[singleton]

Dear teamBHP community,

I am writing this post to seek your advice and opinions regarding a super frustrating experience that I have been going through with LG support. I recently bought an LG 1.5 Ton Inverter AC for my home in Bangalore (paid 35K+ on Amazon) and got it installed by an LG technician 10 days back (Additional 6.5K charged for installation!).

The technician after completing the installion just showed us the AC controls, switched it on and left. To our utter frustration, we realized that the AC was not cooling the room at all (from Day 1) – it does not cool our 10x12 room even after running for hours at night. After a few days, I started seeing CH 38 (i think) error code when the AC is switched on.

Since then, I have been trying to reach out to LG support through various channels, including phone, email, and Twitter. However, I have not received any proper response from them so far. Most of the time, the phone lines are busy, and even when I manage to get through, the representatives only assure me that a technician will be sent soon to fix the issue, but no one shows up. The emails and social media messages that I have sent have gone unanswered as well.

This has been a very frustrating experience for me. Not only have I spent a considerable amount of money on a product that does not work, but I am also not getting any proper support from the company to resolve the issue. I am left with a non-functional AC in the peak of summer, which is causing a lot of discomfort and inconvenience for me and my family.

At this point, I am not sure what to do next. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions from the teamBHP community on how to tackle this issue.

• Has anyone else had a similar experience with LG support in Bangalore? If so, how did you resolve the issue?
• Are there any specific consumer protection laws or regulations that can help me get a refund or replacement for the faulty AC?
• How can I escalate this issue to higher authorities within LG or file a complaint with the consumer court?

I would also like to caution others who are planning to buy LG ACs in Bangalore or elsewhere to be aware of this issue and to thoroughly check the product and support quality before making a purchase.

[PreludeSH]

Sorry to hear your travails. I have 3 LG ACs and have never had any issue. Also, I bought from Girias and Reliance digital and I just have to call them and they liaison everything. I have also not faced any issue other than maintenance I get done every year.

[saravanaram]

Few questions:

Did you buy it from store or online?

I got my LG AC 2 years back from reliance store with extended warranty for 5 Years. When ever i raise a complaint RESQ(Reliance Own support)/ LG Support will address them within in few days.

You can try WhatsApp: 9711709999 or Call: 080 69379999. in case you have not tried these numbers.

[swiftLife]

Originally Posted by singleton

I have been trying to reach out to LG support through various channels, including phone, email, and Twitter. However, I have not received any proper response from them so far. Most of the time, the phone lines are busy, and even when I manage to get through, the representatives only assure me that a technician will be sent soon to fix the issue, but no one shows up.

Reaching LG support through phone can be time consuming and frustrating. Here is what you should do:

1. Go to https://www.lg.com/in/support/repair...request-repair. You can Continue as Guest and fill up the form to register a service request.
   
2. Keep the invoice PDF handy as you would need to upload it.
3. After submitting the request you will get a service request number starting with RNP. It would be something like RNP1234567890. Save it! Also make sure you give the correct mobile no. as you will get the service completion code called as Happy Code.
4. You should receive a call from the engineer asking what's the issue and when he can come. Just say that the newly purchased AC is not cooling at all. Don't go into specifics on error codes etc.
5. Hopefully your issue gets resolved. But if your issue is not resolved or you don't get a service visit at all, go to https://www.lg.com/in/escalation-online-support and escalate the issue. You will need to mention the RNP no. here in the form.
6. I can say from my past experience that escalated complaints are taken very seriously. But only escalate if your issue is not resolved from the service request.
   

But if you already have an RNP code with you then directly escalate the complaint as from what I can understand, you haven't been visited by a service personnel.

P.S. - I have 2 LG split ACs and both work wonderfully well. I also had an LG fridge and after it got damaged from a voltage surge I had to get it repaired. The repair experience was less than ideal. The fridge was repaired successfully but the engineer broke a plastic part. He assured that he would replace it and asked me to close the service request and make the payment. But the replacement never happened and the engineer stopped responding to my calls. I then escalated the issue and the broken part was replaced very promptly. LG even called me asking if everything went well. So full marks to LG service.

[singleton]

Originally Posted by saravanaram

Few questions:

Did you buy it from store or online?

I got my LG AC 2 years back from reliance store with extended warranty for 5 Years. When ever i raise a complaint RESQ(Reliance Own support)/ LG Support will address them within in few days.

You can try WhatsApp: 9711709999 or Call: 080 69379999. in case you have not tried these numbers.

In hindsight, this is one mistake I did. Last few big ticket appliances, I had got from reliance store and there were no issues at all. This one I got from Amazon and now even Amazon support is not doing anything to help

[GTO]

Originally Posted by saravanaram

I got my LG AC 2 years back from reliance store with extended warranty for 5 Years. When ever i raise a complaint RESQ(Reliance Own support)/ LG Support will address them within in few days.

Bingo . This is precisely why I buy big ticket items from physical stores like Vijay Sales. If I have any issue at all, I contact Vijay Sales and they take it up with the manufacturer. They also offer 5-year extended warranties that are "bumper to bumper" in nature, covering even gas leaks.

I don't think Amazon is the right place to buy big electronics.

[subuiyer]

I prefer buying large white goods from close-by physical stores of large chains or at least reputed physical local stores. Adding extended warranties and/or AMCs more often than not is beneficial. You contact the store if the OEM response is not suitable. of course, even this is not guaranteed utopia and I have had adverse experiences with the likes of Reliance Digital and Croma.

My experience with support for LG AC (incidentally all major white goods in my home are LG today), is a particularly mixed bag. Not in terms of their repair/product service, but the red tape with their service partner.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by singleton

At this point, I am not sure what to do next. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions from the teamBHP community on how to tackle this issue.

• Has anyone else had a similar experience with LG support in Bangalore? If so, how did you resolve the issue?
• Are there any specific consumer protection laws or regulations that can help me get a refund or replacement for the faulty AC?
• How can I escalate this issue to higher authorities within LG or file a complaint with the consumer court?

I would also like to caution others who are planning to buy LG ACs in Bangalore or elsewhere to be aware of this issue and to thoroughly check the product and support quality before making a purchase.

Hello Sir, I've no knowledge about AC other than servicing our own both non-inverter AC for several years nwo. So, feel free to skip my suggestion if you're uncomfortable

First of all what model is this please? I'll see if I can find possible workaround for you.

My suggestion will be is to fix this issue on your own since you've already attempted escalating through social media & & customer support & still unable to find a solution. From what you've described, I deduce this is the root cause - The refrigerant level (mostly R32 gas) is low. This is the reason why the cooling is less & for the CH38 error. I'm sure the throw of the AC (the blowing speed of air) should be adequate & you should have no issues. Just check with any independent AC repair shop around, IF you feel LG's support isn't competent enough. The refrigerant as such isn't that expensive (the last when we filled was around some Rs 1000 or so few years ago), owing to inflation it certainly is a lot expensive now & add to that the service charges. But you get the problem sorted out & do better things with peace of mind.

Now in all probabilities, I'm assuming the LG service technicians might've visited & perhaps have even recharged the gas & still the cooling may not be adequate. If this is the case, then the issue is really serious one that needs further troubleshooting. Let us know if people from LG have visited & if they did, have they measured the level of refrigerant & showed you the reading pls.

[SedateGuy]

I don't see too many people recommending Voltas. Wonder why.

I own 2 voltas fixed speed ACs and their service is one of the best i have seen. They show up the next day after booking a service request and sometimes even the same day. How I know this? One of the units had a problem since installation, and they would promptly show up and even self escalated the problem since it was not getting fixed. A senior showed up and all is well now.

Why fixed speed? Cause the previous inverters gave me hell, and the power bill has not gone up one bit. The 40% power saving is a myth.

Sorry just realised this is not the generic air-conditioning or home appliance thread. Hence this response may be off topic.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by singleton

After a few days, I started seeing CH 38 (i think) error code when the AC is switched on.

This is what the LG website has to say about the error code.

https://www.lg.com/africa/support/pr...20151571303439

I'm no AC guy but i think that Amazon just sold you a lemon.

[GeneralJazz]

As others have mentioned, its probably due to low refrigerant levels. I faced the same issue in my 3 year old Panasonic AC. I requested for repair through official channels, but with no feedback after 3 days (its really hot in Coimbatore), I requested for AC Service via Urbancompany. They sent 2 technicians who identified a leak, fixed it there itself (they bought welding equipment/blow torch with them), and filled the gas, all within 4-5 hours. I suggest to give them a try.

[pram_ind]

It may be too late to check, but was there any small visible damage when you received the AC? It could be a damage to the copper lines which could have leaked the refrigerant.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by singleton

Dear teamBHP community,

I am writing this post to seek your advice and opinions regarding a super frustrating experience that I have been going through with LG support. I recently bought an LG 1.5 Ton Inverter AC for my home in Bangalore (paid 35K+ on Amazon) and got it installed by an LG technician 10 days back (Additional 6.5K charged for installation!).

I myself have bought the same AC from Amazon twice, 1 last year and 1 this month only. Personally, I don't think there is any issue with Amazon in your situation. Amazon's liability is to safely deliver the AC to you. Ideally if there was any issue with the delivered product, person installing it should have raised it. I think that is why Amazon clearly mentions to get the electronics installed from their authorized brand.

Personally, I feel your concern should be more with LG service.

My experience with LG service over the years has been very good consistently. LG offered me AMC for years on one of these ACs and even pro-actively called to perform the free service as part of the AMC.

My advice maybe will be to raise a new ticket with LG.

Best of Luck!!
Rachit

[singleton]

Originally Posted by swiftLife

[*]Hopefully your issue gets resolved. But if your issue is not resolved or you don't get a service visit at all, go to https://www.lg.com/in/escalation-online-support and escalate the issue. You will need to mention the RNP no. here in the form.

Raised an escalation here yesterday morning, and got a call from their service center by afternoon. They arranged a visit, and the technicians who came just checked and left without fixing it (apparently they were told by their service center to come and verify, and they did not have the coolant & equipment to fix what was the issue).

So back to where it was. I don't even know how to react now. Extremely pathetic state of affairs at LG service!

[swiftLife]

Originally Posted by singleton

the technicians who came just checked and left without fixing it (apparently they were told by their service center to come and verify, and they did not have the coolant & equipment to fix what was the issue).

So I am assuming that your escalated service request i.e. with an RNP number is still open as you wouldn't have shared the happy code (service request closure code) with the technician.

An open complaint would mean that they would still have to fix the issue.

I was in Bangalore only (Electronic City) when I had to get my LG device repaired and followed the escalation ladder to get it resolved.