Customers Want Their Booking Amount Refunded For Cars Post Lockdown

According to a report by ET Auto, customers now want a refund of their full token amount (also cancel bookings) given during the online purchasing of their vehicle. One of the main reasons for this decision by the customers is to conserve cash during the pandemic.

"There's been a feeble reaction to the resumptions of the operations. Going by the cancellation rate there won't be many deliveries left over the next few days and we might be enforcing a new lockdown on ourselves," said a passenger car dealer preferring anonymity.

Close to 1000 dealerships such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, Mercedes-Benz and few other brands in the passenger vehicle portfolio have commenced operations under the rules set by the Government. The dealers across the country were looking at increasing the retail sales, but the customer reaction has left many dealers worried and baffled.

Vinkesh Gulati, Vice President of Federation of Automobile Dealers' Associations, stated, "There isn't a huge rush of customers in the dealership amidst the overall scare and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic which is on the rise. The scenario should change soon as the dealerships were closed for more than a month and customers' footfalls are pretty low. We do expect improvement as more and more potential customers get aware of the resumption of these operations."

In Other COVID-19 news, the new guidelines set by the Government to resume work at plants and dealerships include display cars and test drive car preparedness, customer lounges and washrooms sanitization, delivery process of new and serviced cars, and contactless demonstration and servicing. These guidelines will be followed by the company dealerships across India from the customers' arrival to departure.

Also, at various automobile plants across India, the people whose services are not required at the plant have been told to continue to work from home. This will also allow the companies to reduce the number of staff during work and will ensure social distancing norms as well.

Thoughts About People Refunding Booking Amounts Amidst COVID-19

Conserving cash could be one of the main reasons for people to ask for a full refund on the booking amount for their vehicle. We all know that the country is going through an economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we hope that this gets better with time.