A Karnataka farmer had gone to book an SUV at a car showroom in Tumakuru, but to his shock, the sales executives turned him and his friends away. Kempegowda RL, who hails from Ramanapalya, was allegedly told by one of the sales executives that it didn’t look like he would have “Rs 10 in (his) pocket”, let alone the Rs 10 lakh required to buy the car. In reply, the arecanut farmer dared the showroom executives to deliver the car that very day if they could bring the cash to buy it, reported Times of India. Kempegowda told TOI that it appeared that the sales executives hadn’t expected him to be able to pull the requisite cash together since banks had shut by that time. However, as it turned out, Kempegowda kept his end of the bargain, but the sales executives could not deliver either on their promise or the car.
The report added that Kempegowda arranged for the money in just 30 minutes, after which he returned to the showroom. The incident occurred on Friday, and since Saturday and Sunday were government holidays, the showroom staff could not get the car delivered as discussed. Aggravated by the humiliation they had faced, Kempegowda and his friends called the police and registered a complaint. They refused to leave the showroom and had to be persuaded to do so by personnel from the Tilak Park police station. Videos of the incident went viral on social media. The following was shared on Twitter by a journalist and it drew a lot of outrage from netizens.
Since the video shows a Mahindra showroom, many could be seen tagging Mahindra chairman Anand Mahindra to look into the matter. A Twitter user wrote, “@mahindraauto staff need to learn a lot from @anandmahindra.. the humiliation of the farmer happened when he went to buy a Mahindra SUV (sic)”.
Unfortunately, however, Kempegowda said that he has now lost interest in buying his dream car. Instead, what he wishes for is a written apology from the sales executive and the showroom authorities for “humiliating” him and his friends. In case the apology was not given, he warned of holding a protest in front of the car showroom today.