Grievance regarding IFB washing machine Ticket No.17501557/ 17519065

Dear Sir/ Ma'am,

I registered a service request on 7th March 2016 with IFB for my washing machine owing to a leakage issue. Subsequently, IFB service engineer Mr.Amarjeet visited my residence on 8th March for inspection. The other day, on 9th March he again visited bringing along four machine parts to repair the machine. He installed the parts and asked me to handover the old non-functional parts. I was perplexed as to why does the company require the "non-functional" parts when my machine is not under warranty and I also made full payment of Rs.3,889. He said that it's a company policy & I was forced to return the parts.

Mr.Amarjeet then ensured that the leakage is completely fixed and asked us to switch on the machine with full load. Henceforth, I loaded the machine with clothes and turned it on. After a while, the machine made a strange sound and I immediately switched it off. Mr.Amarjeet had left by then - I quickly made a call to inform him about it and he said that he is attending another complaint in a nearby area and will come back in a bit. However, I had to call him again and then finally he visited three hours later. Post inspection, he told me that machine motor has short circuited due to water spillover.

Even though the motor got fused due to sheer negligence of an IFB qualified engineer, I didn't get any support from the IFB team even after sending them multiple emails during 10th- 18th March. Ultimately, I had no choice but to accept their proposal to get the machine motor replaced against a further payment of Rs.2,550 (after 15% discount) as suggested by Ms.Kavita (IFB customer care). On 19th March, Mr.Jagdish (IFB engineer) came over to replace the motor and given my last experience this time I ensured to check if the machine is functioning properly before he could leave. Once I turned on the machine, Mr.Jagdish noticed that the water leakage is still happening as earlier (the very 1st problem for which I raised a service request on 7th March). Subsequently he told me that now the machine tub needs to be changed which will cost another Rs.2500. All this shows that the IFB engineers are just changing parts on hit & trial basis without actually being able to diagnose the problem.

I had to again contact the customer care wherein Ms.Kavita proposed to me an exchange offer to get Eva Aqua VX 6kg for Rs.22,151. The machine MRP is Rs.25,161 and is easily available online for Rs.23,751, which translates into a exchange discount of Rs.1,600 only, that too even when I have already paid Rs.3,889 earlier. How can such an "offer" be accepted by a customer who is a pension holder senior citizen?

I have been harassed and humiliated a lot running from lamp to post since the past one month with my wife having been faced a lot of problems at home without a functional washing machine.I have sent out several emails to the customer care, and also tried getting in touch with IFB chairman (Mr.Bijon Nag) and company secretary (Mr.Ray Chowdhury) through emails on 14th March, 20th March and 4th April but in vain. Nobody bothered to even acknowledge my concerns in a company whose tagline is "Excellence Through Perfection in Quality & Service".

I have the following questions which I am yet to get an answer for-
1. Why does IFB require old "non-functional" parts which are not under warranty and even when I have paid the full amount asked for?
2. When a qualified IFB service engineer had worked upon my machine, how did water spillover happen resulting in motor fuse?
3. Why are all the IFB engineers working on hit & trial basis and coming up with new issues every other day? Is it to squeeze the maximum amount of monies from a customer?

I would expect IFB to return my paid amount of Rs.3,889. Further, the machine motor needs to be fixed at company's cost as I am not liable to pay for an IFB engineer's fault. I also had to hire domestic help to wash clothes as I still don't have a functional washing machine.

Thanks & Regards.