No service centre in Kolkata, Suzuki bikers left

KOLKATA:Never mind if Santanu Das is pious. He has incurred the wrath of Zeus. And eventhough it is winter, Subrata Dey is feeling the Heat. No, it isn't really the king of gods in Greek mythology or the climate that is troubling the duo. They've hit rough weather after purchasing Suzuki bikes two years ago. With the city dealer downing shutters a year ago, owners of Suzuki bikes Zeus and Heat are stranded with no service centre in the neighbourhood. They aren't the only ones left in the lurch. There are nearly 1,000 other bikers who have been caught unawares."I opted for Suzuki because of the trust the brandhad developed in the country with sales and service of Maruti Suzuki cars. TillNovember 2008, the decision had seemed wise. The bike performed reliably and theafter-sales service was good. But then the most shocking thing happened. Thedealer shut shop and so did the service centre," recalled Das who owns SuzukiZeus. Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd senior manager (service) VipulGoel acknowledge that customers are in a fix. "We have 210 dealership pointsacross the country and multiple dealers in all other metros. Unfortunately, adealer is yet to be appointed in Kolkata and hence the problem," Kumarsaid.With the Topsia workshop gone, Das and other Suzuki bike owners have to travel to Chinsurah in Hooghly, nearly 30 km from Kolkata, for elementary service and repairs. And it has been like this for a year now. "Can you think of an auto major that does not have a dealership in ametro city. Suzuki ought to have set up a workshop to service customers. Thoughthey conduct service camps every four months, if there are any snags orbreakdowns, one has to go all the way to Chinsurah," complained Dey, who ownsSuzuki Heat.What has irked owners most is that they weren'tintimated about the development. "I went for my regular free service that thecompany offers for the first two years to find that the service centre had shutshop. It was a rude shock," recalled Pannalal Dutta, who owns aHeat.Since then, the situation has got no better with Suzuki bikeowners having to travel 60 km to Chinsurah to get their bikes serviced orrepaired. "Since the number of Suzuki bikes are few compared to motorcycles ofother brands, local workshops have not acquired the skills or the tools requiredto repair them," said Dutta.Hence, even for common repair jobs likechanging the oil filter, brake shoe, brake wire or bearing, the owners have tomake the day-long trip. "We could have tried to repair the Suzuki bikes but itsspare parts are not available in the open market. So, owners have no option butgo to a service centre," said Anindya Roy, who runs a multi-brand bike repairworkshop in Bhowanipore.Expressing regret over the situation, SuzukiMotorcycle vice-president (sales & marketing) Atul Gupta said thje issuewould be resolved early next year. "A tie-up for a new dealership should be inplace by January and the showroom and service centre should be operational byMarch," he added.