Salam Pakwheelers,
Just wanted to share a little experience I had today while going to collect the delivery of my 1.3 Gli A/T from Toyota Defence Motors, Karachi.
This is my first purchase of a car and I had applied for financing through Bank Al Habib (horrible service, will elaborate).
It had been a long, painstaking 4 months of wait before this day arrived and I was giddy with excitement. I made my way to the dealership around 5.30 pm and was in touch with our salesman who had even recommended that I come first thing in the morning as either they were about to shut soon but I was having none of it; I had waited 4 painful months for this moment and I refused to wait any longer.
I made my way to the salesman, dressed to impress, with just a copy of a my mum's NIC (it was bought under her name and the bank had failed to advise us on what documents were needed during time of the delivery; more on that later). I greeted the salesman with a firm handshake, handed him my mother's NIC and politely asked him where my car was. He looked at me apologetically and said "Sir, do you have the delivery order from the bank?". I did not understand - what was a delivery order? The bank had not informed me I needed to show that at the time of delivery neither had they mentioned anything about it at all. He gave me another apologetic look and said "I'm sorry sir, I cannot give you the car unless you have the delivery order". He acknowledged that he knew who I was as my dad had been in regular contact with him throughout the delivery process and knew that I was the son of a powerful bureaucrat in the Sindh Government. Despite my dad's influential stature, he was never one to show them off or use his influence unnecessarily and I am proud to say he instilled the same values in me which is why I was polite throughout the process.
However, I just couldn't take it anymore - I am ashamed to say all my principles and values disappeared and I acted like a typical bratty kid of a government official. Yet, this salesman would not budge. He knew who my dad was, he heard all the horrible things I was saying yet he kept repeating, as if he was a broken toy, "I'm sorry sir but you need the delivery order - it is a formality I can not avoid". No matter that I even tried to hint at a possible cash gift for him if he let me take my car (again, extremely sorry and guilty about this) and I could give the order tomorrow first thing in the morning, he refused point blank. I was beside myself - this man was frustrating me beyond my belief!
I tried ringing our agent at the bank, and so did the salesman, but the lazy piece of **** would not answer his phone. I tried letting my dad talk to this unreasonable, unrelenting, cruel man who refused to give me something we paid good money for! Yet, he kept repeating the same thing - no delivery order, no car.
I left the showroom in a rage and was on my way home when I started thinking about the horrible things I said and how I acted - we always complain about the government being corrupt but we don't realise that as citizens, we are also suffering from the same disease of trying to find short cuts in life. But this man won my respect - he stood his ground, no matter what I said or offered him, he refused to budge from the formalities required even though he knew who my dad was and that I was genuinely my mum's son (car was registered under her name, remember?).
The purpose of sharing this little (ok, not so little) tale with you was to bring a bit of a change in viewpoint about the services of our dealerships. Sure, they make tons of mistakes here and there, even supply sub-standard products and customer service a lot of the times. Yet, I share this anecdote with you to show you a different side of things, a more feel-good experience from Toyota.
Perhaps I am over-dramatising this whole experience in my head and exaggerating it simply because I feel guilty about the way I acted but either way, I learned something from this salesman and I respect his conviction in following the rules, even for people of a higher stature in society.
I will be going to pick up my car tomorrow first thing in the morning. As soon as I got home, the lazy idiotic agent from the bank called me back and my dad and I gave him a right piece of our minds which is why he is going as soon as the dealership opens to hand them the delivery order so I may pick it up as per my convenience.
Sorry for taking up so much of your time, this was simply to provide you guys an insight into a more positive outlook on the dealership employees - no, the citizens of our country, who are often considered to be corrupt and always looking for short-cuts. God bless this man, he taught me a lot. Respect!
