The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Chandigarh has directed Whirlpool India to replace a defective refrigerator and pay Rs 7,000 as compensation to its owner. As per the complainant, Sudesh Sharma, a retired Punjab civil servant, the product was not defrosting, causing a layer of ice and making regular use impossible due to tray jams. The complainant also stated that she was unable to keep her injections in the tray and that she had to manually defrost the refrigerator time and again. She was also unable to keep vegetables and milk in it. In its reply, Whirlpool submitted that the customer’s putting open containers of milk and vegetables in the refrigerator had caused moisture, which led to the forming of ice. The company alleged Sharma was trying to extort money from it. Sharma, 76, then sought to demonstrate to the commission “how Whirlpool had been using the same argument” for every customer complaint about defective products. She also stated that while Whirlpool recalled defective products from its UK market, it refused to do so in India. The commission held that the refrigerator had started developing problems a few months after Sharma bought it, in March 2020, and said a brand-new product from a company like Whirlpool should function properly at least for a few years. The commission directed the company to pay Rs 7,000 as compensation and replace the defective refrigerator.
