We have been a loyal customer to Eureka Forbes for more than 25 years. This brand stood for customer love and loyalty till it was with the Tatas first, and then Shapoorji Pallonji group, the latter exited the business in 2021-2022. Now the reversal is happening because the customer service is designed to easily defraud the gullible customers.
We bought the new RO filter for the new home in October 2023. Out of brand loyalty we went for Aquaguard, which was a huge mistake.
The first signs of lack of customer service were visible when we could not get it installed quickly enough. It took more than 15 days wait and tireless follow up with the service folks and ultimately an escalation to regional head, just to get the free installation done. It was so tiresome.
After an year, in November 2024, we get an innocent service call. The visit was actually to sell the annual maintenance contract which costs approx. Rs. 5K plus. The pitch was that we get to replace all the filters free once during this contract, doing so through third party will cost at least 50% more.
So, we signed up with the annual contract. The person who facilitated this also checked the filters and said there is no need to replace them for now, and water will stop coming in the event of filters need maintenance, then we should schedule a maintenance call.
But, the fraud he did was genius. He would ask for an OTP, which we thought that it is for the visit. But, he records it in their system as the filters are already replaced as part of the new contract. We notice this later in the app associated with the filter service. So, we lodge a complaint, but no use. We follow up at least half a dozen times with the customer service on this complaint till Feb 2025, till we get tired with this tirade. The customer service desk is like a parrot repeating a script, with no escalation and only false promises. We were wasting too much time and getting worked up. It was clear that system will stick up to the fraud by design.
Now, before the annual contract gets over, We are following up with a service request. The service agency now says, it will cost extra now to replace the filters. It strikes the whole service request with a comment that door was closed upon visit. Also, the argument over the phone is that the filter would not have lasted this long unless it was replaced earlier. The rudeness of the agency is a reconfirmation that the original fraud is being defended well by them. They know the system well enough to perpetuate this fraud to many gullible customers.
Escalation again with customer service is just a waste of time. Lot of false promises with no true escalation possible.
Bottom line, the filter service and the customer service desk are outsourced, and the agency or agencies associated collude for these fraudulence. This fraud is very convenient now, as the users have decades worth of faith on the brand developed by Tata and Shapoorji Pallonji.
My obligation here is only to alert all such faithful users of Aquaguard and other products of EurekaForbes, against such service frauds.
My personal option now is to replace our RO filter setup which costed us approx. Rs. 18K or go for subscription service brands to avoid such fraudulance against us with the new brand.
In the mean time, please share this as an alert for all concerned. Also, leave comment on horrible experiences you would have had with any such brand.
Best Regards,
Nataraja Upadhya
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