[Resolved]  Hitachi Air Conditioner (Window 1. 5 Quadricool) — Dishonouring Warranty of Compressor

Address:

West Delhi, Delhi

I bought a top-end Quadracool 1.5 Ton window AC from Hitachi in February 2006 and took a consumer durable loan from GE Money for the same. In August/ September 2010 the AC started to create a lot of irritating noise. When we complained to the local Hitachi Service Centre (Sheetal Aircon) in Ramesh Nagar, they visited, took a visit charge of around Rs. 300 and informed us that the compressor had become faulty and needed replacement. We tried to get them only to replace the same, and they demanded the original invoice/ proof of purchase. We showed the warranty card that came with the AC but it did not carry the invoice no. or a date of purchase.

Since we had shifted our home in 2007, we had probably misplaced the copy of invoice (original is retained by the financier - GE Money). We therefore tried to connect both with GE Money and the Dealer (Better Deals) and they had the following issues:

GE Money - They stopped their consumer finance business long back and had not retained any records
Dealer - Lost all historical records in the MCD sealing that happened within the period[protected]

I pleaded and knelt before the dealer to find a solution, and he then was somehow able to get the invoice number and agreed to authorize the warranty card that had come with the AC. He put a date (19-Feb-06), invoice # and his stamp. However this only could be accomplished by 10th March 2011. I then called Hitachi service centre to get the compressor replaced to which a team of field engineers investigated and confirmed that the compressor was faulty. They again took a visit charge of Rs. 330 and took a copy of warranty card along with them for onward processing.

I have now been following up since the field visit of 13th March 2011 and the Hitachi customer care, regional customer relations officer, kirti nagar service centre have all been woefully unresponsive to my requests. They unfairly claim that since the invoice date is 19th Feb 2006 and the recent visit date is 13th March the warranty stands cancelled (valid for only 5 years). But I had complained for the AC issues in Aug/ Sep 2010 (well within 5 years period) and it took this long to get the requisite documentation in place. I obviously did not use the AC in Nov-Feb timeframe when the whole Delhi was in cold shivers.

Hitachi sells its products at higher prices with a claim of long lasting products, warranties and great service. I think with my experience, I am convinced that this is one of the most pathetic home appliances brand in the world. They don't INSPIRE THE NEXT, they are only going to build an army of hating consumers like me and will surely INSIRE THE WORST. I will not leave it at this - I will start a blog against this brand, with spread facebook type awareness; I will protest through national dailies and will do whatever is available within my means to bring awareness among consumers about the actual service quality of this brand and expose the realities.

To Summarize - HITACHI IS A DISAPPOINTING BRAND THAT CANNOT HONOUR ITS OWN WARRANTIES - CHEATS OF FIRST ORDER