Customers reaching the consumer court after finding defects in their new cars has now become a lot more common than before. One reason why this has become more common lately is due to increased awareness among customers about consumer laws. A recent incident comes from Hyderabad where the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held Volkswagen and its showroom liable for selling a car with defects to a customer. The consumer court has also asked the dealership and the brand to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the customer.
The customer, Mr. Veccha Praveen, had visited Volkswagen Deccan – Mody Group to buy a brand new Taigun SUV. The occasion was his anniversary, and he wanted to gift the car to his wife. The sales executives at the dealership convinced the customer to buy the Taigun GT Plus variant, and after negotiations, they settled on a price of Rs 20,38,200 on-road for the SUV.
The customer made the booking and paid Rs 5 lakh as an advance. He then contacted the sales team by phone and WhatsApp for further procedures. On August 13, 2022, when the customer was on his way to take delivery of his new Taigun, he received a call from the dealership. The dealership told him that the price of his brand new car had been increased to Rs 22,45,000. He mentioned that in all the communications, including the sales agreement, Rs 20,38,200 was the amount that was quoted to him. The dealership then got a sales manager involved who spoke rudely with the customer over the phone.
After a lot of discussion, the customer agreed to the price increase and agreed to take delivery as he really wanted to surprise his wife on that day. The customer noticed that the car had several scratches on the dashboard and horn pad when taking delivery. He was shocked to see scratches like this on his brand new vehicle, and when he spoke to the dealership, they initially tried to fix the scratches, but it didn’t work. The general manager at the dealership promised the customer that they would fix the issues during the first service.
When the customer gave the car for the second service, the dashboard of the car was replaced; however, the new one had more scratches than the old one. The customer then made several complaints and even took things to LinkedIn to inform senior management at Volkswagen. When he didn’t receive a satisfactory response, he filed a case against the dealership and Volkswagen at District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-I, Hyderabad, Telangana (“District Commission”).
Volkswagen argued in court that the brand is not directly involved in the dealership arrangements and is only responsible for warranty-related repairs and replacements. The dealership informed the court that they had informed the customer about the price hike before making the delivery and had also replaced the defective dashboard.
The commission, upon looking at the arguments made by both parties, came to a conclusion that the car had a defective dashboard and horn pad. It also noticed that the dealership could not produce any evidence to back their claim that they informed the customer about the price increase beforehand. The court found the showroom at fault for deficiency in service, unfair trade practices, and misrepresentation.
The court found both Volkswagen and the dealership guilty and stated that both parties should bear joint and several liability for selling cars with defects. It directed them to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation and also asked them to repair or replace the defective dashboard, horn pad, or any other affected parts. It also asked the dealership to reimburse Rs 20,000 litigation costs to the customer.
The post Consumer Court To Volkswagen, Dealer: Pay 2 Lakh To Customer For Scratched Taigun first appeared on Cartoq.
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