[Resolved]  Whirlpool India — whirlpool microwave part unethically being charged more than double

Address:

560024

Hello,

This is to bring to the notice of whosoever is concerned that i happen to own a whirlpool microwave oven for the past ~ 4 years. Recently, i've had a problem with powering on the microoven. On having raised a complaint with customer care, a whirlpool technician from their local franchise (Vibrant techno services - bangalore) visited my premises and informed me that the magnetron (Product name - witol 2m218j) had become faulty and that it would cost me rs.[protected] to get it replaced.
On checking for the same product online and also enquiring with local technicians, i realised that the same product could be procured at half the price or even lesser.
Armed with this information, i called up the technician directly and charged him for his supposedly unethical practice of fleecing more money. He insisted that the magnetron i'd checked out online was supposedly 'not original' and that he was charging more for providing an 'original whirlpool product'! However, on pointing out that whirlpool does not manufacture magnetrons themselves, he didn't have a convincing answer apart from his ill-educated, half-cooked, baseless statement that he was going to deliver an 'original whirlpool product'!
I tried escalating this with customer care, but it seems the customer care service (Atleast the one in bangalore) is filled with apathetic and incompetent professionals of all flavors! They're supposed experts but fail to understand the most basic of problems explained in the most simple of languages. And finally, after having synced with the local franchise, the customer care personnel re-iterated the same statement and the same price... Making me wonder what a waste of my time and efforts it was!! One would expect a semblance of rational in the customer care department but then i guess with whirlpool, that is not to be..!!
Hence, i've decided to get my unit checked by a local technician.
To all of you out there, my message is that the after-sale services of whirlpool totally sucks, so make your choice judicially before embarking on a purchase.

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Pinak