[sumannandy]

We had purchased an inverter with sealed battery from SBS electronics in Bangalore. Yesterday it caught fire.

When contacted, the customer service was very very very rude. they first said they cannot provide service on Sunday. Luckily my landlord helped me to switch it off. Then they sent somebody who came after 2.5 hours and said it happened because the 5 AMP refrigerator connected to the line actually takes 15AMP and it burns the unit.

When said it is never possible or else the whole house would be burnt out or the fuse totally tripped, he started giving lame excuses like the installation was not correct. And finally he agreed to take back the unit and refund the whole amount.

Today morning after making multiple calls they said they would deduct 2500 and then pay the rest for 2 months usage. They also said calling them is a WASTAGE of their time and they do not want a customer like us. We could not believe that any company can say that to their customer.

Any inverter catching fire should be a design problem in our opinion. And instead of pacifying the customer, they are saying that it is a wastage of time and they do not want a customer. If the whole house is burnt, I don;t know who will take the responsibility.

They have a very very poor service and there are some problems in the unit as well. We have used so many inverters but not a single one even caught fire.

I lodged a complaint with the consumer forum. And definitely do not recommend that to anybody. I am wondering if the consumer forum actually works.

[benbsb29]

Suman, there is a reason why people tend to pay a premium for a branded product. Not trying to rub salt into the wounds, but there are many more reliable products which you could have probably tried out.

As for the issue at hand, there should have been an overload sensor which should have cut the power the moment it sensed an overload. Such a feature exists with other inverters such as APC, Sukam etc.

Lets hope for a speedy redressal to your case filed with the consumer court.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Amazing. Surely, overload protection (if this was caused by overload) is a basic? This is something we should all check on before buying such a unit.

The company sounds like one to be avoided.

Congratulations on Your lucky escape from what could have been a catastrophe.

[HappyWheels]

And which is this company?

SBS Inverter or SBS Electronics? You have mentioned both these names.

[Spitfire]

Isnt SBS Sukam? Or is this a different company?

[Alter_Ego]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Suman, there is a reason why people tend to pay a premium for a branded product. Not trying to rub salt into the wounds, but there are many more reliable products which you could have probably tried out.

As for the issue at hand, there should have been an overload sensor which should have cut the power the moment it sensed an overload. Such a feature exists with other inverters such as APC, Sukam etc.

Lets hope for a speedy redressal to your case filed with the consumer court.

I agree to a certain extent with Ben but that does not give any customer care, even though the non branded ones, a right to speak to a customer like this.

I was planning to get an inverter for my house.Thanks Suman.I have one cheapo off my list now.
Its much convenient to decide now

[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Suman, there is a reason why people tend to pay a premium for a branded product. Not trying to rub salt into the wounds, but there are many more reliable products which you could have probably tried out.

As for the issue at hand, there should have been an overload sensor which should have cut the power the moment it sensed an overload. Such a feature exists with other inverters such as APC, Sukam etc.

Lets hope for a speedy redressal to your case filed with the consumer court.

I actually thought they are good company. They said that they have clients like Infosys and others, so we got that. This was our mistake for sure.

Next time we will surely go for branded products.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Amazing. Surely, overload protection (if this was caused by overload) is a basic? This is something we should all check on before buying such a unit.

The company sounds like one to be avoided.

Congratulations on Your lucky escape from what could have been a catastrophe.

Thank you.
Overload protection should be basic. All inverters we have ever used had this feature so we did not think that we needed to check that.

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

And which is this company?

SBS Inverter or SBS Electronics? You have mentioned both these names.

SBS Electronics and equipments pvt. Ltd. We even talked to the owner, he was also very very very rude. If this happened in other countries, there could have been lawsuits.

[HappyWheels]

Suman,

Would have been great if you had placed the correct name of the company (atleast SBS Electronic) in the header.

Anyway, in the market for an inverter and will be avoiding these people.

[tj123]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Anup, the xenon has 18months warranty and the local battery has 2.5years..

I spoke to another dealer he offered me a local tubular battery + 800va xenon inverter + the trolley for 15k.

Surprisingly the xenon dealer told me the tubular battery the maintenance is more and it takes les load just the life is more but local dealer told that tubular is better in all terms...not sure whom to believe

Local Tubular battery are good the only hitch is that you need to top it up with distill water once in 4-5 months. Other wise the performance is pretty good and in case of cell failure, local battery can be repaired easily. At my inlaws place the local tubular battery is going strong for the last 4 years.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Thanks guys.

Inverter am more inclined towards "Xenon" on the battery the dealer was suggesting some local tubular battery.. still confused on the battery:0

Ideally inverter and battery should be from the same manufacturer. You can contact another dealer or go to Xenon direct.

Xenon ::Customer Care::

Another option is Videocon. Their inverters are with FCT based conversion techno;ogy which is better than the MOSFET based technology found in other inverters. As you can see from the link they now provide you with batteries too and the availability should be better too.

http://www.videoconworld.com/index.p...id=83&cat_id=9

[lohithrao]

Am already disappointed on the Videocon, the customer care has no info on pricing nor the dealer.

I guess Xenon might be the optiion, though am not sure if i want to buy the non tubular batt from Xenon...

[Chipz]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

I actually thought they are good company. They said that they have clients like Infosys and others, so we got that. This was our mistake for sure.

Sumannandy. How much watts is your inverter. Did it really burst into flames or was there only smoke. Does it have a plastic case.

Some points to check before buying inverter;
1. Overload protection.
2. Short circuit protection.
3. Surge suppression.
4. Full charge cutoff, trickle (this is basic).
5. AC bypass option.
6. Auto restart after overload or trip.
7. Do some research with friends and neighbors. Mostly avoid new brands and new technology. They are mostly doing R & D on customers and you dont want to be a guinea pig.

Will give more as it comes to my mind. Till then happy power cut.

[Abes]

Originally Posted by Chipz

Some points to check before buying inverter;
1. Overload protection.
2. Short circuit protection.
3. Surge suppression.
4. Full charge cutoff, trickle (this is basic).
5. AC bypass option.
6. Auto restart after overload or trip.
7. Do some research with friends and neighbors. Mostly avoid new brands and new technology. They are mostly doing R & D on customers and you dont want to be a guinea pig.

Will give more as it comes to my mind. Till then happy power cut.

And the inverter need good ventilation.

[lohithrao]

Thats bad Suman, i guess most of the Indian products is backed by a very bad after sales!

Now am quiet certain that going for a "non branded" batts are dangerous?

I havent got good review on "Sukam" batteries, that leaves me with "Exide & the Amaron"

[Chipz]

Originally Posted by Chipz

Some points to check before buying inverter;

Originally Posted by Abes

And the inverter need good ventilation.

Thanks abes, but these were meant to be done before buying an inverter.

Will put another post for things to be done after buying an inverter.