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Service without a smile

The world is filled with unhappy souls who have been left high and dry by inefficient and callous after-sales service

"Of course, sir, we will set it right, or we will replace it. Customer is king, sir." This conversation can take place only in your dreams. One has learnt, painfully, that after-sales service is unreal, fleeting and often nightmarish.

Just take your pick of products, or services. It could be the retiling of a bathroom, replacement of a malfunctioning camera, problem with a brand new washing machine or that elusive broadband connection.

"Twenty-four hours is all we take to retile the bathroom, ma'am," says the tile man. The bathroom is small and there is no reason to disbelieve him. A date is set, tiles are purchased, leave is taken, and everyone at home is waiting, and waiting ... After you have grovelled and pleaded for a week,he calls up to casually remark: "The labourer was in hospital with a stomach ache".

The 24-hour retiling takes three weeks. Till then, the bathroom remains unusable. "We just pretended that we live in a one-bathroom house," say the beleaguered house owners.

Surprise, surprise

Rajendran buys a washing machine. The very same day it comes home, he discovers that it does not work. A request to replace the machine comes to nought. The dealer says he will only change the part and not the entire machine. He does that, but then another problem arises, and then another. The machine is still not washing...

A playschool owner orders play equipment worth Rs. 15,000. The complete payment is made, including for installation. The delivery time is 15 days. After innumerable calls and visits to the shop, the products are delivered two months later, full of scratches. And an extra Rs, 2,000 had to be shelled out for installation. (When the dealer said `installation', he actually meant `delivery'!). The dealer has promised a complimentary paint job after the installation. Meanwhile, the play area in the school remains unused.

A camera (a renowned world brand with a two-year warranty) stops working within the very first year of its purchase. It is sent for repairs. Subsequently, off it goes again.

The third time around, the worried buyer reminds the shop that the warranty period may expire by the time they service the product. "No problem, sir," says a slick employee. "We will replace the camera if need be, complete with a new warranty".

Ultimately the camera is replaced, but without a warranty. If something should go wrong with it, you pay. Company policy. A volley of correspondence regarding the warranty ensues. Every letter from the company begins with how much the customer is valued, and how one must not hesitate to get in touch with them.

"We don't but are still stuck with a replaced camera with no warranty. And, the employee does not pick up the phone," says the buyer.

"There is a special place reserved in hell for these people," says a frustrated Vidya, who is unsuccessfully trying to get her remote control replaced. "They promise you the moon while making a sale; but once that's done, we are left talking to answering machines or worse still, perky young things in call centres who know nothing about your problem."

Is there no sanctity to the promised after-sales service? Most people try once, twice, thrice and then just give it up as a bad joke and either pay through their nose to have their product serviced elsewhere, or just get another one.

Never accept excuses

Maintain a written record of every transaction

Read the small print carefully

Clear doubts with salesman/Don't accept ambiguous explanations

Try and get things down in writing

Replaced products ought to have a warranty. Is the company wary of handing out a warranty because it is unsure of the quality of its products?

Take up all issues with the company

If that does not work, enlist the help of a consumer organisation

(As told by consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon)

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