BENGALURU: A businessman has approached the consumer court after his car — a Mercedes Benz — broke down as the service centre refilled it with diesel instead of petrol. The centre has also allegedly refused to replace the engine.
The complainant, Vikas Agarwal, who owns Aqua Packers and Movers Pvt Ltd, alleged that he had given his car to TV Sundaram Iyengar and Sons Pvt Ltd, which is an authorised service centre on October 4, this year. He was informed that there was a problem with the car’s disk brake and the bill amount was Rs 43,725.
After repairs, he paid the bill and took the car for a test. The car, however, stalled at the gate of the service centre. On inquiring, the serviceman told him that everything was okay and that he had also filled diesel. This came as a shocker for Agarwal as his car runson petrol.
Agarwal then asked the service manager, Ramprasad, to look into the matter.Agarwal, a resident of Whitefield, told The New Indian Express that it was now almost two months and the service centre and the company were blaming each other saying that it was a human error instead of any technical glitch. “I asked them to replace the engine, but they are not ready. Thus I have filed a case against the company Mercedes-Benz and the service centre located at Hoodi near Whitefield,”he said.
Agarwal said the car (KA-01 MH-4686) was purchased in 2011 and he had gifted it to his father. The vehicle was registered in the name of his firm.
When contacted, Rajat, regional manager of Mercedes Benz India, said, “Agarwal has already contacted me a couple of times over the issue and discussions are going on. I do not like to comment anything about it at this stage.”
Ramprasad said, “Since Agarwal has approached the court, I do not want to comment. Our legal advisor will look into the case”.
Zulfi Baig, an automobile expert, said, “The engine will stop working if they fill the wrong fuel. It is possible to make it work by cleaning each part of the engine with petrol and reassembling it.”