[Resolved]  Electrolux / Refrigerator Dff - 40 — Pathetic Service

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra

Lodged a complaint with Electrolux for high freezer temperature in refrigerator model DFF-40 on 11/05/10 (Complaint No MUM[protected]). Technician was sent on 12/05/2010. He diagnosed the problem as faulty

heater and said it would be replaced next day. Service charge of Rs 350 was paid in cash (no receipt provided).

Next day (13/05) around 3:30 pm technician came with a supposedly new heater coil. I could see scratch marks on the coil and upon asking him about it, he said that each and every part is tested by actually fitting it

to the freezer which results in these abrasions and scratch marks and that there are no issues with the same. He fitted the new heater coil but could not fit the same properly and so used copper wire by removing the

external PVC from it to tie it. (He did not even have wire clippers with him and used a Topaz blade and pliers to achieve the objective). Upon questioning him about using copper wire to tie up things his response was

that it is standard practice. If this is so then why not move around with proper tie wires? The charges for the same were Rs 4500 which I paid by cheque. No invoice or bill was provided for the same but a carbon copy of

the job card which the technician was carrying with him.

The same evening the electricity supply of my entire house tripped. Upon checking it was found that the refrigerator was the culprit. Disconnected the refrigerator and the electricity problem was gone. Tried calling up

the helpdesk on[protected] at around 8:00 pmbut there was no response (they claim to have a 24 hrs complaint registration process on the job card).

I am an electronics engineer and fond of opening things up. Next morning powered up the refrigerator and as expected the elec supply tripped. Opened up the freezer compartment and started removing the various

connectors one by one. No doubt the problem was with the heater coil. It had shorted. I cut the wires for the same and restarted the refrigerator and it's working. (For those who do not know - the purpose of the heater

coil (also called as timer) is to remove the ice formation on the fins in auto defrost refrigerators.

Called up the helpdesk again after doing a stop payment on the cheque (did not inform them about the stop payment though) and asked them to connect me to someone senior. They said that all the seniors were busy

and that since they cannot make any outgoing calls that I should call back again. Called up again 2-3 times and each time after explaining the situation to their new CSR was still unable to speak to anyone. I can

provide my call log from my service provider to substantiate these claims. Finally they gave me 2 cell numbers of their so called seniors (Mr Khan [protected] and Mr Balwant [protected]). As expected both the

numbers were not working. A fresh complaint was lodged on 14/05 and was promised that it would be attended to immediately. On 15/05 received a call from a lady from Electrolux [protected] at 13:44 hrs asking me

about the service experience. Explained to her once again my situation and she said that she would personally follow-up and have the same attended to immediately.

On 17/05 received a call once again from Electrolux (number[protected] at 12:59 pm) asking me what the problem is. On counter questioning her that I have already explained this umpteen number of times and

that she should check her database to find out what the problem is - her answer was that the syatem does not log such details.

Called up Electrolux helpline services (Operated by Tekcare India) at 15:03pm and told informed them that I have done a stop payment of the cheque and that in case someone does not turn up for repairs by the end of

the day then please cancel the complaint and forget about your payment. In case someone does actually turn up, I'll be making the payment by a post dated cheque (after 15 days) and if the refrigerator works properly

then only this cheque will be honoured. Let's see what happens now.

How does electrolux expect that in summers someone can live w/o a refrigerator for 4+ days. Why can't they provide a proper receipt with the details of the part number that has been replaced? One of the ridiculous

terms and conditions on the job card reads - "Defective parts will not be given to the customer. If the customer wants the defective part back, he shall give an application alongwith the technician at the time of repair of

the set and after confirmation from service incharge collect the defective part from the center within 7 days of extra payment of 20% of "CUSTOMER SERVICE". - Why sir? Is that a modus operandi of cheating

customers by 1) Replacing parts that are not defective 2) Repairing the defective part and passing it off as new (as I suspect happened in my case).

Incidentally, a complaint sent to their customer support (as printed on the job card) - [protected]@tekcaremail.com bounced as well.