Ahuja enraged as his Audi rots at Audi garages
Staff Writer | Friday November 10, 2017 16:29
Now after over two years, a frustrated Ajit Ahuja, the managing director of a powerful engineering firm in Botswana, A.S.A Enterprises, has written to local dealers of Audi, as well as South Africa and the headquarters in Germany, demanding compensations for what he sees as gross negligence on the part of Audi.
He has written to Audi Germany and South Africa demanding, amongst others, payment for the depreciating value of the vehicle due to non-use for the two years it had been in Audi Centre Gaborone and South Africa.
The customer is also unhappy that during the two years their car was being attended to at Audi, the dealer never extended to them a courtesy car as it is the norm, and now they demand that Audi extends to them a replacement car, of the same value as their car when it entered Audi garages over two years ago.
Alternatively, the customer demands that all rubber parts, including tyres, be replaced with new ones as they must have deteriorated in state and hence become unusable during the two years the car was parked at Audi centres in Gaborone and South Africa.
They also demand refunds for insurance of the car for the duration of over two years it had been in their custody.
He also wants to be re-embursed for all the mandatory car taxes during the period of over two years the car had been in Audi garages.
The A.S.A Enterprises managing director estimates that he had fitted his expensive toy with P100,000 worth of extras, while the cost of insurance and road taxes also exceed P100,000.
Responding to A.S.A Enterprises plea earlier via a letter, the office of the Audi managing director in South Africa, through its specialist, Alex Kagande told the complainant that there was no compensation for him as the fault was caused by acts of God, during a rainy day.
“As the initial damage to the vehicle was external of nature and beyond the control of Audi South Africa or Audi centre Gaborone, no financial assistance or compensation towards the repair costs can be forthcoming from Audi South Africa or the dealer. We can also not accept any responsibility for any underlying matters that may arise as a result of initial water damage”.
Audi South Africa would, in their subsequent response on June 23, 2017 to another A.S.A Enterprises follow-up, reiterate their point that they will not be moved from their stance.
In a separate interview with this publication, A.S.A Enterprises spokesperson Pako Biakolo expressed disappointment with the level of customer service they were afforded by Audi.
He was also shocked that following their complaint, Audi was now making their own demands against the customer, demanding that A.S.A Enterprises now foot the bill for the transportation of the car to and from South Africa.
Audi South Africa also told A.S.A Enterprises through their letters that the car is being held up by a certain problem, “Light Warning”, which they were still diagnosing.
However, they said they could not extend other benefits to the A.S.A Enterprises since their Audi car’s warranty and motor plan had expired, while the car did not have a service history for 2013.
The spokesperson says the fact that Audi made them pay P40,000 upfront for the car problem was in recognition of the fact that warranty and motor plan had expired.