Team-BHP - Frustrating experience buying a new LG AC on Amazon

I buy certain things I buy from online stores. Certain other items I buy from physical stores only. For my Ac, washing machine, kitchen appliances and laptops I always go to the nearest Croma store. They match the Amazon price of the day for the purchase, and in case of any issues with the product my single point of contact is the Croma store. They will arrange the visit from the brand technicians.

My experience has been opposite. I bought a washing machine from a local store and they were unprofessional during the whole installation process. I bought an air cooler from Croma store, return and refund was real pain. On the other hand I bought an LG AC from Amazon which was delivered and installed on the same day of placing order. While buying I ensure that seller has good rating and verify that there was no damage during transit before accepting the delivery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by singleton (Post 5533059)

Dear teamBHP community,

I am writing this post to seek your advice and opinions regarding a super frustrating experience that I have been going through with LG support. I recently bought an LG 1.5 Ton Inverter AC for my home in Bangalore (paid 35K+ on Amazon) and got it installed by an LG technician 10 days back (Additional 6.5K charged for installation!).

I am wondering, if it was a case of low refrigerant, how come the installation guy didn’t notice it and inform you. Also the normal installation charges would be 1800 only, at least that is the case here in Kochi unless you opt for extra mounting bracket for outdoor unit. But that cost you less than 1000 only.

Here it looks like a case of bad service from LG and usually they have a good escalation matrix and feedback system. Hope your issues will be resolved quickly.

Using a 2* rated LG split ac for the past 13years.

Not much complaints in all these years, except during covid lockdown - "no cooling" issue faced.

Despite lockdown constraints & all, their (outsourced) technician came home and refilled gas + did minor welding/replaced the copper junction pipe thingies on the external unit due to leakage - all within couple of days of my raising complaint.

The guy even told they don't make such robust units anymore, and advised me to retain this one (old non-inverter type model) as long as it goes.

Not sure why they're lackadaisical in your case alone:unhappy Hope you can tag their service teams on twitter/other SM and get it quickened.

Quote:

Originally Posted by singleton (Post 5533059)

To our utter frustration, we realized that the AC was not cooling the room at all (from Day 1) – it does not cool our 10x12 room even after running for hours at night. After a few days, I started seeing CH 38 (i think) error code when the AC is switched on.

These technicians are really busy installing ACs during this summer season. They will do a shoddy job. Looks like he didn't fix the tubes properly, and that resulted in all the gas leaking out immediately after installation. You should get one technician to refill the gas and make sure that there's no leak.

It is surprising that the technician left without verifying the most desired functionality from an AC - Cooling! :)

LG ACs are one of the most reliable ones, I heard.

I've stopped making big ticket purchases online. Generally offline retailers have gotten smart and will sometimes match prices , especially if you find a wholesaler. This is after once I was left high and dry several years ago by the company customer support who flat out refused to provide warranty for a phone sold online, and Amazon washed their hands off it saying return period is over. The only exception is online first brands such as poco

This is mainly due to the fight going on between online and offline retailers. Online retailers often sell products in violation of seller guidelines, which leads to the products/sellers in question being marked as eligible for support. The best thing to do is check the serial number with the manufacturer for warranty status and return the product immediately. I recently bought a tablet at a steep discount, only to find that it was a customer return and the service center said they could provide me service only if i could provide an invoice with the date matching the first sale tracked in their system. For me the discount (>40% off market price) was enough to forgo warranty and didn't return it. Similarly service centers will provide service only if the seller on Amazon is an authorised dealer as per the brand.

Simple rule, never buy fridge, AC, washing machines or other household appliances online. It's just purely a hit or miss. You will not get the required service at all. If you have a store near you (Bajaj, Pai, Croma etc.), go there and show the online price you have got. They will match it 9 out of 10 times and make a free delivery too. You can always go back and question them in case things go wrong. You don't need to keep emailing/calling people who will never respond in the right way (Amazon, Flipkart etc.).

I did spend a lot of time on Twitter today bashing both LG and Amazon. Amazon support finally told me if I get a "Service Denial Letter" from LG, they can help!!

I can't even get a callback from LG for last 10 days, how on earth am I gonna get a service denial letter rl:

As far as I know CH38 means it’s low on refrigerant! You should check the manual, but I doubt it means anything else.

On a brand new unit that usually means there is a leak! So when they refill it make sure they do a proper leak test first!

Good luck
Jeroen

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx100 (Post 5533993)

Also the normal installation charges would be 1800 only, at least that is the case here in Kochi unless you opt for extra mounting bracket for outdoor unit. But that cost you less than 1000 only.

I know right? I got 2 ACs installed (both Voltas bought from Flipkart) at my home back in Calicut and the installation costs were 2 to 2.5K. This was extremely high and I did feel cheated, but I would have let it go for peace of mind if the appliance was working properly.

Anyway the saga continues. I am really surprised at the support level from LG though - it should be a pretty straightforward process I would have thought to take up complaints/escalations and at least give a date for inspection (even if its a week away if they are super busy) so that the customer doesn't feel left hanging. A company of the stature of LG, its hard to imagine getting to this place where they are without having taken care of their existing customers. I wonder what is going wrong now.

@singleton, did you also have to pay for the copper wires which is supposed to be included in the package along with the ODU? Was it missing and did you have to pay the installation team? Otherwise the installation cost shouldn't have been 6k

How did the installation team close the call after completing the job? Don't they have an OTP based system where the customer shares the code only after the job is completed to his satisfaction? Don't LG call the customer to collect feedback on how the installation went?

Also, did the installation team not try and sell AMC packages to you? I am wondering how callous can they be because it is in the after sales process that these companies make their money

Quote:

Originally Posted by singleton (Post 5533059)

It’s not you alone. I had bought a 5 star dual inverter LG AC during Covid in 2020. I had a horrible time contacting the LG service recently as we wanted to move the AC to a different room. Finally I got a technician number and called him. It turned out he was the authorised LG AC repair guy. He charged some 4K for gas filling and cleaning and the AC is working OK for now. Service is always a hit and miss in India..

Recently fixed a LG AC bought from Reliance, installation time it was full of arguments.
LG gives only 3Mts of copper pipe, which is ideal only when you fix it in balcony, if you fix it in terrace, it takes atleast 5Mts.
The installation guy said he will take the 3M only for 500/M instead full 5M one without joins, but the new one he charged 850/M.
Ended paying nearly 4.5K for the installation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeroen (Post 5534387)

On a brand new unit that usually means there is a leak!

Jeroen

Or the possibility is you got a piece that was sitting in warehouse for 1-2 years or so (check the manufacturing date). This is quite possible given that it is an online buy.