Watchdog: 40% of car owners overcharged
Print Edition
MORE than 40 percent of car owners have been charged extra or unnecessary fees by car dealers when they have had repair work done, a consumer rights watchdog report revealed yesterday.
Beijing Hyundai, Geely Emgrand and Guangqi Honda dealers were given the lowest score among 20 domestic and overseas automobile brands in terms of the quality of their after-sales service, a survey of 2,000 car owners showed. The attitude of staff, service efficiency, charges, quality of work, service procedures and the environment at 4S shops are the major factors determining whether car owners have a satisfactory experience, according to the report.
Most of the survey respondents were between 31 and 40 years old, earned 10,000 yuan (US$1,612) to 30,000 yuan per month, and have been driving for 6 to 10 years.
“For experts, the proficiency of repair workers is the most important thing, but we found that consumers usually have no idea how to judge their capability, thus they place more value on service attitude and want the repairs to be completed in a short time,” said Liu Bo, an official with the Shanghai New Consumption Research Center, which carried out the investigation for the commission.
“In addition, many car owners said they are not told what they are being charged for, such as the cost of parts,” he added.
Beijing Hyundai dealers received the most negative comments from respondents, who believed they were hit with unjustified charges, according to the report.
The commission also conducted an undercover investigation of 20 4S shops covering the most popular car brands in the Shanghai market to determine whether they imposed excessive charges or were guilty of other irregularities. Among the 4S dealers investigated, Dongfeng Nissan, Guangzhou Toyota, Chang’an Ford, Mazda and BMW were the worst when it came to overcharging, according to the commission.
Private car ownership in Shanghai reached 2.09 million at the end of last year but after-sales repair and maintenance services are still not up to standard, according to Tang Jiansheng, the commission’s deputy secretary-general.
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