Xiaomi rode on the back of affordable pricing and nice build quality of its models to attain popularity in the industry such that it is ranked No. 1 in India and among the top 5 globally. It isn’t always all praises for Xiaomi as a few times, it has faced criticism for the quality of its phones which some think is poor. This is one of those times. Indian citizen, Chavhan Ishwar has told the story of how his Redmi Note 7S smartphone went up in flames. The incident left the phone permanently damaged with the battery area charred. Thankfully, no one was injured but more worrisome is the response the victim claimed to have got from Xiaomi India’s customer care personnel.
The Indian claimed to have scooped up the device from Flipkart on October 1st and it was delivered three days later. The user claimed the phone only lasted about a month as the drama began on November 2. Mr Ishwar had left the phone on the desk when he noticed smoke emanating from the phone and accompanied by a smell of burning plastic. Indeed, the phone gently went up in flames due to what Xiaomi says is a battery defect (the phone was reportedly lodged at a Xiaomi Authorized service centre in Thane).
EDITOR’S PICK: First Samples from the 108MP Mi Mix Alpha is here & we are not impressed!
Now, ordinarily one would have expected Xiaomi to issue the user a new one after investigating the incident with zero foul play detected. Instead, Ishwar says the Chinese company reached back a couple of days later rejecting his claim. The service centre claimed to have found “abnormal burnt marks and damage new battery fix area display”. An official at the service centre informed Ishwar that there was something in the battery that caused the incident. A representation was made to Xiaomi since the service centre is probably a third-party arrangement and the response was that the battery isn’t covered under warranty! In essence, Ishwar won’t be getting a replacement model even though it seems to have been established that a battery defect was responsible for the damage.
Xiaomi India did respond to Gizchina after the story broke. In the response, the company stated thus;
“At Xiaomi, quality of our products is of utmost importance. The trust that Mi Fans have shown in the brand for the past 5 years is a testament to that. We also take pride in having one of the strongest after-sales networks in the country with an aim to solve customer issues seamlessly.In this particular case, after careful examination, it was concluded that the damage was caused due to external force, and thus, classified under ‘customer induced damage.”
While this may be a one-off incident, we think Xiaomi could improve on its customer care service in India. Ishwar may have to explore other options to get redress as Xiaomi India obviously isn’t going to accept liability for the damage.
UP NEXT: Huawei confirms MatePad will come with a Stylus
