Dealer fails to appear; Consumer Affairs dept asks owner to go to court

Mercedes Benz that boasts of providing best services to its customers has dodged a tripartite meeting in the Consumer Affairs department to meet a customer who has been duped of Rs 2.74 lakh.

Bechmark Interkraft, the dealer who was supposed to meet senior officials of the Consumer Affairs department and Merc owner Siddhartha Roy did not turn up for the second time in one year.

Interestingly, the managing director of Mercedes had sent an email from Stuttgart to Roy last week stating "We would like to assure you of our personal attention to attend to your concerns and solicit your kind understanding in the meantime."

Roy said by emptying the fuel tank, the dealer had not only cheated him but stopped him from taking any action against the oil company.

A senior official of a national oil company said the process to determine spurious fuel was elaborate and "It is never done by seeing the colour of oil and smelling it."

He further said: "Emptying the fuel tank in absence of the car owner amounts to cheating. The dealer along with the owner should have visited the fuel station and examine the quality of the fuel used."

A case was initiated by Sadhan Pandey, state minister for Consumer Affairs department after Roy approached him with a complaint that the dealer had charged Rs 2.74 lakh to replace the fuel injectors that had developed a snag after spurious fuel was used. The Red and Black Mercedes C220 CDI was just 14 months ago when it developed a problem.

The dealer informed Roy that the fuel was adulterated "by seeing the colour and smelling it." Roy paid the bill and then moved the department. However, before getting in touch with him, the fuel tank was already emptied.

In June, 2016, the dealer sought three weeks' time from the department to give a written answer of their findings. However, one year has passed by, and the dealer has failed to turn up.

An official of the Consumer Affairs department who were present at the meeting remarked: "It seems that the opposite party is not interested to the process of mediation in the Consumer Affairs department" and thus advised "to approach the forum within the stipulated time."