IFB Washing Machine — Substandard product + Substandard Service

Address:

Kollam, Kerala

From
Pramod V
Sumeru, IswaryaNagar 48
Kerala
691010
[protected]
[protected]



I purchased IFB Washing machine (Elena) from Maliekkal electronics on 9 th june 2008, for Rs 16318. Warranty period was 2 year and I took a 2 year extended warranty @ the time of installation for Rs 1500.00; total warranty period is 4 years. Customer ID is 2524928. Purchase BillNo 2318. At the time of taking Extended warranty IFB persons claimed that all parts of the machine including rubber gasket is covered under extended warranty. Later they denied their promise.

It worked for the first two years without any issues. 6 months back we faced some complaint with the washing machine and service guys rectified the issue free of cost. After that the machines started to shiver a lot during its working. I contacted IFB customer care and they replaced two spares costing around Rs 2000 free of cost. Again it worked for a week and we noticed that problem was not resolved. We booked the complaint again and technician came and he claimed that floor level is causing problems. We accepted his arguments and requested him to demonstrate the machine where in my home where floor level is okay for him. He said to just check it with full load and let him know if any problems occur, he claimed that he tightened the loose nuts and bolts which was the reason for the noises. He gave his personal number to us to call if any issues occur . His name is Al amen. Mob no [protected] ( a service technician without proper dress code ie low waist pants), he advised us not to make complaint to IFB tollfree number rather call to his personal number. He tampered My IFB customer ID and tolfree number details which was written in the IB[censored]ser manual . From next week onwards the problem was severe and we got fed up with the noisy machine. We booked the complaint again and a new service person arrived he replaced its main board. This time we asked him to test the washing machine with clothes and We showed him the persisting issue. Inspite of that he asked us for satisfaction report, but we refused to sign the job card. Finally he admitted that the problem is still there and he needs to replace some more spares and he said he shall replace it the next day. This incident happened 2 weeks ago. We called IFB customer care and the response from customer care person was really shocking, he strongly said nothing can be done from his side he asked me to call local branch in charge and gave me a false number. I called to the number given by Customer care executive and realised that i was explaining the problems to somebody else. Finally I got the number of their Branch Incharge (Mr Rupesh) . I contacted Rupesh and he promised me a solution, and for your knowledge he did not keep his word.

Very soon i understood that Mr Rupesh is a person who always tries to run away from problems. Last incident was on 12-Aug-2011 wherein i got a call from IFB local service person Mr Praveen and I felt very irritated as i had already explained the problem to rupesh and his service persons many times. Mr Praveen asked, whether there is any problem with my IFB washing machine and I was not willing to explain the issue to him anymore. Finally he agreed that a person from their end reported a problem with gasket and he wants to replace it. He reached my house by noon and replaced the rubber gasket. To my surprise he gave me a service bill amounting approx 890. He argued that the warranty period for the product has expired and he got order from Mr Rupesh (His superior officer) to collect an half payment from the customer. . I expressed my protest as he didn’t mention about the charge before. Finally he left without collecting bill. I contacted customer service and came to know that my complaint has been closed on 27 th Jul 2011. It seems funny, my complaint was and is closed and IFB authorised service technicians are still working on the issue. What a pathetic system they have.

Areas of dispute
1) Delayed response from IFB service centre
2) IFB service technician tampered IFB customer ID and contact details and advised to call his personal numbers only.
3) IFB technician came home in a very indescent dress code (low waist jeans).
4) They closed my service on[protected] and IFB technicians replaced the spares twice after that.
5) IFB toll free customer care officer gave me a false number to contact.
6) IFB Service person tried to collect cash from US

My observations regarding IFB
1) IFB is a company who has no power over their service franchisees
2) TOP level management has never heard about THE word CUSTOMER CARE
3) IFB is group of persons who always wants money from customer
4) Substandard product + Substandard Service
5) A company created to steal money of Customers

I suggest all customers should stay away from IFB washing machines (Other product). Their initial warranty period is two years (recently they are giving 4 year warranty because of increased number of products) .You can realise, starting from the first day of installation that they have created many plans for stealing money of customer. Extended warranty + some products (Stabilizer) to safe guard its circuit from high voltage costing 1200 + extra rat mesh to protect machine. Then 1800 per year for AMC pack. I am damn sure that no IFB product will give seamless performance without their AMC pack. Just simple calculation

NEW IFB washing machine with 4 yr warranty Approx RS 16500
+ their optional protection accessories cost approx Rs 1500 Total cost is RS 18000
Assume that it is normal working life is 15 years let us calculate the cost

Cost for first 4 years 18000
Cost for Next 11 years 1800*11 19800

Total cost for this machine is approx Rs 37800


Approx Scrap value Is Rs 35000 for 15 years. in short we are spending approx Rs 200 + water and current for to wash our cloths.

I have checked the status of other IFB washing in my friends circle and came to know that two of my friends are using same brand they are also facing problems with IFB service. They said "IBF washing machines always wants to see their service technicians" and its spares are very costly (they have changed mother board of many IBF washing machines). A normal customer will not be able to afford its maintanence costs. They are also planning to switch to another brand. This washing machine is more beneficial to IFB because it steals money of owners at regular interval. I think as a genuine IBF customer this is my duty to share my horrible experience with IFB washing machine to all others . I will be very glad if my experiences made u think twice before buying an IFB washing machine. I already shifted one prospective IFB customer to LG