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 !