Kaff dishwasher - Service and Product stinks!. Review on Choosing a Dishwasher

Kaff Service stinks!!!!

In any of the conditions below, dont buy a Kaff product:

1) You live in Bangalore

2) You are setting up your new home and want to buy a dishwasher

3) You expect reasonably good service(atleast issue resolution within 1 month)

I bought a Kaff dishwasher in March 2009. Ever since I made the purchase, I have had the worst possible experiences with Kaff. As with most Indian households, I do have a house help who does the dishes, but the dishwasher is reserved for those occasions when there are too many dishes or during parties or to give glassware the extra shine. The only one time this dishwasher worked for me perfectly was the first time round, when I washed all my glassware and they came out, shining. That's it. That is probably the only time the dishwasher "really" worked.

Thereafter, the dishwasher cycle would permanently get stuck at the drying cycle and get over-heated. I called the service center and they told me that I could expect someone to come home only on a Saturday two weeks after because a) their dishwasher technician is out of station(apparently works in Chennai or some place) and they have just 1 technician who looks into these matters b) They cannot send anyone after 6 on a weekday, just because I work. Alright, I was ready to be patient and accepted the appointment time. When the technician finally came, he did some adjustments, told me that I wasnt using the dishwasher right and game me some tips on the same and left. Naive as I was, I accepted his explanation without much argument(although I have lived in the US and used dishwashers on a daily basis for several years). The problem persisted and I had to call the Kaff guys in. This time, they came in and took the dishwasher to their service center, saying tht they needed to test it. I received it back after almost month and half and was relieved to see that it was working for all practical purposes. But the relief was shortlived, when I noticed after sometime that the dishwasher was just giving out the dishes exactly the way they went it, just that the dishes were all dry now and extra scrubbing was required by hand to get the grime out. This time round, I had a nightmare just getting across to the right Kaff service center. When I complained about the same, I was told that the entire distribution operation had been taken over by Kaff and that they were sorry for the delays and stuff. Ok.

Now, they sent the first technician home, some Mr. Srinivas who came, saw and left, saying there was an issue with the timer and the cycle was moving too fast. They said the dishwasher needed to be taken to the service center again. There was no word from them or about when they would come and pick up the dishwasher. After repeated calls, I got through to one Mr. Asin.He promised that he would come and take a look. He too came, looked and also browsed through the manual and left , saying it needed to be taken to the service center. (Nothing I didnt already know). After creating a big fuss, I finally got him to send a local transporter to take the dishwasher over to collect the dishwasher. After waiting for almost 5 hours the fellow turned up, with no proper means of taking the dishwasher back in the pouring rain. So, now the dishwasher is with them for the past 2 months.Every time, I call them, I get to hear that either Mr. Asin is in the hospital, that there was Diwali and Id in between and that Mr. Asin has now run away and someone else would call me. And noone, till date has ever called me and followed up on my request. Oh, and in between all this, when I managed to get Asin on the phone, he told me that he understands my issues, there are so many complaints and when I commented that I should have bought a IFB instead, he readily agreed, saying that he worked there earlier. Talk about company loyalties!!!! This entire process I just described above has stretched over a period of a year and half and I am so sick whole thing. The only thing that keeps me going is the 30 odd thousand I have spent on it.

At the moment, I am waiting for one Mr. Arvind to call me back in half hour, who has promised me that Kaff stands for something more and that there has never been such a history of customer service that has occured with me. I doubt that statement is true. I am sure that there is no reason why I should be "especially" discriminated against.

As you can expect, I am livid right now and am seriously contemplating the consumer court option. So, my word of advice : Dont buy a Kaff dishwasher(or any other product whatsoever, I also have their hob and that has severe scratching issues). My friend has been using a IFB dishwasher for 4 years now and uses it regularly and has had no issues whatsoever.