Insulted at car showroom, Karnataka farmer brings money and seeks apology

A Karnataka farmer, who was shooed away by car salespersons at a showroom where he went to buy a pickup truck, who mocked him saying he wouldn’t even have ₹10 in his pocket, returned later with ₹10 lakh demanding his dream car.

The salesperson, thinking that the farmer Kempegowda RL and his friends were window shoppers, allegedly told him that he won’t even have “₹10 in his pocket”, let alone Rs 10 lakh for the car.

Kempegowda, an areca nut farmer from Ramanapalya in Tumakuru district, then dared the salesperson to deliver the car the same day if they brought the cash.

After half an hour, the farmer arrived at the car showroom with the ₹10 lakh cash. But the salespersons were unable to deliver the car as it had become late and Saturday and Sunday were holidays.

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Enraged by this, Kempegowda and his friends refused to leave the place and called the police. The police, after understanding the situation, persuaded the farmers to leave the place.

Kempegowda returned home, but has said that he wouldn’t buy the car now. “Now, I’ve lost interest in buying the vehicle.”

He, however, sought an apology in writing from the showroom for the “humiliation”. “I’ve asked the sales executive and the showroom authorities to apologise to us in writing for humiliating me and my friends,” he said.

Top brass of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd assured urgent remedial action after the incident.

The company’s chairman Anand Mahindra said in a tweet, “The Core Purpose of @MahindraRise is to enable our communities & all stakeholders to Rise. And a key Core Value is to uphold the Dignity of the Individual. Any aberration from this philosophy will be addressed with great urgency.”

M&M Managing Director and CEO Anish Shah said: “Customer centricity and dignity of the individual are the foundation of @MahindraRise we are addressing this issue with urgency,” Shah said in a post on Twitter.

M&M Ltd CEO Automotive Division Veejay Nakra tweeted, “Dealers are an integral part of delivering a customer centric experience & we ensure the respect & dignity of all our customers.”

He further said, “We are investigating the incident and will take appropriate action, in the case of any transgression, including counselling & training of frontline staff.”