On 31-July-2024, I booked a service with Urban Company for Air Conditioner repair. My AC had conked out and it was hot here. It was difficult for my 76 year old mother to sleep at night with out an Air Conditioner. The booking was seamless but that was just the beginning of the nightmare. The guy came, checked and told me that it is probably the condenser. As we are well aware, condenser is only one of the many reasons an AC could conk out. It could be gas leak. It could be a problem with indoor unit. Of course, it could also be the condenser. However, he did not give me confidence as he was just "guessing" and asked me to replace the condenser. So, I told him I will think about it and revert. I complained on the poor assessment to Urban Company.
I raised another booking on 1-Aug-2024 to get a proper assessment based on Urban Company’s advice that they will assign their senior most expert technician. However, the technician never turned up nor informed us that he is not going to turn up. We called him too and he would not attend our calls. Finally, we waited till evening and cancelled the booking. We were very upset and complained to Urban Company too. With every day lost, I was losing money as I had to put my mother up in a hotel room along with my sister for AC facility alone. And Urban Company was only adding to my costs without discharging their contracted obligations.
Urban Company assured me that this time, they will get the job done. I did the booking again on 2-Aug-2024. It was the same guy who visited us on 31-July-2024 and "guessed" the diagnosis of AC problem. By this time, we were tired. So, I asked him to replace the condenser. That is when hell broke through. He said that the nuts and bolts were not coming out. He used some kind of gas torch to cut them out, damaging the AC and paint work. Then he changed the condenser but the alignment of the internals of the outdoor unit like fan, mesh and condenser was not happening. So, he literally squeezed them through. I was afraid that something will break but I was too far gone and could not do much, half way through. Anyway, he made it work. He racked up an overall bill of Rs.7499 for condenser, gas refilling and labour charges. Now, as per law and GST regulations, when you replace a part, you must give a proper GST purchase invoice. He did not provide that. He inflated the cost of the condenser and gas refilling.
Anyway, I thought I will take it up with Urban Company as we were very tired. We had already spent around 5 hours on our terrace in mid summer heat. So, you can understand our situation. After he left, I raised the complaint with Urban Company. They said they were again sorry and said they will credit Rs.4000/- back for poor quality of service. They initiated the refund on 3-Aug-2024 and apparently, it was to be completed by 10-Aug-2024 but we never received the amount. When we questioned, we were responded rudely and they told us that the refund was an error and they can not do anything about it. Meanwhile, all hell broke loose. Our AC stopped worked. When we checked, we found that the plastic fan in the outdoor unit broke owing to mis-alignment. The AC had become useless. We were forced to shell out around Rs.30, 000/- and buy a new AC as there was no option.
I had discussions with Urban Company numerous times over chat, phone, emails and socials but they have not resolved the mess they created. My faith in them is completely destroyed. We lost around Rs.12, 000 in hotel room rent, Rs.7, 499 in repair costs and Rs.30, 000+ for new AC! Now you only decide what to think of these guys? They are liars, cheaters and looters! They have no scruples or principles! Extremely bad customer service! They hide their phone number and you can’t really get a senior manager escalation call back. Emailing their CEO and senior management is of absolutely no use because their underlings only follow the path set by their CEO and senior management team! My advice to you - do not hire Urban Company ever for costly repairs. It will cost you too much, like it did for me!