Location/place: Gurgaon
Name of company/service: Pearl Honda / Honda Cars India
Facts of the case
1. I gave my Honda Accord car (DL 3CY 1919) to Pearl Honda Gurgaon on Saturday, 11th May 2013 for routine servicing which included Servicing, Tuning, etc. During the course of servicing I was regularly contacted by service supervisor (Kamal) to update me on the progress and to take relevant instructions from me.
2. The car when reached my home after servicing the following day, it was extremely overheated and fumes were emanating from its Engine. I suspected a major damage to it and started my communication with Pearl Honda on this issue (Communication with Pearl Honda and Honda Cars India is available with me).
3. I was initially told that there is only damage to the Radiator, however, when Pearl Honda mechanics tried to start the car after fixing repaired Radiator at my place (on Wednesday, 15th May), they suspected major damage to the engine of car. I was told that car has to be towed back to workshop for checking and repairs, if any.
4. Pearl Honda sent a tow vehicle to my place the following morning (Thursday, May 16th) and I was asked by Mr. Bajwa of Pearl Honda to pay for the towing charges, which will be reimbursed to me by Pearl later.
5. When car was checked by Pearl at its workshop, they found head gasket to be damaged and proceeded for repairs, for which they took about 3 weeks, during which I had to make several phone calls, write Mails, send SMS’s, pay personal visits, to get the job done.
6. During my visits and discussions with mechanical staff of Pearl Honda on possible reasons for overheating of the car, I was told that there is a possibility of fans switch being disengaged during washing, which resulted in chain reaction of damage to Radiator followed by damage to the head, during the drive of car to my home.
7. During my communication with Pearl Honda, I had clearly stated to them that since these damages to Radiator and Head Gaskets have been caused by them, they will have to be responsible for the same and I will not pay any charges for repairs to them. Following are excerpts of my communication with them on costs attached to such repairs:
May 13, 2013
“I therefore request you to look in to this matter personally and restore my car in its original condition ASAP. Please note that I will not be responsible for any costs over and above initial bill amount of Rs. 6,491.”
May 16, 2013
“Now that the car is back to you, I once again reiterate that Peral Honda must ensure to check the car thoroughly and restore it back to the condition in which it was given to them, at NO EXTRA cost to me.”
May 18, 2013
“Spoke with Mr. Ashish Gupta of Pearl Honda (On advise of Mr. Bajwa, who is on leave today). Mr. Gupta advised me that Head of car is damaged and needs repair. He indicated that the car may be returned to me on Tuesday next. I made it clear to him that since this damage is caused by actions of Pearl Honda, I will not be responsible for any cost attached to it.
Hence, Pearl Honda was quite aware of the fact that any repair charges relating to Radiator and Head Gasket will not be borne by me and they proceeded with the repairs with this understanding.
8. I was eventually advised by Pearl Honda that car has been fixed and I may collect it anytime on Sunday, June 2, 2013. I went to the workshop around 3 PM of that day and met Mr. Ashish Gupta, Service Manager. He confirmed that the car has been test driven and its functioning properly. However, I was asked to pay Rs. 25, 582 for repair of Radiator and Head of the car, which, based on preceding facts, I refused to pay. Mr. Gupta then spoke to GM Operations Mr.Om Dutt over the phone, who flatly refused to even hear us out. Consequently, I was sent back by Pearl Honda without giving delivery of the car.
9. I took up this matter with Honda Car India on May 31, acknowledgement of which was received from their Public Relations on June 1. However, despite keeping them in loop over all communication and developments, they have not responded on this issue so far.
10. In between my communication with Honda Cars India, I received a message from Pearl Honda on Tuesday, June 4, in which they though committed that the car came back in overheated condition to my place with damaged radiator, they clearly stated that the delivery of the car can be given only on making the payment for repairs to Radiator and Head Gasket.
11. I am a physically challenged person who has been without the car for 27 days now and despite my sufferings during the period of repairs, neither Pearl Honda nor Honda Cars India has showed any concern for the same after the repairs have been done and have made no attempt to contact me or take any notice of my concerns about the issue and I am continuing to suffer mentally and physically because of their irresponsible and couldn’t care less attitude.
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