People spend lakhs of rupees to buy luxury cars for their safety, security, and comfort, but imagine if they are given a defective piece in the name of luxury cars and cheated in the name of repairing. We got to see a similar case with Volvo, one of India’s leading luxury car manufacturers and suppliers. Last year, a suit was filed against Volvo Auto India Private LTD and Scandia Motorcars Private LTD, through Supreme Court Advocate Prakhar Dixit, for selling a defective luxury car having an underlying manufacturing defect to one of the Aligarh-based businessmen, Mr. Amit Varshney (Kamakhya).
In November 2020, Mr. Varshney purchased a Volvo XC 60 D5 car worth over Rs- 59,90,000 from a showroom in New Delhi. In the initial days, the car was giving a luxury vibe. Still, within three months of purchasing, the car’s tyre burst while the customer was driving back home, and the vehicle got disequilibrated in the middle of the highway, which could have threatened the customer’s life. Again, six months after this incident, the car suddenly broke down in the middle of the night on the outskirts of Aligarh, where pitch-black darkness was on the road. There was a high chance of robbery, which is expected in that area (the video of the incident and place were submitted to the court). After that, Mr. Varshney called Volvo’s service center but got no help from Volvo’s side to reach home, so he had to make arrangements to go home. Hence, Mr. Varshney filed a complaint at the service center, and the car was towed by RSA and taken to the service center at Faridabad.
At the service center, they told him the engine was not cranking. Hence, the fuel rail and one injector were replaced, and the fuel tank was cleaned; they sent him an invoice for Rs.1,07,702/. It was annoying to Mr. Varshney how the new car broke down quickly and how these people were charging so much money without his fault. Hence, he complained to Volvo’s head office, and on behalf of the complaint, he got an offer of a 50% discount on this invoice. Mr. Varshney wanted to keep a good relationship, so he accepted the offer and paid the rest. Then, the vehicle was delivered after 37 days after it broke down. However, it was only a matter of a few days before the company could hide the defect, as the car broke down again in the heart of Aligarh city on a hectic road, putting the life of the customer and others at risk.
Similarly, at the time of service, it was told to him there was a fault in the fuel injector, and they sent an invoice of Rs.1,00,000/-approx. Then, Mr. Varshney raised the question that at the last service, you replaced the vehicle’s injector, then how did it become faulty again? After this, Volvo again told him that we would give a 50% discount on his invoice, but this time Mr. Varshney understood how Volvo was cheating money in the name of service. Hence, he rejected this offer. Leaving this, he decided to file a case in court, which is still going on.
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According to Advocate Prakhar Dixit, Rs 500 is also charged by the company as parking charges from its customer for parking the defective vehicle at their service center. Mr. Dixit says the company refuses to accept that the car has a manufacturing defect and is instead pinning the blame on the customer. He further states that the customer is praying for a refund of Rs. 61.25 lakhs to be paid by him and to pay damages along with compensation for mental harassment suffered by him and his family. The customer has also requested the Forum to provide an alternate car equivalent to standard and luxury till the case ID is decided. Meanwhile, the Hon’ble Forum has issued notices to Volvo and Scandia to appear on the next date of the hearing, failing which the matter will be decided in absence.
This is the second reported incident within a short span of one year. In an earlier incident, the car had broken down similarly, putting the lives of the customer and those around him at risk. The Chandigarh Consumer Forum ordered Volvo to return the vehicle and refund Rs. 52.63 Lakhs, as well as compensation for damages and harassment, and cost of litigation, to the client Mr. Deepak.
People buy a good car with their hard-earned money to give themselves and their family members comfort and safety. But the company like Scandia Motorcars are only doing business in the name of luxury and cheating people, they extort lakhs of rupees from customers in the name of service, and even after that, the vehicle gives problems. These manufacturing defects can be fatal for people.
While the parent company, Volvo, has a stellar reputation for customer service, the company like Scandia Motorcars Pvt Ltd, is defrauding customers and extorting money in the name of Volvo in India.
Advocate Prakhar Dixit said, if we don’t find a resolution, we’ll also take this case to a supreme court.
