We bought an LG refrigerator on 13th June 2008 from Poona Agencies (80, New Bazaar, Opp Excelsior Theatre Kirkee Pune). Upon arrival of the refrigerator, we realized that there seem to be something wrong with the rubber or plastic part that attaches the door to the fridge. I asked the delivery guys a few times about it but they kept saying all LG refrigerators are like this. A few days later, my wife tells me that every time she opens the ice tray, the entire shelf comes out along with the ice tray. The items on the shelf have literally fallen over her. Also, the door doesn’t seem to close properly and has to be pushed hard in order to shut. I called Poona Agencies and we were told that they will send a LG technician out. I was told not to worry because our refrigerator was less that 2 months old, it will be replaced if there are any problems. We waited a few days before the LG technicians came. They checked the refrigerator and told us that the ice tray was fine, even though, my wife has experienced this phenomenon every single time she takes the ice tray out – it’s still happening to this day. Also, they claim that the door is fine, and guaranteed that nothing will go wrong. We told them about the warranty and asked for a new refrigerator as we suspected they were just pacifying us and not really interested to solve the issue. They said they will get back to us. We then called Poona Agencies and were told that everything is fine, not to worry, and if anything else happens in the near future, they will definitely change our refrigerator. This occurred in early to mid July. We do not have the request ID for the LG job as we did not contact LG directly, Poona Agency did. By August, we called Poona Agencies again to inform them that the fridge was overheating badly and made a funny buzzing sound. We never heard from them or from LG anymore. By 13 September 2008, we woke up one morning to find the fridge door wide open and our kitchen floor flooded. We called LG directly this time. My wife was frantic as the refrigerator was not cool on the inside, totally hot on the outside and the door would not shut at all. We had to resort to placing a hockey stick between the door and the wall. Even this was not full proof and we had to set the refrigerator to the max setting. My wife then frantically called and requested that an engineer come out as soon as possible to fix it. Customer Service told her that someone would come out within 3 days. She kept insisting and calling until they finally gave her the number to call in Pune. She managed to get through to the supervisor, Mr. Ram, who told her that the earliest they could send someone was tomorrow – 14th September 2008 as the engineer indicated that NDA Khadakwasla was too far. The engineer or technician finally arrived at our house on 19th September, 6 days later. By this time, everything in our refrigerator was spoilt; we had to run around shifting our important items to neighbour’s houses. Most of our items were already spoilt on the 13th itself as the refrigerator door was open all night. The technician came, tightened a few screws and said all is ok. We insisted yet again that we wanted to change the refrigerator as it was still new and already giving so many problems. The technician said nothing will happen it will all be ok from now. He guaranteed the door won’t open anymore.
On 21st September 2008, my wife placed another call to LG service centre as she woke up to find the refrigerator door open once again. The technician came and this time he told my wife that the problem was because the refrigerator wheels or stand were not adjusted to the correct alignment. My wife got really frustrated from his statement and in his presence called LG and kept demanding for the Pune office number. She was asked to speak to a Mr. Sachin. But while the technician was in the house, she could not get hold of Mr. Sachin. Upon hearing her conversation to LG, the technician called his office and informed them that she was trying to call Mr. Sachin and asking for a replacement. The technician then told her that his office was going to change the door for us – for no cost. My wife stood her ground and demanded a change of the refrigerator as promised by both LG and Poona Agencies in an earlier conversation in July. The technician kept telling her, her 2 months time limit was over and they could not do so. After further arguing, the technician said he will see what he could do. My wife later, out of sheer anger and disgust of all the experiences she had with LG, called Mr. Sachin and told him that she asked for a change of refrigerator numerous times. Both LG and Poona Agencies have been playing us like fools and she has finally decided to not deal with LG anymore. She wants her money back and will do so even if she has to go to court. A few days later, LG contacted me and told me that they are now willing to change the refrigerator. I agreed and asked them to do so soon. I have faxed them a copy of my receipts and bills on 27th September 2008. And they have informed me they will change it soon.
On 26th September 2008, my wife lodged another complaint with LG as our fridge door was open yet again in the morning. The customer service officer told her that a technician will be out in 72 hours. By this time, we decided to be patient and give LG another chance. This time, we locked the fridge door and also place a hockey stick between the wall and the door as an added protection. This made our life really miserable as you can imagine the time it took to open and close the door and the sheer inconvenience of it all. Yet, still when you place your hands on the sides of the door, you could feel cool air coming out as it was sealing shut properly. Because our refrigerator was set on high all the time to compensate the lost of cooling function, everyday, our kitchen would be wet and the electricity bills were skyrocketing.
By 30th September 2008, my wife decided to call LG again to find out why no one had come. She was told that the request had been cancelled as it was a repeated complaint. My wife lost her temper and shouted at the customer service officer that it was a genuine case, LG is going to change the refrigerator but in the meantime, the door is still opening and someone needs to fix it. The officer informed her that she will file a new request and it will take another 72 hours again before someone comes. My wife hung up the phone in frustration. Till date no one has come.
I called Mr. Ram, the supervisor at the Pune office, on the same date 30th September 2008 as an added request in case they cancelled the request again. I told him to please send someone to fix the fridge in the meantime. I requested this politely. He said a new refrigerator will be sent soon but yes they will send an engineer out. This was the last conversation I had with LG services. Till date no one has come to fix the refrigerator nor has anyone informed us of the arrival of the new refrigerator. My wife attempted to call Mr. Ram and Mr. Sachin but the phone kept getting cut off as well as no one answering the calls.
Even though the dealers – Poona Agencies had back then promised to change the refrigerator, they never kept to their promise. What I don’t understand is, if they are the dealers we bought the refrigerator from, they should make certain concessions to customers. They should at the point of complaint, change the refrigerator and then deal with LG directly as they are after all the dealers. I do not understand why we have been treated so badly. Upon checking the websites, we have come across many Indians complaining about the same problems with LG that we have had. I only wish we had an internet connection before we bought the refrigerator that way we could have avoided this issue and bought a different brand.
We have been patient, we decided to believe LG and trust them when they agreed to change our refrigerator and the promises Mr. Ram made to send a technician out to help us in the meantime. I think it is time that we stand up to dealers and companies who make false promises and have bad customer service. The person who has suffered the most has been my wife. She is a foreigner who has developed an allergic reaction to dust and certain conditions in India. She’s also asthmatic and thus has to rely on medications to help with the allergies. I did explain to LG and Poona Agencies the urgency o[censored]s needing a working refrigerator. The reason we bought a bigger capacity refrigerator is so my wife could keep her medication cool and it takes up a lot of space. We even have a backup generator for the refrigerator but this is of no avail especially since the refrigerator won’t work properly. This could be a life threatening situation for my wife. So far, we’ve lost all the medications she had ordered from home. We’ve lost almost Rs20000 (1 year’s worth of medications) from this ordeal. And because the refrigerator won’t work now, we have to specially order the medication for her on a weekly basis which cost us RS5000 every week. I think LG and Poona Agencies don’t see the importance of this issue and this is such a shame. It does not reflect well on these companies to play around with someone’s life. It might be a refrigerator to them or to others but to my wife it’s a means to control her health while she lives in India. She’s been very stressed and frustrated with this whole issue and has been worrying non-stop. Initially we spoke to Poona Agencies and asked them to take the LG refrigerator back and deal with LG for an exchange and in the meantime, if we could switch purchases for a more reliable brand. We were willing to top up the cost should it be more expensive. Our only aim was to have a proper working refrigerator due to my wife’s medications. But Poona Agencies has refused even though the refrigerator was only 2 months old when we requested the change. At this point, we are stuck because LG won’t send out any technicians irregardless of how bad the situation with out refrigerator is or how many times we call. LG has not bothered to send out the new refrigerator or keep us informed. They won’t answer our calls when we call directly. We’re practically stuck. Even when we try to get Poona Agencies to swap refrigerators or try to help us out, they are not bothered. We have exhausted all our options to have a proper working refrigerator. I think we have been very fair in our demands and have tried our best to be patient.
Maybe it's about time, as consumers, we start to seriously take matters in our hands. We should start taking these companies to court for valid reasons. We should start to demand better consumer care. After travelling abroad, i've noticed how consumers are treated so much better compared to us back in india. We, as consumers, really need to start making companies realise they should take us for granted. I'm already doing some homework as to how to take this issue to court. I advice other indians to do the same. Don't sit down and allow these companies to get away with these issues. If all o[censored]s collectively start to make a difference, start to make a stand, we will accomplish more over time.
Aug 14, 2020
Complaint marked as Resolved 
Since so many days we are complaing about our Refrigetor not working, but none of the person attended.
Kindly solve the problem as soon as possible... Awaiting for a positive reply.
The following is my address.
Chandrakanth Sarvode
1-8-49/1, Temple Alwal, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Mobile.No:[protected].