This is with reference to the IFB 5.5 kg Dryer (Turbo Dry) that we purchased in October 2020. On April 9 2021, we had raised a complaint to IFB Customer Care about the dryer not heating.
The technician checked and said that the thermostat was gone and had to be replaced. He said that he will bring the replacement thermostat on Monday Oct 12 2021.
There was absolute silence after that from IFB's local service office here. They did not pick our calls. I managed to get them on a conference call with IFB Customer Service Rep later that week. They said that the parts have not arrived and claimed that lockdown was a reason. The interesting thing is that Pondicherry was NOT under a complete lockdown and we have been getting our orders from Amazon, Flipkart and other courier services. Nor could the local office give us as a reason on why they failed to update us about the delay.
After more silence from their end and repeated calls from us to IFB CS number, they finally sent a technician this week. He checked and said that the thermostat was okay but the heating element was not working. He said that the part has to be ordered and will arrive in a few days.
We then had to do the followup with the local service center a couple of times, and were told that they were waiting still for the part. He then came with the part on May 4 2021, and said that they have got the wrong thermostat. He said that their office was a distance away and they would come the next day to fix it. Then there was absolute silence FROM BOTH THE LOCAL SERVCIE CENTER AND IFB CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICE .
Here are our grievances.
1. This is not the first occurrence. We have owned IFB dryer since 2007. We never had a problem with the Chennai center. We have consistently faced problems with the Pondicherry local office - responsiveness of technician, availability of spare parts, and updating us on the status of our complaints. The number of times we required the head office to intervene with the local office to even get a response is staggering.
2. This is a brand new dryer! This cannot happen with a brand new dryer, nor is this response expected as it is within the warranty period.
3. While we realize that Covid has caused disruptions in the supply chain, it is not bad as it is made out to be. We are not gullible. Besides it is not that this pattern happened only now. This has been the pattern by the Pondicherry service center always. Covid cannot be used as an excuse.
We really like IFB products, which is the reason we keep purchasing IFB products all the time. But the absence of accountability by the local service center casts a shadow on the reputation that IFB has built amongst its loyal customers.
HERE IS MY DEMAND. I NEED MY MACHINE FIXED IMMEDIATELY. Waiting for a month to get a new dryer fixed is ridiculous. OR I NEED AN IMMEDIATE REPLACEMENT OF MY DRYER.
PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.
IFB Industries customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.