The company will have to give Sumi Hindaramani a new fridge worth Rs 42,000 after selling her one whose sensor technology didn't work
The company will have to give Sumi Hindaramani a new fridge worth u00a0Rs 42,000 after selling her one whose sensor technology didn't work
Three years ago, Sumi Hindaramani (52) took electronics giant Siemens to consumer court for selling her a faulty fridge.
On August 7, she could finally take a breather after the Parel Consumer Forum said she was entitled to get a new refrigerator from the company.
In August 2004, Hindaramani had bought a Siemens fridge (KS45U621) worth Rs 42,000 from RBS Home Appliances Pvt Limited, the sole distributor of Siemens AG home appliances in India.
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DEFECTIVE piece: Sumi was asked to replace the sensor system of the fridge at her own cost |
It was supposed to be equipped with technology that would sense the room temperature and adjust its cooling. After using the fridge for some days, she packed it up.
In 2006, Hindaramani when she decided to use the fridge, she realised that the sensor technology didn't work.
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She called up the Siemens service centre who told her that the sensor system had to be replaced at her own cost.
Why she wonThat's when Hindaramani approached the consumer court. But Siemens's lawyer C Deshpande claimed in court that the refrigerator had been manufactured by another company and sold as a Siemens product.
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But what won Hindaramani was that in the warranty card, the sensor system had not been mentioned at all. This meant, said her lawyer Shreeram Shirsat, that they were entitled to a new fridge.
The court gave an order in Hindaramani's favour on the basis of a prior judgment in that National Commission for Consumer Rights, which said that the warrantee period of the product is extended when the customer approaches the company even after the warrantee period expires.
RBS Home Appliance's lawyer Nilesh Parte said, "We have not received a copy of the final judgment, so I will not comment."
