Worst Customer Care support & Faulty ACs. Review on Daikin FTKP50PRV16 1.5 Ton Split AC

Hello!

I'm an unfortunate owner of Diakin 1.5 Inverter AC [FTKP50-CI| Serial NO. Indoor - 10802| Outdoor - 8441]. I chose this AC in hope that though it's a costly one-time purchase but it will save money on electricity in long-term. Bought on 25th April, 2015, Diakin's team installed the AC at our place. I explicitly asked them to put the corrosion-proof coating on the coil & a stabilizer.

They said, Daikin AC already has a corrosion-proof coating & inbuilt stabilizer - so we don't need to put either of them. Though! They insisted on buying AMC from them, to which I declined(thinking that my Old Samsung 2 star window AC has been running fine since 5 years except some coating charges and annual servicing; so, nothing shall go wrong with this expensive one.).

Little did I know then, of my upcoming agony; and with arrival of 2016 summers - it started. I switched ON the AC & it was dead. I called Daikin customer support. My AC was still in warranty period, so, they revived it for free. There were holes in the cooling coil due to corrosion & they soldered them all. Engineer name was Abdullah, from Noida Sector 12 service center. After a month or so, I called them again as my AC has died again. This time it was out-of-warranty. They asked for some exorbitant charges which I declined to pay as they have just fixed it recently. Eventually, I gave up because of increasing intense heat and after negotiating with the Daikin service engineer over the phone, ended up paying a lump-sum amount of Rs. 3200 for gas re-filling and more hole-closing. This time AC again worked for a couple months or so and then died again. This time, the issue was different than previous time. Indoor unit hasn't stopped working completely but there was no cooling at all. I called the same service engineer and he said that complete cooling coil must be replaced & it would cost me around Rs.10-15, 000(approx.). I told him that I'll get it replaced next year.

Came summer 2017, I called same service engineer from Daikin and he quoted Rs.8, 700 for cooling coil. He said he'll fill gas for free as he was the one who filled it twice last year & he'll place an order with Daikin warehouse for new Coil on my behalf and will call me back when he has one. Week passed-by without any response. I called again and he said there's no Coil for this AC in their repository as this model is out-dated and he'll call back as soon as he get one. Another couple of days went by without any response. I called him again. He said, he still doesn't have the coil & no news on when he'll get it. My frustration was increasing with soaring temperature and I called Daikin service center. They logged in my complaint and assured me that someone will get back to me. Couple of days passed by and no one called. I called again, and to add to the trauma - they did not have any records of me, nor my complaint. I again got my complaint logged and provided all the details. After couple of days I called again and voila! - they still did not have any logged complaint and had no records of me. Upon showing some frustration - customer support executive told me that there must be some technical problem due to which your profile is being deleted or something! Anyways, I again got my complain logged. This time I got a call from Noida sector 10 service center. They quoted Rs.10, 500 for cooling coil & Rs.3, 500 for the gas recharge+ 14% VAT extra. According to them, these were company charges. I declined as previous engineer had quoted me less. When I told him the same, he asked for the previous(Abdullah's) contact number and cursed him on phone for quoting less. He said, that Adbullah is lying and he doesn't know anything. I mailed Daikin customer support and told them about misleading quotes. No reply for a few days and then I again called them back and then they transferred my complaint to another service center. Now, Mr. Hansar Khan from Sector 51 service center gave me quote of Rs.8, 700 for cooling coil & Rs.3, 500 for gas re-filling+ taxes. Finally, after 1.5 months of chaos - on 6th May, 2017, an engineer from sector 51 service center came and replaced the cooling coil. I was happy that AC was working finally & hoped for no more breakage.

But it stopped working after a fortnight and again some other engineer came from same service center on 27th May, 2017. Again the problem was same - Indoor unit was working but no cooling. He checked the unit and did some cleaning and it started working. But this was also for a short duration. It stopped cooling again and another engineer came from same service center on 9th June, 2017 and he said it was due to low voltage. I should get a stabilizer and only then it'll work. After a week or so, I got a stabilizer connected(same exact model prescribed by him). It again worked for some time and soon it died again. On 12th August, I again called same service center and Mr. Hansar Khan asked for visiting charges and I declined. He said that the coil had no warranty and he's not liable for any damages what-so-ever after he had changed the coil. I again called Daikin customer support and they gave me a landline contact no. of sector 1 service station. Nobody picked the call on that number. I kept trying for 3 days. At last, on Monday evening, I again called Daikin customer support and asked them that I did not want to pay and I want my AC repaired as I have already paid enough for it to get working. Executive escalated the issue at their end. Days went by and no response. I again called Daikin customer support and they again escalated it at their end but again no response. I also mailed them about it and received the same response, that my case had been escalated but again no further response for 2 days. Again called them back on 17th August and they provided contact number of their head service department I called them and they told me that they will arrange someone to get it fixed. At evening 2 engineers from sector 4 service center came and asked for visiting charges. Upon narrating them about the situation, they said you should call Daikin again. I called them back and they said that - "No engineer is willing to come to your place as you are not willing to pay the visiting charges. I'll have to find someone who is willing to come. It's difficult". Finally, engineers from sector 51 service center came and did a thorough checking. This time also they couldn't find fault and said - PCB card is defective and it'll cost additional Rs.6, 250 to get it fixed & left for the day.

Today, after spending approx. Rs.20, 000 on repairs within 2 years of purchase I'm still sitting with a broken Daikin AC while their support staff complaining to me that "They can't help me if I'm not willing to pay". I'm stuck with this crap and there's no-one to whom I can complain to. Every time I call or mail customer support they have standard reply - issue has been escalated. Service centers won't even listen without feeding them money(visiting charges). Their machines do not work even though they are charging a premium for them.

So! now, I have no option left other than posting my story online so that atleast other consumers are not cheated and looted by Daikin & should take a decisive call before thinking of buying a Daikin product.

Note:- I also have a Voltas Spilt AC(half the price of this AC) which is working fine since last 3 years(only had to get gas re-filling done, once - this year).

Edit: 22nd August, 2017 -

Only thing good about their AC is that it very quite & saves electricity. But that's the end of goodness. The parts are of very low quality & breaks easily(Or it's just that I bought a faulty unit).

I would have been a happier if their service staff had fixed it it in 1st go. I would have paid for faulty part. But their numerous visits and not fixing anything and keep charging for one thing or another and their pathetic customer care has really made me sick of these people. And to add cherry on the cake, after numerous complaints I received a mail from Mr. Jitendra Tiwari(Daikin - Deputy Manager - Service) who is still trying to sell me their AMC package after I pay for the repairs.

PATHETIC CUSTOMER SUPPORT. KEEP AWAY FROM DAIKIN.

RATHER BUY LG IF YOU WANT BETTER CUSTOMER SUPPORT.