Shilpi Mathur @ShilpiMathur10

I bought a @SamsungIndia refrigerator from @RelianceDigital, located at Shipra Mall (now North India Mall) in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram (Uttar Pradesh) in Oct 2020. I paid an additional Rs 11,487 for a 4-year extended warranty. The refrigerator stopped working in April last year.

It was only after innumerous follow-ups and a couple of tweets that @RelianceResQ, the service arm of @RelianceDigital, responded after 8 days. The technician inspected the refrigerator and found that a part was required to be replaced. The complaint was transferred to Samsung.

It took another 3-4 days for a Samsung engineer to resolve the issue. The refrigerator again stopped working in July this year. A complaint was registered with @RelianceResQ (@RelianceDigital) on July 18. A technician visited & said a part was needed to be replaced.

Technician added that the part will have to be sourced from Samsung & it will take a couple of days. Spoke to d technician 2 days later and he promised the part will arrive by evening. Called him the following day, he said it will take one more day. Then he stopped taking calls

I tweeted on July 23 & again on July 25. Finally, a @SamsungIndia technician showed up on July 26. He said the part that @RelianceResQ engineer said needed to be replaced was perfectly all right & the fridge was not cooling because it had run out of the refrigerant, or gas

The @SamsungIndia technician came the following day with a cylinder and filled the refrigerant. The refrigerator stopped cooling again on July 28. I informed @RelianceResQ executive, Mamta, who was coordinating, about the issue.

She informed @SamsungIndia and the same technician turned up again. He said the gas leaked again and promised to come back a day later with the cylinder. I called him on July 30. He said he was waiting for the cylinder to arrive. Then he stopped taking calls.

I spoke to @RelinaceDigital executive Mamta. She informed that roads were blocked because of Kanwariyas and my complaint will be resolved only after Shivaratri on Aug 2. I called her on Aug 3 & again on Aug 4. She promised the technician will visit on Aug 5.

But @SamsungIndia's technician came on Aug 4 itself. He filled the refrigerant but to no use. Then he announced that d condensor assembly was leaking and it will take 2-3 days to replace. I informed @RelianceDigital executive Mamta about it. She assured that she will coordinate

When there was no response till Thursday, Aug 8, I requested Mamta to intervene. She said it will be done soon. @SamsungIndia technician came in the evening & replaced d condenser. It didn't help. Technician said compressor had conked off now & will take 2-3 days to get a new one

I immediately called up Reliance executive Mamta and informed her. She assured all help. I waited till Sunday. There was no response from @SamsungIndia or @RelianceDigital. I called Mamta Sunday evening. She said Samsung had assured compressor will be replaced on Aug 12.

I called @RelianceDigital ResQ executive, Mamta, once again on Aug 12, there was no response. Sent her a text, no response. Then called her again today and she said she had spoken to Samsung in the morning itself and compressor will be replaced by tomorrow, Aug 14.

Then I got an automated message from @SamsungIndia that an engineer had been assigned on my complaint and the issue will be resolved by Aug 17. I forwarded the same to @RelianceDigital executive Mamta asking why the date of resolution was extended.

She didn't respond. Now the most surprising bit. I got a call in d afternoon from a @SamsungIndia technician that it will take 2-3 days to source d compressor and replace it. When I told him that I was initially given the deadline of Aug 12 and then Aug 14...

He said he got a request from @RelianceDigital to replace the compressor today only. That means The @RelianceDigital exectuive gave me false assurances all these days and didn't coordinate with @SamsungIndia. The Samsung technician who came earlier didnt inform seniors about it

Even if he did, @SamsungIndia's workshop didn't bother to coordinate with @RelianceDigital. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that Relinace and Samsung failed to repair my fridge for 25 days. During this period, @RelianceDigital's ResQ closed my complaint three times...

and registered a new complaint every time to keep its record perfect. Easy way to fool customers and their own bosses. We often blame govt companies for poor after-sales service, but these corporates are no better

If @RelianceDigital does not have the capacity or capability to take up repair/service calls and is totally dependent on brands for techncial assistance, why does it sell expensive extended warranties to customers. Let the brands do it. It will shorten the response time

Phone calls to customer care make no difference. The executive will apologise, will promise to look into it on priority, but will never make a senior person speak to you. At the end of it, you will get a new complaint number & a new date of the resolution of complaint.

A Thread 🧵on why one should avoid buying electronic items from stores like @RelianceDigital and rather prefer a neighbourhood store. It's a long thread, please read it with patience.