I bought a Nokia phone MODEL – E 51 in Delhi from a Karol Bagh dealer in November. Yesterday, 22nd September the screen suddenly went blank. I could receive calls, but couldn't make out who was calling. Neither could I make calls. So, today I took the phone to Nokia Care at Rajkumar, Andheri West.
After waiting in a queue for half an hour, the first attendant looked at the bill and the phone and started registering the complaint. He said they could attend to the problem in a couple of hours. But then, the second attendant intervened and asked what the problem was and after check the bill, pushed back the phone saying the bill was not valid as it did not have a TIN or VAT number. Therefore, they couldn’t service the phone. I debated the issue with him and asked him how a consumer was supposed to know that if they bought the phone from a shop which didn’t have a TIN or VAT number, the phone wouldn’t be entitled to service within the warranty period. I asked him as to whether (1) it meant that the purchase was illegal or (2) the phone was not genuine or (3) it was not entitled to any service despite it being under warranty. I even called the dealer in Delhi and asked the service centre representative to talk to him, but he refused.
He then opened the phone to check and confirmed it was a genuine piece.
During the talk he said that he could check the IMEI number in his system, and if the number was there, he wouldn’t require a bill. But their system had been down since the past three hours and couldn't do so. He promised to call when the system restarted, but he never did so.
I wish to know - if he could check the purchase date from his own system, without the bill, by checking the IMEI number in his system, why did he refuse to attend to the phone in the first place. He could have told me to wait till his system restarted.
I even volunteered to pay for the repair in case the purchase was not genuine, but he wouldn’t hear me. He said he had to formally register the complaint before he could attend to the phone.
Why should the consumer be punished for a problem with their system? Doesn’t the Nokia Care centre have the courtesy to call and inform as to when we could come to get the phone repaired? The impression I got was that he didn't want to attend to the phone for reasons best known to him and created a flimsy ground i.e. problem with the bill.
I plan to visit him again tomorrow, but in case anyone can assist me and let me know what to do, I would be grateful.
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