[Resolved]  Whirlpool Of India Limited — Return of my Whirlpool H-65 Washing Machine bearing Serial No. INB[protected]

Address:

West Delhi, Delhi

I am the owner of a Whirlpool H-65 Washing Machine bearing Serial No. INB[protected]. When faced with a minor problem in the wash cycle I registered a complaint with Whirlpool’s Customer care vide Complaint No. HR [protected] dated 01 April 2010.

After the visit of the service engineer it was recommended by him that the machine should be sent for a chemical wash to their service centre and they will get it picked up. Thereafter, M/s R&A Global Service, SCF 39, Sec-16A, Faridabad had picked up my washing machine for a chemical wash from house no. 886, Sector-37, Faridabad, Haryana, India-121003 vide SRN No. 0028.

The same was due to be returned on April 12, 2010 but since my wife had temporarily shifted to Delhi and I had to go out of station due to an urgent official visit, we called up Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, who we believe is the manager of the captioned service centre, and asked him NOT to send the machine on 12th April 2010. Not heeding to our request the machine was nonetheless DUMPED at our neighbour’s house WITHOUT any authorization from us or any intimation to us.

Upon my return to Delhi after the 20th April 2010, I got busy with the process of shifting my house to Delhi, where my child had recently been admitted to school. After shifting to my new house on the 3rd April and after setting up the house when we started to use the machine, we found it to be in a pathetic and deplorable state with the front panel completely broken, the wheels missing, the top body open and the machine not functioning properly. When we got it checked by an engineer, he commented that a simple chemical wash cannot harm the machine so badly. Upon learning this, I decided to check the serial no. of the machine from the invoice I had in my possession. I found out that the machine that was lying in my house was of the serial no. INB[protected] while the serial no. of my machine was INB[protected].

When I contacted the Whirlpool Customer care, I was directed to speak to the customer care at Faridabad. The Faridabad customer care refused to register my complaint and directed me to speak to Ms. Tamanna at their branch office on[protected]. After many calls to Ms. Tamanna, I was Directed to Mr. Prakash, Area Manager, on [protected].

After I spoke to Mr. Prakash, then finally the Whirlpool customer care registered my new complaint regarding the cheating committed on me, vide a new complaint no. HR [protected].

After that I have been in regular touch with Mr. Prakash regarding return of my machine but he has been bluffing me and giving lame excuses for more than two months. Finally, on June 25, 2010, I was assured by Mr. Prakash that my machine would be picked up from Faridabad on that day and delivered to me on June 26, 2010.

On June 26, 2010, after making more than 45 calls to Mr. Prakash, I was asked to bear half of the cartage cost and deliver the defective machine to Whirlpool service centre at my cost.

I even agreed to that and asked him vide my e-mail dated June 26, 2010 to confirm that since it is the responsibility of Whirlpool to pick up the machine lying in my house and return my machine to me, the entire liability of transferring the machine rests with Whirlpool and I should not be held liable for any damage/theft etc. of the machine in the course of transit and that they will return my machine to my house after receiving the defective machine.

It’s been more than 21 days since the date of my e-mail but there has been no response to my mail even after repeated reminder mails to Mr. Prakash and also to [protected]@whirlpool.com.

Mr. Prakash finally did send me a mail from his personal email-id [protected]@yahoo.co.in and not from his official id [protected]@whirlpool.com that it was the mistake of the service centre (which is the authorized representative of Whirlpool) and I should send the washing machine to their service centre. This mail has no relevance or significance because I will have no claim against the Company if I act on the basis of a personal email with no mention about the liability of transportation being that of the Company.

Now, I am really fed up of being taken for a ride by this cheating company and request you to kindly help me in getting my machine back from these cheaters who just have no regards for their customers and are making themselves richer by misappropriating the assets of poor people like us.