Team-BHP - The Home Appliance thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR (Post 1896161)

IFB wants 2.1K as AMC for my 5 year old washing maching, which according to them will fetch between 1.5 and 2 K as exchange. So, it will go out when it breaks down next time.

Why does anyone need an AMC on appliances like washing machines where you don't require any regular oil/filter change or stuff like that?
Why not just pay for the repair as & when something goes wrong?

Yeah, sure if you have a huge problem, you will end up facing a huge bill.
However, consider you have 5 diff appliances each being used for 5 years after the warranty has expired.
You pay say 1.5 K per appliance per year for 5 years for AMCs. You have ended up paying 37.5 K for all the AMCs. Assuming even all of them breakdown with major repairs once during the 5 years, you probably have barely broken even.

I have an LG fridge for 5 years without AMC - till now spent 250 Rs on all maintenance calls.
I have a Haeir Fridge for 5 years without AMC - till now spent total of Rs. 1000 on it.
I have a Haeir Dryer for 5 years without AMC - till now spent total of Rs. 1000 on it.
I have a LG TV for 5 years without AMC - till now spent total of Rs. 250 on it.

That's a sum total of Rs. 2500.

If I had got an AMC for each of these appliances for the 4 years after the warranty expired, I am pretty sure I would have spent far far more.

The only thing I got an AMC for is my Aquaguard because it requires routine service twice a year & the AMC cost was 10% more than the cost of 1 service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 1896204)

Most people use lemon flavoured soap / powers for washing. But I wash my clothes inside one.

This particular thing broke down 3 or 4 times during the warranty period itself. The door was replaced in first week itself. At that time, service was prompt; any call was attended to within 4 working hours. Replacement would happen same day - at most, major parts like motor (replaced under warranty) would fetched from the local office same day by the service technician.

Now, they do some kind of experiments - replace part X, if that is not fixed, replace part Y, then replace part Z, etc. And each time, parts have to come from some other place (Delhi, Goa, etc). Last break down took 4 visits, 12 days, and 1.4K worth parts not covered by the AMC. Some circuitry and "shock absorbers" were replaced under the AMC.

^^^VERY well put! I don't like this AMC idea at all. I feel its like it is incentive for a company to produce a shabby product and then actually profit from it! First do your homework and only buy products that are known to last and then leave it to luck. We have a very old Videocon top-loading washing machine which still performs like new. Its well over a decade old. The only time it has needed a service call when rats decided to attack it plus the filter needed changing couple of times. Very reluctant to replace it after going thru all the washing machine woes in this thread... lol!

Jaguar - Please DONT even TOUCH hometown. Their december rush was so awesome that they delivered a friend's stuff only in end April (first instalment was early april). Installation took a week or so more. Crooks is all I can say.

regd decent local woodwork contractors - 25 days for fabrication and 15-20 days at site for final finishes. assume 5-7 days just for final cleanup and minor touches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman (Post 1897034)

Yes, I will never get it from Hometown. Was just looking there to compare prices and designs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 1896204)

Why does anyone need an AMC on appliances like washing machines where you don't require any regular oil/filter change or stuff like that?
Why not just pay for the repair as & when something goes wrong?
If I had got an AMC for each of these appliances for the 4 years after the warranty expired, I am pretty sure I would have spent far far more.

The only thing I got an AMC for is my Aquaguard because it requires routine service twice a year & the AMC cost was 10% more than the cost of 1 service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR (Post 1896641)

Now, they do some kind of experiments - replace part X, if that is not fixed, replace part Y, then replace part Z, etc. And each time, parts have to come from some other place (Delhi, Goa, etc). Last break down took 4 visits, 12 days, and 1.4K worth parts not covered by the AMC. Some circuitry and "shock absorbers" were replaced under the AMC.

Been using an IFB for last 18 years! Man! he is eligible to vote now! Sad that he ain't got AI to type in here

I'm unlucky owner of a 1.3 yr Old Videocon single door direct cool refrigerator which has gone kaput. It was fixed yesterday but has again gone kaput today. My agony of dealing with Videocon is documented here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...-videocon.html

Since the present refrigerator was more of a stop gap arrangement and we were thinking of getting a 2 door Frost Free one, we have decided to buy a new one now by exchanging the present unit.

My primary requirement is Frost Free and big Freezer compartment. Budget is about 10k + exchange. Can anybody suggest which make /model would be ideal. Preferred brands LG/Samsung due to service issues.

Also any idea if any of the major electronic/home appliance retailers in Hyderabad running an exchange scheme.

Please help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MileCruncher (Post 1918622)

Get a Frost-Free from Samsung !

Its time to upgrade my 10 year old 200L LG fridge. I am looking for a ~350L frost free fridge with freezer compartment at the lower part. I could not find any models from the Korean chaebol with that design. Not interested in Chinese brands. Any recommendations?

I found the following models online which seems to meet my criteria.
Hitachi: R-S31SVND
Panasonic: NR-BW414VS

Any ownership experiences?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rishab.k (Post 1933200)

Future Bazaar's Ezone is having it's anniversary celebrations & as a part of it they claim to be selling products at zero margin for just two days.
Are they really doing it or is it just a marketing gimmick?

A poster on another forum notes "zero margin sale" prices higher than normal prices in other shops.

Buy with care: check it out first!