Tata Zest: Good Car From Bad Manufacturer with Worst Sales Dealer Setup

Vikalp · Oct 23, 2014

My experience with Concorde motors, Dairy Circle, Bangalore of Tata had been pathetic. I went in for a test drive of Tata Zest XT. Everything went on well till I decided to book TATA Zest XT (REV). I was told that they only accept cash of Rs 21,000 for booking (Really???) & if I wish to pay by card they would charge 2% extra. Even if I buy anything on card they do not charge me 2% but TATA does (living in stone age, I guess??)

Anyhow, I loved the car so much that I ignored it and decided to pay 2% extra. While booking itself they made me to wait for 1hr to get the booking receipt and once they got me the booking receipt, it was wrong. They mentioned TATA Zest Quadrajet instead of Rev. I asked them to get it corrected and I patiently waited for another half an hour.

But whats really getting onto my nerves is the sense of commitment from Tata Motors as well as their dealers. I was committed a date on commitment form, in writing, of 21st October, 2014. I asked sales rep to be double sure while committing a date, as I would plan many other things around it. He said not to worry and delivery will be done without fail and they took the booking of car, which now I realise that sales team is trained to take bookings based on fake commitments and trap the customers.

I planned every thing around the commitment date... Now, when I called dealer for delivery status update, I am informed that car is not available for delivery as Zest XT is not getting delivered by Tata motors.

Zest Team & Regional Channel sales manager(South) from Tata Motors team contacted me too when I wrote directly to Tata motors about the same and they assured that dealer will get in touch with me and they are allocating a dedicated relationship manager to me and all but yet no one, neither at Tata motors nor at dealer is able to commit a delivery date.

I have reached a conclusion now that Concorde Motors has grown stronger & is capable to dominating Tata Motors Limited.

However, till today I have still not heard any update on delivery from the Zest team on the delivery nor the dealer cared to contact me. Infact, the situation only worsened as I was informed that their is no current update on car delivery & I have to wait, till when they do not know.

Regional Sales office of Tata motors also seems helpless...No wonder Tata Motors PV segment sales is not improving...

I feel cheated by the pathetic customer support and blatant lies by Tata Motors. Now, I repent why I didn't listen to advise of my friends and family to stay away from Tata Motors.

I am annoyed and at the same time scared too that if this is the service and customer experience pre-purchase what is going to happen post purchase...???

Worth Mentioning my special Thanks to TATA Motors for spoiling my Diwali...

Kentkits · Oct 23, 2014

Suggest you to cancel the booking and go for a car brand who cares for customer.

Vikalp · Oct 24, 2014

I would have done the same.. But what to do fell in love with the car [embarass]

... Car is real mastero...Best in segment... None of the other competition(Xcent, Dzire, Amaze - Ofcource based on my personal opinion) even stand close to the beauty...

I wish Zest was from some other manufacturer...

[frustration]

DJ bro · Oct 25, 2014

Vikalp said:

Why don't you cancel the booking and go for another, better Tata dealership in Bangalore itself? (I hope there is)
There are some big confusions regarding Zest delivery all over India.
I hope TML resolves all these problems as soon as possible.
Ji, just keep pressure on the dealership so that they deliver your car as soon as possible.

venkat_CRDI · Oct 25, 2014

+ 100....

Tata themselves haven't expected Zest to be such a hit ( that too top end models) and in addition to that a few of their dealers are spoiling the sport by messing up with the bookings/deliveries.

Changing the dealer is highly recommended in your case.

Vikalp · Oct 25, 2014

DJ bro said:

No doubt I am mounting great deal of pressure on dealer...their SA have already given up on me and I am interacting with their Management and Channel Manager (TML) South.They have offered me white color model on immediate delivery with Rs 6000 extra + tax but I am not sure if I want a white Zest, I don't want to regret the decision later on . I dont want to be situation that in future seeing a blue or red Zest on road would make me to say "Dude blue color looks way better than white, I should have certainly waited longer" [thinking]

venkat_CRDI said:

To cancel the booking and go for re-booking at some other dealer would mean two losses to me :-

Firstly Rs 2400 cancelling charges.
Secondly, I would have lost my till date waiting time and have to wait again form the start for my delivery as I would be placed last in the demand chain. Also I hear now that waiting period for Zest XT Rev have gone up to 7-8 weeks.

I am creating pressure on Concorde Motors based on their lapsed commitment date and hope they would be able to deliver soon.

STATUS UPDATE :
5 days past committed delivery date by Tata Motors for TATA Zest XT Rev ..today when I called Concorde Motors to inquire about my vehcile delivery. They said No vehcile is yet allocated against my booking..How bad customer service could be?

~~DD~~ · Oct 27, 2014

I was wondering which is better Concorde or Prerana in this area. Now got the answer...

enigmaguy · Oct 30, 2014

Vikalp said:

It is not just Tata that does that, I was told the same at Maruti as well for any payment through credit card that a surcharge of 2% extra is applicable. I think it is the same case at other automobile dealers as well. Simply pay through a cheque/D.D. in favour of the dealership.

Also the committed date could be because of the wrong Quadrajet initially which is another dealer mistake. Anyways this is just simply unacceptable from a Tata dealership when the parent company is trying to turn around their declining fortunes in domestic passenger vehicles market. [frustration]

Just glad that I didnt face any trouble like this with my Tata dealer during booking. Waiting for delivery by mid November, let's see if they stick to their promise[thinking]

Surfer · Oct 30, 2014

I booked car using credit card without 2% extra charge.
FYI : Most of the showrooms (Maruti, Hyundi etc) asks for 2% extra for credit card purchase.

RKKOLLIPARA · Oct 30, 2014

While paying for my car with Hyundai dealer, I was charged 1.8 % extra on my credit card

Duca · Nov 3, 2014

Vikalp said:

Vikalp : I took my delivery from Concorde and had no issues. One suggestion from my side, the attitude is same with all OEM's across brands. Escalation will not get you anything. Just try to talk things calmly with the SA, that definitely works.

I know many of you will not agree with me !!!!! but it works .

generalmax · Nov 3, 2014

I am really sorry to hear this . But in the back of my mind this scenario was there. Remember Nano ,how the dealership guys screwed up the marvel.We were expecting a change in the attitude and dealership experiences from Tata. To an extent ,they did change by giving test drive and keeping the spirits high but come delivery ,they are fumbling. [anger]

ASIR · Nov 3, 2014

I was following this thread and felt sorry for the way a Brand that is relaying on Zest to change their fortunes is spoiling potential customers. They can capitalize only once these initial customers offer positive feedback to friends and relatives to go for Zest. Again TATA need to restructure their sales and service procedure. Sorry for Vikalp for a spoiled festival with his new car.

Vikalp · Nov 22, 2014

Just to keep you all posted- finally Concorde Motors Dairy Circle has agreed to deliver the vehcile on Thursday i.e. 27th November, 2014.

I am really not at all happy with experience I had with Concorde Motors, Dairy Circle, Bangalore. Concorde Motors being subsidiary of Tata Motors, I expected better sense of professionalism from them.

Some of you mentioned that this is the attitude of most of the dealers across India, If it is true - it has to be changed and as a customer voice needs to be heard and dealer needs to be penalized on the same.

Its really Sad how my booking is being handled by Concorde Motors. I will post soon the entire chain of email, I had with them just to give you the idea of there replies.

But lastly Thanks to Ahmed Aamir (Territory Manager - South - TATA Motors) who really provided all the support I required and assisted in the most professional manner. He is the only reason I did not cancel booking otherwise Concorde Motors, Dairy Circle, Bangalore's staff including Managers are just crowd of nonprofessional people who run away from situation.

Vikalp

vikyjoshi · Nov 22, 2014

Vikalp said:

Just to keep you all posted- finally Concorde Motors Dairy Circle has agreed to deliver the vehcile on Thursday i.e. 27th November, 2014.

I am really not at all happy with experience I had with Concorde Motors, Dairy Circle, Bangalore. Concorde Motors being subsidiary of Tata Motors, I expected better sense of professionalism from them.

Some of you mentioned that this is the attitude of most of the dealers across India, If it is true - it has to be changed and as a customer voice needs to be heard and dealer needs to be penalized on the same.

Its really Sad how my booking is being handled by Concorde Motors. I will post soon the entire chain of email, I had with them just to give you the idea of there replies.

But lastly Thanks to Ahmed Aamir (Territory Manager - South - TATA Motors) who really provided all the support I required and assisted in the most professional manner. He is the only reason I did not cancel booking otherwise Concorde Motors, Dairy Circle, Bangalore's staff including Managers are just crowd of nonprofessional people who run away from situation.

Vikalp

That was one of most disconcerting events in your Zest ownership. Hope this is the last of them. Fingers crossed and expect you see your beauty by 27th Nov.

Tata Zest: Good Car From Bad Manufacturer with Worst Sales Dealer Setup

Vikalp

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Kentkits

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Vikalp

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DJ bro

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venkat_CRDI

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Vikalp

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DD

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enigmaguy

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Surfer

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RKKOLLIPARA

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Duca

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generalmax

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ASIR

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Vikalp

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vikyjoshi

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