Apr 30, 2011 07:39 AM
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Purchase date: 26-Apr-2011
Delivery date: 29-Apr-2011(I had requested delivery on 28-Apr-2011)
Install date: 29-Apr-2011
Purchased from: IFB factory, Whitefield Rd. Bangalore - next to Graphite India(direct sales)
Purchase price: Rs. 17, 000/-(about Rs. 500/- cheaper compared to procuring from dealers)
Alternate products considered:
The LG washer cum dryer(not the usual fully automatic washing machine) was priced at Rs44K and hence did not even bother.
In terms of pure clothes dryers, did not have much choice really other than the Siemens WT-21 and that was definitely more expensive(around Rs. 21.5K compared to IFB's Rs 17K). Only a few dealers stock dryers to begin with and then trying to get to demo of a Siemens one was pretty difficult. Walked into the IFB factory where they had the machine on display and gave me a short demo. So considering that the dryer market is not really abound with a plethora of machines, I went with IFB despite the terrible reviews that I read on mouthshut on IFB after-sales.
Experience:
- Demo - The demo given by the IFB team at the factory was OK(not too great and not too bad either). They explained all the key features of the machine - needs a 220V & 15A socket - 5A will not do; 2 drying modes - delicate & regular; installation mounting modes - wall mount, on top of washing machine(needs to be atleast 6KG washer since only then the top is big enough); capacity - roughly 5kg; 4 yr warranty(though I did not place much hope on this having read the other reviews on IFB machines); NO water connection needed.
Importantly, the person who was making the sale, arranged for a technician - Mr. Jagan(Service Mgr: Mr. Santosh) to do a check of my premises and ascertain that the dryer could definitely be installed with minimal inconvenience. They were not at all "pushy" in terms of "buy-the-machine and figure-out-installation-later" mode that most dealers engage in. This was a definite plus since I made the payment only after the technician's confirmation(paid nothing for this).
Payment - Fixed price(no negotiation). Could get the payment done using my debit card(cheques also accepted but delivery would be delayed pursuant to cheque realization)
Delivery - Having made the payment, had to get the different folks in IFB(delivery logistics guy, service advisor) to talk to each other. My house is about 1.5 Kms away from the IFB factory in Bangalore and I had to coax and cajole the logistics guy to give me a delivery in the evening(he wanted to deliver bang in the middle of the day and I had to explain that I could not take time off work to get delivery of my dryer!). Had to make a couple of calls back and forth before the machine arrived and to co-ordinate with the service/installation engineer.
Installation experience - I had specifically requested that Mr. Jagan only do the installation since he knew the layout of my utility room and the service advisor - Mr. Santosh ensured that Mr. Jagan was the one who came for installation. Installation was done in about 30-45 mins - very professional job. Explained once again all the features; how to clean the machine; tried his best to allay my fears on the door latch being flimsy(I am still not convinced); showed the machine in operation too - No payment/tips accepted or even received when offered. Mr. Jagan also kept himself flexible so that once the machine arrived at 1845 hrs, he was available at 1900hrs to start the installation(I did not have to take day off or come early from work!)
Product itself - I am writing this review the next day after installation and have run one cycle with lot of cotton shirts, cotton towels and a pair of jeans. Put it on a 90 min regular cycle. At the end of it, all clothes except the jeans were 100% dry(maybe I need to put it in the 120 min cycle). The jeans was still wet(way better than what an automatic washing machine would dry) but still not bone dry if you would.
There are no fancy LED lights(in fact none at all) and only when the machine drum starts moving do you know that the machine is in operation. No vibration or shakes(machine operates at 55rpm as opposed to washing machine drying cycles that run at 700-800rpm). The door latch is definitely flimsy and I strongly suspect it is going to snuff out very soon(however my friend who also has the same machine has been using it for over 6 months and things seem to be OK for him till now)
- Service & Support: Not qualified to comment about it since it has been but a day since I used the machine - I do hope I do not have to call the legendary or should I say notorious IFB service(fingers crossed).
Experience thus far has been satisfactory.
