Reliance Digital — Whirlpool Refrigerator under warranty giving cooling issues

Hi

We purchased a Whirlpool refrigerator from Reliance Digital, Gurgaon store a few months back. Please refer to the attached bill for details.

Our fridge was giving cooling issues from day one so we requested a replacement back then. After a lot of going around in circles and finally getting to have your Mumbai team involved in our case, we did have the issue finally resolved.

However, the fridge is again giving cooling issues in much the same way as before. Goes without saying, this raises a major question mark for us when it comes to Whirlpool fridges' performance as a whole.

I rang up the store numbers provided on our receipt but both went to a voicemail saying "this no. is barred to receive any calls' '. The sales representative that I bought the fridge from is shifted to another outlet so couldn't help us with anything except for raising a request on the system. As a follow up on that request, a technician visited and asked us to turn the fridge from 2 to 1 degree without saying if at the start of the summer season we have to change settings to its absolute maximum then what would happen in the peak season in a city like Delhi. Are we expected to treat the refrigerator as a cupboard then? He did see some issues on close inspection and took several images of its interior afterwards. As next steps, we were told he would have a visit arranged by a senior technician and a report will be prepared based on which they will offer us a replacement. However, neither has anyone from his team come for a visit nor is he available on his mobile. In parallel, a complaint was lodged with Whirlpool customer center without our knowledge.

The Whirlpool engineer on his visit rubbed his hands off stating since you made a purchase via Reliance, your warranty is covered with them not us but at the same time did take temp settings noticing the problem first hand. The attached service request has details with the temp of the chiller tray as 9.6 C (when the prescribed range I was told is 4 or below), for the middle tray 8.3C and door/bottle trays is 10.1 C and so on. Despite all the temp settings way off the mark with soft butter coming out of our chiller tray (our family doctor confirms anything below 4C for a fridge can pose a health concern!), they seem to have gone incommunicado with the technician's boss not answering his mobile. The person available on the escalation no asked to check the status from another no. The other number said they will repair the fridge and not replace it when their engineer by his own admission mentioned that this issue cannot be repaired (if a fridge is giving cooling issues then its compressor is faulty which has to be replaced in a plant not something a technician can resolve in a visit. This is something higher ups know very well but thinking that the customer cannot do anything about it is taking us on a ride.

In parallel, I got a message stating your request with Reliance is "cancelled based on your confirmation" (attached screenshot for your perusal). I don't know which ghost they got this "confirmation" from because as far as I am concerned the complaint is hanging in the air with no one to reach out to. The same technician from Reliance showed his complete unawareness about the entire issue stating he has passed the information to his boss and so he has done his "duty" and he will send the no of his boss 4 days back and am still waiting?

It's beyond belief that a brand as reputed as Whirlpool and Reliance put together are going to make a mockery of their customers' position like that. A four month old fridge and we didn't order cake on a mum's birthday lunch thinking it will go bad given the fridge condition. Over 50K spent and a major heartburn dealing with the fridge and everyone involved down the chain must say!

So request you to please resolve this at the earliest. Needless to mention, we don't want to take chances with Whirlpool having to have the same issue with their fridges twice. So please allow us to switch brands this time in our replacement.

Many thanks in advance and am available on the below number should you wish to understand or know anything further on this.

Thanks
Chitra
91-[protected]

[protected] Forwarded message[protected]
From: Chitra Uppal
Date: Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 18:12
Subject: Harrased Customer!!!
To:

Hi

We bought a Whirlpool fridge from Reliance Digital, Sector 29, Gurgaon. Please see the attached for details.

The fridge was defective in the first place so after a lot of hassle and wait we finally manged to get the fridge replaced. Now for over two weeks I am chasing your store executive staff to have the defective fridge picked up but to no avail. Every single day I am told to wait "till tomorrow". Today when finally two pick-up men showed up at our house they went back stating that "ask the store from which you made a purchase to pick up your fridge. We will not be able to do the same."

In a holiday season when guests are expected such a huge fridge is lying in the passage for days at end not to mention the packaging boxes on stairways (which we were asked to save as well) without me knowing where to go. So I request you to resolve the matter URGENTLY. In the event the item is not picked up latest by Thursday(October 28th, 12noon), I will have it discarded and will no longer be held responsible for the same.

Thanks for your understanding!

Best
Chitra