It is to caution you against buying HITACHI products that I write & highlight the total apathy with respect to redressing my service request #12072100051 generated on 21 July 2012, for the issue I am facing with Hitachi A/C.
Please note that I had purchased Hitachi A/C 1.5T KAZE on 19 May 2012 (from Croma, Faridabad) and I had to report problem with the non-cooling of A/C in a period of 2 months only.
The service request # 12072100051 logged in by me was attended by Mr. Ishwar on 22 July 2012, believed to be employee of Tirupati Agencies. He noted that there is a leakage in the A/C due to which there is no gas reserve in the A/C and thus, no cooling can take place. Shocked and dismayed that I have been saddled with a defective item, I requested for a change of unit. He informed that 22 July being Saturday; he will file his report on Monday, 24 July.
Since 24 July, on a daily basis, I have been following up with either M/s Anju or Mr. Sangram at Tirupati Agencies (Mobile # 9810045245 and 9311118196) or Hitachi Dial – a –Care Service just to ascertain the status of my complaint, much less about resolving my complaint.
I am utterly flabbergasted to note that since the day I have lodged my complaint, I have been given excuses like 1) the Supervisor is on leave today; 2) I am driving right now- let me call you back in an hour (which never happens, of course); 3) By tomorrow, we will call you back, be patient for a day. Till date, I am not aware of the status of my complaint or the time frame, if any, within which Hitachi will resolve my issue.
The attitude of either Dial- a-Care personnel, the response received over e-mail or HITACHI’s third party agency (Tirupati Agencies) is very casual and detached. Such disgusting response & attitude does not reflect a service culture or a willingness to help customers.
I have mailed HITACHI also over e-mail (with cc to cromaretail & Hitachi feedback) & the response was a curt reply that my SR will be addressed by an engineer soon. Despite sending a reminder today (30 July 2012), there is absolutely no accountability or responsibility for addressing any grievance.
Notably, Hitachi’s website neither provides for any other telephone number other than their helpline number in redressing customer’s complaint nor names any person who is responsible for customer service. They aren’t interested in resolving your issues. PERIOD.
Always seek answer to the following, before you buy AC (in this case, Hitachi):
What is the company official turnaround time in resolving customer issue with any of Hitachi’s products?;
What is the responsibility of Hitachi, as a company, when a customer lodges a complaint with any of the products?
Is it the customer’s responsibility to follow up with you third party vendor for redressal of a service issue, because of a service obligation Hitachi undertook?;
Will the customer am not being provided a written response for my service request?;
How & to whom can you, as a customer escalate your service request if you not satisfied with the response to your grievance;
A customer buys A/C mostly influenced by the brand name, hoping that the manufacturer realizes the grave necessity of a working A/C, on a daily basis in sweltering summer heat of Delhi. My experience leads me to infer HITACHI has a long way to go, when it comes to providing service.
Hope the review helps.
Saurabh Sharma
P.S. (04 August 2012): After contacting Hitachi HQ (at Ahmedabad), the AC has been repaired & installed today itself. By God’s grace, it’s working fine. The Hitachi HQ # is 079-30414800. Hope the entire review above would benefit your purchase decision.
Regards,
Saurabh Sharma