Adding this additional update (15-1-12) to my earlier review.
Unfortunate to say that the issue that I had stated earlier was marked as resolved seems to have reared its head up again. To say the fact, there is nothing as permanent resolution to any problem in India today. However, this situation can be changed only if the higher management of any company actually focus on holistic growth of business than just look at their bottomline.
So coming to the Eureka forbes products and poor quality of service has again started to haunt me. Having renewed my contract for AMC, EF has failed to give me any service in the last 8 months.
If EF expects that the customer has to pay them for AMC and also remind them for the AMC schedule, then they are actually in the business of fleecing from customers and not actual service. I have started seeing flakes in my ’filtered’ water and I am willig to wait to see till when their service center will not wake up and service.
Having failed in their commitment of regular servicing EF is liable to actually pay back the customer a compensation for not keeping up to their commitment and towards ensuring people who use their products actually do not fall ill.
The thing that favors my health today is though I can’t trust my EF water purifier, I have to boil my aquaguard water before I drink.
So frankly, my health is guarded not by Aquaguard but the boiling part.
As far as the servicing is concerned, it is still an issue and I don’t think EF has any way to resolve such issues unless their management takes a tougher stand against the service centers. For taking action to resolve service issues, the management has to first take action within the company to recognize these as actual problems.
Still can’t recommend any other water purifier which is better in servicing than EF so consumers have to live between the devil and the deep sea.
Earlier review:
I read the review of the i-Nova product here. I found most of the users were not able to get efficient service for the product and hence they have reviewed the product as not good. I too have a similar opinion. Unfortunately, it seems that the agencies which have been given this servicing contract do a very shabby job of the whole deal.
After using the product for 1 year, with proper servicing, I have had bhaiyyas from UP calling me up telling me they will service the product but they don’t know the address of my place.
I am flabbergasted.
What the hell is the agency doing with my service records?
Are they not maintaining the records properly that the address is lost?
More than this, I have given them strict instructions that I need the service personel to come to my place only after calling up to confirm if we are there.
This happened properly for the first year.
Now in the second year, there is a huge issue that these service guys seem to have changed and so they are not able to provide the same quality of service as before.
I am in a fix now, ’cos the service guy talks horribly, it seems these guys are doing a job for the sake of it and they have no commitment to do a proper job. The servicing agency I am told changed 2 times. Now I don’t know which agency is servicing and when I call their customer service number, they say it is not our botheration who will be servicing.
I am at my wits end trying to get a suitable solution to this problem.
It’s like a white elephant now.. I have to use it ’cos it’s there but I am not able to get the required service for it’s use.
Another Issue I have found with these service people.
Most people who live in the Tier II cities - my parents in MP, have to make do with whatever crap these service guys dish out. These people are taking private contracts from the customers, saying that they will get the candles from somewhere else to replace, at only a fraction of the service charge the customer pays to the company.
Now with this kind of a shadow game happening, I am not sure if the company agencies really are acting responsibly, or are just playing with customer emotions.
The guy who came to my parents’ place took Rs.800/- for 1 year contract with him, where he would come to replace the candle. Sr. Citizens would look at ways to save money, so they were ok to go with this option. Who knows what kind of candles he is going to get, if he ever will that is. What is the accountability here, who is responsible here(apart from the customers, who obviously will go for an option where they get a better response that is to their liking, since the company customer service is not taking care of their problem)
So in this whole deal, when in the 1st year I thought the service is all good, now I am in for a rude shock that the service quality has dropped drastically.
Another aspect I have to highlight being an environmentally conscious citizen.
I have no clue what the candle is made of. It has plastic ends and a central pipe around which the candle is held and which lets water pass through and filters it.
When we have to dispose of this stick, the plastic is environmentally harmful. What about the stick, what material is it made of, and what is a safe way to dispose it off????
Such information in today’s times should be made available to people who can then take care of proper disposal of the items.
Unfortunately, in this country, because the companies know that people have a ’I don’t care’ attitude, they help promote that by not providing the right information. They know people don’t bother about these things, so they will just throw away these candles, which will eventually if not discarded, might be picked up by some counterfeit agency who will wash and reuse the candles. What’s the guarantee that these candles if thrown as it is, won’t be reused in some secondary market?
And for those who want to care, there are no options/sources to get the right information about such things so that people can ensure that these things are not reused and are safe for the environment.
In brief, the company is losing it’s name and customers their confidence because of
bad after sales service with untrained staff who seem to be doing just an eye wash of service
bad customer service responsibility
bad commitment on the company/agency’s part
Not providing sufficient information about products being used/discarded
no follow up service with customers
no concrete and long term action being taken on the complaints that customers send
I’d give a product rating, but there should be an option to give after sales-service rating also