Never purchase Voltas AC. Review on Voltas Vertis Gold

Here is my update on the below mentioned experience. The AC started rattling badly on 10th July morning and I decided to hire help from outside. Fortunately, Voltas management noticed my review on Mouthshut.com and I was contacted by their service manager Ashok Asija. A time was fixed and he was present with his technicians at the fixed time. However there was no power and they have to go back. Power returned at 9:30pm and within 10 minutes they appeared again. The technician was a real technician for a change. He was able to spot root cause and performed adjustments in torquing of mounting to achieve minimal level of vibration. The missing rubber cap was replaced. The AC is working as of now. My opinion is confirmed yesterday that the management doesn't have issues. The issues are with dealer service TAT(turnaround time) and service quality. I was advised to install another MCB at the power socket which I will install this Saturday. So shall I recommend Voltas AC?Well, If you are buying a second AC and have contingency, you may. I do not have data to pose a recommendation for any brand.

To write this, I am keeping my frustration and emotions on one side. Else ill just lose my temper. I purchased Voltas Wrac Gold AC from Efficient cooling systems in Gurgaon on 27th of May 2012. The dealer was easily approachable, located near my sector and installed the AC within 2-3 hours of my call. He even accepted cash on delivery and I was delighted. The package included a voltas voltage stabilizer named crystal clear. The installation was done promptly and without any damages to my rented home. The sealing around the AC was done with putty and it looked like hundreds of chewing gums chewed and pasted on top edge. The guy was unaware of the concept of silicon and he was not a technician. He took nearly 4 hours to make this chewing gum installation and left two edges unattended. Thus, it was not sealed properly. The plug of AC was cut and wires directly installed in stabilizer. The cut plug was used on stabilizer to the mains and there was a joint in the wire which was done using "bijli ka tape" meaning electric taping The same dreaded night, the stabilizer released a burning odor and shut down, burned a few wires in the socket. The next day, dealer promptly and I appreciate, replaced the stabilizer for free.

I asked for a proper fitting on wires which the AC electrician refused. I paid him 50 bucks to get  a 15A plug and fix the wires without joint, which he did. After nearly one month, On 2nd July the AC compressor started tripping. It wouldn’t  work at all and won’t cool. A complaint was lodged in morning with number 12JL0300242. The call center claimed that the person will come within the day. No one came. Next day, no one came. Finally, after making around 10-15 calls to the dealer directly a junior technician was sent. I reached from office at 12:30 noon and the person arrived at 3:00pm. Include many calls in between. He claimed that AC has no issue and our power line neutral is lose. He started packing, but I did not let him go. I immediately called an electrician and he checked all lines. Nothing was wrong. Finally, my electrician checked the AC as well and concluded that its compressor is not working. Thus, the voltas guy left claiming a senior technician will appear. No one appeared. Call center was clueless as I called technician directly through dealer. Frustrated, I went to another AC service center of voltas. The manager blasted the call center guys and gave me the number of regional manager as well as area manager. My wife called area manager Mr. Arora, and he promised to get this sorted within next day. He transferred our complaint from Efficient cooling system to BalaJi services.

Next day, after many calls to Arora the AC guys come to take the AC at 7:30 PM. However, Arora mostly attended our calls during this period. The AC was serviced and brought back to us next day evening 6:30pm, again after a many calls. The guys who came to install AC were again, not technicians. As soon as switched on it started making rattling sound. Another technician appeared within 1:30 hours and properly fixed the AC. He also used a ply board make shift push support between compressor. Rattling died down. I told him that the shock proofing cap on top of the compressor is missing. (similar to a cap on a spark plug on a scooter/bike) He admitted it is missing. Finally, he left. No cap has appeared, I did not follow. The compressor makes a clunk sound when it goes on off mode. There are a few very important things here that I feel should be shared: 1. Sale network has no issue, it is satisfactory 2.

I can say service of 1 week over an AC was an extreme dissatisfaction 3. There were many non value added process which were conducted after service request, like sending unqualified technicians, sending delivery boys for installation etc, resulting into more pressure on already crunched service network 4. Efficient cooling systems, I believe isn’t a bad dealer. However, they are marred by untrained technicians and large number of service requests. Thus fingers can be pointed towards product quality 5. We do not have a power quality issue. The product failed within 45 days of installation is certainly not a good product 6. Training of installation staff is poor 7. Sense of hygiene, eagerness for protection of other home finishes is extremely poor 8. Dressing and greeting of staff was poor 9. Turnaround time for service was poor and I had to buy another cooler as standby 10.

Understanding the importance of customer safety is poor as evident by missing cap 11. "Jugaad" (make shift quick fix bloody) is what the technician did to stop rattling. Instead of getting proper rubber bushes and securing them around compressor. I did not object as I would rather take care of it myself than to follow voltas 12. I thank TATA for creating great opportunity of learning by highly under performing on product reliability, service turnaround time and quality of service.

For showing us a real time failure. It is indeed a great opportunity for someone who wish to compete against them in market and learning for management consultants and students 13. Not to forget that most non value added service throughout the cycle was the call center. They couldn’t do anything else other than generating complaint number and feeling sorry about my discomfort 14. So shall you buy a voltas AC? Well, on my grandmother’s refrigerator a voltas stabilizer is living eternally under poor power conditions. Of all the home appliances, it is the most reliable and proved durable. However an AC, it’s for you to decide. 15. Are LG or other AC services better than Voltas? We do not have any official and reliable data for it. Thus, can’t be conclued16. I think voltas should limit the number of cases a customer service center can handle.

This may result into better monitoring, training and customer satisfaction 17. Is a turnaround time of 7 days good enough for Indian market?? Well, if they told me the first day that it will take 7 days, and I get a properly repaired product  after 7 days, I would have less frustration 18. Most importantly: There was not a single call from dealer, call center, or any service technician that rang in to my phone. I made 30+ calls to get this sorted. (apparently sorted) 19. The leadership at voltas did not have much problem. They did respond. But they were unable to extract any fair results