper, the picture below show the 'touch-up' done by ASC and another subsequent grey spot on the fog lamp case. I dont even know how they manage all this. The white paint applied on the scratch was already pealing, even before I took delivery.
Here is another 'touch-up'. What expertise, truly meeting Japanese quality standards!
After repeated arguments and me asking for the body shop manager, he finally emerged. Initially he also started giving me all sorts of BS about this and that and how they body shop is extremely careful and its not possible for such a thing to happen - must say it was a script he seemed well versed with. Finally, after me putting some pressure and telling him how I will write down my experience about this pathetic experience, he calmed down and took two steps back. Told me to come back at 12 45 pm and that I would find the car ready. Messed up, ruined one half of a productive working day and no one seems to care about it. It seemed that when Honda calls their customers to take delivery of their car, they expect them to clear the entire day's schedule and just be there only. Extremely unprofessional!
My mother and I went to have a cup of coffee at a nearby Costa until then and by god's grace by 12 45 pm, the car was ready. But wait, this is not the end of it. Here is an image of what they used to clean the paint splashes off my car. No words for their complete lack of knowledge and skill.
I did not even bother clicking any more pictures as I was soo annoyed and extremely disappointed with Ace Honda. Just wanted to get my car from there and leave. Never going back there.
And guess what, this was not my first bad experience with them - when I had bought the car on 11th February, I was one of the privileged customers who drove the car straight from the showroom to the workshop as it had an alignment issue. Brilliant, right? I am done ranting now.
Please suggest a better Honda ASC in Delhi, if anybody here knows.
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