Seek refund for the defective dishwasher

Pushpa Girimaji

Last year, I bought a dishwasher, which worked well for about six months, before it started giving trouble. The engineer from the company attempted six times to repair it but the machine would work for a day and then stop again. Now the company is offering a new machine as an exchange offer, but wants me to pay 50 per cent of the cost of the new machine on the ground that the one I bought is more than a year old. I feel cheated. What can I do here?

The life expectancy of a dishwasher is said to be around 10 to 15 years. One particular international brand even claims that it is built to last 20 years! So if the dishwasher you bought lasted only six months, there is an inherent flaw in the machine and it is only fair that the manufacturer give a replacement, free of charge, particularly if he is unable to repair it despite six attempts!

Yes, the machine is now a year old, but you could use it only for six months and for the rest of the period, the manufacturer was trying to repair it, unsuccessfully. One can well imagine how frustrating and time-consuming all those failed attempts at repair would have been for you. Added to that, despite having bought a dishwasher, you had to wash the dishes yourself manually.

You obviously ought to be compensated for that and the least that the manufacturer/dealer can do is to offer you a new machine, a better model at no extra cost.

I would suggest that you write to the National Consumer Helpline and ask them to mediate for a fair deal. If the company is not willing to act fairly, get an expert to examine the machine and give details of the defect in it and lodge a complaint before the consumer court, seeking refund and compensation. I am suggesting a refund and not a replacement because the process of adjudication being what it is, you may want to buy a new machine of a different company for your dishwashing requirements and not wait for the adjudication of your complaint.

Is there an order in a similar matter?

The apex consumer court recently decided a case pertaining to a defective dishwasher. The case is slightly different from yours in the sense that the consumer had used it for about 10 months, after which the machine started giving trouble. After failing to resolve the problem, the manufacturer gave the consumer a substitute machine and took the consumer’s machine to the service centre. When they wanted to bring it back, the consumer said she would accept it only with an undertaking that if the machine had problems again, it would be replaced. The manufacturer refused to give such an undertaking and the consumer refused to return the substitute.

Meanwhile, the consumer court at the district level asked the dealer and the manufacturer to jointly and severally refund Rs 28,000, the cost of the machine in January 2012 when the consumer bought it, plus Rs 2,482 being the cost of the extended warranty that the consumer had bought and an additional Rs 10,000 as compensation.

The state commission, however, set aside this order, forcing the consumer to file a revision petition before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The commission pointed out that neither the district nor the state commission had recorded any conclusive proof of an inherent defect in the machine. However, keeping in mind the fact that the consumer had used the machine for nine months and had been using the stand-by machine all these years, the commission asked the manufacturer and the dealer to jointly and severally pay a compensation of Rs 15,000 and costs of Rs 5,000. The stand-by machine need not be returned, the commission said. (Sangeeta Singh Vs IFB Industries, RP no. 598 of 2019, date of order: April 5, 2022)

In your case, the company itself is admitting that the machine is defective and is offering you a replacement, but for a price, which is absolutely unfair. But when you go to the consumer court, make sure you have adequate proof of defect in the machine.