CARAMA SAY HIS NAME DAILY!

New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/motoring/2015/01/16/want-good-trusted-workshop-try-www-carama-com/

Want a good and trusted workshop? Try www.carama.com

Imagine the day you suddenly realise you need to go an independent workshop and get your car fixed. You’d go there, not knowing who the mechanics are and if they could be trusted. In some cases, you could even end up paying for spare parts that aren’t original.

You’d move on from one workshop to another, in the hope of finally finding a workshop that wouldn’t rip you off. This experience can sometimes be exhausting and stressful.

I had a similar experience with my 20-year-old BMW. I had moved on to so many workshops that I eventually lost count. It also took many bad experiences before I finally found “the one workshop” I was looking for who could handle my car without me getting ripped off or cheated.

But such an experience seems to be in the past with Castrol’s new online portal, www.carama.com, Malaysia’s first and only online service for trusted car care and innovative tool that provides car owners a peace of mind by providing estimates for their car maintenance. It coincidentally is the first tool of its kind in the world.

All you have to do in register your details and check out what the portal could do for you or you could immediately start making bookings through it for an appointment with the workshop. All the close to 300 workshops listed on the portal have been audited by independent specialists so you could have confidence taking your car there for repairs and have the peace of mind that a trusted mechanics is working on it.

There are also reviews that can make the decision-making process easier besides the fact that 95% of car brands are represented by these workshops.

We recently caught up with Carama Castrol general manager Sumeet Wadhwa to see just how this online portal is doing and how it would be beneficial for consumers.

Wadhwa: “While providing these workshops with the digital platform, we are also helping them to the next phase of their businesses. As they improve, the consumer gets the best value out of it.”

“We formulated this idea of a portal after looking into 3 trends that stood out. First, there was huge mistrust by consumers on workshops in Malaysia. People didn’t have the confidence that they were paying the right prices nor if they were getting the proper spare parts.

“There was also a problem with the honesty of certain workshops. Consumer generally lumped them all together. But there were also very and honest and good workshops out there that needed the extra help.

“Social media was also another key factor. As more and more consumer became digitally savvy, there were workshops who couldn’t see this as an opportunity, which is why were decided to bridge this gap with Carama,” he said.

He said the portal would consumers would have a platform in which to find information they required and be able to make sound decisions on their choice of workshops while the better workshops were rewarded and helped to raise their standards.

“While providing these workshops with the digital platform, we are also helping them to the next phase of their businesses. As they improve, the consumer gets the best value out of it,” he added.

However, the need to shape habits among consumers was a major challenge that he faced.

“Many still do believe in working with the known devil than an unknown one. And workshops are also not digitally literate. But I believe this is just a matter of time before the habits of consumers and workshops change when they begin seeing the immense potential and benefits that they can extract from this platform.”

Carama was launched in Sept 2013 and since then, the portal has some 280 workshops listed with a healthy 40 to 50 reviews a month.

From a survey of 475 people done on people who signed up, Wadhwa said 90% of the people would return to it for services and recommend it to other people.

“The portal is aimed at helping consumers to avoid a bad experience. These workshops are open to reviews and are audited and so, consumers can have the peace of mind and assurance.

“Through this, we’re also increasing their skills levels, creating greater transparency, raising the bar in customer service and creating awareness in safety,” added Wadhwa.

On his future plans, he said they are looking at reaching out to a larger choice of workshops outside of the Klang Valley, including consumers. We will also look at ways to further influence the decision making process of consumers and provide them with greater assurance and information.

As the portal looks positive for the Malaysian market, Wadhwa said they would look at extending this portal and service regionally.

“This would depend on how it pans out in Malaysia, being a global pilot project,” he added.

How does Carama work? In 4 simple steps; Enter a location and select a preferred workshop; Book an appointment instantly; Send your car in and share your experiences; and, Receive 3% cutback on your service or repair. But before doing this, just sign up for free.

Once logged in, you can add information of you respective cars and monitor the all development from your personal dashboard.

New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/motoring/2015/01/07/carama-portal-independent-workshops-malaysia/

The Carama portal of independent workshops in Malaysia

Many a time we, as car owners, are in the dark about trusted workshops in the country that can handle our car servicing needs. Most of often than not, we get ripped off by unscrupulous workshops and mechanics, making it a painful experience.

It becomes especially difficult to get a good mechanic who would charge reasonably in the major cities in Malaysia. If you have a more complex car, it becomes even more strenuous.

Most people, by word of mouth, hop from one workshop to another in the hope of finding one that is trusted. The quality of work is terrible and the charges are simply exorbitant.

But this new portal, created by Castrol innoVentures, provides a light at the end of the tunnel. It is an online portal has an innovative online tool giving car owners peace of mind by providing estimates for their car maintenance. It coincidentally is the first tool of its kind in South East Asia.

Besides, its Certified and Listed workshops would also provide three months or 5,000km warranty and free drop off service for bookings made through the portal, www.carama.com. Car owners will also be assured of a fair price guarantee.

This is simply a great idea especially for those dabbling in older cars or for those who choose to not take their vehicles to their brand’s service dealerships.

This portal was launched at the tail end of 2013 and so far, its service price calculator covers a selection of car makes and models including, Proton, Perodua, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Ford, Naza, which includes a network of more than 130 workshops.

We will be interviewing Carama’s general manager Sumeet Wadhwa soon to get his take on how the portal is doing and further developments. Look out for it.