Told you so - Puspakom comes back to say we are right about its role
Puspakom sent us a statement confirming what we have thought all along. The centre is meant for vehicles to be checked so that it meets legal standards. They are not there to become inspectors for carmakers.
PUSPAKOM’s role
Puspakom basically agreed with us, proving every point in our article in defence of consumer rights. Kudos to their CEO Mahmood Razak Bahman for clearing the air through a statement sent to us.
Now, in case you have missed it, a car owner recently claimed that her brake failure complaint via a social media post that went viral, which was met with a “oh, Puspakom says no problem, so all good” from a service centre. Their aftersales team also claimed there was no issues with the vehicle.
But look at this sterling quote from Puspakom’s, in a statement sent to us: “Manufacturers have a crucial role in ensuring the quality and safety of their vehicles.
“It is their responsibility to deliver on the promises made to customers, including providing vehicles that meet performance expectations.”
We have contacted Chery Malaysia for their comment on this press release.
"It is important to note that PUSPAKOM does not diagnose mechanical faults. Instead, our inspections provide readings and results that serve as indications of any potential faults, which then require further diagnosis by manufacturers or qualified mechanics. Manufacturers have a crucial role in ensuring the quality and safety of their vehicles. It is their responsibility to deliver on the promises made to customers, including providing vehicles that meet performance expectations." PUSPAKOM SDN BHD
This is exactly what we advocated for in our previous article.
Time and again we have insisted that brands must commit to ensure they provide the experience that was promised to the customer during the pre sales process. If a vehicle is performing to the regulation, it may not be performing according to spec. That could be interpreted by the user as a malfuction from their experience.
More importantly....
Repeatedly we have heard, and even directly experienced personnel from various car brands trying to use the PUSPAKOM inspection as a means to get away from rectifying a concern raised by the customer on their vehicle. This could lead to the customer getting short changed in terms of experience. As compliance to regulations not necessarily mean performing at the required specificiation.
Could this non compliance lead to customers feeling like they are missing out in the experience they expected to have? This can be anything from brake feel, suspension feel, road noise, trim noise, and even powertrain performance.
Better credibility and proactiveness from the Brands
Day after day we see car brand or model groups on social media filled with complains over multiple faults experienced by customers. Cars experiencing faults is not the problem here. Warranties are issued for vehicles in anticipation for such eventualities. But how much of the promised after sales service is delivered to the customer? Or was the customer sold the right expectation from the start? Either way, it really comes down to the brand to ensure the brand experience and the product experience is delivered to the customer.
In conclusion
Be it a value driven brand or the brand catering ultra luxury, in the last decade Route Hunters have had first hand experiences where some irresponsible individuals or parties in several brands try to short change customers and sweep the problems under the carpet. Often times they would use a 3rd party name to get away from the problems. We really don’t want PUSPAKOM, a brand that has served the nation for 3 decades to become the scape goat for such parties. Copyright © 2024 Route Hunters Malaysia
Kabilan Mustaffa Pakirisamy contributed to this article