Washing Machine Woes...

[moserw]

Unfortunately moser, bad service is the norm, and good service is a very rare exception, and so rather than blame LG, i would be lauding Videocon. I've had poor service from Airtel, Whirlpool, Sony (Ericsson), and so on, but that doesn't mean I blacklist Indian, American, Japanese (and even Swedish) companies on account of it. As a matter of fact it's the two Korean brands that I own that I've had no service problems with, Samsung and Hyundai, my Samsung fridge and TV have *touch wood* not required service, installation was prompt in both instances. My Hyundai car also I've had good service.

This doesn't mean I'd go around recommending Korean companies based on this. There are just too many variables to make such generalisations

Like I said please excuse my ranting, but I had to let off steam somewhere.

 

[vinay]

Since last 2 years i am having a Westinghouse Washing Machine (American Brand), the model is "Laundry", it has a huge capacity of 11 kg, with a built in dryer, the clothes dry hundred per cent, no need to dry in the balcony. I recommend this as a great buy.

Vinay.

 

[SBT]

BTW I don't see anything wrong with expressing myself either. We Indians are way too passive and submissive. See how we are being treated in Australia. Imagine if an Australian was beaten in India? We would be called uncivilized, uncouth, backward and what not. But when it happens to an Indian nothing happens.

If we behave the way they do, then we are as bad as they are! But still, I would agree with you on being passive and submissive.

Back to the topic
I have been using an IFB w/m for the past 11 years. I had to replace the door latch once and no other problem till today.
Been using a 280L LG refrigerator for the past 6 years, a 175L Whirlpool for the past 11 years - did not have to contact the customer support even once!

 

[dinyaar]

Hi ,
Moser in that case its best your wife decides!!!!!!!!

Well my wife is a solicitor and barely has any free time and hence i chose these products.

Not seen the Hitachi but this electrolux replaced a National (grey mkt purchase) which was a real rotten egg. Siemens is a popular choice too but i preferred the electrolux. Some samsung looked interesting too.
I am really finicky when it comes to a washing machine as i really muck my clothes as i play tennis everyday and i truly find the clothes are washed better now than they were with the IFB which was a popular choice a while ago. Sturdy machine, good features, made in germany(only a few models) what more could one ask for.

Regarding service of both these brands i really cant comment as they have worked perfectly for the last 4 years.
Rgds

 

[psychotropic]

since everyone's chipping in, i might as well. I have an IFB washing machine that I bought used for 6000 bucks. 5 kg, fully automatic (Elena model). Has been working pretty well, except that their service personnel are pretty bad. My parents have had an IFB (i think from the time they were IFB Bosch), which is some 10-12 years old, and it's still going strong.

My Samsung fridge is 250 litres, and has been perfectly trouble free. But I went fridge shopping recently, and my friend picked up a Samsung 320 liter fridge for 19k, with one really cool feature, something they call Mr. Cool Pack. Three liquid nitrogen packs, which remain cold for a couple of hours after the power goes, in the event of a power cut, so critical things like milk (in the chiller) and meat (in the freezer) can be kept on mr. coolpack when the power goes, and they will remain cool for a couple of hours. I thought this was a superb feature. Plus these latest fridges are 5-star energy rated, so it's win-win.

 

[Kamal]

Ref Reju's advice.Sorry to counter it Reju, but Moser, don't unpack it yourself.
In case there's any damage in transit you could have a problem-the company would want to pinpoint the place where the damage occurred & thats the reason why they insist that their own people do the unpacking.Happened with my brother & his Seimens dishwasher, & it took a lot of phonecalls & threats to go public with their stubborn,unconsumerfriendly approach to get a replacement.
So, don't unpack it yourself but bombard them with calls to come over & get on with it.

 

[reju]

Ref Reju's advice.Sorry to counter it Reju, but Moser, don't unpack it yourself.
In case there's any damage in transit you could have a problem-the company would want to pinpoint the place where the damage occurred & thats the reason why they insist that their own people do the unpacking.Happened with my brother & his Seimens dishwasher, & it took a lot of phonecalls & threats to go public with their stubborn,unconsumerfriendly approach to get a replacement.
So, don't unpack it yourself but bombard them with calls to come over & get on with it.

Yes you are correct. It's better to play it safe...

 

[gobble]

How much should one rupee cost?

Surprised by my question? Well th answer will surprise you even more!!

It cost me Rs. 470/- a few months back !! But how on earth you may ask?!!!

My samsung WM stopped completing its cycles .. the water wouldn't drain off...
it was quite frustrating - I spent two or three occasions on washing days, standing by and fiddling with the WM over 3 hours to try and get it to finish the job.

Finally I called the Samsung helpline. They quoted a price of rupees 350 for on-site visit. I agreed ( I had no choice - there was a heap of clothes piled up and I would have had to go naked to office next week If I didn't fix it :lol

The problem turned out to be a one rupee coin stuck at 45 degrees in the perpendicular section of the outlet pipe. Since it was a factory fitting, the pipe could only be removed by breaking it ( comes glued) and the replacement cost me another 120/- rupees.

So please ensure you have no loose change in your pockets that might slip through the drum when you wash.

Cheers

 

[nirrej]

As far as household appliances which have much to do with mechanical engineering than electronics, Korean and Indian products are inferior compared to european counterparts.

I have an IFB front loading W/M, but it doesn't come anyway near the 8 year old Siemens front loader in my parent's home. The siemens apart from washing the clothes much better (i mean collar, jeans, etc), is also super quiet. almost noiseless compared to IFB.

 

[marsilians]

There is absolutely nothing wrong in the ladies making decisions or help in making decisions. Its a good balancing factor most of the times.

Also, there is a bigger message in moserw's first note, he has recognised the art of compromises and thats what any relationship is all about.

.back to helping moserw out of his quandry.

moserw, I am surprised that you let the ladies make choices for your electronic stuff. In my house it's totally my department...buying...setting...fixing etc...

Hey, you are a top ranking forum member here, who gives useful advices to many fellow members on gadgets & what is good to buy etc., and you have no say on these matters in your own house? come on moserw, this is really disappointing!

 

[moserw]

There is absolutely nothing wrong in the ladies making decisions or help in making decisions. Its a good balancing factor most of the times.

Also, there is a bigger message in moserw's first note, he has recognised the art of compromises and thats what any relationship is all about.

.back to helping moserw out of his quandry.

Very true. At least for me my wife is the balancing factor since I'm very impulsive by nature and never look at the budget and other factors. If I like it I gotta have it is the way I always behave. My wife does the balancing act by considering other options, budget, etc.

 

[reju]

There is absolutely nothing wrong in the ladies making decisions or help in making decisions. Its a good balancing factor most of the times.

Also, there is a bigger message in moserw's first note, he has recognised the art of compromises and thats what any relationship is all about.

.back to helping moserw out of his quandry.

Yes, there's nothing wrong if you take the ladies' opinion, provided you can buy with consensus But here it was against moserw's wishes...and the subject here is not about cooking or selecting furniture or furnishing. This subject is similar to what we discuss here on this forum. This is our hobby guys...electronics.... We give expert views on various products to other users, and try to convince him what is good for him to buy...moserw is the number one poster.... You get what I mean?

And how many ladies do we find here? Are you a lady mars? your nick doesn't suggest anything. I am not, though my nick may sound like one:lol:

Let's not talk about relationships and compromises, we are not into family counseling here :lol:

 

[nitinbose]

Hi moserw,

It seems customer service depts., in different cities behave differently.

I've had an LG refridgerator and LG has been providing good support. On the other hand, I'm having a bad time with IFB. The washing machine literaly "runs" around during the spin cycle and they've not managed to solve this. it took 3 weeks for the engineer to come to my home after logging a cs request!

I was considering an IFB dishwasher but now.......

Well, hope by now you've got the LG machine setup!

 

[moserw]

Well, hope by now you've got the LG machine setup!

Unfortunately not. Tomorrow will be day 5 and if it's not done tomorrow then no one will come on Sunday i.e. day 6, which means day 7 and one week later it's going to be done or maybe even later. I shudder to think what if there is a problem and we have to call customer care to get it fixed. 7 days or more is a long time to go without washing clothes...

 

[madbullram]

I recenytly did the fridge shopping. After running around and hearing various good and bad, I decided on Whirlpool as it was wider compared to sammy etc. This is important bcos my mom keeps bigger vessels and this would help. So I went with a practical decision. Also, I bought it online. The whirlpool website quoted wrong price, it was around 3k less than the regular price guess they goofed the model numbers :yahoo:

I also loved panasonic. Its practical with freezer at bottom and veg tray on top which means no BENDING and no back pain. It was very user oriented, but was out of my budget

Btw: IFB was one of the best machines 4 years back. Now the std of the machine and service is pathetic. I hear complaints from my friends everyday.

 

[moserw]

Yes, there's nothing wrong if you take the ladies' opinion, provided you can buy with consensus But here it was against moserw's wishes...and the subject here is not about cooking or selecting furniture or furnishing. This subject is similar to what we discuss here on this forum. This is our hobby guys...electronics.... We give expert views on various products to other users, and try to convince him what is good for him to buy...moserw is the number one poster.... You get what I mean?

And how many ladies do we find here? Are you a lady mars? your nick doesn't suggest anything. I am not, though my nick may sound like one:lol:

Let's not talk about relationships and compromises, we are not into family counseling here :lol:

Hey Reju I understand what you are saying, but I'm no expert in any matter. I'm just helpful that's all. It's an entirely different matter that more knowledgeable people than me are not so helpful or forthcoming with their advice but being "top poster" is not because I'm an expert. Far from it. It's just that I'm willing to help and share my experience, that's all.

Coming to washing machines like I said I don't know how it works as I've never operated one in all these years. I can however talk about PCs, music, movies, TVs, DVDPs, CDPs, PS3, speakers, etc.

 

[reju]

Hey Reju I understand what you are saying, but I'm no expert in any matter. I'm just helpful that's all. It's an entirely different matter that more knowledgeable people than me are not so helpful or forthcoming with their advice but being "top poster" is not because I'm an expert. Far from it. It's just that I'm willing to help and share my experience, that's all.

I would say you are very modest and helpful ... It's wonderful to have people like you share whatever knowledge you have for others' benefit. I am trying to do the same, in my limited way.

Cheers!

 

[hemantwaghe]

To be very frank I eceived excellant service backup fp LG LCD ( On time installation) and LG Microwave.
Nothing to Complain..
But as I undestand service is personnal.
3-4 years back at my mom's place we had very bad expereince with Godrej-Fridge started corroding at bottom and washing machine was conqued off and spares were not available!
Later we exchanged fridge for bigger whirlpool and wm for videocon...:clapping:

 

[Kamal]

Yes , I'm facing the same prob with the Godrej Fridge.
Quality & service is really pathetic now.
And to think that some years back they were ruling the roost.Voltas, as I remember used to be the king at that time.
Where are they now?
Some Indian brands have just buckled under the competition & lost the brand image they had built up.

 

[grubyhalo]

I have bought/helped buy 5 washing machines, 4 of them IFB, one a Siemens. There's also another imported Siemens in a cousin's home. As far as I've seen, nothing comes close to the performance of Siemens, except maybe the IFB. The build quality of the imported Siemens and the one bought here in India were virtually the same and as already pointed out, it's way too silent. Well, atleast when compared to a particular brand I know of that literally jumps around the house. I'm not kidding, honest! I'm also very much surprised to hear that the service quality of IFB has come down. IMHO, the premium you pay for Siemens and to an extent, the IFB, is totally worth it.

Not that anyone I know that needed a service for an IFB, but a few years ago my aunt was visited by a person claiming to be an IFB service engineer who wanted to check the washing machine, even though no service request had been made. Ofcourse, as this sounded way too suspicious, she wouldn't let him in and called my cousin to come over ASAP. It turned out that the person was in fact from IFB and was making house calls to all IFB owners who had bought one in the previous 6 months, to replace a bush/gasket (not sure what the part was) that was supposed to reduce noise and vibration levels. Needless to add, every single washing machine that was purchased in our extended family after that has almost always been an IFB. Ofcourse there is the cousin of mine who picked up a xxxxxxxxx on a clearance sale. The damned thing virtually jumps around and creates more ruckus than cleaning clothes...