[Resolved]  Panasonic — Washing Machine part not available within 3 years of purchase

Hello

We bought the following washing machine in 2016 from Ramesh Corporation, Ahmedabad:
Fully automatic front load, 6kg
Model no: NA-106MC1L01
Serial no:[protected]

It stopped working in 2019, wherein we called the toll free no[protected] and they sent in an engineer who checked it and said it needs a motor replacement. We kept calling them and they eventually said that the part is not available at the company.

We bought another machine in the meantime, planning to get this fixed eventually.

This month I called the Panasonic toll free no and they duly sent me an engineer who checked the machine and then made a phone call in front o[censored]s and asked if the motor is available at the company and he told us- yes, it is available. That they will then take the washing machine at their service centre and repair it.

It is now two weeks of calling and following up, eventually speaking to the manager, Mr Patel, I was informed that the product has been phased out and the part is unavailable and will never be available.

However when I mentioned that the product motor must be under a warranty, he did the due diligence from his end and I eventually received a call saying, yes, the motor is under a warranty and that they have requested for the same from the company. Mr Patel has been very responsive and helpful with the matter, however, nothing is moving to get the machine fixed.

There is no confirmation if the part is available. There are conflicting statements about the same. Say, why did the technician tell us now, after making a call, yes, the part is available and for 6000 Rs?

We were not given this clarity in 2019 either, which is why we kept the machine for we were under the impression that it can be fixed.

What do we do with the machine now? It has hardly been used for 3 years and does not deserve to go to e-waste. How can the parts be unavailable within three years o[censored]se? Machines last 10-15 years even if the model is phased out.

When I called the toll free no again, they want to set up a new call and send a new technician, who'll charge a new service fee, not repair the machine and close the call on their own!

I sent an email to Service.[protected]@in.panasonic.com a weekago, but had no reply.

I do not know if the complaint here will be heard anywhere, nonetheless I am trying to see if it generates a response for closing this matter.

Regards
S. Bhargava