New Delhi: With Indians continuing to battle a scorching summer, a new survey has revealed that 76 per cent air conditioner owners don’t seek after-sale service from manufacturers due to high costs, complicated contact procedures and time-consuming service.
The survey, conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles, also noted that 65 per cent respondents cited high costs behind their decision, while 36 per cent blamed the ‘difficult contact process’ and 32 per cent said it was ‘time-consuming’ to reach out to the manufacturing company. A total of 22,000 people were surveyed.
In a question related to the cost factor (asked to 20,891 participants), two out of three consumers claimed the service arm of the AC manufacturer charged 50 per cent or more, compared to local vendors. A total of 23 per cent alleged that charges were higher by over 100 per cent.
According to another LocalCircles survey conducted in January, consumers preferred to buy a new product instead of getting it repaired due to poor after-sale service. The same survey had also noted that India lacked adequate standards for proper servicing and repairing of whitegoods and other devices.
LocalCircles further said independent research estimates have found that 24 per cent of Indian households have an air conditioner or cooler.
Most of the states where houses have AC cooling units are Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra among others. Nearly 40 per cent of these households are based in urban areas while 16 per cent in rural sectors.
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