Hindustan Times
An open letter to Nissan India
A peeved customer writes about the unpleasantness of being a Micra owner.
Dear Nissan
Not sure if you would understand what it means to buy your first car. It’s a lot of emotions… now imagine being hit by another car randomly on the second day of purchase! Bad enough right? Not quite…
So on the very second day of getting my car, my car was hit by another car. So much so that the two doors on the left had to be completely replaced or so we thought. So while at the accident spot, we (me and my dad) tried calling your workshop. Just to know what to do now with it. What were we asked to do… “Bring the car, we will evaluate and let you know”.
Simple rule no 1: when you get a stress call – do not ask the person to do things that may irritate him more. How about tell him “calm down sir. We will surely help you. Where did the accident happen? Let me check if we can send someone over… or if it’s not a problem do you think you can come down to the workshop…” (Trust me the way you handle your phone calls really make a difference)
So we take the car to the workshop which is almost like a never ending drive to another part of the city. You evaluate. You tell us that the car needs to be at the workshop for a week. Obviously we are sort of stumped. A week to replace two doors! Why? That’s because the insurance guy needs to come evaluate and then the work starts. But still why a week!
So the car is sent to the workshop the next day (we couldn’t leave the car and get back home from that god forsaken place) with the driver. When finally the day comes for the delivery, we get a call from the workshop that you will take some more time because of some holiday that had come in between. My point why commit and not deliver. Why not make a call a day before and tell your customer that it’s not happening.
Simple rule no 2: do not say it won’t happen on the delivery day. It annoying because your customer’s expectations were built by you! (It’s about showing some empathy)
For me, it was a very cold experience. It was my first car accident. It could have been handled properly.
Why I write this: over and above all these minor issues which could have been a one off case probably, the workshop is very far. After three months when I was due for my first servicing, a guy came from your workshop took the car (I live in Dwarka) and came back with an empty tank post the servicing!
Simple rule no 3: You may not be able to set up many workshops, but how about delighting your customers to keep them loyal to you. How about just filling up their tank… or at least in some way not make them feel that pinch of the distance.
Recently I had a scratch that I wanted to get corrected. Do you know what I did? I went to my dad’s local guy, got it fixed for 1000 bucks in two hours and was back home. Do you know why?
1) I did not want to travel a long distance for a scratch
2) I remembered my last experience
3) I thought about the empty tank
4) I also thought maybe if not a week then the car will be away for at least a day. And that probably was the most important reason.
Sincerely,
Disappointed.
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My take:
The writer here is a 28 year old woman based in Delhi and a 3 month old Micra is her first car. In a way, her ordeal corroborates what we already know– that newer companies that enter India do not get it right when it comes to after sales.
Carmakers seldom set up company owned and operated showrooms and most in India are franchises. In the case of Nissan, it is even more peculiar. Its sales and service paraphernalia is outsourced to a third party by the name of Hover Automotive, which means the company is further insulated from what goes on in the showrooms.
But after sales remains an integral part of car ownership in India. Though it may not play a big part in decision making at the time of purchase, a prolonged bad word of mouth has far reaching consequences. Ask Skoda and they will tell you how.
It is also true that one customer’s bad experience does not mean it is a systemic failure. Absolutely not. But some of the issues raised here like the time taken to service the car, or the lack of proper communication or simple things like empty fuel tank is irritating.
For every 1 bad experience, there may be a 100 good ones as well. Congratulations to Nissan if that is the case. In these times of cut throat competition however, I do not think Nissan or Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Renault and Skoda can afford even one disgruntled customer. As it stands, I do not think there is any debate that on a scale than is atleast 50 times bigger, Maruti and Hyundai are doing a much better job.
The purpose of this post is not to berate the company but to highlight a grey area that needs to be fixed. The customer remains supremely satisfied with the car and that is a job well done. Hover’s after sales is trying to undo the good work.
This is also not something that is a by-product of my fertile imagination. The identity of the writer is undisclosed only so that the customer is not subjected to unintended malice. If Nissan or their dealer wish to redress the issues, I would be more than willing to reveal the identity to them.
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(19 votes, average: 4.37 out of 5)
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Thanks for this.;.I had this issue with Nissan micra as well but fortunately for me it was during the test drive (so it was at the time of decision making)….i called them 5-6 time for a test drive and I did receive their calls telling me that the car for test drive would come next day and next day…but no one ever came..I was so surprised that no one from Nissan appeared with car for me to take the test drive especially since it was not an old and established make…I decided to move on and bought a new car from different make…
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Why should Nissan help you? You were in an accident, call the Police, call your Insurance. Once you take delivery of the car, Nissan has no collision damage liability. If the Car does not run properly in a manner covered under the Manufacturer’s warranty, you can blame Nissan. Would Maruti have treated you better in a similar case?
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The lady is right on many points.
And i i am not her husband.. just to make things clear beforehand.
While filling up the tank may not be right (its your decision to purchase from that place) they can surely expedite the proceedings for fresh customers?
Take the bloody pix in high resolution and even if the insurance guy cant assess from the pics.. take the customer’s word and get the job done on ASAP basis.
A local repair guy will do the job in a flash and at way lesser pricing.
Idiotic motor companies have lost business worth crores by red taping and extorting money like thieves. They actually take DAYS for a job which shd be done within a span of 30 mins.. with all their mechanics and labor force..? U frikkin kiddin me..?
Then their CC is as rude the moment u purchase the car. Lacking courtesy and common sense as well. Certainly they can train the people or find a good CC as under customer retention scheme maybe ? cuz they certainly wont fund it under any normal program.
I have seen the way these companies handle the customers within first few months itself. A reputed company’s (american company btw) ill treated my relative’s car when it went in for its first service. Came with a dent from the workshop. It was duly notified but they raise such a hue and cry as if were were liars. Thank God for detailed inspection sheet which cleared us.
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There could be reasons some genuine some not so genuine delaying the service, for that a simple solution may come in the form of a courtesy car for use during the service. I wonder if that is not the case back home(my former)?
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I feel sorry for the young lady there but she probably knows that in Delhi, a city where there is no such thing as kind attitude, good customer service or even the tameez to talk properly to anyone, one cannot expect anything else! People in this city are probably the most cold hearted I have seen and experienced. I had a similar incident in Delhi when my dad bought his first car – a hyundai a couple of years back.
Thank goodness that I do not live in this city anymore. Its probably best if one is insulated from the chors in this city by being extremely rich so that you do not personally experience such incidents, as one can pay out for almost anything and get things done in a very efficient manner.
Poor us middle classes!!
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always buy tata
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how can u expect the company to fill up ur tank… y will they.. u know the service station is far and person is supposed to come pick it up, so u need to keep the tank full… i thought there would be sm big misdoings by company to warrant an article but i didnt find anything big a miss…
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This lady is an idiot and a princess. Did Nissan cause the accident? Did they choose which part of the city this accident happened? Did you nit know where the dealership is located when you bought the car? Consequently, why did you not familiarize yourself about servicing location etc earlier? Prime spaces in metros are at a premium. Should they build showrooms in the outskirts next to the workshops? Or vice versa?
Law of the land, and insurance process does need inspection, appraisal and approval before insurance company will authorize work. Do you expect everyone to stop their work, and only work on flaming you down and working on your car?
Supply chain logistics is a huge Industry, and is a finite not not exact science. Do you think those two doors should have been ready by the time you dropped the damaged car off? Are you serious?
You are hyperventilating after getting into a freak accident, but expect them to be counselors and psychiatrists? “please calm down…” why can’t you calm yourself down, you are a grown woman who is almost 30 years old. Moron.
Servicing: who should pay the cost of petrol for taking your car, and dropping it back off to you? Dealer? Or you? If they included such costs at a flat rate, you would then ***** about over charging…
Grow up. You cannot buy class by buying a car. Your lack of maturity and false ego are apparent, as is the absence of a slap that your father should have delivered to you at age 15.
Your emotions are your problem, it does not mean that the world is a bad place, or that everyone is out to screw you over. Hope you never are a customer of a worthy brand like Nissan. Btw, my first car was a Nissan too, in 1998. Great brand, superior quality, and I kept it for 9 years.
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I can imagine that upon buying ones first car – there may be a LOT of expectations one has; but I am afraid that the lady expected too much. I own couple of very expensive German cars, and even they do not give a free fill up of fuel upon servicing. It is not nissan; you would struggle to find ANY car company selling sub-10L rs cars that will give the lady the service she was expecting – “please be calm – I know you are stressed but we will take care of everything” etc. Getting an insurance agent to come over do an audit and change 2 entire doors can easily take a week! It would seem that the only thing Nissan is at fault for here is having its service station too far. In fact the only unpardonable I read was someone charging her 1000 bucks for correcting a scratch
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Lady,
1. Yes it takes a week to replace 2 doors in a car. Especially when the insurance agent has to come and inspect the damage and approve the claim.
2. I appreciate your point regarding the distance but you should appreciate that they sent a guy to pick your up car.
3. Regarding the empty tank, its unreasonable to demand that they refill your tank. I am sure that they would like to delight all their customers but not at the cost of bankrupting their business!!
Your experience highlights the inefficiencies and cost of doing business in India.
Nissan should have more service stations or have a set of “Approved” shops in various neighborhoods in Delhi.
Last but not the least, drive safely!!
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1./ The car was apparently Ok for design and features.
2./ She had an accident.
3./ After an accident she wants the workshop to come and pick up the car?
4./ If you think they gave bad service, then try the same trick with Maruti — see what response you get.
5./ Empty tank after servicing — that is a no-no. Most car cos. do a dipstick check of the tank before and after servicing. Here the service centre was at fault.
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Stop crying…and get on with your pathetic life/car…
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Maybe their new social media monitoring team from Defiance will notice this and inform Nissan. Lets see how competent is thier social media monitoring team.
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It is the attitude of the people in the region to be blamed not fully on Nissan.Other side Nissan made a big mistake in outsouring their sales to a mumbai based Hover Automotive.Compared to Suzuki ..Nissan products are much stronger in the strength of the structure. If Indian govt make a stringent crash requirement most of the Suzuki cars and all Tata cars will not pass.
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From where do you hire writers HT, that they dont know even how to write Phelps’ ???
Just like the municipal corporation’s gardener who doubled up as a dhobi too ?
Secondly, why cant you systematically compare the cost of setting up a Table tennis/tennis/boxing/shooting facility Vs Cost and time taken for the Noida park..? A media house wont be sued by the politician who gets footwear via jet plane. Nor did u cared to get the gurgaon’s pregnant lady road accident death any coverage in the 90 days. Bakwaas chapwa lo.. eh ?
Or are you too sissy like the gen Indian public to do anything good..?
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