News Bought TV/Fridge/Microwave/Washing Machine/AC online? May not get free service

Spacescreamer

Spacescreamer

Herald
KOLKATA: A fresh spat has broken out between manufacturers of white goods and e-commerce firms. Companies including LG India and Videocon are discouraging online sales of their televisions, refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines and air-conditioners, saying customers may have to pay for installation support, after-sales services and even repairs during the warranty period for products purchased on websites.

The powerful offline dealer network has sought a complete clampdown on online sales this financial year. Companies have no option but to act because these dealers generate most of their sales. Online shopping sites contribute less than 5% of their sales, except for smartphones, where the share is 20%.

Industry officials said LG India, however, is toying with the idea of partnering e-commerce firms to sell only its smartphones. LG India, the country's largest white goods maker, issued an advisory recently saying the company will not guarantee the originality of products, suitability and updated technology for Indian conditions and authorized after-sales service if they are purchased online, except from its own e-store.

Asked whether sales would be affected by not riding the e-commerce wave, LG India head (corporate marketing) Niladri Datta said consumer durable products are of high-ticket value and Indian customers still believe in touch and feel before making a purchase decision. Videocon, the third-largest white-goods maker, said in late April that products purchased from Snapdeal won't be eligible for warranty.

"The industry has been trying to come to terms with e-commerce by offering exclusive models, but still some sites like Snapdeal are trying to disrupt the market dynamics by undercutting prices and not following business terms," said Videocon chief operating officer CM Singh. He said the company has inked successful online sales agreements for sister brand Kenstar with websites such as Amazon.

E-mails sent to Snapdeal, Shopclues and Samsung seeking comment did not elicit any immediate response. Daikin and Haier, too, are advising customers not to make online purchases. Haier India president Eric Braganza said the company has discouraged its dealers from selling through some e-commerce sites. "We welcome e-commerce as one more channel for sales if they can operate in a correct way, which is, unfortunately, not happening," he said.

In response to an e-mail, Daikin India's customer care division said online sites and their associate sellers are not allowed to sell the company's products and hence such warranties would not be valid. Managing director KJ Jawa said warranties may be available for such purchases if the products are installed by an authorized dealer or representative.

The price of any electronic product includes a component for after-sales service, said Pulkit Baid, director of Great Eastern Appliances, eastern India's largest electronics retailer. "Due to predatory online prices, the companies have no option but to reduce after-sales support or work with the portals in tandem to improve the end price," he said.

Consumers face several problems for white goods purchased online. They are asked to pay for repairs even during the warranty period and produce tax invoices that are often not available for products purchased online. In some case, the product may be imported and ineligible for warranty.

A senior industry official said Samsung service centers charge customers if there are no valid tax invoices, although the Korean company hasn't issued any formal advisory.
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So how many people here that bought TV/Fridge/Microwave/Washing Machine/AC online or not faced a problem requiring warranty within the first year ?
 
*Raises hand*

And I think these companies will be f**ked in court if they try to refuse warranty. As long as the product has passed from the company's chain (and is imported/made in India officially), they can't refuse warranty.[DOUBLEPOST=1432028570][/DOUBLEPOST]Also I've not only bought a TV (LG, for which installation was done promptly, same day as delivery, by the LG guys) online, recently got a Whirlpool microwave as well. The Whirlpool guy came, demoed, went.
For the TV, got at least 10k less than what the retailers were quoting. For the microwave, a 5k difference.
 
^^ Not the case. A manufacturer can refuse their explicit warranties to anybody that hasn't purchased from a channel authorized by them. As I said many times before, the free service warranty is an explicit warranty which is a separate contract between the manufacturer and the first retail customer who has purchased from their retail store front (which are what authorized stores are). This is why a warranty requires you to establish that you are a legitimate retail purchaser either through a stamped warranty card or in some cases through a tax invoice.

A manufacturer has no obligation to honor warranty when the contract has not even been made with that person. These are not implied warranties that you would be automatically entitled to just because you purchased a product. For sales though unauthorized channels like online stores, if they have themselves advertised warranty, then they would be liable to provide it and can be taken to court if required.

For instance, if you sell something with a personal warranty of 10 days and your buyer sells it to another guy after a week and tells him that he has a warranty of 10 days which can be claimed from you and this guy comes to you for warranty after a few days, would you help him? You wouldn't right. Because your warranty contract for 10 days was with the guy who bought from you. It is not your responsibility to provide any such benefit to the third guy because you don't know him and you don't have any contract with him. You would simply ask him to go back to who ever sold it to him.
 
LG India at least are bluffing about this whole support thing. I've bought an LG product from an official LG brand store. In return, I've faced terrible support and had to keep escalating it, and each time these higher-ups only offer to call after 6 PM. It sends out the message that they're too busy to talk to a customer during their regular working hours.
 
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So slowly we will be restricted only with buying underwears, bra panties, towels and few garments online with some cheap jeans, tees and tops and shirts.
Rest all will be without warranty no matter how highly branded may be that product.
 
Lord Nemesis said:
^^ Not the case. A manufacturer can refuse their explicit warranties to anybody that hasn't purchased from a channel authorized by them. As I said many times before, the free service warranty is an explicit warranty which is a separate contract between the manufacturer and the first retail customer who has purchased from their retail store front (which are what authorized stores are). This is why a warranty requires you to establish that you are a legitimate retail purchaser either through a stamped warranty card or in some cases through a tax invoice.

A manufacturer has no obligation to honor warranty when the contract has not even been made with that person. These are not implied warranties that you would be automatically entitled to just because you purchased a product. For sales though unauthorized channels like online stores, if they have themselves advertised warranty, then they would be liable to provide it and can be taken to court if required.

For instance, if you sell something with a personal warranty of 10 days and your buyer sells it to another guy after a week and tells him that he has a warranty of 10 days which can be claimed from you and this guy comes to you for warranty after a few days, would you help him? You wouldn't right. Because your warranty contract for 10 days was with the guy who bought from you. It is not your responsibility to provide any such benefit to the third guy because you don't know him and you don't have any contract with him. You would simply ask him to go back to who ever sold it to him.
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I'm sure warranty terms for "personal" vs "corporate" selling are different. And I'm sure if such a case goes to consumer court, warranty has to be honored by the company. Has any of these companies advertised/notified on government channels that such purchases from online stores are not allowed ? How can a common consumer know about this ? Has this been explicitly mentioned anywhere (apart from the company's websites, which I doubt most of the consumers visit) ? And if such a need arises, these online companies will also be drawn in the battle, and that kinda case will definitely shed negative light on the corporate companies (negative PR, which they certainly need to avoid considering there are tons of chinese companies hogging the online space. For every Samsung and LG, you've Micromax and VU and Huawei and Xiaomi, ready to take their place at much cheaper prices).
Thankfully the consumer court in India is pro-consumer and not pro-corporate.[DOUBLEPOST=1432053175][/DOUBLEPOST]Moreover, AFAIR, almost all these companies say that the "warranty MAY not be honored". Nobody comes out and says that the warranty WILL not be honored. Just a tactic to scare customers from buying online.
Oh well, for me, buying online has saved mucho money, not to mention NOT talking to those PoS salesmen.
 
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^^ A manufacturer warranty is no different from any personal warranty that is written on paper and signed. Both are essentially explicit warranties. As I said before, this type of warranty is an explicit contract made directly between manufacturer and first retail buyer. It is not bundled with a product and it is not transferable and it is subject to all the terms and conditions given in the warranty contract. This is treated no different than any other written contract.

Also, it is mentioned in every warranty contract that you need to purchase from an authorized source and get the warranty card stamped or signed for the warranty to hold. Every line in that contract is binding for all legal purposes. Even if you buy from an authorized source and do not abide by the contract terms, it would stand void due to your breach and no court can help you. A manufacturer has no obligation to put any information about such terms out side of the warranty contract. It will all be there in the contract.

Courts do not have the power to make arbitrary rulings ignoring the laws related to contracts.

If you really think otherwise, I would like you show me an actual case and a court which ignored standard procedures and laws and made arbitrary rulings in favor of consumers as you are suggesting happens in India. Sorry, pro-consumer does not mean that courts can break or bend the laws for that.
 
Lord Nemesis said:
Also, it is mentioned in every warranty contract that you need to purchase from an authorized source and get the warranty card stamped or signed for the warranty to hold.
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You do this with everything you buy ?

i thought just the original receipt with the date showing it was within the warranty period was enough to claim warranty if required.
 
blr_p said:
You do this with everything you buy ?

i thought just the original receipt with the date showing it was within the warranty period was enough to claim warranty if required.
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this applies to some electronics products only. Afaik, it applies for AC's, Washing machines atleast.
 
blr_p said:
You do this with everything you buy ?

i thought just the original receipt with the date showing it was within the warranty period was enough to claim warranty if required.
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Depends on the manufacturer and type of product. Some are fine if a receipt is produced. Others accept a stamped warranty card with date of purchase even if you don't have the invoice. There are also a few who ask for both.

If I am buying home appliances from a physical store, I make it a point to ask them if they don't stamp the card. If they say invoice is enough, then I am also fine with that. Some manufacturers like IFB track purchases. As an when a purchase is made form authorized store, the customer information is sent back and they maintain it for warranty and support purposes.

For electronics and computer parts, warranty card stamping is rarely done and service centres rely on tax invoices. This is just an alternative measure and still does not mean that the terms and conditions laid out in the warranty contract don't apply.

People need to understand that when a manufacturer honours warranty even when a product is purchased form an unauthorized source, it is merely out of good will and not because there is a legal compulsion.

All product warranties are express warranties where the terms are clearly layout out in the text. If you purchased from an unauthorized source, you just purchased the physical product. The warranty contract does not apply to you at all. If you purchased from an authorized source, but broke a rule laid out in the contract, then the warranty contract would stand void due to breach from your side. You can take a manufacturer to court only if you the warranty contract applies to you and the manufacturer breached the contract.


Express Conditions
Conditions that are agreed to by the parties, are commonly referred to as express conditions. Express conditions are usually denoted by language such as "if", "on condition that", "provided that", "I the even that", and "subject to" to make an event a condition. But usually in a dispute it is the court which decides whether an agreement makes an even a condition by the process of interpretation.

Implied Conditions
If an agreement does not make an event a condition then the court may supply a term that does so. Such conditions will be referred to as "implied" conditions, since a court uses the process of implication to determine whether to supply a term that makes an event a condition and what term to supply. The distinction between express and implied conditions is of practical importance because the rule of strict compliance is limited to express conditions.
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