Hi. I bought a 1.5 T Videocon AC (Model VA 1800ELZX, Sl. No.
9604040246) from their dealer on April 30, 2004 for Rs. 16,500. The dealer
is of course now untraceable, shop closed, no response on telephone
numbers. Videocon also never bothered to do the four quarterly checks they
do in the first year. In any case, since the Ac was performing OK, I
ignored their not bothering to visit and do the inspections. The doubts
about the quality arose from the third year when the cooling quality
deteriorated, and I could see substantial rusting in the parts. Then in
the fourth year, I spent Rs. 1500 on getting gas refilled (which per the
technician had to be done since the condenser coils were of very poor
quality and tended to disintegrate and leak out the gas). Now, this fifth
year, the AC refused to start. After 10 days of trying to contact Videocon
(since they had againchanged service agents) I finally had luck contacting
the service agent m/s Hitech Services (Shafi Mohammed 9811364043), B-14,
Sec 64, NOIDA. He sent his technician who told me that this time around
the AC fan and blower have gone bad, gas will need to be filled again, and
also rear heat exchanging condenser assembly will have to changed, at an
estimated cost of Rs. 6000 plus. To which my response was that pls.
understand, you are practically changing everything in this machine except
for front condenser and compressor (which thankfully is OK, since it is a
Hitachi compressor and not an inferiro quality Videocon product). Also, if
I look at the money I am spending within a period of 5 years, it amounts
to Rs. 16.5 + Rs. 1.5 + Rs. 6 = Rs. 24 Thousand. If I had Rs. 24 to spend,
then in the first year itself I would have purchased a high end Hitachi or
General AC for Rs. 24 K. Then they said defect is due to corrosive air in
Noida, and my response was that I can show you huundreds of AC in and
around my flat, which are even older, some of them are Videocon too, none
of them has this kind of recurring issues and problems. Anyway, they said,
what can I do, warranty is only for one year, so I dont have any recourse.
Since I did nto have Rs. 20K to spend on gettign a new AC, I agreed to pay
them Rs. 6125 to get it fixed, but asked them to put in good quality parts
this time. To my surprise, instead of putting a hydrophilic rear condenser
assembly (which they give on their new AC now) they put in a poor quality
coil, which was anyways damaged, the fins were crushed. Their mechanic
came and spent 2 hours trying to straighten them and said, this is no big
deal, the AC will still run, I said, hey would you buy a new car if I just
smash the roof ....in any case, the car will run smoothly, right? Anyways,
they startd the AC for 5 minutes and showedme that it was working, and
then left. Next day, when I operatd the AC, within 15 minutes it started
giving burning smell so I switched it off and asked them to come and take
a look at it. Now they tell me that the electric panel is damaged!!! This
problem was not existing earlier when I gavce them the AC. At this rate,
within a month or two, the two remaning components (the front condenser
and compressor) will also go bad, and in effect, I will end up changing
everything in the AC! In any case, it has been 3 days, I am still waiting
for Hitech Services to fix my AC.....maybe it will happen when the summer
season is over!!
I tried to complain to their Area Service Manager Ranjit Singh
(9310680662) who twice said he was busy, and he never bothered to return
the call. I do not think I am Videocon''s servant to keep on trying to
reach their so busy and important officers. Videocon needs to understand
that I am a consumer.
The big joke is on me...last May I spent Rs. 1.5 K on gas refill, this
year I spent in April Rs. 6,125 = total Rs. 7625. The funny part is that
Videocon is selling new AC via India times for Rs. 14.5 thousand. I have
spent over half the cost of a new AC to get this junk fixed, yet Videocon
is not bothered to at least acknowledge that the AC i was supplied was not
of prime and acceptable quality. Now, the electrical panel has also gonebad,and they want me to give them another Rs. 3200 to fix it. If I do it, then everything except the non-Videocon stuff (the Hitachi compressor) would have gotten changed!!!
Consequences : As mentioned above, the AC ended up costing me Rs. 27
thousand within 5 years. And Videocon themselves sell new AC (with free
delivery and installation) for Rs. 14.5 thousand.
They need to acknowledge that they gave me inferior material, and they
need to make amends. I AM NOT A FOOL TO SPEND Rs 27 THOUSAND FOR AN AC
WHICH THEY SELL FOR 14 THOUSAND NOW. The need to make amends. Thanks.