Have had good experience in the past with National kitchen appliances. so when the time came to change my microwave(after a good 7 yrs of Samsung MW+grill, with a solitary snag episode after 5 yrs, that was promptly and professionally handled by their call centre and service engineer), I decided to renew my loyalty with National(now Panasonic) and went in for NN-C784MF with inverter technology, turbo defrost, MW, convection and all the frills.
As the reviewer above states, the time settings for sensor reheat and auto modes are quite misleading.Hence I ended up using only the manual settings. Also, the additional Chinese/ Taiwanese script and recipes and one touch menus are more of a nuisance than help for an Indian user
Nevertheless, All was "fine"(if it can be called so) until about a month ago (7 months after purchase, well within the warranty period) when it stopped functioning totally except that the timer would go off repeatedly on switching on the MW.
The Service centre numbers(other than the toll free # for BSNL lines) were also misleading. The email helpline is bogus, draws no response.
Finally I called up the branch office and was given the number of a service centre.DTS electronics (outsourcing?)
The lady who took the call asked me only my details, but nothing about the model # of the MW or warranty status, which I found quite wierd, . Anyway, she said the engineer would come the next day, which he did.
He spent less than a half a minute with the MW, rapidly pressed all the buttons and said there was a problem with the chip / panel / circuit board,which would need to be taken to the service centre for soldering / replacement of the panel, and would cost me- I said "wait, it is within warranty period" . he seemed more disappointed than surprised, anyway he took the MW along and said it would be ready and returned within 2-3 days
The entries in the job sheet made by the woman who took the call read "model #- unknown, out of warranty", preferred time of visit was left blank.
I had to call them back on the 4th day to find out what was happening. the lady, as usual knew nothing. kept transferring the callfrom one man to another, and finally gave me the engineer's mobile #(he had not reached the place even at 11:30 am) He told me that they were "checking it", would call back in 15 min. which obviously never happened.
I called back after an hour.Still checking. panel needs replacement.**don't have it in Bangalore(!) has been ordered
from Chennai**, should be ready by next evening
No news next evening. or the next day which was Sunday
*(6 days up already and they couldn't get a panel from Chennai which was 5 hrs away by road?)
Next morning(Monday) I call the branch office and the person promises to look into the matter. calls back saying the MW is ready(that also sounded fishy. ready all of a sudden?) and will be delivered by evening
Evening turns to night.
Next morning I call him up again.
"It's not been delivered yet? But they told me it was delivered last evening. I'll follow it up" he says, calls back after 5 min saying there was a prob with the delivery vehicle, it'll be delivered by 3pm.
My MW finally came by 3 pm, and was working. and I was relieved(albeit, with some paranoia)
but not for long.
Exactly a week later, the same prob recurred..
Called up the service centre and told my old(recent) reference #. Was told it is a new book, and will be taken as a fresh complaint(!) The guy wud come tomoro(saturday)
I get a call on Saturay 4pm saying someone wud come over to take the MW to the service centre.
I ask "The engineer is supposed to come and examine it isn't it?"
She says "engineer is on leave, will be back on Monday"
I say "Then whats the point taking it and keeping it in ur centre over the weekend and doing nothing about/ with it? let him come on monday and see for himself first.
Monday comes and Monday goes
Today is Tuesday and I call back the Branch office. The guy is shocked again. says he'll send the engineer.
This was 4hrs ago and i'm still waiting,wondering if they really changed the panel last time*, or just sat over it and fiddled around and made it work somehow.
or is the new(or is it really a new one?) panel of such poor qualitythat it conked off in a week?
Here I am. sitting for days together with a non functioning gadget thats suppposed to simplify life,my life made hell with the unprofessional, callous support and service, by constantly having to call and wait for their calls with some short lived functionality, And constantly feeling paranoid whenever I try to switch it on, while(and if) it works
I fail to understand
How a gadget can malfunction in less than a yr(in my case, and within a few weeks in the earlier reviewer's case) even though technology has advanced so much
The quality and durability of National(Now called Panasonic) products(and spare parts) has dwindled so much?
Is there only one service engineer for Panasonic Microwaves for such a big city like B'lore?* God save smaller cities and towns then
I've burnt my fingers badly by choosing Panasonic MW repenting for having chosen it over Samsung or LG which have a good distribution and prompt, efficient accountable support network throughout the country
So, people, if you want peace of mind, and a working gadget, and a good after sales support and service, STAY AWAY **from PANASONIC home Appliances
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Contd. in Comments due to lack of space.Please do read.
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