I have given my Ford Fiesta car for a paid service on 15-Feb-2010 at 3PM based on a prior service appointment at Lathangi Ford, Bangalore. In the service station, they introduced me to a newly joined service.I explained my car problem to him and he noted all my issues in the Repair Order. I raised 4 problems that are neglected/unattended by the service advisor during the service. The issues were:
1. The fog lamp is loose and need to fix it.
2. The A/c is not cooling well.
3. The cup holder came out from the base, so want to fix again
4. There is a small jerking problem while apply the break
At the time of Repair Order creation; service advisor promised me that he will fix these issues at the time of delivery. I also asked him to change the Engine Oil (Mobil 1), Coolant, Air Filter and Oil Filter. He made the Job Order with an estimate of 8000/- rupees (for fixing these issues including service) and asked me to come on 16-Feb-2010 at 11AM. This is mentioned in Repair Order also.
While I called service advisor on 16-Feb-2010 at 11.30AM, he attended the call and told he was traveling. He called back at 2.30PM and asked my approval for replacing the break pad and break disks which will cost around 6000/-+ taxes extra. I told him not to go ahead with the replacement. He also advised me that break will work as previously; but the jerking will remain as such!!! He called me at 5.15PM and asked me to collect the vehicle between 5 to 5.30PM.
I came to Lathangi Ford for collecting my vehicle around 5.20PM. I found that the car was not cleaned properly. The floor mat was in wet condition. Then I requested them to do a vacuum cleaning to remove the water. I opened the bonnet for checking the coolant level and engine oil. Then I noticed that the battery container was filled with water and oil (while I asked the service advisor about it; he told it was not water but was polish!!!). I am just wondering Lathangi is very much interested to fill my Battery container with polish !!.
Near to the engine, most of the pipes/hoses were filled with sand and oils. I requested again to wipe out the water from these places. I also found mud in the under body of the car which means that they didn’t even did an underbody wash. While I asked the service advisor about it, he said that they have the facility for under body wash and if I want to see the facility; he would show me the facility. If Lathangi Ford has the facility, then why didn’t he wash the under body of the car properly?
The fog lamp was not fixed properly. At the time of service delivery, I asked why it is not done. Then he said that he forgot it. Then he said I need to replace the complete fog lamp set with additional cost of 3000/- which he didn’t inform me till the delivery time. If he was aware of that issue, why didn’t he inform me in advance or during job order time? It is very sad to know that Ford authorized service station like Lathangi Ford can’t fix even a fog lamp!!! Ford Service Advisor also said that Ford makes spare parts only for the latest model and so the spare parts for my 2.75 year old car will not be available at all. That is very disappointing for me.
The A/c cooling problem was also unattended but they didn’t forget to charge for A/c Filter, air cleaner, etc in the Invoice. I am not sure whether they might have replaced or not replaced.
The cup holder was not fixed; it got fixed only when I requested to fix at the time of delivery. I know that fixing a cup holder will take only 1 minute. But it is very sad to notice that they didn’t even do that also (which means they are not least bothered about customers)
He also mentioned that he did Wheel alignment and wheel balancing. But the overall work is not satisfactory because my issues are remaining even after the service. While I asked about these matters, service advisor said that he is new to Lathangi Ford (he told he joined 1 month back) and having less experience with ford cars. While hearing his words; I was completely disappointed. I thought that service advisor could take care of my issues during service. He charged a service Bill amount of 7976/- for the whole Service. That means he tried to meet his Cost Estimation but he failed to solve my issues and failed to deliver the car at the promised time!!! There was no reason for delay from his side. This is very bad. Now I realized that I did a mistake by giving my car for service in Lathangi Ford. My paid service is not done as per my satisfaction.
On 20-Feb-2010, Divya from Lathangi Ford called me for a feedback of my service. She asked me to visit again for checking the complaint. As per her suggestion, I went to Lathangi Ford on 24-Feb-2010 morning. They introduced me with a new service advisor as per my request (I explicitly told Divya that I dont want to meet the old service advisor). But the new advisor consulted with old advisor.The new advisor also cant solve my issues.He told that I need to replace the Break pad, break disks. The A/c is leaking so some parts needs to be replaced (with an estimate of Rs.7000/-). While I contacted service engineers who work in Ford Service station kerala, they said that there is no need to replace all these components.That means that Lathangi Ford is only interested in money..not the customer satisfaction..
So dear Ford car owners, please avoid the service from Lathangi Ford. They are the biggest froad in Karnataka.
I am happy with the Ford car. I got a very good service from their previous ford dealer Cauvery Ford. Unfortunately they closed down 🙁