[Resolved]  Samsung India — purchase of samsung product - refrigerator - a great mistake

Address:

Pune, Maharashtra, 411006

I, swapna joy, a working professional purchased a refrigerator, microwave and washing machine – all samsung brands vide invoice no. 209/17-18g1 dated 16/04/2017. The fridge and washing machine were delivered on 16/4/2017, post which demo was given by company official mr. Suraj (Mob no. [protected]) on 17/04/2017. The microwave was delivered in the month of may and mr. Suraj himself had come for the demo of this product too. During that time, i had raised a few concerns about the refrigerator cooling issues, which he dismissed stating that it was due to the temperature set. The fridge continued to give problems in terms of food getting spoiled, vegetables becoming soggy, milk getting curdled etc. However, being a working woman, i could not afford to give much attention to it and blamed the housed family members for their negligence. A couple of times, when the call centre was approached, i was advised to remove all items from the fridge and freezer, switch off the unit, switch on it after two hours and reload the items after another two hours. I followed these instructions, though it occurred to me that such requirements had never aroused with my old refrigerators (Godrej, kelvinator & lg). Moreover, this was a costlier fridge of rs. 65, 500/- (Rupeessixty five thousand five hundred).
In august 2017, the fungus deposit seen on lemon peels and cheese slices raised my concern. Again a call to the call centre made me repeat the procedure of turning the empty unit off and later reloading it after 4 hours. However i insisted on a technician visiting and thus mr. Eliyas (Mob: [protected]) came on 19th aug vide the complaint raised on 18th aug 2017. He checked and advised some temperature settings and did the needful. However, he too was not sure about the reason for malfunctioning of the fridge.
Things did not move smoothly but this was a secondary concern amidst the other family concerns.in sept 17, i was on leave from 25th sept 2017. When at home, i realised that the fridge was malfunctioning. The non-veg items in the freezer were not getting frozen, ice cream was not being set etc. Food items were getting spoiled and this time i was at home to monitor everything and could not blame other family members. So, learning well that the refrigerator was serving more like a cupboard, i made a call to the call centre on 29th sept 2017. They, as usual advised me the standard solution of turning the empty unit off and later reloading it after 4 hours. I refused to do it and on persistent insistence, the service engineer, mr. Eliyas visited us again on 30th sept 2017. He found that the cooling was not as per the temperature displayed. He reset the temperature and advised us to monitor the same. I started clicking pictures of the food items that got spoiled to validate my claim. Being company holidays on 1st & 2nd of oct 2017, i waited impatiently till the 3rd of oct to make frantic calls to the call centre. However, my concern fell on deaf ears and in spite of repeated calling to call centre, mr. Sukesh yadav (Tl - mob: [protected]) and mr. Prashant (Area manager – mob: [protected]), my concern was not addressed. Because of continuous follow ups for two whole days, finally a senior service engineer, mr. Dinesh (Mob: [protected]) at last landed up on 5th oct at 9.15 pm. The items were emptied from the freezer and the panel was opened. He checked, re-checked and finally drew a conclusion of gas problem. So he changed the cylinder. However, when things did not work after that, he said the valve needed replacement. Since he was not carrying the part, he said another service engineer would do the needful the next day. Accordingly, mr. Vishal (Mob no [protected]) came on 6th oct 2017 in the afternoon and replaced the gas cylinder and valve, after removing all the items from the freezer and opening the panel. These replacements too did not improve the performance of the refrigerator. The display was shown as -23 & 9 for the freezer and fridge respectively. By the next day, the frozen items in the freezer had to be disposed of due to stink. Frantic calls made to the call centre, mr prashant (Who conveniently did not answer my calls), mr sukesh and mr. Dinesh. Mr. Dinesh agreed to come on 8th oct 2017. As promised, mr. Dinesh came by 11.30 and set out to replace the gas cylinder, this time after emptying the whole fridge. He spent 4-5 hours – checking and rechecking. He arrived at the conclusion that power to the fridge was not being passed over. He said that the control panel unit needed a replacement. The said item would be replaced the next day if available or done so when the ordered part would be received.
By this time, the trauma and mental agony that my family members and i faced had reached a peak due to using a samsung refrigerator. Being a working lady, with multi tasking responsibilities, lot of time and money was wasted due to the selection of a wrong brand i. E. Samsung. I called the call centre and conveyed my decision to return the product and take refund. My request was forwarded to the head office and i received a call from mr. Yogesh (Ho - samsung) on 9th oct 2017. I explained the episodes and he assured that he would call back in a couple of days. Accordingly on 11th oct mr. Yogesh called and told me to share snaps of spoilt food items, the invoices, sticker on the fridge with serial number on whatsapp number [protected] provided. Meanwhile mr. Dinesh also called stating that the part for replacement was received. However, i conveyed him my decision for return of the unit and take refund.
On 12th oct 2017, i received a call from [protected] (Samsung ho) stating that they would repair the part and provide an extended warranty of additional 5 more months. A product, which calls for major repairs within 3-4 months of purchase, speaks highly of the functional disabilities. I have no intention of keeping this cupboard (Refrigerator that your company may call it) and make good my loss. For the past one week, i am at the mercy of my neighbours to store some perishable items in their refrigerator. I have lost faith in your brand and products and would be grateful if you could take back all the three items purchased with full refund of rs. 1, 10, 000/- (Rupees one lakh ten thousand only).
Kindly note that the issue was highlighted a fortnight ago and till date there has been hardly any progress. Request you to resolve the issues once and for all within 3 days from the receipt of this mail, post which we will be compelled for another course of action.