Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has recently been asked to replace the smartphone of an Indian customer after a commission called out the company for selling “shoddy” products to its customers in the country.
The Bandra Consumer Redressal Commission has directed the tech giant and its authorized service centers to provide an Andheri resident (in Mumbai, Maharashtra) with a brand new smartphone, while also paying the said customer with compensation and costs of 10,000 INR as well (roughly 135 US Dollars). Furthermore, it has also directed that the respondent pay back the 6,999 INR the customer originally paid for the handset back in September 2015, if they do not provide a new smartphone model, as specified by the Commission.
According to a FreePressJournal report, Hiranna Fulari had started experiencing heating and battery related issues with his newly purchased Redmi 2 Prime, within a month of its purchase through an online channel. This prompted Fulari to take the device to customer service, which required him to leave the device behind for 2 days, but that was further delayed to 4 and then even 7 additional days.
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Fulari ended up making two more round trips to the service center but was informed that more time was needed to resolve the issue. In the end, Fulari received the device two and a half months later from the service center. Despite the long wait, the smartphone still suffered from the same issues, which again had the device be left at the service center. After this ordeal, Fulari approached the consumer commission for receiving a faulty handset that needed elaborate repairs within a very short period of purchase.
Thus, he filed a complaint seeking a newer smartphone model or a full refund of the amount he paid as compensation. The Commission noted that despite receiving the notice, Xiaomi and its service center “deliberately failed” and “neglected” to appear before it and put forth their defense. In the judgment, President Shubhada D Tulankar noted that the device needed repairs within a month of purchase and even required a two and a half months long service that didn’t even rectify the issue, which proved that the device suffered from an inherent problem in manufacturing.
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