Week 20
My wrap around cover was ready and I had to pickup the cover from the courier delivery branch in Pallikarnai as they started to update fake updates in tracking link. It weighed about 8-9 KGs believe it or not. It’s heavy material. I somehow brought it via bike in the hot sun.
Next my dad gave his pioneer set that was faulty during the flood for repair. They asked us to pick it up. So went there and got it. Checked for working condition and got it back. I’d recommend this service shop. Overall handling of the device and repair was very professional.
After booking the car, I told the sales agent that my delivery will be delayed back to May 22nd since my dad and mom are out of town. I wanted to take our car after with my parents. They said it shouldn’t be a problem. Talked to SBI and asked them to disburse the loan amount to dealership after clarifying all the questions. He wasn’t available the same day to handover the documents so I asked him to come the next day. Signed some documents and took a customer copy. The agent was top notch and gave me proper docs and responses on time. Once done, I asked my dealer to provide the VIN number to check if the provided car is the latest month and year of manufacture. I booked in April and I got a March manufactured car. So overall happy with it.
The one annoyance was that we had our old car given to Maruti service centre for a month now and I started to get really frustrated. It shouldn’t take 1 month to wait for a parts delivery for AC panel replacement. I had to escalate to Level 2 manager and constantly follow-up for them to deliver. After over a month, we got our old car on 15th May that too after a 2 hour wait at the service centre. The service agent was a lazy $%. Again took a test drive of the old car and found the power steering on the right side did not work, so then they had to clear off some dust and finally delivered the car after service. I’m so happy I never have to come here for servicing again.
The reason this was more than an annoyance was because my dad wanted to try the exchange route and ask the dealer for inspection for an exchange price. So the (Maruti) service centre guys promised me a delivery date -> I promised Honda guys for possible inspection date -> which in turned delayed for 2 to 3 weeks.
Once I got the car on 15th, I immediately requested for inspection on the 16th. Honda had a tie-up with some third party guy. He called me in the morning promptly, came to my house, inspected for maximum 5 minutes. I wouldn’t even call this an inspection. He then bid good bye and told me you’ll be informed later that day. Parallelly, I booked an inspection appointment 2 hours after this from Spinny. The agent came but unfortunately it rained and the agent told me he can’t inspect during drizzle since his equipment cannot be used. I had to cancel and he went off. I booked an appointment at the far end of the evening around 4.30 PM hoping there will be no rain.
Time was 4 PM and I got a call from a familiar voice, it was the same agent who visited during noon. I told him it’s not raining now and I can take the car out to inspect. We took the car to an isolated area and he inspected for 45-50 minutes that included a 3 KM drive. The inspection was so detailed and clean compared to what the Honda guy did. I surely knew I was going to get a better price from Spinny. Inspection was done. App was updated with latest status. Got the price update after exactly 45 minutes.
- Honda third-party tie-up price: 2.30 Lakhs
- Spinny: 3.26 Lakhs
A whooping 1 lakh difference. I knew this was going to happen and it did. Told the sales manager that I won’t be applying for exchanges (so had to drop exchange discount). Talked to Spinny executive to schedule the car pickup, payment and document formalities on Saturday (2 days after inspection) since my dad (owner) has to be present there. My dad would arrive on Saturday and I will leave town on Friday, so it was the perfect date. My dad and brother finished the deal and we sold our car with no hassle.
Tried a new restaurant this week:
Knockout Rusi - Food was decent. Price was way high for what was offered. We went to urban square afterwards for a walk and then went back home.
Sister-in-law’s flowering ceremony went well and we returned by bus Monday morning as the weekend was packed for train travel and we couldn’t get any tickets even in Tatkal.