No service / no warranty

[pakecc]

Hi,
Just noticed when browsing the ONKYO INDIA website. In the Home Page, they display the message ' NO SERVICE, NO WARRANTY FOR ONLINE &INTERNATIONAL PURCHASES.

I'm wondering how can a manufacturer say that they will not service their product in India at all if it is not purchased in India and from their authorised dealers. This is OK for warranty but how can they refuse the service at all for their own product. Is it a way to charge exorbitant price for their product in India.

 

[spirovious]

Its for Online/international purchased and unauthorized dealers.The sentence is not correct though.

 

[pakecc]

Denying the warranty for purchases from unauthorised dealer is ok. But denying the services (paid) also for online purchases from authorised dealers outside India is not correct. Though I have no onkyo product, I feel this attitude deprives the consumers right.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Good reasoning.

Use of warranty restrictions to manipulate markets is despicable. Onkyo: we don't need your products that much!

But...

It's also common, and if we exclude all the manufacturers that do it, I'm not sure what we are left with

 

[pakecc]

yes, it's true that almost all manufacturers deny the warranty when the product is not with international warranty or when it is purchased from unauthorised dealer, etc. But even such products, paid services would be done.

Before I ordered my Sony STR-DN1030 from US, I got it confirmed by the sony authorised service centre that they will undertake paid service.

 

[RMCWS]

Before I ordered my Sony STR-DN1030 from US, I got it confirmed by the sony authorised service centre that they will undertake paid service.

What do you mean by got it confirmed? Verbal assurance? If it is so, if they refuse in future, you will not be able to take any steps against them for their breach of assurance.

 

[pakecc]

Hi RMCWS

The point is at least they asked me the model number and after that they confirmed. Nothing can be done if they refused but at that time at least I'm going with confidence to purchase the product. And the main thing is none of the Sony AVRs are available in India.that is not in the case of ONKYO where all the models are available in India but refusing service to those equipment purchased outside India, even from dealers, is really ????. My heart goes to those who really pondering over the price diff. in India and in overseas.

Even I've narrowed down my CD CHANGER requirement to ONKYO. I think,with so much moving parts, better to go with warranty, if the price diff is 5k

 

[diplomat]

onkyo is not only the company to have such cheap mentality, website is flooded with such warnings from Lenevo/Toshiba/Nikkon etc for Flipkart/snapdeal.
Simple way is to boycott such products....
there are many companies selling better products than these fellows, where customer still has service facility even on online purchase..

 

[Saket]

BTW, I do not think that the service centers ask for bill/ proof of purchase if you are not claiming warranty. Hence, how can they know if the product was purchased online or from auth. dealers? IMO, if that is the case, paid service should not be a problem, if the model is sold in India.

 

[greenhorn]

I wonder if we have any CA's here. OSSIPL appears to be an Independent Pvt Ltd. I wonder how much of a stake Onkyo Corporation has in it. They (as are most distributors) are interested in only taking care of their customers, and Warranty repairs on Equipment Bought abroad is probably not covered, as Onkyo corp will not pay for it, and they wouldn't want to pay out of their own pockets to support a competing channel

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

BTW, I do not think that the service centers ask for bill/ proof of purchase if you are not claiming warranty. Hence, how can they know if the product was purchased online or from auth. dealers? IMO, if that is the case, paid service should not be a problem, if the model is sold in India.

Probably for many pieces of equipment there is no way of telling, but for more than a few, the country will be known by some part of the model or serial number. The only instance I can think of off-hand and personal is that my APC UPS is an India-specific model. I don't have any audio-equipment example --- but it wouldn't surprise me if it is done.

 

[greenhorn]

^^ the serial numbers of the items that are sold and serviced locally should be maintained by their local CRM systems. At least the Big brands do it. Not sure about onkyo.

It doesnt make sense as to why they won't do paid service. Perhaps they really want to add another disincentive to people planning to buy the stuff from abroad, and buy at the ripoff prices locally.

 

[Saket]

...the country will be known by some part of the model or serial number.

That explains the stuff bought from abroad, but online purchases?

 

[greenhorn]

I don't think their plan is to prevent online sales by their authorized dealers. Probably by the grey market stuff they want to put a lid on.
Or perhaps there is another channel via which Products sold by the Indian distributor to other channels are ending up in the consumer market.

To illustrate, Hard disks are sold in retail and OE versions. Retail versions come with full 3 year warranties, and sell at higher margins than the OE versions which are sold in bulk to system integrators, but every now and then, OEM stock shows up from some online seller who manages to sell it at a much lower price than the retail price, but eventually leads to a lot of angry customers when they are denied warranty later by the Hard disk manufacturer. OEM hard disks are supposed to be supported by whoever manufacturer the products were sold to (dell, HP, Zenith etc)

And currently, most online portals like flipkart and amazon are merely marketplaces, and the bona fides of the seller cannot be verified, and if anything goes wrong, the portal will distance themselves from it.

 

[subbubusk]

I don't think their plan is to prevent online sales by their authorized dealers. Probably by the grey market stuff they want to put a lid on.
Or perhaps there is another channel via which Products sold by the Indian distributor to other channels are ending up in the consumer market.

To illustrate, Hard disks are sold in retail and OE versions. Retail versions come with full 3 year warranties, and sell at higher margins than the OE versions which are sold in bulk to system integrators, but every now and then, OEM stock shows up from some online seller who manages to sell it at a much lower price than the retail price, but eventually leads to a lot of angry customers when they are denied warranty later by the Hard disk manufacturer. OEM hard disks are supposed to be supported by whoever manufacturer the products were sold to (dell, HP, Zenith etc)

And currently, most online portals like flipkart and amazon are merely marketplaces, and the bona fides of the seller cannot be verified, and if anything goes wrong, the portal will distance themselves from it.

GreenHorn,

Since you have given amazon and hard disk example, can you elaborate how manufacturer warranty can't be given to customers,Seagate only ask for model no and serial, nothing abt bill or warranty card or where you purchased like those details.If you have known any incidence that warranty has been rejected to online purchasers , tell me abt that.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Can't be sure of the make now, but digging around for warranty details on a failed disk, I read that the manufacture was not responsible for OEM warranty, which should be taken up with the system supplier. They know from the serial number what has been sold retail and what has been sold OEM.

All the HDDs that I have been bought in India have been unboxed, sold simply with static and simple shock protection cover. This applies to online and over-counter purchases. I'm fairly sure that this means they were all "OEM" kit, which it is far cheaper for the supplier to buy in bulk. I don't think they care about warranty for the customer, only about cheaper "wholesale" rates.

 

[greenhorn]

GreenHorn,

Since you have given amazon and hard disk example, can you elaborate how manufacturer warranty can't be given to customers,Seagate only ask for model no and serial, nothing abt bill or warranty card or where you purchased like those details.If you have known any incidence that warranty has been rejected to online purchasers , tell me abt that.

Not sure about online cases specifically, but here are a few examples
Seagate OEM Drives awareness | TechEnclave - Indian Technology Forum
Seagate Warranty | TechEnclave - Indian Technology Forum
Seagate HDD Warranty issue | TechEnclave - Indian Technology Forum

 

[greenhorn]

Another angle emerges - Pressure from the brick and mortar channel.
Where's my warranty? The growing perils of shopping online in India | NDTV Gadgets
IT hardware vendors slam unethical pricing by e-commerce sites - The Hindu

 

[pakecc]

Latest updation. Onkyo ties up with Snapdeal.com to sell their models (21 models only)which are listed in Snapdeal.com also. Now " no warranty,noservice for international purchase" only.

 

[poppy]

On Epson india site a clear pdf is available on warranty which says if any product purchased online from flip kart, snapdeal , eBay india,etc is not covered under warranty.