Oct 17, 2006 04:18 PM
8591 Views
My mother in law and husband had bought a whirlpool washing machine (T 50, 5147 / B041800115) 27.07.2004 . At the time of purchase, I was assured by the dealer of excellent and prompt after sales service. However, in my experience, the service provided by the company is anything but prompt or excellent.
Last month my washing machine developed some problem. I called up the helpline (011 – 41666333) on 26th of July 2006 and registered the complaint. The complaint number was DL 0706021034 (this would be recorded in my mother-in-law’s name under the phone number XXXXX. Same can be checked in company records). I was assured that the technician would come to my place soon and resolve the problem. I waited on 26th and 27th but no one arrived. I called their helpline on 28th of July and was again told that someone would definitely arrive that very day. I waited again but nobody came. On 29th, I called their helpline three times. In response to my first call, I was told that someone would definitely be there by noon. When no one came by noon, I called again only to be told that a technician would arrive within two hours. Needless to say, nobody came. I called in the evening and was told that someone would definitely be at my door by 8pm. Not surprisingly, the ever elusive technician did not arrive. I called again on 30th and was again told that the technician would positively visit me that day. However, there was still no sign of the WHIRLPOOL technician. I called on 31st morning to be told that the technician would arrive by noon. No one came. I called again the same day. Once again I narrated what problems I was going through and how many times I had called and how no one had shown up. I was told that someone would come to my place by evening and to my immense surprise, a technician did arrive this time!!
He inspected the machine and told me that a part needed to be changed. He said that he would come back within three days with the part and repair the machine. I waited for four days but neither did anyone come nor was I informed of the status. So I called the helpline again. I was told that the parts will come on Tuesday (8th August) from a factory in Pondicherry and that someone would definitely fix the problem on 8th. On 8th morning, I called the customer care helpline again to remind that someone was supposed to come and repair my machine today. But again nobody came. In the evening I called again and asked for the address of the head office so I could speak to someone there. But the person wouldn’t give me the address. I was told that a supervisor would be calling me and he would fix the problem. After a while, I received a call from a supervisor of the company and again I had to repeat the entire story to him. He asked me if I knew what part had to be replaced which surprised me and angered me at the same time because I figured that after so many days of enquiring and complaining if the people at whirlpool did not even know what part had to be replaced in my machine, then my problem was far from being solved. The supervisor promised me that he would check and then give me a call back before leaving office and tell me what the status of my complaint was. The call never came. On 9th I called the helpline again. The person was not able to tell me when my machine would be repaired. They just told me that they will forward my complaint and then it was up to the service people when they would visit me. On 10th, another one of the technician visited my home. I thought that finally the day had come when the part would be replaced and my machine would be repaired. However, as it turned out, he told us that he was here only to inspect what was wrong! Then what had the person who came on 31st come here to do? I was shocked to see that in spite of an earlier visit of a technician and so much following up on your helpline by me, the people at whirlpool were clueless about the problem in my machine even after 16 days of my first registering the complaint.
All this just left me feeling completely fed up and helpless. As you can see I have called so many times to try to have my machine repaired, but each time I have been told a lie that my problem would be solved soon. Nobody is able to tell me when I should expect a technician. Each time the promise is that the person will be at my door by evening, or within two hours, etc. but the truth is that nobody at your service centre is able to give me a clear picture, let alone repair my machine.
My mother-in-law is old and does not keep well. My sister-in-law, my husband and I, all are office goers. Yet all of us have been forced to wash our clothes by hand after a tiring day of work because your service centre cannot fix my machine in a reasonable time. My mother has also caught fever due to exposure to water for a long time for so many days. So many times I have skipped office to stay at home because I was told by the people at Whirlpool’s helpline to expect someone at home. This has adversely affected my work too.
It had taken me six days of constantly making calls to your helpline just to get your technician to visit and see what is wrong with the machine. And now, after another nine days of constantly calling and asking, begging, threatening to take legal action, I was still unable to get the part replaced, I was unable to even find out the status of the complaint. I didn’t know whether the machine would be repaired in two days, two months or two years.
When the machine was sold to me, I was told that the company provides excellent after sales service and this was a major factor that influenced my purchase decision. However, I have realized that that was only a deception enacted to sell me the washing machine. To call a company’s Customer care service third rate would be an understatement.Their after sales service is not only bad, it does not exist. They are just taking their customers for a ride. It is astonishing that a big company like WHIRLPOOL has such an apathetic attitude towards its customers in today’s day and age when even the local kiraana shop will deliver at the doorstep within hours of making a call. It is amazing how a big and known name in the Industry can treat its customer like this!!
There was a point in time we felt absolutely helpless. I felt that we just couldn’t have our machine repaired unless we took the help of the court. We were literally forced to seek the help of the court. There is no way one could explain to me why we should not have initiated a legal action against WHIRPOOL for the mental and physical harassment that they had have put me and my family under.
We actually had to send a grievance letter to the Company Head office through one of our Advocate friends. It was only after that the company authorities sat up and noticed our case and took an action…
And once the machine was taken back and serviced at their workshop,When we’d put the machine on electricity…ALAS!! It wasn’t still working!! We again had to call their customer care no. However this time a person arrived and replaced yet another part of the machine..
In the end all of us were left wondering if we should have gone ahead and bought another washing machine from some other brand which at least took care of its customers!!!
