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July 20, 2008

My Bitter Experiences with Hero Honda Passion Plus

These are some of my experiences with Hero Honda Passion Plus Bike which i got 1 -1/2 years back. I drove around 27000Km on this bike and i have done 19 services on this bike till now from the Hero Honda Authorized Show Room.

Passport:
When ever we buy the bike from Hero Honda show room they recommend us to get the passport(Offered by Hero Honda) and they say that it will save us some amount of money for bike servicing. In reality I never got that passport book I already have paid around 200Rs for the same. I spoke to the show room people couple of times and got the reply that they have not received it from head office. So i conclude that it is waste to take passport service from Hero Honda.

Servicing:
You get very pathetic service from Hero Honda Showrooms, better avoid them. Try to find a good mechanic and sit with him for your bike service and make sure that he does all the required works for a particular service number.

What Authorized Dealers are Doing:
They charge you more amount of money for the work what they are doing. When ever we give our bike for servicing what they do is just change the engine oil and give us the bike. They wont perform any other work. In some cases where you say that oil leakage or some other problem is present they will just replace Old oil seal with a new one or some thing else, they wont go and find out root cause and repair the bike.

Bike Washing:
Out of the 19 times i performed bike servicing, 5 times they have not washed the bike and given back to me saying that their water motor is not working or some other reasons.
i have performed all of my bike servicings at the following Hero Honda Passion Plus Authorized dealer

Sri Laxmi Motors. Their address on the bill is:
Plot No 7&6 , Abhyudaya Nagar Colony,
Vanasthali Puram, Hyderabad -500070.
But in reality they are situated in Dilsuknagar,Hyderabad.

Response of the people:
When you ask for good service you should never go there unless you are willing that your bike should get screwed.

Petrol:
When ever you give your bike for servicing be ready that at least 1 liter of your petrol is gone. and i dont know why? Its no where stated that they will take petrol from your bike for servicing. Then why are they charging for servicing? Does it mean that we need to take all of our petrol from the bike.

Warranty:
According to the Hero Honda Owners Manual it is:

1) All Hero Honda Motors are Warranted for a period of 2 years or 30,000Km which ever is less.

2) It is mandatory to avail all free and paid services as per the recommended schedule to be eligible for warranty benefits. Please ensure that each paid service is availed within 60 days from the date of previous service.

3) If any defect is observed in any Hero Honda motor cycle, Hero Hondas only obligation liability is to repair or replace those part/parts which is/are considered to be the cause of malfunctions free of charge with both labor and material. When Hero Honda acknowledges that such malfunction has not come out of misuse/improper handling, etc. Such defective motorcycles should be brought to the nearest Hero Honda dealers/Authorised service center by the owner for necessary inspection.

Limitations of Warranty:

The warranty does not apply to following conditions
1) If any part of the vehicle is tampered/repaired by the unauthorised persons/workshops etc.

2) If any one of the six free services and subsequent paid services, is not availed, as per the recommended engine oil is used.

3) If the recommended engine oil is not used.

4) To rubber parts/plaztic components/bulbs and other hardware items.

5) Any damages resulting from modifications/fitment of sidecar and fitment of accessories of the other than those authorised by Hero Honda.

6) If the motocycle is uses in any competitive events like rallies/races etc. and if it is used for any commercial purposed like 'Hiring', 'Taxi', etc.

7) To proprietary items like Tyres, Tubes, Batteries etc,. since they are directly handled by the respective manufacturers and are subjected to their warranty terms and conditions.

8)To normal wear and tear components like bulbs,electrical wirings, filters, spark plugs,clutch plates, brake shoes, fasteners,shims,washers, oil seals, gaskets,rubber and plastic components, chain & sprockets and in case of wheel rim misalignment and bend.

Problems with the service station:
1) They are not cleaning air filter.

2) Not taking care of break binding.

3) Not checking the ignition system.

4) They never think about changing spark plug or maintainence of it.

5) The battery never last long irrespective of how many times you do charging of it.

This list continues... bcoz of technical limitations I have, I may not be able to produce complete list of it...

Technical Problems what i have faced during my bikes 1 1/2 year time:
1) Air filter

2) Flames coming from exhaust pipe..Note: To solve this problem, i hit servicings for 4 times, still the problem is not solved.

3) The manual says that you have to replace your engine oil for every 4000km in case of 4Tplus oil. In spite of that fact why it is recommended by all dealers that we need to do that for every 2500kms. Is it just that they want to make more money??

4) Odo meter did not work for 15days and I have to replace it with new one. In what way Odo meter does not come in warranty, as we can do nothing with a mechanical part.

5) There are so many other problems i got on my bike due to my technical limitations i am not able to explain with proper technical names... and I may forgot few of them.

Finally I feel that i made a mistake in buying Hero Honda passion plus.

Note: I have nothing against Hero Honda Company or any other motor bike company.
This article came out of my sheer frustration and also with the feeling of being cheated by the Service station. This is entirely my personal opinion and i hope you already know that by this time.

Anyone who reads this articles has any suggestions regarding this issues or their similar experiences , please share your experiences through comments.

7 Comments By Users:

Anonymous said...

I do agree, most of the so-called Authorized service centers sucks. I have Hero Honda CD 100. I had a wheel wobbling problem. I have tried each and every Authorized service centers of hero Honda in Hyderabad and secunderabad. NON of them could rectify the problem, but every time I get a bill of more than 1000 rupees. Finally, I sat a whole day with the bike in a road side mechanic who to fix the problem for 40 rupees / wheel.

The ranuigunj Modi-mottors was good. But not any more as they do service of 400 – 500 bike every day. In such case what kind of attention do you expect for your bike ?
Hence, I switched to Castrol bike zone. The golden rule: be with your bike through out during the service is done. Now, my bike is running like a horse & I’m happy with the Thriumulgherry Castrol Bike Zone J

Anonymous said...

I complete agree with with the author said. I had quite a few of the problems with Passion Plus and i was fed up and bought Honda Bike (Not Hero Hona) Now i am pretty happy.Try to find a proper channel way where you can raise these issues.

Anonymous said...

ya I to agree with author, i would like to share my comments. Here final answerable one is Hero Honda OEM, but the thing is i am not sure whether the right feed back reached to the original manufacturer, if so they might take call, i have experience of automotive, really they will do rigorous validation before launch. Each OEM takes customer satisfaction index ( EX:JD power for 4-weellers)as prestigious and believes that cause strong brand image in people. i went for dealer visit for two months as part of our training. in my experience i observed dealers only looks for profits they really don't bother about the customer complaints. But OEM's some how better they will see profits at the same time they will give equal importance to customer service satisfaction index. I think here the complaint is not reaching the right people i.e OEM. Authors experience really tells us think before going for hero Honda particularly passion plus. Thanks to author in sharing of his experience..

Anonymous said...

What is OEM

Unknown said...

OEM Definition: Original Equipment Manufacturer

Anonymous said...

I do not agree that Hero Honda Passion Plus or any other Hero Honda model for that matter is technically faulty. The problem the author has is with the service centre and not Hero Honda Passion Plus. I am a dealer for Hero Honda in Gujarat and was shocked to read the author's experiences. I urge the author to contact the local area office, zonal office and if required the Head office of Hero Honda Motors Ltd. for immediate redressal of the complaint. The adresses and e-mail addresses of these offices are in your service book. Hero Honda Motors Ltd. prides its self in customer service and is the World no. 1 motorcycle company for the last 7 years for the same reason. There will be immediate action if such problem is reported. It has CSMM (Customer Satisfaction Monitering & Management) survey every year for all dealers through out India to know the customer satisfaction indices of the particular dealers. This is followed very stringently. Please I once again request the author to contact the right authority to address the problem and not to blame HHML for negligence of some dealer, it is customers' right to demand good service. As for the over charging of rates, HHML has provided all dealers rate schedules for all jobs and no dealer is allowed to charge rates above the prescribed rates. These rate charts are to be displayed compulsorily at all Hero Honda Authorised Workshop. Please make sure to pay only according to the these rates. Any over charging by any dealer should be brought to the immediate notice of the respective area office or higher authority. Please I once again urge you to contact the right authority before you pass final opinion on Hero Honda.

Anonymous said...

Yes, It's true. You have only mentioned what many others experience daily. After years of good name Hero Honda could have rectified the engine and gearbox problems. It didn't. I think Hero Honda will take a serious beating in one to two years. After bad experiences with two Hero Honda bikes and using it for more than 19 years, I do not recommend it to anybody. BYE BYE HERO HONDA, BAJAJ HERE I COME.

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