POOR BUSINESS ETHICS OF A BIG BRAND EUROPEAN CAR DEALER IN S'PORE

Dear Editors,

The incident happened at one of the two service centres owned by the same dealer along Alexandra Road few weeks ago.

I sent my car to the service centre for replacement of faulty part which is under warranty. The next day when I went to collect my car, the receptionist handed over the car key to me and told me to collect the car from the parking bay. I was shocked to see that both my right doors were dented and the dented areas were smooth and shine (See pictures attached). It was obvious that someone tried to cover up the damage by applying polish to the doors.

I have feedback to both the Customer Service Manager (CSM) and Senior Customer Service Advisor (SCSA), they agreed to get it repair. I have also told them that my car has done CS-II coating before and the CSM agreed to apply similar coating on it after the repair. The CSM has also provided me with a complementary loan car.

1 week later, I went to collect the car. However, I can still see slight dents and the CSM said that they will get it done.

Another 2 weeks later, I went to collect the car but still not satisfy with their workmanship as there are still flaw to the doors. The CSM agreed to replace one of the 2 doors.

After the repair, it was obvious that the 2 doors had accident before as they were smoother than other parts of the chassis.

I have asked the CSM the below questions but he did not address to them:-

1. Should the SCSA perform thorough check on the car when customer handover the car to him ?

2. Should the SCSA perform thorough check on the car before handover the car back to the customer (After servicing / repair) ?

3. Why the SCSA did not inform me about the dents ?

3. Did the staffs who had in contact with the car and the last person who handover the key to the receptionist aware of the dents ?

4. Should the SCSA perform thorough check on the car before asking customer to collect the car ?

When I asked the CSM on how they are going to compensate me for the damages done to my car (without informing me, doors appeared being repaired/changed), my frustration etc, his reply :-

By way of recognizing the inconvenience you had experienced, without any admission of liability on our part, we would like to offer you following complimentary part & services as a gesture of goodwill.

1. To replace a new rear right door for your car, which had been done in the first week of July 2015.

2. A complimentary Nano polishing service for your car, which had been done in the first week of July 2015.

3. A complimentary Oil Service for your next visit

I have rejected that and mentioned that I will let the public to comments on their business ethics.

The CSM then replied with (As attached) :-

"The minor accident is something unforeseen. As the authorized dealer of XXX, should any damage occur to the vehicle when carrying out test drive in connection with the vehicle repairs, XXX’s liability will be limited to the rectification of damage, free of charge."

I am lucky that I have checked my car before driving out of the service centre. If I did not check my car before driving off and only noticed the dents after few days or weeks later, do you think that the service centre will admit that they have damaged my car ?

I condemned such business ethic especially they had applied polish to the dented area trying to cover up the dents.