nRiTeCh
Oracle
Writing this deliberately after 1.5yrs since that incident.
I bought Hisense LED Smart Android TV from Flipkart during its India launch sale in the yr 2020. Refer here for the posted review.
Everything was going perfectly fine until Nov 2021 when all of a sudden TV wasn't giving display. It used to turn on (led light used to go from power-on Red to white as it does normally) After the Hisense logo, no display except for an extremely faint whitish screen. Sound as well was working fine in the background.
I thought something might have gone wrong with the display all of a sudden but there were no such warning signs till now. (Usual smart tv issues)
I was not worried as the purchase was backed with a 5 yr panel warranty.
So I ringed Flipkart and the call went as usual..order id, purchase date etc. But then the fuming starts!
The CC woman says your TV warranty of 1yr has expired and bla bla and I was trying to convince her about a 5 yr display warranty on the purchse offer etc. and she was like nothing such is there...not ready to listen or get convinced.
I rang twice so that I could connect to a better CC person but there was the same response! The kept asking me if such thing is even mentioned on the invoice or email which unfortunately wasn't.
Obviously I lost my patience now.
Also, when I bought the TV, I did confirmed 2-3 times from Flopkarts CC and also from Hisense CC and they both agreed on the 5 yr panel warranty and now they are showing their true colors!
I have this bad habit of taking screenshots of almost everything so I was sure I was having all those screenshots about pre-product launches, product page, description, ordering everything. Didn't took me much time to find these screenshots and slapped those on Flopkart email.
Got a call the next day and they were like we will look into this etc.
Meanwhile, I contacted Hisense. Now, they also saying as per them only 1yr warranty is applicable unless bought with 3rd party insurance like Oneassist etc. or if mentioned on the purchase
==
I googled this issue and many people were facing some OS/software corruption issues. I dug in hard and found the stock rom for my tv. Followed all steps to flash but there was no response. Contacted the person who uploaded the rom file and who is master in all this and he said that for some TVs only usb flashing doesn't work but have to remove the mobo out and connect it to a flasher device to get it flashed! Well, not as easy as flashing a phone and I was also not seeing any progress from Flopkart too.
With no options left, finally ringed Hisense again and they said they will send an engineer but have to pay 300 visiting charges for inspection purposes etc.
And it seems they do not have their own team but have partnered with some 3rd party company for providing after sales/technical service
I was fine as it still was covid era and to be without a tv was an anxious feeling for my family and had no other option left.
Finally, the technician arrived the same day and he carefully inspected the display, mobo, power supply etc. and concluded the mobo was dead. (I was still 110% sure it was a mere firmware issue) and when I told him he said whatever it was no tv cos. do flashing etc. but straightway replace the parts. If you want to risk flashing you can approach roadside repairs. But he warned that the brand is new and it will be hard on luck as well.
Anyways, he rang his office and the mobo cost was 4.2k incl. of all. I said give me a time of a day or two to decide how Flipkart acts and then I will ring you back.
Oh! Now during this period I received an email from Flopkart asking for my bank details, etc. They were going to refund me the full amount of the TV. Great! I waited for the refund but it didn't happen in the prescribed time nor was my TV picked up. Thinking it was the usual Flopkart fluke, I rang Hisense and ordered the mobo. Now mobo was to be ordered from Bangalore HQ and that was gonna cost some time-- 5 days it took! And all this issue has wasted my 12-15 days!
Finally the part arrived and the same technician came and installed the mobo the next day. It was the original one with both mobos identical with all logos/embedded branding etc. proper and also words from the technician that it is indeed an original one as the TV itself was launched recently and they do not sell anything allied as a first copy type stuff even after requests.
Replacement mobo had a 3 months warranty.
I paid him 4.2k and was happy with the service and that TV was finally back as is!
And still no update from Flopkart!
But after 3 weeks I received the entire money refunded in my provided bank a/c and then a return pickup was scheduled for the tv.
Now, this was extremely annoying as neither Flopkart provided me any timely updates and they were delaying everything with no timely communication or even a proper logical response.
I emailed them stating that I have repaired the TV at my own expenses so kindly reverse the entire refund amount and let me have the TV or take the TV deducting the repair charges I have paid (as I'm 110% sure that once seller comes to know the TV has been repaired he will put it back on sale as a brand new unit or a refurbished one and earn on it)
But zero response from Flopkart. The CC as always was hopeless to its best useless levels!
They kept saying it cant be reversed etc. nor a partial refund will be considered etc.
We were firm not to return the TV at any cost as I have invested my time and money and the breach of trust from Flopkart and now it has become an emotional thing as well.
Finally, the best of Flopkarts evergreen shitty Flop services... Nor the pickup ever happened nor anything even after waiting for months and the order/pickup everything got cancelled in their system.
In the end, we have both- the TV plus the entire refund money!
We got the TV Free free free!
from our very own Freepkart!
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