Maracaibo, October 3rd, 2002
Mr. Shuji Mataga
President.
MMC Automotriz, S.A.
Barcelona, Anzoategui.
Dear Mr. Mataga,
I am the proud owner of a Hyundai Elantra 2001. And I say proud because I feel I drive one of the best economy sedans in the market today. I’ve previously driven a Mitsubishi Lancer, a Nissan Sentra, a Fiat Tempra, and a Toyota Corolla. None of these vehicles comes even close to the feel right of my Elantra.
The only reason for which I bought a Hyundai in Venezuela is because it’s backed by Mitsubishi’s iron-clad guarantee. Those three diamonds mean everything when it comes to quality. So far, MMC has been very kind to me through my Hyundai dealer (Dai Motors, C.A.); therefore, I have nothing to complain about MMC as a company.
However, I’m writing this letter to you because I feel Dai Motors is mistreating me. In the process of diagnosing a very small rattle noise coming out of the air conditioning system, Dai Motors wrongly replaced the A/C compressor, yet the noise was still there. They did further adjustments to the pulleys and gears of the car’s engine and A/C system, but the noise was still there. That was 11 days ago.
After a hopeless hunt of the different noise-producing parts of my Elantra, Dai Motors decided that the problem was the clutch system and proceeded to remove it to inspect it. After having removed the clutch disc, cover, and release bearing, and having visually inspectedit (no rivet-sink measuring whatsoever as indicated in the dealers service manual), they guessed that the noise was coming from the clutch system and proceeded to change it to see if the noise would cease.
They are still changing it after more than 5 days (3 exact days after they had everything on hand, including spare parts).
I must add that my car doesn’t have nor has ever had a single problem on the clutch system or gearbox. It runs smoothly, it shifts perfectly, it doesn’t slip… all in all, it has a wonderful gearbox and clutch system. Furthermore, the noise was always on the A/C system, for if I turned the compressor off, the noise would cease (or if I pushed the clutch pedal too).
I know that the following important aspects of quality have been by-passed here:
- No technical measurements have been taken.
- No concern has been shown for the customer (me).
- I’ve been asked to go to another dealer since there are other options
- I’ve had to pay more than USD 400 in transportation due to negligence and bad diagnosis on the dealer side.
- I’ve had to stand continuous lies on the dealer side, since they had no clue on what was going on; hence lying was better.
- MMC and I have had to pay for the guesses of the non-trained, non-expert personnel at Dai Motors (you may ask Mr. Zeus Ramos, who kindly has helped me up until now).
- Apparently my clutch system was faulty from the beginning. I cannot justify a clutch lasting only 30k kilometers (18k miles), while my Tempra’s and Misubishi’s lasted 220k and 200k kilometers exactly (137k and 125k miles). Nobody can say that the defects are due to improper driving, since these three cars all have had the same driver (me).
Dear Mr. Mataga: I’m writing to you because I was educated under Deming’s principles of quality, and I know that you’re the only person in Venezuela who could actually know who Deming is. I beg that you please do something on this issue, for I’ve been hurt as a customer. Deming once stated that a customer receiving faulty goods or poor service would become the worst advertiser of our companies.
I know that you would take this issue on your busy hands and would come up with a quality-driven response.
I trust your education.
Truly yours,
Carlos Castro
Hyundai Elantra 2001 Serial Nº: KMHDN41DP1U220677
P.S. Mr. Zeus Ramos perfectly knows about this issue. He could explain everything to you in detail.