Philips India's Fair Resolution- All's Well that Ends Well...

After a long wait, I was finally able to motivate Philips India to serve justice and pass a positive resolution on my case. Their Branch Head NCR, Mr. Amit Mehrotra agreed that I was entitled to the gift . He too understood that I was denied the free gift and the correct information about their promotions at time of purchase. In fact we were not given any information at all about their promotions despite our enquiring about it. He agreed that there should be clarity on their promotions.

The Dealer should not be left to decide the alternative to a free gift. If customers are eligible for a free gift in their promotions, all the more they have a right to it no matter what. Also a customer has a Right to Information regarding promotions of the products and accurate information has to be provided to avoid misunderstandings between the Company and the Customers.

It was nice to know that my suggestion that the customer should be informed about the existing offers or alternatives at time of purchase would be considered seriously. On my suggestion, Mr. Mehrotra has ordered Better Deals and hopefully other shops to stick a poster on their wall regarding details of promotions as well as the terms and conditions to avoid such problems.

According to Philips India, Mr. Vishnu of Better Deals told them that he did not give us the free gift as he had supposedly given us a so-called discount on the MRP. Well in that case then we should have been informed about this so that we could have decided whether we want the discount or the gift.

 According to Better Deals the free gifts are valid only on MRPs. I beg to differ here as whatever the reason may be, the free gift offer was going on for almost all Products under Diwali Offer and that should not have been denied to us irrespective of whether the Dealer decided to give us a small discount of Rs. 600-700 or so instead of the gift on his own which we did not ask for. We had requested for the free gift pack of Induction Cooker Compatible Cookware under the Diwali Offer.

Moreover the terms said that the offer was valid on select models and stores and their Customer Service team assured me that the offer was valid on the expensive model which we bought and the store we bought it from. The terms don't mention that it is valid on MRP. In any case, if the customer is eligible for the free gift , he or she should be given that gift instead of a discount or a discount of the same value as that gift.

 I recall Mr, Vishnu telling me that there were no free gifts offers under Diwali offers whatsoever and that he would give no gift or discount without the written consent of Philips India. Then I wonder how did he decide to give the so called discount without consulting Philips at the time of purchase.

As it is, at the time of purchase we should have been informed about this and given options so that we could decide accordingly.The free gift worth Rs.  2,269 would be more attractive to a customer than a small discount specially because you would be getting cookware compatible with the Induction Cooktop. We paid Rs.3,390 for the Cooktop.

I think that Better Deals knew that now they could not protect themselves on the basis of the excuse that the offer is valid on select models and select stores as the Philips India Customer Services team had already committed that the offer is valid on my model number and the store I bought it from. So the best way out for them was to say that the offer is valid only on MRP of Rs. 4,695. But this point is not specified in the terms and conditions of the Philips India Promotions page. The page clearly states that it is valid on select models and stores. It does not say that it is valid on MRP. They need to be more specific about the models the offer is valid on. Incase of Juicer and Mixer, they have clearly mentioned the  models that are eligible for the Diwali offer but incase of Cooktop there is no clarity.

Well All's well that end well. After all Mr. Mehrotra demonstrated his sense of justice and empathy by favoring us with this positive resolution . I appreciate that and I also look forward to his continued sensitivity to the needs and rights of the customers. After all this positive attitude shall win back the customers they have lost previously . The recent resolution to my case will provide hope to other customers in the same situation and their fair resolutions will restore confidence in their services and products.I am glad that Mr. Vishnu of Better Deals also co-operated in the end after all and has made up for the inconvenience caused to us by getting the gift pack delivered to our house. Even if delayed , damage control was done.

I deeply appreciate Mr. Mehrotra calling me and seeing to it that the matter was resolved immediately and his follow up on my complaint also needs to be complimented. He made sure that the gift pack reached me without delays and followed up on it personally. Even though late but Philips India has lit up our festive season . They reserve the right to alter their terms and their decision may be final in some disputes, but Philips India stood by the customer this time and has made visible attempts to restore back customer confidence in their services. Mr. Amit Mehrotra gave importance to the customer's right and has salvaged Philips India's image. I sincerely hope that Better Deals too would take this complaint positively and would improve their customer service.

Philips India I hope you will start a new chapter here of winning back old customers and creating new customers through positive feedback. Happy Diwali ! 

It is high time Philips India stops tarnishing the age old reputed brand name. It should provide proper customer service to it's customers which is our right ! Customer feedback mostly negative can be found on the Facebook page of Philips India COMPANY . Actually it is quite informative and I learnt a lot from others who are facing similar problems with Philips India and  about the possible difficulties involved in selecting Philips products. It is essential to register your product as well but many are facing problems with something as small as even registering the serial number of the product. Some have received damaged products while some are facing obstacles in getting them repaired by the Company. There is an endless list and the story goes on...Some customers are even joining together to take them to Consumers Court.

Basically every company faces some negative reaction at one time or another but it is it's responses and resolutions to those complaints is what maintains it's image and reputation. As an ex-Hotelier, I always believe in good customer service and the Hyatt training always taught us to exceed guest expectations and that the Customer should never suffer as their feedback is very important. A proper follow up of the complaint by the Company and a responsible response in resolving it is required as well.

I would like to add that after so many days of pursuing the matter, I finally got a call from Philips only to inform me that they would have to consult their seniors in resolving the matter. Actually I am quite bored with their same old reply for the last several days but now all the more I am interested in learning what they have to say as their final word will determine the action I will take. I look forward to a positive response from them but we would have to wait and watch...

Right now they are trying their best to protect their Dealer and themselves by stressing that the offer is valid on select models. I noticed that after my complaint, they had even brought about changes in their terms and conditions on their website. Fortunately during my first call of complaint to them, I had confirmed that the offer was valid on the model we had bought. In fact, their Managers and Executives had time and again confirmed to me during the calls that the Diwali offer was valid on all Philips products. As you know and are informed when calling them,their calls are recorded. People always note down the dates of your complaints and the names of the people you speak with as this really helps in terms of reference. Also,always follow up your complaint by repeated emails as well.

I had sent them three reminders about my complaint via email and called them many times as well. But I think that my comments on their Facebook page and my live chat on their website attracted their attention. Also thanks to the Facebook page, I was able to get the Philips India email id which was not given to me by the customer service and is not available on the website.

After my first call to Philips, I was told to visit the Better Deals Store to get my free gift and Philips said that they would intervene to assist me in the matter,. That is when I called Better Deals to speak with them before visiting the store. I told them that according to Philips, I was entitled to the gift. But Better Deals refused to co-operate and I was told again that Philips has no such offers on " any" of their products. He told me that however he may give me that gift if Philips sends an email and added that I could buy that cookware ( the free gift assigned to the Cooktop) with a discount of Rs.1000 .

Now my point is that how can Philips India advertise about their Diwali promotions even on say " select models"  when their Dealers say that such offers do not exist at all specially on Cooktops.Then the advertisements on TV and Philips Website are a lie !  There is lack of co-ordination between them or someone is misleading the consumers here and keeping many free gifts for their personal use. Whatever the reason, I intend to find out soon by demanding an inquiry so that other customers do not face the same problem. We want answers here even if there is a positive resolution to this matter. They have tried my patience by deliberately delaying the matter for so long and now I demand not only a positive response to my case but also concrete assurance that steps would be taken to ensure that such things do not happen in the future. I have suggested that there should be more clarity in their promotions and they should be more specific regarding the model numbers if the offer is on selected models.As it is , every company offers Diwali gifts on all their products..

Let's see what their response is ...I have planned an interesting way of tackling this problem incase their resolution is not favourable but I would have to wait to share that with you ! ;) Well in the meantime enjoy the Festive Season Indians... :)

HP India 's careless attitude regarding disposal of defective laptop batteries under HP Notebook PC Battery Recall Program

In the next few days, I will share my unpleasant experience with you regarding HP India as well. For years I have taken up the matter regarding the correct disposal of Laptop Batteries with HP specially the defective ones that they had replaced . I have discussed the need for safe disposal of these batteries since 2009 as throwing them away in normal garbage can cause an explosion and hurt rag pickers when they burn the garbage. The batteries were recalled as they had the potential to overheat posing a fire and were quite hazardous.

But HP India and their Service Centres do not take this seriously and are least concerned about it. I have been calling them and sending emails to them for years now but they are not giving a positive response or taking a responsible stand on the matter. The Battery Pack is still lying with me. I was asked to retain the return packaging that came with the replaced battery pack and was told that HP would be contacting me to make arrangements to pick up the hazardous recalled battery pack from my premises. But they did not do that despite repeated reminders to them via emails and calls. I even offered to send it back to them by courier and called their Service Centres to make arrangements for pickup of the battery pack but nobody co-operated. As a responsible citizen, I do not wish to dispose this defective battery pack just like that where it may harm others. There has to be a more safe way of Laptop Battery Pack disposal in convenient locations .

A brand name needs to live up to it's reputation

On 18th Aug. 2009, I had complained about the customer service and a purse that I'd picked up from Da Milano. Fortunately after several emails and calls to them, I was able to get them to resolve the matter in my favour. An expensive brand name like Da Milano eventually lived up to it's name by providing me good service after all.

At the time, I was not at all satisfied with the customer service given to me by their store. It was then that I'd posted some comments on their online form but I received no response.

I'd informed them about the purse I'd purchased on 29thJune 2009.The purse had defects-the leather had discloured after just two uses & there were patches and peeling.

I'd informed the Noida shop too.At the shop I was told that it may have been my fault and I didn't like that comment though I made sure that they accepted to send it for quality check-29th Jul.(It was later confirmed that the leather was defective as I had explained).

Anyway I was promised by them that they would fix it and that they would keep me updated specially if not delivered on 10th Aug. But nobody followed it up.And nobody got back to me.

Finally I called again on 17thAug-I was kept on hold for a long time.I disconnected the phone and called the shop again several times in half an hour.Everytime someone answered but did not speak up after hearing me.

Later someone answered & apologized to me for the staff's behaviour saying that they were busy...I told him that this was not the right response from them and they should not answer the phone if they do not want to respond on the phone. I was quite irritated by then...

He assured me that he'd call me on 18th and update me and that the delivery date would be 20th.He said that they were changing the leather.But nobody called me again as I'd expected.There had been no follow up again as I'd expected.

But I did not get discouraged from their careless response. Instead I sent another mail stating that I hoped the purse would be given back to me with a good finish or I will expect it to be replaced. I also commented that I was having an extremely unpleasant experience shopping with them and with their staff. I expressed that they had not lived up to the DaMilano name!!!

Well that did the trick and soon the purse was delivered to me at my doorstep and Da Milano salvaged it's reputation by providing good service eventually even if delayed. All's well that ends well...They did try my patience but I was persistent...Never lose a battle without fighting it ! ;) They even told me that the same design and colour in leather would not be available here but I was able to convince them to get it from Italy. Well finally they were able to restore my confidence in their services even though I had to work hard to demand it from them. Well we all have certain rights but it is up to us as to how we use them to negotiate and get things done.

This was not the first time that I had bought a designer purse.I have purses from Nine West,Coach,Banana Republic etc. But if you want to buy something valuable,it has to be worth it ! The whole idea of buying something from a reputed brand is to have a pleasant shopping experience.

I felt that if I could be treated and bullied like this I don't know how they would treat other customers who were buying an expensive and reputed brand for the first time.A brand's name sells by word of mouth.Bad feedback and bad customer service will not attract new customers or keep the present ones. So never feel intimidated to demand good customer service anywhere. Customers are never rich or poor. Customers should be treated the same way anywhere.

Philips India does not "light up your life" in the Festive Season

Just recently we had purchased a Philips Induction Cooktop from Better Deals, GIP Mall Noida. We were denied the free Non-Stick Cookware worth Rs.2,269  that comes with it under the Diwali Offer. It has been very unpleasant shopping experience....But I decided to escalate the matter and am prepared to wait as long as it takes to fight for my right as a customer and to be granted a positive resolution. I would advise the same to any other person who has faced similar problems with the products or customer service of Philips India.

I complained to Philips about it by calling them on their toll free customer service number and later followed it up with several emails and calls. But Philips India has  demonstrated lack of sensitivity towards my complaint by not responding with a prompt action to provide the best resolution. There has been a careless response and lack of co-ordination between it's head office , customer care and the dealers. There has been no follow up whatsoever. They have a long history of treating their customers  in such a manner and a list of complaints about their products and services can be found on their Facebook page. They have a bad attitude and do not deliver the promised service even in the guarantee period of the products. I was surprised to read that most customers even received damaged products.

In fact I have been wasting calls,time and energy by getting in touch with them every second day to remind them of my complaint lodged on the 11th of Oct and requesting them to keep me updated with a proper follow up. I even called up the store at the Mall and I was told that there are no Diwali Offers on Philips products which is untrue.

While their Executives and Managers have been assuring me that they will get back to me with a response as they stated that I am entitled to the free gift under the Diwali offer , nobody has got back till date. I would like to advise all not to be misled by their advertisements and to think carefully before buying their products. It is very disappointing to find out that Philips India is tarnishing the name of Philips Worldwide . In the 70s, my father had bought an electric shaver from Philips,U.K and it is still being used. We respected the brand name and that is why we went ahead and bought this Cooktop but now with their recent attitude we are not confident that Philips India would provide use good service even under the guarantee period.

I intend to escalate this matter further as responsibility has to be fixed on their dealer and I demand answers as a customer. Accordingly I will do the needful and if compelled will not hesitate to take this complaint to the Consumers Court and Media.It has been very unpleasant shopping a Philips product this festive season as they are misleading customers by their advertisements about festive offers and spoiling their image by giving shops and dealers the power to decide to deny customers their free gifts.

Philips India has  not lived up to their brand name. Diwali offers have to be universal in this country and they cannot be selective in giving out free gifts to customers. Philips India has to take back the Induction Cooktop we purchased or restore our confidence in their services by delivering the free gift assigned to the Cooktop as per their advertisement on the TV and website.

People please think twice before buying their products specially in the festive season....