Car sale fraud

Car sale fraud

On April 19, 2000, I bought a new Daihatsu Taruna CL from
Astra's licensed distributor PT Adira Dinamika at Jl. Fatmawati
25, South Jakarta. The decision to buy the CL model, the cheapest
one, was made after Adira's sales agent, Yusuf, suggested that I
could save money buying my own accessories instead of getting the
completely accessorized CX model.

I then made a payment for a set of essential accessories to
Yusuf, who gave me a receipt with PT Adira's stamp on it: Rp 6.5
million for factory-issue air-conditioning, Rp 2 million for an
audio set and Rp 500,000 for a car alarm.

The ensuing days after I got the car were disappointing. First
it took at least three days before the accessories were
completely installed and then I realized that the audio set was a
cheap Aiwa model, which I later found out only cost about Rp
500,000. It was even more disappointing when I found out later
that the air-conditioning did not work properly and the carpet
under the driver's seat became very damp for some reason.

Suspecting the two problems were related, I took the car to PT
Adira's garage, which, to my surprise, refused to handle the
problems, as the "accessories were not bought at the dealership".
It was then taken to the place where they were purchased. When
the car was returned, both problems had not been resolved.

After a second visit, the air-conditioning was fixed, but not
the leak. I took the car this time to my regular garage, where I
found out two things: a) poor water insulation had caused a leak
in the car; and b) instead of the genuine Nippon Denso air-
conditioning I paid for, I was given one of much lower quality,
consisting of components taken from different brands and which
cannot be worth more than Rp 2.5 million.

I was completely fooled. Adira's sales agent, Yusuf, had taken
advantage of my tolerance and my hectic schedules that prevented
me from discovering the fraud earlier. I thought that simply by
going to an authorized dealership would guarantee a quality
product and service. But ultimately, name does not mean anything
when the sales agents' mission is still to pocket whatever money
they can squeeze out of their trusting customers.

DEVI M. ASMARANI

Jakarta