am a doctor in the Defence services, presently posted to Mumbai. I am writing this to apprise you and complain about the most horrid experience that I have had to face at Maruti’s dealership – Manan Autolink Pvt Ltd at Navrangpura in Ahmedabad. I was denied the delivery of my car at the very last moment after all the arrangements for the same were done by me as mentioned in paragraphs below. I had been interacting with Mr Kaushal Goradiya of Manan Autolink regarding Maruti Suzuki Ertiga ZXI, which I was to buy through CSD. I had first spoken with him in Jan 2013 when after speaking over phone he had emailed me regarding the procedure of the delivery of the car through CSD. Subsequently, I was in constant touch with him through emails and phone, and on 13 Mar 13, I paid Rs 10,000/- as booking amount as was demanded by Manan Autolink, and booked Maruti Suzuki Ertiga ZXI of Granite Grey colour. I was repeatedly promised by Mr Kaushal that the car would be available within 4 weeks from booking. Therefore, I informed Mr Kaushal that I would be arriving in Ahmedabad on 15 Apr 13 for CSD formalities and delivery of the car, which he agreed to. In fact, even during his recent visit to Mumbai along with his colleagues, he vehemently approved my itinerary, when I reiterated the same to them. To the extent that when I told them that the date of delivery of the car has to be sacrosanct on 15 Apr 13, his colleague even said that there would be no problems, and that the car would be sourced from a co-dealer if required. The reason I am dwelling upon this is that getting leave in the Defence services is a task, which requires diligent planning to be undertaken well in advance. I also reminded them that the Special Sanction for the purchase of car through CSD is time-bound, and any delay would severely affect all my plans. Anyways, I managed to secure some leave relying on the promises given by Mr Kaushal; and likewise I also went ahead and made travel arrangements and accommodation arrangements both in Ahmedabad and Daman since I was to carry out the Permanent Registration of the car at Daman. However, my worst fears were to come true! On 12 Apr 13, on the very eve of my travel to Ahmedabad, and that too only after I had made the Demand Draft for the amount of the car in favour of CSD, Mr Kaushal’s colleague called up to ‘casually’ inform that Ertiga ZXI is available only in Silver colour, which they wanted to offer me in lieu of Granite Grey. I was shocked at his extreme callousness, since I had been persistent, to the extent of being nagging, regarding specifics of the car and the delivery schedule during all my written and verbal communication with Mr Kaushal. I had reconfirmed with him time and again about the dates (due to paucity of my leave), as well as the colour of the car and other aspects such as allied charges and basic accessorisation. At this eleventh hour, when my leave was approved, and that of my working wife’s; when travel and accommodation arrangements were tied up; the DD to CSD was made; his insensitive statement that Ertiga is not available in Granite Grey is simply unprofessional and pathetic in business terms. My grave concern is that when I paid the booking amount on 13 Mar 13, Manan may not have booked a Granite Grey Ertiga ZXI in my name. If that is so, what is the purpose of the booking amount? Maruti dealerships in Mumbai are able to deliver Ertiga ZXI in Granite Grey in a week’s time – so I am sure the problem does not lie in Maruti Suzuki but instead at Manan, which needs to be blamed squarely for this fiasco. I fear that it is only when I called up Mr Kaushal on 11 Apr 13 when he returned to Ahmedabad after his week-long business trip, that he finally realized that I am coming for the Ertiga ZXI on 15 Apr 13; and started looking helter-skelter for one in Granite Grey. Even when I told him on 12 Apr 13 of my serious problems in rescheduling my leave, and cancelling my travel and accommodation arrangements at the last moment, Mr Kaushal only lamely expressed inability to deliver Ertiga ZXI in Granite Grey. He informed me that even his boss has not been able to arrange Ertiga ZXI in Granite Grey colour for me. This half-hearted and insincere response after all the giant promises that were made by him is only reflective of the incompetent, indisciplined and unethical manner of business at Manan. As a matter of fact, when I told Mr Kaushal to refund me the booking amount, he promptly asked me for my bank account details. What I am trying to say is that a dealership worth its salt would flinch before losing a customer. Instead here was one, which could not care less! My experience with Manan Autolink has been downright horrendous; and I would surely not recommend Manan to any of my colleagues in the Defence services. I would guess that Manan needs to introspect big time regarding its customer dealings unless it wants prospective clients in the Defence services (and maybe in civil) to continue with dealers like Kataria and Atul Motors like in the past, who have shown more business acumen and proactive attitude. Inept and unprofessional personnel in the ranks would only harm the vision of a so-called ‘Platinum Maruti Suzuki dealership’. It should be a wake-up call for Maruti Suzuki as well! Maruti dealerships need to be told – “Perform or Lose the dealership”. It is worth mentioning here that my colleagues who have chosen other models over Maruti declare that Honda and Hyundai dealerships offer a far more customer-friendly experience. In fact, even owners of Xylo and XUV swear by their Mahindra dealerships! Quite unlike a prospective Maruti buyer in me who has been left swearing at a dealership!! I was brought up in an India whose development and brilliance was epitomized by a wonder-company called Maruti Suzuki, which told us that even we may dream. Don’t let incompetent outlets like Manan Autolink Pvt Ltd bring disrepute to the company! Don’t let Manan and similarly incapable dealerships dash our dreams!

Regards
promodp@hotmail