I have spent my entire career in managing customer service, sales and after sales customer interactions hence I have developed certain empathy for all professional in similar roles. Also, it is not too uncommon to witness a sort of thick skinned approach that treats customer as a number instead of an individual. This is most common when dealing with retail customers where number of complaints coming your way are too many for you to to give due attention and it causes, if you are not careful, you to develop a numbness that you fail to address even simplest of queries if they are out of routine.
With this preamble, let's get in to our story. This is my experience so I can be biased and would love your candid feedback on my expectations.
In Jul 2016, I bought LG refrigerator from Sales India at Ahmedabad. Model no is GL-T542GNSL which cost me 56000 rupees. This was almost three times the size of usual refrigerators we use in middle class homes however being part of a joint family with eight adults and seven growing young ones, it felt we needed it. This was our third LG refrigerator, first one lasted for over a decade and the second one bought in May 2010 is working till date hence we were confident that investing a large sum in LG product will be worth it's while. We had a good experience buying and installation was smooth. For almost 30 months, we had no reason to complaint. However, as 2019 began, we were brought in face to face with the LG regime.
We first launched a complaint on 6th Jan 2019 however somehow they booked a demo instead of service complaint and we were requested to book another complaint three days later. After a few calls, service engineer Mr Harsh came to our home, shut off the machine for a few hours, did some servicing and left with Rs 600+ as service charge. He told that issue is resolved and you will have fully functional refrigerator within 48 to 72 hours. We waiting seven days but problem remained unchanged. When we called Mr Harsh again, he asked to book the complaint again via call center which we did.
This time, it took another five days before any engineer could visit our place. We could not save this person's name or number. He came, took some photographs and told my mother he will revert in two day's time. Another week went by and our problems were getting worse. I called the call center again and they gave me number of their TL which was never answered. Then I called Mr Harsh, he gave number of Mr Vijay, his TL, which was answered the next day. He said he will get it checked and respond. Finally, at the end of my patience, I posted my complaint on twitter. I did get a response and a call the next day. Mr Ravi spoke with me, asked me to recant the whole experience and promised he will get it resolved. Two days went by again this time and no revert was found.
Finally, I wrote on twitter again and Mr Ravi called me. He asked whether I was informed about resolution by their service team which I wasn't. He took Mr Vijay on call and Mr Vijay told me upfront that my refrigerator is non-repairable and I need to buy a new machinery. And, since the model I had, was out of production, I will have to choose a new model and pay the difference amount. I was shocked and couldn't understand their jargon however they told that they will revert with the actual amount that I will be reimbursed. Later I was informed that I have to go to LG outlet and choose the model I want to buy and LG will reimburse me 51% of billing value. This was utterly unacceptable however LG team refused to discuss any further stating I was given best possible solution and nothing could be done.
Last week, I went to LG outlet and looked at available models and chose the one that was closest to my machine in capacity. This was billed at Rs 66000. Same day, I went to Sales India and put my problem across. They spoke with LG Service Manager Mr Ketan and LG & sales India both emphasized that such errors were less than 0.1% and they will get me best possible deal. I was very happy and after a couple of more twitter messages, Mr Ravi and Mr Ketan told me that they have received approvals for 80% bill value and I need to pay Rs 22000 as difference.
On face value, I had benefited by 29% however in reality I was losing 22000 for no fault of mine.
As per LG service team, cooling plates of the machine are opened which are inside of the body and cannot be repaired anywhere but the workshop. There is no physical damage or wear & tear while usage but this is due to some fault at time of manufacturing which manifested after 30 months.
I requested to LG service team that in such a scenario, I should be charged zero or minimal depreciation. I also told them that the market price for the new model chosen by me is much lesser than billing price told by company so they can refund the money and I will buy the same model from market. However, that was also unacceptable to them. I then asked for some way of assurance that similar issue will not be faced in the new model however they choose to keep silent on them.
I had requested them to send me a mail from LG official ID about our final deal and given bank details. However, I have received a text message from a number asking me to deposit money in a standard chartered account. When I call on the same number, no one answers. I am writing on twitter since two days but it seems Mr Ravi and their social media team has also decided to vacation.
What should I do now? I do feel trapped as I am stuck with an expensive machinery which doesn't function and LG team apparently is not interested in resolving the dispute.
You have to understand that since my machine is fully function other that the internal fault and all parts are intact, LG will be able to harvest almost all spare parts. Besides, the high end models have almost similar look with silver steel outer body and almost identical internal parts. Even then LG wants to mooch off 22 k more from me.
Is this the routine customer experience or the thick skinned approach I talked about at the start?
