Everything But the Truth…. Review on Onida WO18GR

(This review referes to ONIDA AC WO18 but is on ONIDA and its Truth, not the model. All the personal references are made for continuity. I appreciate the help offered by them except one gentleman at NOIDA mumbai office whose name I could not note)

I was looking for an AC for my second room. I went to Electronics Bazaar (EB) at Shipra Mall in Indirapuram near Delhi. They had a very limited range. I zeroed in on 1.2Ton LG window AC, as my this room is first floor 12x12. But I though to also have a browse at the Reliance Digital store, which has opened recently and stacked everything electrical or electronics under its roof. There I saw the above model of LG tagged slightly above the EB price. There was also this Onida-the Truth- AC with description slip showing model name as WG18. The salespersons told that this is a - hold your breath- 19600BTU/hr AC with an EER of 10.3.(EER -Energy Efficiency Ratio, a measure of overall energy efficiency, in American form is BTU/hr divided by the input wattage. A Kcal equals 3.968 BTU.

In Indian Context BEE EER is the Cooling in watts divided by input power in watts)  I was impressed. The specs and pricing at Rs.15500 outperformed the entire rack which comprised of various models of LG, Godrej, Samsung, Hitachi and yes, O’General. It sounded too good to be true, but the confident salespersons told that this indeed was a very good AC with Matsushita compressor and it was selling like hot cake. I though may be ONIDA was becoming aggressive to enter the market. I was also to get a gift travel and lodging voucher for a couple to some destinations across India, with customary fine print. The fine print said that I have to pay Rs 2250 per person as travel surcharge and Rs 350 per person for lodging. I said whatever, Let me have the product and the dust bin the offer. So far So good.

The card was swiped. I was handed over the bill and thus became a deemed proud owner of another AC. A great peace of engineering at that!

The sales executive Mr. Varun promised me that he would try his best to get it delivered by 2:00pm next day at my home which is located a few hundred metres from the Shipra Mall. I felt delighted.

Next morning I received a call from the Reliance Ware House (DC) in Greater NOIDA asking me whether I wanted the AC to be delivered. I said of course, with pleasure, that is why I paid 15500bucks. They said sure, sir, we are setting off for your house. Even So far So good.

Then half an hour later I receive a call from the store asking whether I had indeed made the payment. I said politely, “Yes Ma’am. Do you have any doubts? why you should?” She told that it was all right and that they would check their system again. (The system…. Everyone has a system in place which is like a blackhole most of the time..banks..stores..you name it, they have it).

Till about 3:00pm I waited for the delivery of the newfangled thing. When it did not turn up, I called back the DC no. They asked my name. I told them. They tell that there was no delivery advice in my name. Take that!

I called up the Reliance Digital(store) again. I was asked my name nth time. The helping executives told that it was not possible that day as there was some slip in the System and the delivery was possible only the next day. In the evening I visited the store and talked to the store manager Mr Kundu and he assured me that they would try their best.  Indeed, it was delivered at 9:10pm the same day. Even So far so good.

The real story-of intrigue, suspense, emotion, drama- begins now.

The carton displayed model name as WO18, whereas the model name at display was WG18. No problems. But the Capacity was 4500Kcal/hr at 1850watts. The engineer in me woke up with a calculator and conversion table in hands. It was a 17856BTU/hr piece with EER of 9.65. hahaha

Next morning, I contacted Onida  representative in Delhi office Mr Kunal- a really helpful gentleman. I told him the entire story and emailed him the mathematics. He told that he would get in touch with his Mumbai head office and revert. I also kept Reliance Digital people in loop and they were also made aware of the issue. After waiting for a while, I directly contacted their Mumbai office. I was put through to a certain Mr Sidharth Kakkar.

He told me that it is indeed a 19600BTU/hr Hitachi compressor with an EER of 10.3. And that they do not manufacture anything with an EER below that. They are printing lower capacity on carton for some legal/statutory reasons. He also assured me that I could return the piece if I was not satisfied with the internal spec plates while installation. I requested him to email me a brochure of WO18 model which has these actual specs. He told that he would but didn’t for a couple of hours.

I rang up their land line number and I was put through to some boss type, who proclaimed, “Tivari, I will tell Sidharth to call you back”. Even my superiors do not address me like that. He was not interested in details. I wanted to give him a dirty piece of my mind, but refrained as I was in a hospital then.

Sidharth calls back and tells that he had been busy in a meeting and he would send me the brochure (which had become the most elusive thing. I forgot to tell that I had already checked ONIDA web site and it listed only the good WG18model listed. No reference of any WO18.) Based on such an assurance, I had already given go ahead to Reliance Digital people for installation.

In the evening the installation people from Reliance Digital duly called me and confirmed their time of visit. They come at the specified time and as they open the carton, I saw the body shell buckled on both the sides. I also noticed the fins of condenser damaged. But this was not important. Before this I checked the nameplate on chassis of the AC. This also bore the rating as 4500kcal/hr and power consumption of 1850 watts. The compressor was not Hitachi but some 'Highly' of China. The pretension was over. I took photographs and asked the installation guys to pack-up the box. I had not yet received the brochure.

I went to the Reliance Digital and I was directed to the in charge Mr Wasim. He heard the story and understood the issue. I was told that the piece will be replaced with any other of my choice. They were even ready to refund money. In the meantime I thought I should, for a last time, check with the ONIDA people. I called up Kunal at about 9:00pm. He not only picked up the call, also assured me that his brochure says that it is 19600/10.3. I told that I can only believe if I see. He told me that he was under impression that the issue has been resolved, as Mumbai people would have forwarded the brochure. But Mumbai people did not cared much and I told him that I was closing the ONIDA file. I chose a 1.2T AC of my tested brand LG. I hope the new piece would be delivered and installed today.

Last seen Onida WO18 was selling like hot cakes yesterday also across many stores(including EB) under the pretensions of WG18, with naïve customers in a beeline being taken in by the tall claims of the Truth kind. I was seen cooling my tired heels and sour fingers in my old AC at my home. But I have still energy left to warn people about the ONIDA kind of truth especially about the WO18.