2Wheeler: Royal Enfield Bullet 350 (20/8/2000)

"Royal Enfield Motors" A bike which separates a man from a child
BY HRADYESH NAMDEO

"Remember Whenever you see a BULLET passing by admire the owner for his patience, you might not know through which phase of torture he may be going through after he made a mistake of purchasing a bullet"
The old company Royal Enfield Motors, which was supposed to be a old company with sound experienced but in actual it is not so.
The Indian saying, "Naam bade aur dharshan chote "fits very well here.
I am found of bikes, power, strength etc. Bikes are my passion. I herd from my childhood that the Enfield Bullet is the king of the Indian roads & it is termed as "A Bike which separates a
man from a child."
Taking the picture of a good old, experienced company into my mind I decided to purchase a bullet & went into the showroom but I was surprised by the poor finishing quality of the bikes
gazing at the customer. From here the phases of troubles starts, first choose a bike from the available 2-3 bikes which have a less number of faults in the finishing of the bike as,
compared to the others. Seems we are in a vegetable shop searching for the good one's
among the others, Cool isn't it?
After giving hard-earned money amounting nearly about 60000/- bugs you think you are purchasing a bike not really you are purchasing troubles along with a free gift hamper of tortures. Lovely deal for bike lovers!
While coming home from the showroom I found that the bike is completely instrumental the shockup's are making terrible noise, the fuel tank starts singing when I parked it in my
home there was a lot more to discover.
I went through the user-manual it have complete details about the bike but the good thing was it was just a bit out dated .Hey old company means old details too!
The other phase starts from the day you drive the bike you must be having a daily routine, the thing you have to do is just add in it a daily visit to the workshop except the day when you
don't drive the bike.
Other thing is you should be a nature lover because the bike will made you stop frequently after few kilometers & mind you be prepared for any thing it may stop any where whether it is a
middle of a busy road or a lonely road in the jungle. Amazing!
Like in my 9 days of driving it made me stop 31 times in the middle of the road.
From the very first week I was complaining to the company about there product quality
But there was no-response from the company.
After my 9 days of riding tortures I decided to switch over to my real buddy, good old bike which never let me on road once. This is what I call reliability which a trust bonding relationship between the rider & the bike isn't it?
The bike was locked in my garage & one-day an officer from Indore branch called me & offered a complete check by the co-service engineer but I told him the exact situation & requested him to take the bike back. Finally he asked for a last chance for the company failing to which the bike will be taken back.
The much awaited co-service engineer Mr. B. Ramachandran was a multi-personality guy he gave me his card mentioning him as marketing representative, introduced himself as a service-engineer, & finally termed himself as the head of the Indore branch. Impressing!
I gave him complete logbook of the 9 days with the bike & its faults & behavior.
He gave me conclusion like:
"The Person purchase a bullet never looks for perfection & you are the first one asking for it"
"The bike does not have any problem, you are facing it because you have purchased a bullet first time" The service engineer supposed to know each & every veins of their product but the guy was unable to even start the bike even when he was challenged to do so!
When he done his acting for checking the bike I asked him to certify that the Bike is now completely faultless & if any fault noticed then the bike will be taken back as discussed.
But he refused to do so, instead I was made sit for three hours in the showroom where the people including the company guy with dealer & other person shared my troubles as if somebody
shares a joke. I had also decided not to take the bike unless a written certificate is not issued so I left the bike there & returned back. Customer care ?
After somedays I received a letter from the same guy asking me to take the bike with in 7 days.
The head of the company Mr. P.K Purang (MD REM) Is also know of the complete fact but he has only two answers for the same
I will talk to the concerned officers & come back to you.
I am out of office & contact you when I am back.
The other senior officer Mr. G Shankar(GM Marketing) does not want to touch this issue so he simply doesn't respond.
The senior manager of the company Mr. Harikumar doesn't understand the problem even if he has the complete details with him.
The other officer the manager service Mr. G.S mahindru is a little bit confused but he is a genius also. He gave a final conclusion stating that the owner is responsible for every thing
without knowing the problems.
When I asked him about what he knows about my problems he said I not know much about it.
From March till today the company is unable to solve a customer problem, it is unable to satisfy a customer, it is unable to give a quality product to the customer and the senior
officers of the company doesn't have any answers for my questions.
It is going to be near about 6 months in which 98% of time the bike was in my garage and after knowing the complete facts the company pretends to be unknown.
The stopping figures rises to 37+ from 31 in the middle of road.
The things are not with me alone there are lot of persons who have one or the other problem from the company which includes from an illiterate farmer & a executive too.
Don't believe me just look a classified automobile section of 2-3 weeks you will find number of brand new "ROYAL ENFILEDS" bike for sale or visit a automobile portal on the net you
will find a lot of them there for sale. What does it proves?
I believe that no body will like to sell a good machine which is new too, Do you?
The thing required today is to fight for the value of money & customer satisfaction, which is a right of each & every customer who pays for it to the company.
Lot of people leave the company as granted but is this a right thing?
I feel that to donate money to the needy is a better choice instead of giving it to a company for problems & tortures & to felt like cheated.
Come out and ask for the complete satisfaction you deserve against the money you have paid for.

Bike Details:
Royal Enfield Motors Bullet 350
Eng & chasis number OB 562256A
Reg No. MP-04 ND 8627
Date of purchase 03-03-2000

Name: Hradyesh Namdeo
City: Bhopal
Ph: 580036
E mail: hradyesh@indiatimes.com

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