Crash-BoomBang and Flee !

On the 12th night @ 9.30 pm I was unfortunate to get entangled (literally) with a motorcycle riding delivery boy at Wadi Kabir roundabout. The biker wanted to squeeze between two cars standing at the R/A signal. In the process he lost his balance, banged and scrapped my car and panicked. He immediately gunned his bike through the red light (!!!) of the R/A and fled the scene. Unfortunately, I was so stunned that I couldn’t note down his license plate number and the delivery box didn’t have any markings of the place for which he worked.

The way the guy fled was surprising, since as per norms in Oman, we don’t fight after crashes, we just stand patiently by the road and talk our way through the incident.

Friday, I made a round of all the restaurants in MBD and CBD. I inspected many a motorcycles, spoke to many a delivery boy, but drew a blank on my 'biker'. In the process of the interviews and rounds, I realised the following:

1. Mostly the waiters double up as the delivery boys, additional work which might be leading to fatigue. Abuse of Working Hours and Skills.

2. Some of the boys don’t have driving licenses. Illegal.

3. Some restaurants employ temporary drivers; people moonlighting to make additional money. Illegal.

4. The delivery boxes are not secured properly on the bikes, some are not even permanent arrangement’s. Safety Hazard.

5. The bikes are in pathetic conditions. Safety Hazard.

6. The bikers do not have uniform / reflective vest or jacket for night / proper crash helmet. Safety Hazard.

Some of the above points do indicate why my biker must have fled. And all the points above indicate why the restaurant managers / owners need to be booked by the authorities. This is blatant disregard of safety rules, laws, and regulations.

I wanted to buy, but they wont sell it to me ...

I first smiled, it grew in a grin and then I burst out laughing! The point of amusement was the press release in a local daily about the Mazda CX-7. The dealer who gave out the press release made tall claims about the CX-7 and that it is some kind of new age, trend setting Compact SUV. Well, the CX-7 is a worldwide popular 'CUV' (compact utility vehicle) and a very practical city vehicle. 

I am sure the dealer has been taking a lot of effort to promote and sell the CX-7 in Oman from this year. However, it is not so new to the global market or even the ME region. (Score = -1). But changing the concept of compact crossover SUV ?!?!?! Naaahhh..... CX-7 is a pretty late entrant in the segment, Year 2006. (Score = -2).

As soon as the Ramadan ofer was launched, I entered the Mazda showroom at Azaihba with all the noble intentions of buying the CX-7, Year 2010 model.  Being afternoon time, the showroom was empty, no prospective customers to woo. And yet there we were standing in the middle of the showroom with no one to greet or meet us, so much for customer service (Score = -3). After quite some time we were approached by the available salesman, a smartly dressed expat, and were shown the CX-7. My heart went out to the CX-7! The looks, the color, the interior and the boot space to boast! (Score = +3-3 = 0). Being an auto enthusiast, I began asking the details of the car, after the salesman had gone through his pitch, which, we had taken in very patiently. My questions were met with a blank look. 'Err... Maybe you can ask your colleagues .... ?' I suggested, still a blank look. 'Err... maybe you can ask your technical manager .....?' still, a blank look. 'Err... maybe you can call up your service manager and ask him ... ?' ahh, finally a response is coming. "We have not received the tech specs from Mazda and the service team also has not been trained as yet, though there are plans to get them trained." Ouch! (Score = -5 !). Being a sympathetic customer, I wrote down my queries on a paper and asked him to get me a reply at the earliest. The salesman put in a date to revert back, a time of 15 days. Now for the test drive, we asked for one. “Sorry sir, there are no test drives for the CX-7, we don't have a model”. No worries, give me test drive after 15 days when the model is available; I am a patient customer you see. Pat came the reply, “well, people all over are buying CX-7 without a test drive, why do you need one?” I was dumbfounded by the logic! (Score = -6). Since I really couldn’t counter the aggressive logic of the salesman, We left the showroom, after agreeing on the date for a reply to the queries. The date came and went, and, you are right, no reply (score = -7). I gave a reminder call since I hadn't received a call from the salesman (score = -8); another two days required. No worries, I really am a patient customer. After two days, still no reply (Score = -10!). By now we were already more than half way through the month of Ramadan and still no reply, the new car becoming a distant dream.

My patience gave up, we walked in VW showroom in the evening and 4 hours later, we drove out in a Year 2011 Tiguan model. In that 4 hours, there were no tall claims made, we received honest answers, all our queries were satisfactorily answered, a thorough test drive of 1 hour was taken, 2 cups of cardamom flavored tea consumed, an invitation for iftar received, (our) money spent, satisfaction gained (by us) - was what we experienced with the VW dealer.

So now, what happened to CX-7 ? Did the salesman get back? You are right, No answers even now ! But then, being a polite customer in addition to being patient, I did call up the Sales Manager of Mazda dealer and thanked him profusely for helping me buy the VW Tiguan, I am truly happy, thanks to them. Incidentally, the Tiguan, I found out, is a much better value for money car, in an apple to apple comparison of features, utility, options, cost of ownership. Maybe that's the reason why we don't see any press releases for Tiguan, or do we?

Any regrets / apologies from the competition? Hmm... I am still waiting to hear one word, which is very important and effective in CRM, a heartfelt "Sorry".  

By the way, Compact Cross over segment came into existence somewhere in 1979 / 1980 in the American Market and was later actively promoted by likes of AMC (today's Chrysler), Subaru, Toyota etc. It is not a recent phenomenon as claimed by the press release. Press release can be a glorified statement, but it should seriously be an honest and factual statement.