APC resolves warranty issue

Mumbai: Ensuring improved services and faster turnaround time have remained a concern for vendors across the IT industry. In one case, American Power Conver­sion Corporation (APCC) has agreed to replace the battery for a Mumbai-based customer, after the latter issued legal notice against them on grounds of poor service and maintenance.

APCC claimed that the warranty period for the product is 18 months, while the dealer, System House Traders, clarified that the warranty period promised to the customer was in fact 24 months. Post the incident, System House traders has also discontinued as an APCC dealer and has established newer tie-ups with competitor brands.

Commenting on the matter, Sridhar Laxman, Marketing Director, APCC stated, “We have clearly defined in the warranty card that a customer needs to avail six prevention mainte­nance calls, which are provided free of cost from the time one purchases the battery. This service is extended until the warranty period (ie 18 months as per APCC policies) expires. We have attended to customer calls every time he has approached us. Apparently, the customer was unaware of the warranty period and service procedures. However, we have treated this case as a special one and have now replaced the battery despite the fact that it was no longer under warranty.”

Laxman further added that in the future APCC will ensure that there is no lack of communication both at the partner and the customer's end. “We will now ensure that servicing details and warranty period is clearly communicated to the consumer,” added Laxman.

The legal notice served by the customer on August 28, 2009, of which The DQ Week has a copy, states that the issue dates back to December 2007 when the customer, Hight Court Advocate Rajkumar R Mishra, purchased an APCC inverter alongside a battery from Mumbai-based dealer, System House Traders. Following the purchase the dealer assured him of a two year warranty on the battery. The customer, however encountered several problems with the product right from the start.

The customer brought the issue to the dealer's notice and a service engineer resolved the issue. However, in the months of July and August 2008, the problem re-emerged. Post the engineers visit, the customer learned that his battery needs replacement as one of the battery cells had depleted. On producing the purchase invoice and the customer insisting that the battery was under warranty, the engineer informed him about the the company's 18 month warranty policy.

Following this, the customer got in touch with APCC and brought the matter to the company's notice. Later, he also contacted the dealer and demanded that the battery be replaced. When he did not receive a responses from either parties, he decided to issue them a legal notice to solve his purpose.

On contacting Apoorva Gandhi, Proprietor, System House Traders, he said, “I was responsible for selling the product and it was the company's responsibility to repair or replace it. I have received a mail from the APCC representative that this case is being consi­dered special and the battery will now be replaced.”

When asked about the warranty details, Gandhi clarified that at the time when the customer had bought the battery the warranty card issued to him clearly mentioned that it was valid for a period of 24 months. “I have the hard copy of the warranty card with me that clearly establishes the fact that the warranty period for the model he had purchased was 24 months. Besides, the card does not even mention that the customer could avail six prevention maintenance calls during this period. I am not longer an APC dealer and have tied-up with other competitor brands.”