[Resolved]  Godrej Pentacool Refrigerator — Poor poor service

Poor service standards by Smart Care and absolutely no response from Mr Ravi Bhat!! In this day and age - I guess this is where other brands score over Godrej.

On 19th June 2004, we had purchased a 400L Pentacool refrigerator GF42EL. I think the refrigerator behaved itself only during the first year after purchase. It has been giving us ceaseless problems since then. The key problem is that it does not perform its basic job - that of cooling. There is no ice formation in the freezer and no cooling in the fridge area. As a result we have a perennial problem of food items getting spoilt, and of course having to drink 'normal' water during the Delhi summers. We got an AMC done by Goderj Smart Care in Feb 2006 (AMC number 08944). At that time, we were advised by the Smart Care technicians that the Pentacool range was troublesome and it would be prudent for us to get an AMC done to cover the costs, which could be recurring. How true were they! The PCB and other gadgetry have been changed more than twice and we also installed a stabiliser upon the advice of the technicians but the problem is not with power fluctuations at all. Very recently, the insulation has also been changed (at our cost since it is not covered in the AMC) and gas has also been re-filled but to no avail.

Either the technicians at SmartCare have been unable to decipher the exact problem with the product or it is simply a case of a bad product which is beyond redemption. I have been writing emails to [protected]@godrej.com and have been constantly complaining to the Delhi customer care number[protected]. In fact I would not be surprised if I am a household name there. They have been quite prompt and ensure a technician visits us within 48 hours. But each time a technician visits our place, he tries out something new and promises us that things will be fine. The product however continues to malfunction. One of the technicians entered into an argument with my wife that we are unnecessarily getting worked up and there was nothing wrong with the fridge and that in this Delhi summer even other fridges were not functioning properly! I think this is absolutely ridiculous and does not good to Godrej's image.

My wife demonstrated to him that there was no ice and the fridge area was not cool at all, but he would just not listen. In fact, he went to extent of speaking to one of his colleagues who had visited us in the past and started scolding him for having admitted that there is a fault in the fridge. In these times of heightened customer service, such behaviour is shocking.

After repeated attempts with SmartCare, I sent an email to the National Service Head for Godrej, Mr Ravi Bhat. Guess what - he has not even responded!! Surprised??

Still trying to remember and wonder what made us buy a Godrej product. Guess old habits die hard - our previous refrigerator was a Godrej and we wanted to upgrade to a new one. Alas!