The Best Kept Secrets In India

Ok - I don't like to be too negative as this only gets things on a roll, but I do have to tell about my biggest gripe here in India.

The manuals for any appliance or piece of equipment in the US are usually very detailed as of all the error that can appear or issues that may happen. It will say when you get this error - do this to remedy the situation. In India - if you look to a manual for troubleshooting they usually have a few questions - is the power connected? Is the water connected (in the case of the washing machine) and have you tried it in another outlet? If any of these do not fix the issue, please contact your service provider.

When you do contact the service provider, they state they will have someone call to set up an appt. with you within 24 hrs. For those of you who have ever lived in India - time is not relevant. I had specifically told the washing machine guy and the Tata Sky guy the repairmen need to be here before 12pm. It's now 12:30 - no calls, no repairmen.

When I spoke with them on the phone yesterday I already had issues. With the Whirlpool people, I asked what the f3 error meant. No one could seem to tell me, only thing they would say is that there would be a Rs.285 inspection fee. They gave me another number to call saying they could tell me what the error was. This person said we'll send someone to come fix. I asked what the error meant, and they said, we will send someone to come fix. When I pressed to get an answer they told me to call the service center, who just told me to call them. (Do you see where this is going?) I told them I need to know what this error is so when the servicemen come to fix it and there is a cost I have an estimate of the cost to be sure I can pay them. I received the answer of I'll call you back in 10min. No one ever did.

I talked then with Tata sky. They gave me the run around asking if I had checked the outlet, plugged it in somewhere else, etc. I told them I have done everything his repair person had done in the past and they needed to send someone with yet our 3rd box. They promised me we'd have someone here between 10am-12pm the next day.

Fast forward to today. I start making calls. The Tata sky people tell me their system is down and they are not able to access my complaint. I need to call back in 30min. and they will be able to assist me at that time. OK, fine - timer has begun.

I call the whirlpool quality people (the people actually responsible for coming to our place.) I asked why no one has come. They first act as though they have no idea what this about, and then tell me all of the supervisors are in meeting and they will call me back in 10min. Another timer running. I told them if I did not hear back from them, I would be calling as their 10min. the previous day resulted in no phone call.

Time passes - No call - I call Whirlpool. They have taken the phone off the hook. I then call the mobile number I have for that location. He acts oblivious and tells me I should call the service center. I told him wrong answer, he need to answer to why I was lied to 10min. ago. He says he will look into in and then call back in 5min. I told him if we didn't receive a call back, he would be hearing from us and then he would have to speak with my husband.

30 mins. from Tata sky call - I call back. I said, "before I get into the explanation, are your systems up and running to where you could research my complaint." He said "no ma'am, we are having technical difficulties, please call back in 30mins." After everything that has been happening I hit the roof. I said "I was told call in 30 mins., 30 mins. ago." He said, "technical difficulties, call back in 30min." I said, "do you even know what the problem is and when it will be fixed?" He stared into some long round about answer that was truly no answer at all. I stopped him and said, "I simply want to know, yes or no - do you know what the problem is and how long it will take to get fixed." My answer was call back 30mins. from now. I repeated I want a yes or no answer - he finally admitted they had no idea what the problem was or when they would be able to access the system. I said, "Simply tell me that instead of lying with 30min." I also stated I was amazed that this is the computer help center of the world and they can't even get their own systems running. Basically I had lost hope for seeing this repairman at all.

Time is up for Whirlpool. I called the man back and informed him his 5mins. were up and I now have my husband to talk to him. Boy did Rich lay into him and he got sent to another person. When he talked with the manager he said someone would be coming between 2-3pm. (Translation 5pm or later). Rich laid into him how he wasn't keeping a promised appt. and that if someone wasn't here in 1/2hr how then he would get a call and then be really irate! He also informed the guy we would not be paying the inspection fee.

While he's dealing with them...other land line rings. Tata sky repairman, I will be there in 2hrs. I asked why he missed the 10-12 appt. he said, I will be there 2-3hrs. I asked him if he had been told to be here between 10-12. He said yes. "Look at your watch, what time is it now?" "1:30 madam." "Where are you now?" "in an auto" "No, where in the auto are you?" "Mount Road." "It takes 30-40minutes to get to our home from there. You have this amount of time to arrive and fix the problem."

Moving forward- Tata Sky guy arrives - goes over all the things we told him we already did and replaces the box. Shortly after, Whirlpool guys arrive. They look at the machine and say - oh, your water intake filter is plugged, and drain it into a bucket and hook it back up. Amazing! Rich said, you know, we asked yesterday what this error meant and if someone had simply told us to do this yesterday, you could have saved a trip. They did put in a water softener for the machine and that will help keep the dinginess out of the clothes, so I am ok with that.

All the repairs are now finished and we can finally get ready to go out and have a nice anniversary dinner!

Keep in mind the best kept secret in India - if you can fix it yourself, we don't have jobs!