A not-so-customer centric buying Experience at Hero
So I had been bitten by the Offroad bug
If it makes you feel better this is our story. We (Me and my Friend Nasir) were about to book our bikes in Hosur road showroom who was giving us a 4,000 discount. Since I mentioned this in our SR Group, Jeevan said he will give more discount than any other dealer. So, we thought we can give business to known guy and convinced my friend to go there. First of all the showroom was almost halfway across the city. And when we went there, he first said he will reduce 2-2.5k more. Then he went back on his words and offered only 1k more discount along with a Bike cover. That’s almost the petrol we spent going to and fro his showroom. Anyways, we thought we will just finish it and go home. He promised that he will deliver our bikes and all the documents and number plates to our home. Regarding payment, he charged me 400 extra for not have a local electoral ID. So much for the 1k discount. He said Debit card has some charges so told me to pay by Credit card and I did.
Next day, he informs that some Tempo traveler broke down and he said he rode my bike all the way from Tumkur to Bangalore by removing the Speedometer and ABS. I got so furious that someone else had to ride my bike during Run-in and god knows how much bike has been used before disconnecting the speedo. This is not a good practice. Anyways, no home delivery and he asked me to come to Lalbagh showroom for delivery. When I reached the showroom, he just handed me first aid and toolkit. There was no manual or service coupons.
Even for my friend, he first said he will deliver the bike home. Then he gave my friend the option of riding the new bike home which again is not good practice during Run-in. Finally they asked him to come to the showroom and collect it on a weekday. My friend got fed up and had to travel 45 kms on Cab to reach the showroom and collect his bike only to realize speedometer was disconnected. For my friend, he received nothing with his bike, no manual, service coupon, toolkit or first aid. Bad experience of taking delivery for him.
After multiple follow ups on the registration, we got a Number after a week so that we could atleast ride our bikes tension free from the cops.
When it was time to collect our Number plates, first he said they are available and asked me to visit Lalbagh showroom. When I went to Lalbagh, they said they have no idea about the number plate. When I called them again, they assured it will come in 2 days in Magadi road showroom. Then after a whole week of follow-ups, he said the plates have come to magadi road and he will dunzo them to me. With so many promises and failing to deliver, I didn’t trust them and went to the showroom itself to collect the number plate. It was a working day so I thought I will collect it quickly and go back to work.
Upon reaching there, these guys took my bike key, kept it downstairs and said I have to pay Rs 4000 extra. It almost felt like they just took my bike and demanding the money from me. The reason they gave is, they had to Pay 4000 for Credit card charges. I called Jeevan and gave him a piece of my mind. I gave him the option of bank transfer, credit or debit card and he was the one who asked me to pay by credit card. He was like, there’s some mistake and there are charges on the Credit card. I told them in the showroom that I’m not going to pay a single penny more. They called Jeevan’s father to the showroom and asked me to wait for 5 mins. Half an hour later his father arrives and shows me all his bank records that they received 4k less. Now, I knew legally, companies cannot force the credit card charges on the customer. I never had to pay any extra charges while getting my Royal Enfield Interceptor (which I also swiped my credit card for the exact amount). But his father was like, you pay the amount and take your bike. It was absolutely ridiculous. I called Jeevan and he started talking as if they have done a big favor of getting me the bike and discount. I would’ve probably saved a lot more had I got the bike from Hosur road which is near my house and he was matching the 4k discount. I realized this is not going anywhere and I demanded my bike. Jeevan finally said that he would pay the 4k out of his pocket as if it was a big favor on me. I didn’t bulge in because neither did they give me a good experience nor was Jeevan very polite in talking to me. His father after 1 hours of talking agreed and I left the showroom with Number plate and service booklet and didn’t even bother talking about the Bike Cover which was also promised. With all this drama, I had to eventually take that day off work.
I thought of all this as a bad dream and decided to escape this place and never come back again. It was a total mind fuck experience for me and I felt so sorry for dragging my friend Nasir also in all of this. He still hasn’t got his Toolkit (till Today - April 8th 2021) but he doesn’t want to go back to them even if they don’t give it. He somehow can’t digest when he saw that this showroom just remove the ODO sensor and give people test ride. Later I found out from the Xpulse group that this is not a Hero specific problem and other people in the different showrooms like Hosur road had a much better buying experience.
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