[Resolved]  Panasonic — Complaints of Refrigerator not resolved since two years

Address:

Assam

To,

Panasonic India Service/Support


Sir,

1. I had purchased Panasonic Fridge Model No NR-BW464VS, Serial No 1VS401748 on 13/10/2011. I am currently stationed in Silchar (Assam) and prior to this, I was in Nahan (Himachal Pradesh).

2. Within a year/year and a half of its purchase, this fridge started giving me problems. The problem was of misaligned doors. Due to this, the rubber beading was unable to stick to the body properly when the doors were closed. Consequential effect of this has been as below :-
(a) Less than optimal cooling.
(b) Food items getting spoiled regularly due to inadequate cooling; Ice not being formed in ice trays.
(c) High electricity bills since compressor was working constantly.

3. Numerous complaints have been made regarding this but to no effect. In fact, most of the times, the complaint does not get attended to and it has been an ordeal just to get the service person to visit and look at the problem. Once adjustment was done to the doors but this did not last long and the problem returned. Even the last complaint I made in May 2013 (Service request No Pl-ASC[protected] has not been attended to. The service person showed up, looked at the problem and did not return at all after that. Please go into the history of complaints which should be available in your records.

4. Consequent to the shoddy and non-existent service, my fridge has now passed the warranty period and I now have to pay for getting a problem rectified, which in first place was discovered within the warranty period. Adding to the woes is the fact that even if I want to pay for the service and get the problem rectified, you are unable to provide it. What else can be deduced from, when a complaint that has been made in May 2013 has not been attended to till now.

5. I am fed up of this entire episode and I am surprised that Panasonic India sold me a fridge costing a princely sum of Rs 43,500 and has taken me for a royal ride with the service. I guess that you are concentrating just the sales and are least bothered about service.

6. By the way, I feel that you should also be informed that out of three toll free numbers provided by you, one has been non functional since long. In last two days, when I tried to call the balance two functional numbers, the call is automatically getting cut midway, before even a choice can be made to register a complaint. Surprising that a global conglomerate like Panasonic cannot even ensure that its toll free numbers are functional.

6. I wish to go the consumer court on this issue and hence I request you to provide and authenticated record of all the complaints that have been made regarding this fridge. If you wish to keep silent and not reply to this mail, I will nevertheless go the Consumer Court and also file an RTI application for obtaining the necessary service records.

7. Please oblige my request and provide me the relevant records of complaints/service requests at the earliest.

Best Regards

TM Reddy
[protected]