The recent downpour in Bengaluru had wreaked havoc in the city. People were stuck in their homes after roads were flooded, and transportation was badly affected. Not only this, but several buildings’ basements experienced waterlogging too. As a result, numerous cars were left in the water, causing serious water damage to the vehicles. Following this, car owners sought out help from repair service centers. However, the repairing costs came in an estimated lakhs of rupees for some people. One such incident happened with LinkedIn user Anirudh Ganesh.
After Ganesh’s car faced damage due to the floods, he sent it for repair to Volkswagen Apple Auto in Whitefield. However, to his shock, he was handed an estimate of ₹22 lakh to repair his Volkswagen Polo that cost him ₹11 lakh.
Ganesh later took to LinkedIn and narrated the incident. He said, “My car got damaged due to the Bangalore floods. In the peak of the rain, I got the car out and sent it to the Apple Auto Whitefield showroom, where I had to push my car onto a towing truck in waist-deep water at 11 pm. No one to help but we middle-class people are tough. Karlete hai kisi tarah.”
He further explained that after he received the estimate for his car’s repair, he got in touch with his insurance provider, Acko, who informed him that the car would be written off as a total loss and that they would pick it up from the repair shop. But much to his astonishment, the servicing centre required him to pay them Rs. 44,840 before he could pick up his car. They infomed Ganesh that this cost was necessary to issue paperwork describing the harm the car had endured. Later, when he contacted Volkswagen India, he came to know that the charge is ₹5,000 which he eventually paid.
“Volkswagen India team (Mr.Sumanth and Ms.Poonam) have spoken and said that prices in such scenario will be set to the upper limit of Rs.5000 for estimation/storage for car owners in total loss cases. I hope this information helps everyone,” Ganesh added. He finally got his car back on 26th September.
Take a look at Anirudh Ganesh’s whole ordeal here:
After Anirudh Ganesh shared about this incident, many people viewed his LinkedIn post. The post has been shared more than 400 times and has 15,000 likes and thousands of comments. A LinkedIn user commented, “This is absolutely not acceptable. Speaks in volume about the company’s so-called customer-centric approach.” Another user said, “This is scary. Crony capitalism has no respect towards consumer protection?” Someone also added, “I have been a victim of such practices by VW ARBA and Sundaram Chennai in 2013… It is shocking to know these practices exist still.”
Many other users have also commented about their similar experiences with dealers.
