I am typing this to convey the disappointment on my purchase of IFB inverter AC model number IACI243A3G3C the bill of which I have attached below.
Bill
Attachment 2479687
In the summer of 2021, I was in need of an AC for my bedroom. After going through numerous models from various brands, I decided to invest in a brand by the name of IFB- a brand I had not come across prior to this. I overlooked the more established brands of Mitsubishi/Panasonic (which I have previously used and having comparable prices to IFB) and on 03/06/2021, I purchased the IFB AC with the above model number.
New AC
Attachment 2479721 Attachment 2479722
However, for the past 1 month, the AC has been hanging uselessly from the wall of my bedroom and mocking my decision to put my faith in IFB with insolence.
One fine evening at the age of just 2 years old, the AC decided that it doesn't want to work as an AC anymore and would rather be identified as a wall decoration- a bland one at that. It started showing "E0" on the temperature display of the indoor unit and refused to run. A quick reading online told me that the error code suggests that the indoor and outdoor PCBs were unable to communicate with each other.
E0 error code
Attachment 2479790
I contacted the IFB customer care number, explained the situation to them and in return I was given a ticket code for my complaint via SMS with a promise that the technician would visit soon which I guess is IFB speak for 4 days later. I was also told that since my AC was out of warranty, I would have to pay for the technician's visit. I told them that the AC boasts of 5 years of PCB and 10 years of compressor warranty, which made no difference to them and ultimately I agreed to pay the technician for his visit. In the meantime, I was contacted by the company in Jodhpur (Climate Control Refrigeration Service) which is supposedly authorised by IFB to service their ACs in my region and coordinated with one Mr. Altaaf for the technician's visit. Upon inspection of both the indoor and outdoor units, the technician Mr. Riyaz concluded that the PCB has conked off and that it would be a chargeable replacement. I reminded him too that the AC has 5 years of PCB warranty to which he replied that it only applies to the outdoor units PCB and the indoor PCB warranty is only of 1 year's standard warranty along with the other indoor unit components. He would order both PCBs and they would arrive in 3-4 days and I would have to pay only if the indoor one was to be replaced- a charge of Rs. 3200 along with 600 rupees for his visit. I told him to order the parts needed and keep it with him when they arrive, as I was going out of station and would contact him to fix a date for the replacement of the part. Few days later I get a call from IFB customer care stating that they are marking my complaint as resolved. I told them the situation and asked them to keep it open. I later get a message from IFB with the ticket number, stating that it is resolved and asking me to share feedback to which I marked as problem not solved. Around 2 days before I was to return which was 10 days after the technician's 1st visit, I called the technician up to fix a date for his visit along with the parts. Imagine my dismay when he told me that he still doesn't have the part with him and doesn't know when they would arrive. For around the next 4-5 days after my return, I was kept being told that the part is in transit and it would reach after a few days. I decided to call customer care number again to escalate as I felt that I was being taken for a ride. The customer care representative assured me that the part would reach in 2 days.
Just so you can understand the logistics, I live in a place (around 70kms away from Jodhpur city) which comes under Jodhpur district, and the part was to come from Jaipur.
Jaipur to Jodhpur ~350 kms
Jodhpur to the technician's place of residence ~100kms
The technician' place to my place ~30 kms.
In total around 500 kms took 14 days for the part to reach me. I know many of us on this forum drive more than that, covering as much as 700-800 kms in a day's drive or ride.
Finally on the afternoon of 8th July, the technician came with the PCBs and even before starting the replacement told me that both indoor and outdoor PCBs need to be changed simultaneously as they come as a pair and if only 1 is changed then the same problem can recur. I confirmed this with Mr. Altaaf and he concurred. I agreed and asked to proceed with the replacement. After replacing both the PCBs, the error code went away and the AC turned on but now it identified only as a wall fan as the compressor and outdoor unit refused to turn on. Talk about identity crisis!
The technician after spending hours trying to identify the problem and coordinating with his superiors over the phone who told him to try various permutations and combinations of the old PCB/new PCB/indoor PCB/outdoor PCB came to the conclusion that the compressor too probably needed to be changed and that it would have to be ordered.
Well, it has been 15 days since that and I am still waiting for the compressor to arrive and have been speaking with Mr. Altaaf and the technician as well but all they can give me are assurances, which in the July heat of Rajasthan without a working AC is not very assuring. I have also emailed the situation to the only email address I could find on the IFB website for which I received a generic reply. The customer care number has the computer generated voice telling me that their agents are not able to speak to me due to the high volume of calls. No surprises there. With work ethic like this, the agents are probably busy getting an earful and fending off abuse from the angry customers everytime they answer the phone.
For the past 2 days Mr. Altaaf at Jodhpur has been telling me that he has received the compressor and is putting it on the transport towards Mr. Riyaz- the technician which should ideally reach him in 3-4 hours. However, even today as of 23/07/2023 at 10 am, the technician has told me that it has not yet been put on the transport by Altaaf. I dont know of any organisation where half-assery and tomfoolery is appreciated but the antics I have been subjected to by IFB makes me feel like it's an essential hiring requirement for them.
Now for the timeline of events:
19/06/23 - received service ticket from IFB customer care
24/06/23 - 1st technician visit
08/07/23 - technician revisit, PCBs changed and wall decoration upgraded to fan.
19/07/23 - 1 month completed since
receiving the service ticket.
- 11 days of waiting for compressor
to arrive.
- 1 month of Rajasthan summer
without a functional AC.
- spoke with IFB customer care and was told
that the complaint ticket assigned to me has
indeed been
closed. Asked them to reopen it but was told
that is not possible, so was issued a new
ticket number.
23/07/23 - been waiting for the compressor to travel
100 kms for 2 days.
I know the feeling well of not being selected to be hired due to being a fresher several years back, while starting out in my career, until someone decided to put their faith in me. However, my experience of trusting IFB, a fresher to me, has left a sour taste in my mouth and has probably put me off from giving another chance to any other less established brand, deserving as it may be. It sure has put me off from IFB.
I am aware that this post has been a bit long so I will conclude it here on a cliff hanger....Will I be able to reach a live human voice on the other end of the customer care number at IFB? Will the AC be repaired before summer ends? Will the compressor change solve the problem? What permutations and combinations will the technician try next? Will the AC ever regain its lost identity? To find out more, stay tuned folks.
hmansari