Elica Pb India — Poor product quality and arrogant sales and support

Address:

Pune, Maharashtra

I bought Elica hob (4-burner) with glass top. Original product configuration - 1 large multi or tri-burner + 3 black coated swirl burners. When buying product we had requested 1 swirl burner to be replaced with full top cover Indian (not Italian) burner which was shown in black colour. Within 2 uses - not even 2 -days the black coating of this burner started peeling off to partially show the brass top and partially the black coating. This made the entire hob look as if it was old and in use for many years! I called their company sales person - company owned store on MG Road, Pune and spoke with Mr. Chirag Jain who conveniently said that there is no warranty on coating and it anyway come off by using! But I'd like to ask which coating comes off in just 2 uses of the burner?? After much pestering he put me on to his senior (probably related) - Mr. Kamal Jain - who repeated the same story and infact started blaming customers telling me that it depends on your use!! Well, Mr. Jain - just 2 uses in normal cooking with no spillage on it nor was it washed - how do you expect us to use it? Look at his arrogance - he asked me to cal back in 2 or 3 days and will see what can be done! When they give half-page color ads in Sunday LIfe - supplement of Times of India - talking about Italian connections and sounding lofty - the least one can expect is that you have the courtesy of noting down cosnumer details and apologising for inconvenience and replace it without asking any questions!! To me it is very clear that their product quality is horrible - and they're arrogant too. The attitude stinks! Since I was going in for kitchen makeover at the same time I ordered 3 products - chimney, in-built oven and hob. The other 2 products are working fine as of now but I dread to think of my plight if anything were to go wrong. Secondly, I also agree with another complaint that their service staff lacks basic courtesies and training. Also, while fitting of the chimney - their referred core cutting person charged Rs.1350/-. Actually he was trying ti fleece us by asking us to pay more but when we pointed out the rate and the measurement he agreed. Then their technincian came for "installation" of the chimney - they asked for a 5" hole to be made for a 4.5" flexible pipe. Now I was left with a gap in the wall between the wall and the flexible pipe. When I asked for it to be covered and closed with cement / PVC pipe etc...I was even ready to pay for it - this technician arrogantly refused saying it was not his job and that they will not do it! So much for Italian products - do they leave kitchen's incomplete like this in Italy??? I again called Mr. Chirag Jain to lodge my protest and requested him to provide a solution - but once again - zero sensitivity and no response!!! And yes - the chimney that I selected was a high-end one with a concave front black glass and digital controls. I shudder to think what other folks with basic chimneys go through.. Thumbs down Elica! Completely dissatisfied and will personally urge all friends to avoid Elica completely.