Poorly designed product - AO Smith Proplanet. Review on AO Smith Water Purifier

I have been using AO Smith Pro planet P1 from last 4 months. Let me try to give an honest feed back. Before buying the product, I have read about the various options one can choose from and the best product based on customers choice. I called up AO Smith customer care and next day a representative came home and explained the features of all the products that they are offering along with the advantages of the inhouse technology they have developed. He tested the TDS level of water at home and it was around 750 PPM and suggested that I should go for an RO purifier. He suggested me to pick a product from the pro planet portfolio since that one uses the latest technology. The feature attracted me the most was the low water wastage of AO Smith purifiers as compared to products offered by competition. The advisor behaved professionally and I was impressed. I picked up the Pro planet P1 and the installation etc was smooth(this was during the first week of January 2022). The first reading from the newly installed purifier was about 50 PPM and I was happy.

The product worked perfectly well for the first three months and some time during April 2022 my family(3 of us) started suffering from stomach discomfort regularly. In about a few weeks my son(a toddler) had to be hospitalized after severe stomach discomfort. The doctor after investigation concluded that the root cause of issue is most likely contaminated water that he drank and requested us to get the check the quality of water we drink.

I have called up the AO Smith service customer care and requested for a service. The service engineer visited my home the same day, and I explained the issue to him. He opened the water tank(which is secured by three screws) and found that the tank was infested by ants and larvae. I was really annoyed seeing this and asked him as to how this can happen. He said the purification is perfect, but ants and other insects can enter the water tank through an air hole supposedly!

I was completely taken aback by his response and asked him as to how can that be the case considering the air valve(and not hole as he was saying) is generally designed to allow only air to enter the tank - he had no answer and told that he can use "cello tape" to insulate water tank! - and I knew immediately that he had no clue of what he is saying. I called up the advisor from AO Smith who suggested the product to me and explained the issue to him. This time someone understood the issue and apologized to me for what the service engineer suggested. He assured to talk to his superiors and get back to me but unfortunately I have not heard back from him after that time.

My suggestion to everyone who is looking to buy a water purifier is to ensure that irrespective of the quality of purification process, if your water purifier is poorly designed, it can still cause health hazards to you and your dear ones. I can vouch with relative certainty that AO Smith Proplanet P1 is poorly designed and is not a safe product for your family.

My suggestion to AO Smith is that your customers invest in your product based on trust and a poorly designed product is not what you should deliver. Additionally, I request you to please train and educate your service staff appropriately - it is perfectly ok to say that you are going to need more time to investigate into the issue, but never use jugaad(hopefully never again using a cello tape) to fix your water purifier and potentially risk your customers family's health.

Thank you!

Edit: Update after about a month of making the complaint with AO Smith - Not even an apology email. You may decide what to do with this company.