I bought Voltas 1.5 Vertis Plus Split AC on 17th April, 2010. I bought it from Croma stores and the buying experience was not really nice. I did not care much of it as I trusted Voltas product to be authentic and good in performance. And I should mention it is. But what really matters is: "After-sales Service". Expect this from Voltas? Alas! You will realize Tata's Voltas is the worst of all - It ignores customers, takes oath on false promises and NEVER even cares to track if the requested service is delivered.
*Before I proceed, I would like to say that the AC equipment is of quite good quality and is durable. Cooling is just as good as any similar models from other leading brands.
Sequence of events:
13th October, 2010(Wednesday): I called on toll free customer care number 18004254555 and requested for servicing my air-conditioner. The AC comes with 2 free maintenance service. I requested to render the service on coming Saturday(16th October, 2010). The customer care was polite and agreed(Of course, I should not forget some of their good parts). He gave me a service request no. OC1302090 and promised that within 24 hours a service executive will contact me.
14th October, 2010(Thursday): I got a call from service executive. Should I mention his name? No, I don't want him to lose his job. I asked him to come on Saturday. He agreed. No sooner did I cut off the line than he called me again and asked, "Sir, when did you say you want to get your air-conditioning serviced?" I said, "On Saturday, 16th October." He said, "Ok, Sir, either I will come or send one of my persons to your place."
16th October, 2010(Saturday):I was waiting for the service guy. I sent a sms to the service guy, "What happened to service today?". I got reply, "Dear Sir, today office holiday, monday will do. Thank you." I wondered why this guy did not tell me this when he called me on 14th Oct? And above all, how come the customer care with whom I had booked to get service on Saturday did not inform me about this while taking down the service details? Anyways, I excused this guy since the following Sunday was Vijaydashmi.
-> So, the guy promised to come on Monday(18th October 2010). Two weeks passed, no one turned up. Worst of all, the customer care did not care to check if the service was delivered.
3rd November, 2010(Wednesday): I submitted service request of service ID: OC1302090 to online customer care at https://voltasac.com/inner-vcare.aspx.
4th November, 2010(Thursday):
Event-1:
I got a call from the same service executive who had made a false promise to me 2 weeks earlier around 10 o' clock in the morning. Well, it was a working day and I was at my office. He said, "Sir, when can I come?" I said, "At present I am at my office. Can you come on Monday evening?" He said, "Sir, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday are office holidays, can I come today?" I agreed and asked him, "By what time?" He said, "Today evening at 5.00 pm?". I said, "Ok, by 5.30 pm I will be there." He agreed and why he should not be? After all, the date and time was decided by him!
Event-2:
My office hours finishes off at 6.30pm daily. Still to keep my word, I left the office early by 4.00 pm and reached home to attend this VIP. Around 4.30 pm, I sent sms to this guy, "Will be waiting for service - and I mentioned my name and gave my full address". Within a minute I got a reply, "Dear Sir today office halfday only sorry for not coming 2 day. will send monday 100% thanks & regards." Now, this was when I lost my temper. This guy chooses his day and time of service according to his own convenience and later denies himself. Because of him I left my office early and he expected me to await him on Monday. I boldly replied to him, "Why u did not tell me in the morning today? Pls do NOT come any day. Thanks for your service and sorry for your inconvenience." Agar is aadmi mein thoda sa bhi sharm hai to wo monday ko to jaroor aayega.lekin nahin yeh to kaamchor company ka kaamchor employee hai.
Event-3: I called customer care at 18004254555 and lost my temper with him. After all, these guys are responsible to see if the service is delivered or not. The customer care apologized with me and promised me that he will talk to his "AREA MANAGER" and see that the service is delivered that day itself(i.e. on 4th Nov, '10, Thursday).
08, Nov, 2010, 9.00pm: No one called me. The customer care did not care. So, it is not the problem of only that service executive of making false promises. It is a prevalent practice in Voltas. I got frustrated and guys here is my summary:
"Dear Indian citizens, Please DO NOT be patriotic and do not buy Indian products." This message is for our former president Prof. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad too who is scornful about Indians opting for foreign consumer product brands. Indian Brands trifle with customers. These brands sell off their products with mere flattery and later make false promises to service them. I have home appliances and consumer electronics from Samsung, whirlpool, sony and LG. I am very happy with their products' quality and service. These may not be excellent in service, but they are far better than their Indian counterparts. Samsung, for example, arranged to render a service to my washing machine according to my(consumer's) convenience on a Sunday. I never had to call more than once to get service. I should have bought Carrier or Hitachi AC.
I will never buy any TATA product. They do not have moral principles at all.
Ironically, this is what Voltas states on its website:
"At Voltas, we believe that our relationship doesn't end when you buy our products. It's just the beginning. This has been instrumental in helping us design V Service - our after-sales service network. We have designed comprehensive maintenance contracts at nominal rates to make sure your Voltas experience is long-lasting.You can avail this service from a number of dealers/franchisees spread across the country. So no matter where you are, the heart that cares is never too far from you."
Dear Voltas - How can you be India ka dil and India ka AC? You are like cholestrol deposits in the heart of India
27.11.2010: The area manager called me today after reading this review. He has apologized and accepted that there has been a mistake on Voltas's part. He has promised that such mistakes will not happen again with any customer again. He asked me the name of the service executive and said that Voltas has taken up this review optimistically.
Let's see how this affects their attitude. Only next service call will let me know that.
