I have had the worst of experiences with APC. We purchased a 1KVA UPS(BI1000I) in Feb 2007 for our house for approximately Rs.18000. We had just returned from the US after living there for a long time and felt like we could trust all US-based companies. How wrong we turned out to be!
Initially, we had no complaints about the product itself. It worked very well and gave us no problems. However, after 18 months, the UPS started dying within 10-15 minutes after the power went out. We file a complaint. APC Service personnel came and refilled the distilled water. From there on, it got worse. The UPS started shutting down within 5-10 minutes even without a single appliance/light bulb/fan being turned on! Then followed a series of complaints each of which was dealt with by the magic potion aka distilled water. This, obviously, turned out to be a placebo and things didn’t improve.
Just before the 2-year warranty expired, I started following up with APC customer service with regularity and perseverance. I sent a lengthy email to the Regional Manager describing the problems I was facing and after some time, he gave his approval for the battery to be replaced for free. This was just before the warranty was due to expire. After a wait of another 2-3 weeks(because the battery was not in stock), the APC folks came and installed the new battery. From its appearance, it looked like the batteries were brand new, because they came in a carton and were wrapped in plastic.
However, within 2 months of installing the new batteries, it’s back to the same problem. The UPS shuts down as soon as the power goes out. The APC service person took one look at the battery and declared it as dead, expired, passed beyond the veil, kicked the bucket, pushing daisies. In short, the batteries needed to be replaced.again. But, now, the warranty had expired, so I have to pay for the new batteries out of my pocket.
I’m sure this review doesn’t quite convey the trials and tribulations and the frustrations that I experienced during the last 6-8 months. In general, India has a very, very long way to go in making the customer feel like a king. Most of the experiences I’ve had with customer service personnel(Airtel, Vodafone, APC, etc.) in India have been mind-bogglingly annoying, irritating, frustrating and maddening. And, APC is one of the companies leading from the front in this area.
SwaroopP.S.: An exception to the’poor customer service’ experiences I’ve had in India is Maruti Service, which I’ll try and cover in a separate review. They’re simply awesome!