Earlier this week, Team-BHP member ROG_AK sent his car, Maruti Baleno RS for its 2nd free service at Mandovi Motors in Bangalore. Like it happens usually these days, ROG_AK delivered the car to the service station and later in the day, the service station dropped it back to ROG_AK’s specified address.
While giving the car for delivery, ROG_AK mentioned that there was no problem as such with the car, only that during a cold start, there was a petrol smell. He requested the service manger to look into it while performing the service.
As expected, later in the day ROG_AK gets his car back, delivered by the service center. He takes the car’s delivery. Here is the twist. What the service center did not know, is ROG_AK had installed a camera inside the car and it was recording everything.
After getting his car back, ROG_AK checked the recorded footage, and he was shocked to find out that nothing had been done to his car in the name of service. All the service center had done was wash his car. Below is the footage ROG_AK has shared on YouTube.
Below is a breakdown of events as they occur in the video footage above, shared by ROG_AK –
– The video starts when ROG_AK hands over the car to service advisor and tells him not to polish the car from inside. He also reminds about the petrol smell issue. After this, owner leaves.
– The car is taken inside the service center
@57 seconds, just as the service advisor is reversing the car into the service bay, you can here one person shouting ‘washing washing’. To this, the service advisor shouts back ‘the customer is still in the service station. let him leave.’ After this, the two start talking which is not relevant to ROG_AK’s car.
@1.45 the service advisor as made sure that ROG_AK has left the place. They now move the car to washing area. The person on the phone you see, is the service manager. All is happening in front of him.
@ 3:53 the car is waiting in line at the washing area. There is a person in the car, who says he is feeling hot and turns the AC to the lowest temp and max fan. ROG_AK says, “I myself have never used the AC at full blast! The car is sitting idle for several minutes with the AC at max speed. When I first watched the video I though they might have been vacuuming the car but I realized later that this was the sound of the AC because the sound is there almost throughout the entire washing process.”
@ 11:17 they notice the dashcam. But are not sure if it is recording or note.
@ 14:11 this is the first time the bonnet is opened, to clean the engine bay.
@ 15:23 Lunch time. Mechanics use the car to eat their lunch. (WTF!)
@ 18:32 Mechanics and cleaners are doing time pass inside the car. Service advisor tells them to get out of the car as camera is recording.
@ 18:45 Car leaves washing area to be parked in the delivery area. The driver of the car asks service advisor, ‘is this car not serviced?’ There is no reply.
@ 21:34 Car is getting its final clean done
@ 25:49 Formalities done. Driver told to deliver car to owner.
So as you can see the car never went inside the workshop again for any kind of fluid checking or inspection whatsoever! They didn’t even pull out the dipstick and check the oil level! To make matters worse they blatantly lied and ticked all the boxes in the manual. – ROG_AK
ROG_AK adds. “After watching the video I went back the next day and confronted the service manager (the person you see talking on the phone in the beginning of the video) and showed him the video. He reacted in a very sympathetic way and told me that these kind of things don’t usually happen and it is their responsibility to check everything etc etc and he will take action on the people concerned. I told him that I am sure you guys do this for all first and second service vehicles because nothing really happens in those services anyway and the customer would not know. The attitude of the manager was very humble and understanding (might have been an act). I told him that I was taking the car for a long trip next week and what if something had happened and if that something could have been found and fixed at the service. He apologized repeatedly after which he conducted the service and did what they were supposed to do in the first place.”
What has happened above, is not acceptable. And it is not only Maruti. Such instances have occurred with other brands as well. A car owner trusts you with his / her car when they leave it at the dealership. Probably this is why there are many owners who would make sure that they are at the service station when their car is getting serviced.
Do share your thoughts in the comments section below.
