Dear members of the media,

My name is Latifah, 55, mother of four, from Malaysia, and I am also a
Honda Civic Hybrid owner.

I would assume that with all the recent hype behind the Class Action
lawsuit against Honda in the US on grounds of cheating mileage claim and
also Heather Peters vs American Honda Inc case at California Small Claims
Court, that you would have probably guessed where my story is heading...

Well, to cut a long story short, my Honda Civic Hybrid's IMA battery went
kaput after a year and ten months of owning it from brand new.

My HCH is one of the earlier Hybrid to be purchased in this country. I am
not so fussed about the failed technology part of it, as this can happen
to the very best of us, but I am very concerned and terribly upset about
how Honda ridiculed and humiliated a customer who is an early adopter of
their Hybrid technology.

Instead of helping me out with a technology, that they admit is still in
its infancy, the company decided to make an example of me, a caution to
all and any hybrid buyers that there are no sympathy from Honda if the
expensive IMA battery fails.

My initial requested to Honda was for a straightforward battery
replacement, but they refused. Insisting that the fault with the car
occurred outside of the warranty period.

Having exhausted all avenues of communication with the company, including
writing directly to the CEO and receiving no evidence of customer care, we
had no choice but to seek compensation through the Malaysian Consumer
Tribunal late last year.

Even at this point, Honda refused to make an offer for reasonable battery
replacement but instead came up with non-sense terms and warranty which I
rejected.

The Consumer Tribunal Court here disallow lawyers to represent parties in
order to keep cost to a minimum and give access to everyone, and without
the benefit of fancy legal jargon to defend themselves against my simple
statement of facts, Honda lost.

To put it simply the tribunal found that Honda and the dealer that sold me
the car was unable to defend their false advertising that claim of 10-12
years lifespan for the IMA battery.

The tribunal ordered them to pay me back an equivalent of US$7,000 in
compensation.

Just like in Heather Peter's case, Honda in Malaysia appealed for a
judicial review at the High Court shortly after. I can only release the
Consumer Tribunal Grounds for Judgement here as my High Court case is
still active.

After plenty of spinning and hair splitting by their lawyers, it seems
like Honda may get their way after all through the legal channel of this
country. But I will have to wait for the verdict to be release 27th of
this month.

Yes my story does sound like another typical narration of a victim of
corporate fraud who then gets away with it because they can afford
expensive lawyers who will do anything to get their clients off the hook.

The reason why I am writing this is to seek help from International Media
to actually cover my story.

My story is minimally picked up by the media here especially the motoring
media as most of them are in the pocket of Honda's advertising department.

I wrote to the authority and govt agency here, but no one seems interested
to entertain my complaints either.

Meanwhile, Honda enjoys maximum advertising coverage for their Hybrid
range by bringing in more Hybrid cars here due to tax incentives.
The victim – the public here then blindly buys a Honda Hybrid without
knowing that Honda will turn on them if once the dirt hits the fan.

This is not about my loss any more, this is about principles and my rights
as a customer.

If this was back in the days of glorious Japanese industrial standards
and discipline, nothing less of Harakiri would be expected from Honda's
CEO if a blunder like this were to take place.

Today, they can pat each other on the back congratulating on their sales
success for their infamous fraudulent green car.

Hope this finds you well. I am more than happy to answer any questions and
I will be grateful with any help that I can get.


Best wishes,

Latifah