Above is the Harley Davidson Street 750 that we rode for an exhaustive review
Test ride/drive vehicles being stolen by people posing as potential customers is not a felony we haven’t heard of before. The latest victim of this crime is Harley-Davidson’s Hyderabad showroom in Banjara Hills region.
It all started with a man of about 30-years of age, named Tahir Ali, walking into the Harley-Davidson showroom as a potential customer to test ride the two-wheeler manufacturer’s entry-level and one of the highest selling motorcycles, the Street 750. The thief filled the test-ride form with all the necessary details before taking the Street 750 out for a ride. However, he never returned to the showroom and so didn’t the Rs 4.32 lakh (ex-showroom) worth motorcycle. It was later found that the details provided by the person were fake. The person was captured on the CCTV camera of the showroom while he rode away on the motorcycle. The police is currently analysing the footage for any clues or leads. A case under IPC Sections 379 (theft) and 420 (cheating) has been filed against the thief.
Here is the CCTV footage of the incident:
What do you think of this particular case and the crime of stealing test ride-drive cars/bikes from showrooms? What measures should the showroom management take to put a curb on such unfortunate incidents? Share your views and ideas with us and fellow readers through the comments section below.
as seen in video it could have been avoided had someone from the showroom accompanied him.
Though I appreciate that English demonstrably is not your first language, it would help if you get your pieces properly subbed before publishing them.
How about a SMS verification code sent to customers which the person test driving should enter in the register then and there in front of staff.
Also no helmets or Caps while entering the showroom.
I was there just 15 minutes later when it happened.
According to what I heard the guy came a day ago and was a little drunk he wore a cap and he was not looking straight and kept his head lower.
Management refused to offer him the test drive on basis that he was drunk.
Later the guy comes dressed well on the very next day pretends as if he's gonna buy and took the test drive along with the Official Harley merchandise helmet.
My suggestion is that they take the original DL and provide a letter confirming that the DL is at showroom to any person who takes test drive.
This ensures there are no such issues.