TVS SCOOTY

 When TVS launched the SCOOTY in 1994, it had captured a respectable share of the market.

The company discovered a potential problem with the exhaust system after thousands of vehicles were sold. 

The design was modified to eliminate the flaw.

The company honchos pondered over what was to be done with the vehicles in the hands of the customers.

The consensus was to attend to the complaints  on the exhaust system  quickly and do nothing if there were no complaints.

The MD Venu Sreenivasan was furious and put his foot down.

He said that the person who did not complain might be cursing TVS and telling others that the Scooty was a disaster. On the other hand the man who complained was really TVS's friend. The man who did not complain might be quietly fuming and was a potential enemy. He instructed that the company should contact every customer who had bought a vehicle with the defective exhaust system and  ensure that the defect was addressed at once.

He had further directed that the company should give the customers temporary vehicles for use during the exercise to spare inconvenience.

The replacement was quiet expensive for the company at a time when its profits were down.

However the care the company exercised for the customers made the Scooty a resounding success. It placed TVS firmly as the leaders of the small scooter segment