A city resident filed a complaint against LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd for alleged repeated defects found in a refrigerator which he had bought in 2013.
Rounak Agarwal, an LLB student, who filed the complaint at the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF) in Kamrup (Metro) on behalf of his father who is a businessman, told G Plus that they had incurred a total cost of Rs 12,500 in servicing of the refrigerator multiple times since 2013.
“The complaints began within six months of purchasing the refrigerator. The primary defect was that it had stopped cooling and the company officials also charged fees for every visit after the warranty period had ended,” he said adding that he had to even take the refrigerator to LG’s service centre in Hatigaon on one occasion.
The complainant, who is a resident of Bijaynagar, informed that the refrigerator cost Rs 65,500. He added that several of its parts including the compressor, PCB assembly, drier, condenser and evaporator had been repaired or changed in the past four years.
The complainant has claimed a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs from the company including the cost incurred in repairs, transportation and the compensation.
“The refrigerator again stopped cooling in November as well as in February. When we contacted the service centre, they gave us the estimate of Rs 6,500 for repairs on both the occasions,” said Agarwal.
Fed up with repeated complaints and following the repairs required, he then filed a complaint with the consumer court against the electronics company for deficiency in service.
“When we asked the company officials to exchange the product, they offered only Rs 10,000 as compensation and an old refrigerator in exchange, which we refused to accept,” informed Agarwal.
He further said that the authorities at the LG’s Northeast head office in Guwahati refused to exchange the refrigerator for a new one and reasoned in their favour that such manufacturing defects are possible in electronics goods.
Cases against other prominent brands
Aggrieved consumers have been regularly approaching the court for redressal of grievances against established brands in the market.
Recently, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) has received a case against the leading automobile company Audi.
Anuja Bhuyan, registrar of SCDRC informed G Plus that one Manik Ali has filed a case against leading automobile manufacturer Audi after defects were detected in his car.
Additionally, the DCDRF has recently received a case against Euro Paints. Officials said that the complainant is a trader from Guwahati who had placed an order for a particular type of paint and had paid Euro Paints Rs 2 lakhs in advance.
However, the paint company sent him primer instead of paint. “The primer too had crossed its date of expiry. On the orders of the court, the complainant received Rs 2,11,000 along with compensation for harassment and charges incurred in appearing for court proceedings” said a member of DCDRF Jamatul Islam.
In another instance, a resident of Guwahati filed a case against Reliance Communications when the complainant wanted to port his SIM card to Airtel.
Officials said that even after paying the requisite charges and bills, Reliance failed to port his number. He was then paid a compensation of Rs 25,000 after judgment in the case.