Warranty hell in India: a Nexus 5, a Galaxy S6, an iBall dongle and a Sennheiser

Hey folks,

On 26 September I tweeted a photo of my brand new Sennheiser headphones at Sennheiser and Amazon India. Not even a month old, and the branding was already fading off! Two days later I followed up: “No reply at all. That’s a shame.”

While I was waiting (and waiting), I scrolled back through my own timeline and realised this is not the first time. Not even close. Since 2015, pretty much every gadget of mine that went kaput has ended up as an angry thread tagged at some brand’s India handle. And before that there was the Lumia 1520 and its ghost touches back in 2014, which spent about six weeks with Nokia Care before I got it back repaired.

So here’s the tally, device by device, plus the two companies that actually got it right and what I’d do again.

Nexus 5, May 2015: the battery that tried to open the phone

On 6 May 2015 an LG Nexus 5 that I’d bought for a friend six months earlier turned up like this: still on the charger, with its back cover lifting off the frame. Yup. The battery had swollen so much that it was literally pushing the phone apart from the inside.

6 May 2015: the Nexus 5 straight off the charger, its back cover pushed out by the battery underneath

I tweeted that photo at LG India and Google India: “Woke up with my charging Lg Nexus 5 like this.” (I had bought it, so the warranty was mine to chase.) Then the follow-up: it was under warranty, I needed a resolution ASAP, and “I expected better from Nexus. All this in 6 months is #Sad.”

Honestly, the warranty wasn’t even the scary part. A lithium battery had puffed up while sitting on the charger! A few minutes later I added: “The battery swell, its really scary. At one time, I thought it’s gonna blast.”

LG India got back to me on Twitter, and the next morning I replied with a one-word “Done!”

In the end LG replaced the phone.

iBall, February 2016: a Wi-Fi dongle’s trip to Mumbai

This one is small, and that’s exactly why it annoyed me so much.

In late January 2016 I RMA’d my iBall USB Wi-Fi adapter through iBall’s service centre. Three weeks later, still no adapter. The service centre’s excuse? They hadn’t received it from Mumbai yet.

Mumbai. For a USB Wi-Fi adapter. Duh.

The service centre couldn’t test it, couldn’t swap it, and didn’t keep any adapters in stock, so mine got posted off to Mumbai and I just waited. As I tweeted on 17 February, the iBall service centre was “just a single room with a person to log complaints. #NoTroubleshooting”.

Meanwhile I still needed internet at home, so I bought a new adapter. By then the warranty wasn’t worth the wait, and I said so: “What is the whole point of warranty if it takes a month to claim it? It’s pure harassment.” My last tweet in that thread opened with “Keep your adapter now.”

I also promised I’d never buy another iBall product. Ever.

Galaxy S6, April 2016: a flagship waiting on a part

I got my Samsung Galaxy S6 in November 2015 (“My only vice? GADGETS!”), and within days I was shooting in manual mode on it. Loved that camera.

Which made it worse when, by late April 2016, less than six months in, the camera hardware failed. A part was ordered, and that’s where it sat. On 27 April I wrote: “5 days since part order, no one is ready to take responsibility #fail”.

Then I kept going at @SamsungMobileIN:

• Had it been Apple, they would have replaced the phone for a camera hardware failure. No fuss.
• “What’s the point of charging >Rs.35,000 when you can’t even provide a flagship customer experience?”
• When the hardware fails, quality control slipped somewhere in manufacturing, and that’s no excuse to keep the customer waiting. “A direct support channel is needed!”

About an hour later I watched C4ETech’s video “How to Deal with Bad Customer Service (Samsung India)” and tweeted at the channel that it was sad “we Indian still struggle to validate our basic consumer rights that too in 2016”. There has to be a better way to escalate this stuff to higher management, because the local service centres felt like “goon-raj”. The video was four years old by then, so I asked whether anything had improved. I put my 2 cents on no.

In the end the part did arrive, and the service centre fixed the camera.

Motorola and Google: the US gets the better deal

Two of my complaints were simply about what we get in India compared to the US.

In June 2015 Motorola was replacing screens for free in the US, so I asked Motorola India the obvious question: “That’s a shame! You guys are replacing the screen for free in US then why not in India! #MotoFail”

In October 2017 it was Google’s turn. After all the display complaints about the new Pixels, Google announced a two-year warranty in the US, so I asked Google India whether buyers here got the same. Same phone, same money, but your warranty depends on where you bought it. Hmm.

Sennheiser, September 2018: a month-old “premium” headphone

Which brings me back to last month.

Sennheiser isn’t a new name for me. Two of them were on my list when I went on my quest for the best headphones under ₹2,000 back in 2016. This time it was the Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC, wireless with noise cancelling, for ₹15,000.

Less than a month later, the branding on the headband was already wearing off.

26 Sep 2018: not a month old, and the logo on the headband panel is already wearing away

Sure, it doesn’t affect the sound. But it’s a ₹15,000 headphone! So on 26 September I tagged Sennheiser Asia, Sennheiser USA and Amazon India: ‘This “premium” HD 4.50 BTNC is not even a month old yet and the branding is already fading off. This is what you call a quality piece for ₹15,000?’ Two days later I tagged Sennheiser India as well. Nothing. Nada.

The good ones: Amazon and Fitbit

It hasn’t all been bad though, and the two good experiences have a lot in common.

Amazon, November 2014. On day three I scratched my Kindle. My own fault, and I hadn’t even bought it from Amazon (it came from Croma). I told a chat rep what happened, and within two minutes a replacement was on its way with one-day delivery. Two minutes! The whole story is here.

Fitbit, May 2016. The band on my Fitbit Charge HR developed a bulge under the screen. I wrote to Fitbit, my case went to their India team, a replacement was ordered on the 18th and it was in my hands on the 22nd. Five emails and about a week. That day I tweeted “Fitbit customer support game is top notch. 💯”

The replacement Charge HR that arrived on 22 May 2016.

Round two with Fitbit that October went a lot worse. They had me cut up my charging cable as proof of destruction (yes, really), then the replacement went out of stock and had to come from the US, where it got stuck in customs. It took about 11 weeks. Even so, I was dealing with Fitbit itself the whole way, over email, and not with some counter at a local service centre.

What I’d do again

Four years, a handful of devices. If you’re fighting a warranty claim in India, here’s my 2 cents:

1. Take the photo or video the moment it happens. A battery splitting a phone open needs no explanation. For the Lumia I recorded the ghost touches and put the video on YouTube. Lumia support still suggested a software issue, but at least we were arguing about my video and not my word.
2. Write down every date. When you handed it in, when the part was ordered, what the job sheet says. “5 days since part order” only works as a complaint if you know the day the part was ordered.
3. Prefer brands that deal with you directly. Amazon and Fitbit handled my claims over chat and email, one team owned the case, and they shipped me a replacement. With Samsung and iBall it was a local service centre with no stock and nobody willing to take responsibility, and my device sat waiting on a part or a parcel from Mumbai.
4. Tweet, but don’t expect the tweet to fix it. LG India and Lumia support both came back to me on Twitter. Sennheiser hasn’t, so far. A reply starts the process. It doesn’t make the part arrive any faster.
5. Know what other countries get, and ask for it anyway. Motorola and Google offered better terms in the US, and asking their India handles costs you one tweet.
6. Count your time. With the iBall adapter, three weeks of waiting was worth more to me than the adapter itself, so I bought a new one and walked away. Sometimes that’s the right call.

I’m not done with Sennheiser yet. If they reply, I’ll update this post. Fingers crossed!

@LGIndiaTweets @googleindia Guys! Help? Woke up with my charging Lg Nexus 5 like this. (1/2)

@jatinkrmalik, 6 May 2015

@LGIndiaTweets @googleindia It's under warranty. I need a resolution ASAP! I expected better from Nexus. All this in 6 months is #Sad. (2/2)

@jatinkrmalik, 6 May 2015

@LGIndiaTweets @googleindia The battery swell, its really scary. At one time, I thought it's gonna blast. Will you do something about it?

@jatinkrmalik, 6 May 2015

@LGIndiaTweets Done!

@jatinkrmalik, 7 May 2015

@MotorolaIndia That's a shame! You guys are replacing the screen for free in US then why not in India! #MotoFail

@jatinkrmalik, 18 June 2015

My only vice? GADGETS! Welcome the new Samsung #GalaxyS6 to the Team. p.s: Farewell good ol…

@jatinkrmalik, 5 November 2015

@iBallIndia You guys have the #WORST Service centres ever. I'm never going to buy any iBall product ever. #iBall #FAIL #PoorService (1/2)

@jatinkrmalik, 17 February 2016

@iBallIndia ... I had to buy a new USB wifi adapter to continue accessing the internet at home. Such #fail #poor #experience with #iBall....

@jatinkrmalik, 17 February 2016

@iBallIndia.. What is the whole point of warranty if it takes a month to claim it? It's pure harassment. #Worst #RMA #Experience #iBall ...

@jatinkrmalik, 17 February 2016

@iBallIndia ...Keep your adapter now. The *iBall service centres* are just a single room with a person to log complaints. #NoTroubleshooting

@jatinkrmalik, 17 February 2016

When you buy a flagship from @SamsungMobileIN & are treated like shit. 5 days since part order, no one is ready to take responsibility #fail

@jatinkrmalik, 27 April 2016

@SamsungMobileIN Had it been @AppleSupport they would have directly replaced my phone on camera hardware failure directly w/o any fuss #poor

@jatinkrmalik, 27 April 2016

@SamsungMobileIN What's the point of charging >Rs.35,000 when you can't even provide a flagship customer experience? It's just pure headache

@jatinkrmalik, 27 April 2016

@SamsungMobileIN On h/w failure, there should be no excuse that QC was compromised in the manufacturing. A direct support channel is needed!

@jatinkrmalik, 27 April 2016

@C4ETech ...sad that we Indian still struggle to validate our basic consumer rights that too in 2016. There should be a better way to...

@jatinkrmalik, 27 April 2016

@C4ETech What are your views? After 4 years you posted that video, do you see any improvement in this space? I will put my 2 cents on NO! :(

@jatinkrmalik, 27 April 2016

Fitbit customer support game is top notch. 💯 😎 #Fitbit #ChargeHR

@jatinkrmalik, 22 May 2016

@GoogleIndia @GooglePixels Folks, do we also get 2 years warranty on new #Pixels like announced in the US regarding display panel issues?

@jatinkrmalik, 28 October 2017

@SennheiserAsia @SennheiserUSA @amazonIN This "premium" HD 4.50 BTNC is not even a month old yet and the branding is already fading off. This is what you call a quality piece for ₹15,000? I am so disappointed in my purchase. #Fail #PoorDesign

@jatinkrmalik, 26 September 2018

@SennheiserAsia @SennheiserIndia No reply at all. That's a shame.

@jatinkrmalik, 28 September 2018

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